I replaced my driver with the 11.5 and was happy to do so. It's always been a love hate relationship. I've played 3 rounds with the mini. One fairway missed and that was just in the rough. To the naysayers claiming a loss of distance....there's no loss of distance when the ball is in the fairway as opposed to the bush !!!@
Agreed. I probably lost 15 yards with the mini compared to my good drives with a normal driver. But if you factored in my snap hook and shit drives, then I wouldn’t doubt if I’m technically averaging more distance with the mini because I’m way more consistent. Haven’t hit one OB with the mini yet
I have the mini from Taylormade. I much prefer to hit that off the tee than the 3 wood. However, similar to what Michael is saying here, off the deck, there is no comparison, it`s 3 wood every day of the week. But off the tee, I do find I am way more confident with the mini driver. My miss is usually a topped 3 wood, vs the mini driver is still getting the distance.
It's great that you're doing the side by side by side test of all the clubs, but I really wish Callaway would send out samples of the 11.5 degree mini driver for tests like this; at 13.5 degrees, it seems more like an oversized fairway (2W?). The 11.5 would be a better driver replacement. With the high loft and the weight in the back, I wouldn't expect driver performance. For a 3W replacement, I think the TM Mini driver would do better as it's smaller in general with a shallower face.
I did a test Michael on course with a PGA Pro friend of mine. Mini driver, 11.5 lofted to 12.5, a persimmon and a Callaway Warbird 9 degree titanium driver. All same length within 1/2” and we played 9 holes, both using all 3 drivers off the tee. The Persimmon was 15 yards shorter on carry but caught up with roll. Mini and Warbird carried the same but Warbird rolled out longer. £25 Warbird wins and looks and sounds awesome 👏
I have a big issue with getting the club face closed on my driver so losing a lot of distance due to a big fade. So, thinking a mini driver might be an option of tee as I hit my 3w very good but would like to get another 20 yards.
I play the AiSmoke Max driver 9 degree set at 7.5 and 3 wood 16.5, so effectively a 4 wood, thought the mini driver (2 wood) would fit in my bag, but it doesn’t. The driver is so easy to hit, and long enough for me. The 3 (4) wood is 30-50 yards behind driver, which is fine, easy to hit off the deck, can work it both ways, so offers confidence. A 2 wood, takes a club out of my bag, and I can’t justify it. Age 67, i manage my speed as best i can (105 with driver)but it wont be enough to hit the mini driver off the deck, and mini driver isn’t as long as my driver, therefore not for me.
I just ordered the 11.5 and am considering doing exactly this. Nice to see I'm not the only one interested in trying something goofy to to see what happens.
I use the Callaway mini set to 10.5 degrees and a 44 + inch shaft. For me it’s a good driver that looks like 2000 ish driver with a smaller head but with modern tech. I hit it straighter than my paradym driver. The mini i less fade biased than 460cc drivers. And now I can’t stand looking at 460cc heads. They look strange….way too big 😁
Hey Mike can you put the normal length driver shaft in the mini driver head & see how much club speed you gain?? Interested to see if my thought that smaller heads for more speed are the way that manufacturers need to go??
So, I have had comments deleted from some vids for saying why not choke down!!! So, I have got a stiffer shaft, with shorter shaft, so only 1.5 inch overall, same if not more distance, easy to hit out middle and won a major comp because of sudden consistency. Tell me now I need a mini, no, marketing trick, will copy and paste every time delete
I don't have the club head speed to hit a 3 wood off the deck so use a 7 wood. However its a big gap beween driver and 7 wood. I do use my 3 wood off the tee on tight holes, but its inconsistant wouldnt the mini drivers bigger head be a better choice?
Surely a 12 degree driver with 43 or 44 inch shaft would be more forgiving with the added MOI than the mini, evcen better for most golfers would be a 10.5 degree head lofted up to help stop the slice most amateurs have.
I may be able to report back. I bought an epic speed 12* for this exact reason, but I don’t like the stock shaft and couldn’t hit it well. Got a 42” ventus blue in the mail
@@kakimotoK20got to make sure the swing weight is correct by adding weight. If you just throw in a shorter shaft, it could throw everything off and truly be the clubs fault.
verdict is in, short driver is sick. I bought a ventus blue untipped and ventus red tipped 1" both at 42". Only tried the blue. Lead tape in the center of the head about .5 or 1 inch behind the face, about 13 grams, enough to get it to D1.5 on the blue shaft. Hit 4 range balls with the blue and then played nine and didn't lose a ball. Added plus 1 degree so 13 loft and they are flying low bullets but I'm hitting it more like a 7 wood I'm not doing my normal driver setup trying to get it up in the air. Surprised how well it worked, the misses weren't bad at all. What felt like OB missed the fairway by 5-10 feet.
