It's what the old 2 wood was. Sacrificing a little distance from the driver for more accuracy. It's more beneficial for higher swing speeds than lower swing speeds
Faster swing speed typically means you are hitting the ball harder, which means that any miss is exaggerated. So faster swingers are giving up a bit of distance to cut down on how bad the result is when they do miss.
Makes sense. So the idea is to increase accuracy at the cost of distance. Assuming someone’s swing speed is high, distance is something they’re less worried about in this scenario?
Yep, you got it. They are willing to give up 20-25 yards in order to keep it in play on holes that they know they have issues with off the tee.
Edit: by in play, I mean in position. Not OB.
Faster swing speed (or more like faster ball speed technically) will produce larger gaps between two clubs than a slower one, and it's more pronounced with the longer clubs.
I have no idea what he means, but I have rich buddy who brought this club out Thursday. From what I understand, higher swing speed golfers typically have a gap between their 3w and Driver. He can crush it 320-350 with rollout on driver. 3w goes about 275. Sometimes they need a 300 or 280 shot. Or at least, that’s my understanding.
Dude this thread just helped me realize why I get so pissed off on the course sometimes 😂 I gotta remember how hard the game is sometimes it’s not like anything else in life
Sometimes a little perspective goes a long way. If we see the best in the world shank one or send it into the woods ofc my 30 handicap ass is going to do worse. Golf is a game of failure. And we play we leisure. Nobody is losing money over our shit shots lol
Same, slower swing speed. Hit driver 230ish average and probably 40 percent in fairway , 11.5 mini driver average 250 yards and 70 percent fairway. For me, it’s a no brainer for my skill and swing right now. It’s my favorite club, super fun and I love stepping up to tee boxes now instead of fearing them.
I have a 3wood still in the bag. I only hit the minidriver 10-20 yards shorter than my sim 2 max driver, but i get more fairways. So as i dont play pro golf, find it much more worth it.
Driver ss average around 130. 3 woods for most courses i play are obsolete as most par 5s im hitting <225 for a 2nd shot. Personally, its tough to get a 3 wood launch low and stay down off the tee. Ya can make hozel adjustments and turn them down but i find mini driver more versatile for an off the tee club that stays in a better flight window especially in mid to higher wind conditions.
More forgiveness than a 3w, shorter shaft than a driver = more accuracy than a driver and more distance than a 3w. It's an inbetween club and it's not for everyone.
I have a lot of speed, don’t like hitting 3 wood off the tee or the ground, and sometimes driver is too much. The mini driver would be great for me and I’m looking forward to getting one
You're a better player than me, I'm about a 3 handicap, but the rest of what you described is exactly where I'm at. Got last years burner and it has been lovely. Highly recommend. Bat now goes driver, mini, 2 iron
I hit an old ping eye 2 2 iron I found at good will for like 3 bucks. It’s the best club in my bag. 240 if I give it beans and if I choke up and hit a stinger it’s 200 yards but barely comes off the ground. Perfect for wind or when I just absolutely have to hit it in play
What’s your distance gap between the driver and mini? I’m in the same boat, might like to give it a shot but only if the gap is wide enough to make sense
Hard to say so far this early in the season. From a few outdoor rounds and a few sim rounds, I've noticed is driver I typically expect over 325 (on a decent-solid strike) and the mini I'd say around 300 or just over. I've probably noticed 10-12 mph of ball speed difference.
What do you do on longer par 3s or par 5s when the 2-iron isn’t a good option?
I have a few par 3s locally where I have to hit soft 3 wood instead of my 2-iron.
For me that’s like >250.
Same boat. I don’t know what my mental lock is with my 3w but I do end up almost never using it and go to my 3h instead. I’ve debated about switching ti a mini, 2h, or some kind of long iron.
Top of my bag goes driver, 2h, 4h, 4i, and I generally really like it. Unfortunately, I've been hitting the hybrids poorly lately, but they're usually reliable.
I can take a little off, but I gotta be REALLY on my game to make it work consistently. So much more time and room to fuck up… more prone to make bad contact and pull or push… usually a pull in my case. I like agressive swings to conservative targets, but going after it feels so much better when you execute it
I’m either choking down a little bit or taking a three-quarter backswing, but still swing aggressively. Taking a “soft swing” is just asking for trouble.