@@kakimotoK20 try pulling that added weight back in the head to raise the flight a bit unless you like that low bullet drive. Awesome to hear and thanks for the follow up
I would argue that the 3 wood is and has always been much more erratic and less forgiving. As probably the hardest club to hit in the bag, I'd be willing to give up a few yards off the deck for much greater forgiveness personally
I just ordered the 11.5. I'm toying with the notion of putting a regular length shaft on it. Interested to see if others are contemplating doing the same. Please share your opinions on such a move. I hit my driver fine but, as a short fellow, I feel like the driver heads are too oversized anymore and I'm looking for something more compact behind the ball. I hit my 3 wood better than most of my clubs so it's not my intention to replace it. I'm just looking for a similar feel I guess??? And it's a limited run so if I don't like it I'm sure I won't have a problem reselling it.
I was thinking about buying a mini so I could interchange shafts and heads to play around myself. In theory, with the same length shaft you should be able to create more club head speed with the mini as it has less face creating resistance through the swing. Especially if lofts are close on driver and mini driver with the same length you could easily go longer. I wish there was an easy way to do an aerodynamics test to see how much resistence a regular driver has compared to the mini
@@filldrummin42 Yeah, the more I look at it, I think you can easily get further with the right mini setup than with right driver setup honestly. You would only be sacrificing forgiveness, which I need way less of with a shorter shaft anyways
I hit a 12* driver currently lofted down to 11. I guess Im not most players as I struggle to get enough height and spin on my driver. No chance Id be able to hit a mini driver better than my current driver.
A lot of people who couldn't think outside the box if you took the box away. If you struggle with a regular driver then give this a try. If it helps, great, then it's for you. If you really think you need something ever so slightly longer off the ground than your current 13 degree uber 3 wood that you can actually hit consistently well then maybe give this a try but given the extra face depth you'll probably struggle to do better. This is NOT the same as a low lofted 3 wood. The larger head and deeper face make it easier for average Joes to hit off a tee. So many of you are so self centered that you judge everything based off how you would use the club. It's not all about you. Some people will benefit. Most won't. That's part of the reason both Callaway and Taylor Made are making limited quantities of these. Shorter shafts tend to change delivery angles as well as club speed and depending on how much those change for someone they may do better with the 11.5 or the 13. It's not rocket science folks. If you really struggle to think of a place in the bag for this then you don't need it. Move along. I've made shorter versions of large headed 3 woods and smaller volume drivers for years for people and they love them. But they struggled with their driver. Now they have a tee club they can trust. This is just the factory option for that type of club. And if a few of you would shut up and give things a try you just might play better golf with a club like this.
I gained more confidence using a 5wood shaft in my 3 wood g430. But i am tempeted for a mini driver but only if i can be hit of the deck too as wouldnt want to lose that versatility of a 3 wood. How does it compare to the taylormade mini?
I have the TSR2+ which has a larger head than 3 wood but not to the size of the mini drivers. Much better off the tee than my ai smoke 4 wood and with a good lie can still hit it off the deck. a true 2 wood.
I really dont see why people would use a mini driver. Its just all marketing and trying to grab quick $$. 1. U cant replace the actual driver because the lack of distance. 2. U cant replace it with a 3 wood because of difficulty of hitting it off the deck. If u r “struggling” with driver, a new driver isnt going to fix ur problem, get some lessons w that money. If you really need help with driver config, just shorten ur shaft to 43’. Helps with ease and confidence. Ur distance isnt going to be affected much because u r probably a high handicap and hitting the sweet spot with good launch numbers will help more than anything. Thoughts?
This is exactly the debate I'm having in my head. I'm a mid handicap (15-ish) with some decent clubspeed, but just can't hit driver. If these mini drivers can be hit like a fairway and go further with more forgiveness, it might be a good bandaid but not a fix. Sadly, spending the same money on lessons could fix my swing, but I'm also playing a driver I wasn't fit for, so the cost of lessons might be added to the cost of a new driver either way... it'd likely be more money, but be an actual fix as opposed to a patch. Is it worth it? Well, I'm honestly not sure.
@@fretless05 im about a 10 handicapper. Driver club head speed around 105 stock swing, can carry about 250-265 and total 270-290. My 3 wood off the tee can carry 230-240 and total 250-265 (off the deck its a bit less). Im self taught with 1 actual paid lesson. I know i can fix and get better. Modern golf clubs are well made to the point where most mid to high handicappers wont benefit from “club fitting” yet. Im 5’8 and what i did do recently is shorten my driver shaft (off the shelf they r around 45’) and inch. (Along with my 3 wood and 3 hybrid). It def help with confidence at address and ease. Didnt affect my distance at all.