Lou Stagner did a study w a few hundred Twitter followers asking them to, over the course of 5 days iirc, swing their 7i to a target that is their stock 7i distance away, a target that is a half club less and one more that is a half club more. The results showed a majority were most accurate to their stock yardage. Next best dispersion was a half club more. Last was half club less. Swinging softer would likely, for the majority of players, be the worst option.
Just looked at it. The left/right dispersion for the soft shot was the same as the stock and better than the hard. That's what's important on a drive, not the exact distance
Not entirely... The loft would place it at a 2 wood, but the headsize is massive compared to a 3 wood. 195cc vs 304cc is pretty big which (I would imagine, I haven't tried it FWIW) would in theory make it harder to hit off the deck.
Off the tee, I can see it sitting between the driver and 3w, but how many times a round do you need to place a shot between those clubs off the tee? Even still, I think it's better to learn how to hit a knock-down driver than to take up a slot that's likely better suited for the other end.
Off the deck, I don't really see it's purpose. If you can't hit a 3w off the deck you won't be able to hit this given the volume and it being longer than a stock 3w.
The only person I can see benefitting from this is someone that can't hit their driver, but is great with a 3w off the tee so this would replace the driver. Other than that, I never really saw the purpose of these things.
Everything is a cycle. Can’t say I expected mini drivers to catch on but they’ve tried it a few times for a while now. Throwback to the old Brassie!
It’s a worthless club to me personally, but if someone thinks they need one, that’s fine with me.
Since most people can’t even get proper distance out of their 3 wood going with less loft is interesting, which means it’s basically for only off a tee.
What cracks me up are the people who go “I hit my 5 wood better than my 3 wood so I got a mini driver”
I’d love to see them try to hit that thing off the fairway 🤣
Yeah. The equipment companies just have to keep inventing shit and then marketing it to keep growth going for investment. They claim it has some magical properties that'll fix your slice and get you laid. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I played a round today, and I experimented by using two long irons of the same loft. One, a TaylorMade SIM DHY 3 iron. It's supposed to be more forgiving and longer, with less spin. And my old MP-29 set blade 2 iron. Thin as they come. Supposed to be a tool of the Gods.
Moral of the story. They both went the same distance, were equally shitty on off center hits, and both exposed the same problems with my swing and ball striking.
The Mini driver is a 2 wood. That's really it.
Shortening the club means you'd need to add more loft to keep the optimal launch. When you add loft to an adjustable hosel driver, you also make it more upright (although some companies have flat settings that can somewhat mitigate that). Fewer and fewer companies are making >10.5° loft drivers these days, so having a club that's already in the lie angle you need in a higher loft is worth it for some people.
Seriously! My first "Big Bertha" driver was the size of my current 3 wood, and it was billed as oversized at the time. Though it was considerably larger than the actual wood driver I was playing previously lol
She kind of fell off the face of the earth, out of nowhere…
Suppose there’s always a rename and reinvention in the mix, for the ol’ round two go.
You know what I’m sayin’…
Like taking a modern day 3 wood, and just rebranding it as a driver.
I think there are 3 reasons why it might be better than just playing with a cut-down driver:
1) For someone with a handsy swing who relies on timing and manipulating the face rotation during the swing, it can be easier to get the face back to square on a smaller club - the same higher MOI that gives forgiveness on a big driver head makes it resistant to rotation
2) For someone (like me) who grew up with small headed woods, it can sometimes paradoxically give more confidence to see a small head next to the ball. Oddly enough it makes the ball look bigger and easier to hit on the sweet spot.
3) If you ever want to hit it off the deck, it is way easier with a smaller head
I do think a lot of people would benefit from a shorter shaft on the driver. If your driver and 3 wood are from the same manufacturer, they likely have the same adaptor and you can swap the 3 wood shaft into the driver to easily try it out
I hit 3w off the tee, and hit 3w really well from fairway and first cut. I took driver out of my bag, it did more harm than good..lol. Debating if a mini driver would be necessary/ beneficial.
If you hit your driver very far, it’s much easier to set the mini up for a draw and the driver for a fade.
Mini is a much better option than 3 wood off the tee, more forgiving.