It’s player dependent. I’ve bagged a mini for over 10 yrs and rarely pull driver anymore I’ve thought about dropping it entirely. I grew up with smaller heads they inspire confidence in me. I only hit a 11.5 mini about 5 yards less that driver about 280 carry it’s set up correctly you can hit it every bit as far as driver. And I bag a 17* 5 wood after it. Which is 255 carry off the deck. The. A 7w which is 230. I hit more fairways and what am I giving up? Unless I’m playing 7000+ courses I just don’t need driver even then I don’t driver introduces a bigger miss for the 5-10 yards it gains.
@@nathaniverson6828 yeah i feel u. But most people r not long hitters like u. The technology of forgiveness in these new drivers off the tee might be better option for most than a smaller mini driver. I guess if the mini driver is 11.5, and u game a 10.5 driver, u wint be too far off in distance.
@@ohkayw long is all relative. Even if I build a bomber it’s just not long enough to be worth the miss. I think if a lot of people were honest with themselves that’s true for more people than just long guys esp a mid to higher cap that has more than 2 major errors off the tee per round. But it’s true things are player specific. I do think mini fits really well into a lot of peoples bag if more players would track strokes gained.
Finally someone that gets it by testing with driver AND 3 wood. Not sure why it's been such a hard concept to grasp for other reviewers/youtubers
I replaced my driver with the 11.5 and was happy to do so. It's always been a love hate relationship. I've played 3 rounds with the mini. One fairway missed and that was just in the rough. To the naysayers claiming a loss of distance....there's no loss of distance when the ball is in the fairway as opposed to the bush !!!@
Agreed. I probably lost 15 yards with the mini compared to my good drives with a normal driver. But if you factored in my snap hook and shit drives, then I wouldn’t doubt if I’m technically averaging more distance with the mini because I’m way more consistent. Haven’t hit one OB with the mini yet
I have the mini from Taylormade. I much prefer to hit that off the tee than the 3 wood. However, similar to what Michael is saying here, off the deck, there is no comparison, it`s 3 wood every day of the week.
But off the tee, I do find I am way more confident with the mini driver. My miss is usually a topped 3 wood, vs the mini driver is still getting the distance.
It's great that you're doing the side by side by side test of all the clubs, but I really wish Callaway would send out samples of the 11.5 degree mini driver for tests like this; at 13.5 degrees, it seems more like an oversized fairway (2W?). The 11.5 would be a better driver replacement. With the high loft and the weight in the back, I wouldn't expect driver performance. For a 3W replacement, I think the TM Mini driver would do better as it's smaller in general with a shallower face.
agree!
I did a test Michael on course with a PGA Pro friend of mine. Mini driver, 11.5 lofted to 12.5, a persimmon and a Callaway Warbird 9 degree titanium driver. All same length within 1/2” and we played 9 holes, both using all 3 drivers off the tee. The Persimmon was 15 yards shorter on carry but caught up with roll. Mini and Warbird carried the same but Warbird rolled out longer. £25 Warbird wins and looks and sounds awesome 👏
The Warbird sole was unreal when hitting off the deck!
I have a big issue with getting the club face closed on my driver so losing a lot of distance due to a big fade. So, thinking a mini driver might be an option of tee as I hit my 3w very good but would like to get another 20 yards.
Michael Newton & Ian Frazier from TXG. Legit data. Only 2 equipment demo’s for me
F J B
I play the AiSmoke Max driver 9 degree set at 7.5 and 3 wood 16.5, so effectively a 4 wood, thought the mini driver (2 wood) would fit in my bag, but it doesn’t. The driver is so easy to hit, and long enough for me. The 3 (4) wood is 30-50 yards behind driver, which is fine, easy to hit off the deck, can work it both ways, so offers confidence. A 2 wood, takes a club out of my bag, and I can’t justify it. Age 67, i manage my speed as best i can (105 with driver)but it wont be enough to hit the mini driver off the deck, and mini driver isn’t as long as my driver, therefore not for me.
I would.have liked to see the mini driver with heavy weight forward and adjusted down a degree or two.
I'd be interested to see the 11.5 Mini at 44.5" long vs 10.5 Driver with 44.5" long driver. Distance and Dispersion difference.
I just ordered the 11.5 and am considering doing exactly this. Nice to see I'm not the only one interested in trying something goofy to to see what happens.
I want to see this also, with 11.5 dialled down to lowest loft!
I use the Callaway mini set to 10.5 degrees and a 44 + inch shaft. For me it’s a good driver that looks like 2000 ish driver with a smaller head but with modern tech. I hit it straighter than my paradym driver. The mini i less fade biased than 460cc drivers.
And now I can’t stand looking at 460cc heads. They look strange….way too big 😁
@@per-davidalm1434 Glad I'm not the only one thinking like this. I can't stand the big headed drivers anymore either. Good shit bro.
HIT EM STRAIGHT!
Hey Mike can you put the normal length driver shaft in the mini driver head & see how much club speed you gain?? Interested to see if my thought that smaller heads for more speed are the way that manufacturers need to go??
I want to see this too, was wondering myself
Me too
I love the mini driver. Glad Callaway came out with a new one.
Great reviews as as always,played penrith last week for the first time great course😎👍
So, I have had comments deleted from some vids for saying why not choke down!!! So, I have got a stiffer shaft, with shorter shaft, so only 1.5 inch overall, same if not more distance, easy to hit out middle and won a major comp because of sudden consistency. Tell me now I need a mini, no, marketing trick, will copy and paste every time delete
Great review, as always. Thank you 👌
I don't have the club head speed to hit a 3 wood off the deck so use a 7 wood. However its a big gap beween driver and 7 wood. I do use my 3 wood off the tee on tight holes, but its inconsistant wouldnt the mini drivers bigger head be a better choice?
Surely a 12 degree driver with 43 or 44 inch shaft would be more forgiving with the added MOI than the mini, evcen better for most golfers would be a 10.5 degree head lofted up to help stop the slice most amateurs have.
I may be able to report back. I bought an epic speed 12* for this exact reason, but I don’t like the stock shaft and couldn’t hit it well. Got a 42” ventus blue in the mail
@@kakimotoK20got to make sure the swing weight is correct by adding weight. If you just throw in a shorter shaft, it could throw everything off and truly be the clubs fault.
@@jackiemoon_lms yep I’m actually happy about that because I’ll have so much weight to play with. Planning to crank it to 13* and put weight up front
verdict is in, short driver is sick. I bought a ventus blue untipped and ventus red tipped 1" both at 42". Only tried the blue. Lead tape in the center of the head about .5 or 1 inch behind the face, about 13 grams, enough to get it to D1.5 on the blue shaft. Hit 4 range balls with the blue and then played nine and didn't lose a ball. Added plus 1 degree so 13 loft and they are flying low bullets but I'm hitting it more like a 7 wood I'm not doing my normal driver setup trying to get it up in the air. Surprised how well it worked, the misses weren't bad at all. What felt like OB missed the fairway by 5-10 feet.
@@kakimotoK20 try pulling that added weight back in the head to raise the flight a bit unless you like that low bullet drive. Awesome to hear and thanks for the follow up
I would argue that the 3 wood is and has always been much more erratic and less forgiving. As probably the hardest club to hit in the bag, I'd be willing to give up a few yards off the deck for much greater forgiveness personally
Agree - great review
how high are we supposed to be teeing the mini? no video has mentioned this ive watched
Same
I just ordered the 11.5. I'm toying with the notion of putting a regular length shaft on it. Interested to see if others are contemplating doing the same. Please share your opinions on such a move.
I hit my driver fine but, as a short fellow, I feel like the driver heads are too oversized anymore and I'm looking for something more compact behind the ball. I hit my 3 wood better than most of my clubs so it's not my intention to replace it. I'm just looking for a similar feel I guess???
And it's a limited run so if I don't like it I'm sure I won't have a problem reselling it.
I was thinking about buying a mini so I could interchange shafts and heads to play around myself. In theory, with the same length shaft you should be able to create more club head speed with the mini as it has less face creating resistance through the swing. Especially if lofts are close on driver and mini driver with the same length you could easily go longer. I wish there was an easy way to do an aerodynamics test to see how much resistence a regular driver has compared to the mini
@@benmoisio232 I've also ordered another 12g weight so I can have them from AND back.
@@filldrummin42 Yeah, the more I look at it, I think you can easily get further with the right mini setup than with right driver setup honestly. You would only be sacrificing forgiveness, which I need way less of with a shorter shaft anyways
At 13.5 it’s probably a 3wood replacement, would have been interested in the 11.5 v driver
I hit a 12* driver currently lofted down to 11. I guess Im not most players as I struggle to get enough height and spin on my driver. No chance Id be able to hit a mini driver better than my current driver.
If you struggle to get height and spin, Jacob, why did you loft the driver down? Lofting it down will reduce height and spin.
Same test with the 11.5 off the tee? :)
Really surprised by how little distance there is between the mini driver and the 3 wood.