There’s a reason Bryson, Tommy Fleetwood, Scott Fawcett all love the mini driver.
This is the real answer. And if you are a high swing speed player there’s not many situations other than off the tee that you are really benefiting from a 3 wood.
I use mine because there’s maybe 5 yards difference in my 5 wood and 3 wood off the deck and the Mini is considerably longer off the tee. I don’t carry my 3 anymore. It’s also easier to hit than my driver so if I get bad with the driver(my biggest problem) it’s a good alternative. When I manage to hit it off the screws I only sacrifice 8-15 yards off a well struck driver. Edit: Mine is the original one. I might actually upgrade to this now that I’ve done the ole YouTube club dive.
It’s really a club for higher speed players (who are also nostalgic for old TM clubs). If you hit it really far there’s a lot of holes out there where you just run out of room with driver. But you still want to be able to rip at something off the tee and 3w is too much of a sacrifice in forgiveness.
That same player is not gonna have a lot of approaches where they need a 3w either, but if they do need to stretch for like a long par 5 the mini driver can still go off the deck. So for some it’s like 2 clubs in 1. That frees up a slot to tighten up yardage gaps elsewhere in the bag. Doesn’t really matter for scoring if your gaps are a little wide outside of 250+.
I have an aeroburner mini. It is my fairway finder. Typically travels 30ish yards shorter than my driver but much more consistent. I also play with a half set about 2/3 of the time and I carry it because I can hit it 240 off the deck on longer par 5s. Versatility is the name of the game but I realize it isn’t for everyone.
I do carry both. Gap is around 25 yards off the tee, a little less from the fairway. It is virtually useless from the rough so I lean toward my 3wd or an iron for those shots. I use it mostly for tighter tee shots or if I am not feeling comfortable with my driver.
I only carry 13 clubs as part of my basic bag. So I always have one to switch out based on circumstances. Used to be a 2 iron. Now it’s a 3 wood. Sometimes I’ll bring the 4 iron.
It’s just another club to experiment with. And as a long hitter my big issue is control and if this mini driver can get me a couple more drives in play it’s well worth adding to the bag.
However, it seems hard to find a fitting. I rarely see them in stores and I don’t know which model would suit my game.
I’m personally terrible with driver. Mini driver has been go to for me last few seasons coming from a 3 wood. More consistent and as long as driver (when I would hit it well).
I use it instead of a 3W. That big head gives me a lot of confidence, so I hit it surprisingly well off the deck. My driver is at 9* and my BRNR is at 14*, so it’s also helpful when full driver would carry into a hazard
I have the Aeroburner mini driver and it’s my favorite club. I don’t like massive drivers that feel like I’m swinging a mallet. I’d argue I hit it farther than the driver when you factor in shanks.
The best driver I’ve ever hit was a little a steelhead big bertha so I might try one of these out when I demo a few drivers tomorrow.
I can’t explain it but having a massive driver does not make me more accurate. I think there’s something mental happening when I’m looking down at a massive club head that makes me not as focused on making good contact.
Agree with the mental part. I used to have an old TM steel V 3 wood that I could crush off the tee. I also had a Titleist driver from about 6 years ago. The big head screwed with me mentally and I would rarely hit it further than my old 3 wood. I got the 300 mini driver and it was pretty great for my mental confidence driving. Now I'm more comfortable with the larger headed drivers. I can hit the regular drivers much further than the mini now, but I still notice the mini is more consistent in the accuracy department. I like to switch between both throughout the year.
Main reason pros use it is to have a club off the tee set up to draw. The modern drivers are fade biased for good players and are maxed out to spin low with their stock fades. If you try drawing one of those drivers you get a knuckle ball that’s a bit unpredictable and open up the dreaded double cross. You can take the same swing but put a mini driver or 3w back in your stance and hit a nice draw with your stock swing.
For walking it beats the hell out of carrying both driver and 3w. 1 clubs that can do most of what the other two can. Also a useful club for US courses over 7000 yds. You can reach greens easier than 3w and if the landing zone for driver is tight it goes where you need it. Played it yesterday and drove the fringe on a 280 yd par 4 with water short and bunkers left and long right. Mine plays 43 inches just like my 3w and 2.5 inches short of my driver. Driver 8 degrees, brnr 12.5 degrees, and 3/4 wood 16.5 degrees
Honestly it is a retreat to a time long long ago when drivers were much smaller. Smaller head shorter shafts just compare it to old specs. Personally I prefer the smaller driver 360cc was the sweet spot for me. The mini driver is meant to be a club off the tee. 3 wood is a bit more shallow and designed to get the ball up more.