A lot of people who couldn't think outside the box if you took the box away. If you struggle with a regular driver then give this a try. If it helps, great, then it's for you. If you really think you need something ever so slightly longer off the ground than your current 13 degree uber 3 wood that you can actually hit consistently well then maybe give this a try but given the extra face depth you'll probably struggle to do better. This is NOT the same as a low lofted 3 wood. The larger head and deeper face make it easier for average Joes to hit off a tee. So many of you are so self centered that you judge everything based off how you would use the club. It's not all about you. Some people will benefit. Most won't. That's part of the reason both Callaway and Taylor Made are making limited quantities of these. Shorter shafts tend to change delivery angles as well as club speed and depending on how much those change for someone they may do better with the 11.5 or the 13. It's not rocket science folks. If you really struggle to think of a place in the bag for this then you don't need it. Move along. I've made shorter versions of large headed 3 woods and smaller volume drivers for years for people and they love them. But they struggled with their driver. Now they have a tee club they can trust. This is just the factory option for that type of club. And if a few of you would shut up and give things a try you just might play better golf with a club like this.
I gained more confidence using a 5wood shaft in my 3 wood g430. But i am tempeted for a mini driver but only if i can be hit of the deck too as wouldnt want to lose that versatility of a 3 wood.
How does it compare to the taylormade mini?
I have the TSR2+ which has a larger head than 3 wood but not to the size of the mini drivers. Much better off the tee than my ai smoke 4 wood and with a good lie can still hit it off the deck. a true 2 wood.
They just bring back the traditional driver from 20 years ago regarding the head size and shaft length and call it mini driver.
A solution looking for a problem.
Not a fan of the mini driver. For me my 3 wood is not that much shorter off the tee and much better off the ground than the mini.
I really dont see why people would use a mini driver. Its just all marketing and trying to grab quick $$.
1. U cant replace the actual driver because the lack of distance.
2. U cant replace it with a 3 wood because of difficulty of hitting it off the deck.
If u r “struggling” with driver, a new driver isnt going to fix ur problem, get some lessons w that money.
If you really need help with driver config, just shorten ur shaft to 43’. Helps with ease and confidence. Ur distance isnt going to be affected much because u r probably a high handicap and hitting the sweet spot with good launch numbers will help more than anything.
Thoughts?
This is exactly the debate I'm having in my head. I'm a mid handicap (15-ish) with some decent clubspeed, but just can't hit driver. If these mini drivers can be hit like a fairway and go further with more forgiveness, it might be a good bandaid but not a fix. Sadly, spending the same money on lessons could fix my swing, but I'm also playing a driver I wasn't fit for, so the cost of lessons might be added to the cost of a new driver either way... it'd likely be more money, but be an actual fix as opposed to a patch. Is it worth it? Well, I'm honestly not sure.
@@fretless05 im about a 10 handicapper. Driver club head speed around 105 stock swing, can carry about 250-265 and total 270-290. My 3 wood off the tee can carry 230-240 and total 250-265 (off the deck its a bit less). Im self taught with 1 actual paid lesson. I know i can fix and get better. Modern golf clubs are well made to the point where most mid to high handicappers wont benefit from “club fitting” yet. Im 5’8 and what i did do recently is shorten my driver shaft (off the shelf they r around 45’) and inch. (Along with my 3 wood and 3 hybrid). It def help with confidence at address and ease. Didnt affect my distance at all.
It’s player dependent. I’ve bagged a mini for over 10 yrs and rarely pull driver anymore I’ve thought about dropping it entirely. I grew up with smaller heads they inspire confidence in me. I only hit a 11.5 mini about 5 yards less that driver about 280 carry it’s set up correctly you can hit it every bit as far as driver. And I bag a 17* 5 wood after it. Which is 255 carry off the deck. The. A 7w which is 230. I hit more fairways and what am I giving up? Unless I’m playing 7000+ courses I just don’t need driver even then I don’t driver introduces a bigger miss for the 5-10 yards it gains.
@@nathaniverson6828 yeah i feel u. But most people r not long hitters like u. The technology of forgiveness in these new drivers off the tee might be better option for most than a smaller mini driver. I guess if the mini driver is 11.5, and u game a 10.5 driver, u wint be too far off in distance.
@@ohkayw long is all relative. Even if I build a bomber it’s just not long enough to be worth the miss. I think if a lot of people were honest with themselves that’s true for more people than just long guys esp a mid to higher cap that has more than 2 major errors off the tee per round. But it’s true things are player specific. I do think mini fits really well into a lot of peoples bag if more players would track strokes gained.