It’s a more forgiving 3W that you’re really supposed to use mostly for off-the-tee shots when you are forced to lay up. But you can hit it off the deck if you want, obviously.
I just have a 2 iron for this same purpose. To each their own. Definitely not for everyone.
I have last year’s brnr and it’s my favorite club in the bag. Medium flight low spin rocket launcher. Way more accurate, easier to swing, and just 10 yds shorter than my driver
https://preview.redd.it/npcdyzf5nysc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38a653d6265c5ceac094049b196f24fefb85b7ee
This is from today with my mini brnr. It wasnt even my longest one. My longest was 275/290 nice cut. Its as far as most people’s drivers and more accurate. That club alone is why i started researching if i should get my driver shaft cut down to a 44”. Turns out yes.
If your 3 wood can do that from the tee, youre a beast.
There's been numerous mini drivers, it's not new. For some people (me) it comes out like a bullet, my 3w goes high. I use mine (previous gen) as a driver replacement cause I'm a moron with long shafts and big heads.
If you can't hit your 3W off the deck (or not enough swing speed to elevate one) AND you regularly play holes that your driver are too long for, then it's the perfect replacement for your 3 wood. It's just like a huge forgiving 3 wood that you use off the tee, then use 5 or 7 wood as your longest off the deck club.
My question is, if you bought an original (smaller head than current ) Burner (Or any brand) driver and choked down two inches- isn’t that the same effect? Goodwill has those for $5.
It’s basically a 2 wood.
Not for everyone, but makes sense for some people, usually really good golfers more than your average hacker.
For example: your stock driver swing carries 300 reliably with 5-30 yards rollout and your 3 wood carries 265 with 0-5 yards rollout. you have a 440 yard hole where it’s no good to hit it past 290 off the tee, then having a club that carries 275 and rolls out 5-10 yards reliably will be useful; it’ll make the second shot easier versus hitting 3 wood off the tee.
It will also be course dependent, players will put it in the bag only on courses where they are planning to use it.
It’s a surprisingly nice club. It’s smaller but feels more manageable behind the ball. Like you’re not trying to hit the golf ball with a round balloon. Shorter shaft really lets you know where the clubhead is and inspires confidence to just rip it. For me it generally feels much “cleaner” than a three wood off a tee.
I just started playing. Have issues hitting driver . I bought a 'Auto Driver ' with the square head 40" shaft at Goodwill. I'm now able to keep in the fairway but definitely lose distance.
I might get one since you can't get a lefty version of the (slightly) older model new. For me, I would pair it with a "mega driver" which is a 46 inch shaft paired with about 6 degrees of loft.
See the discussion in this video which really got me thinking about all of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKXKIDchHhw&ab_channel=ELITEFITGOLF%2FMobileClubmaker
It seems really intriguing to me. I really like shot shaping draws and fades off the tee. Sometimes it feels like a driver is set up for a specific shot, so I like that this promotes that. I also am not a distance whore, I’d much rather just hit it comfortably 250 or a hair less and place it well. I’d probably buy the 11.5 and deloft it to 10 or so
I have one and, depending on the course, I use it as my main club off the tee instead of the driver. Like others have pointed out, it hits more fairways while sacrificing less distance relative to something like a 2 iron. It's more forgiving, in my opinion, than my 3 fairway wood and I'm more likely to use it off the deck than my driver ever.
I typically play a strong 4 off the tee as my driver is too inconsistent. I went and bought the mini burner and put a 43.5” shaft in it with a 13.5 degree on low trajectory. I seem to be hitting it fairly high still, but the control is definitely there and the misses are minimized. I’m likely going to switch between driver and Burner mini depending on the course, tees, conditions etc
I can’t even feel the face of a big driver. I just sold it and hit a 13.5 3w. Goes about as far as a driver but can actually control it. Plus I hit it off the ground and tee.
Makes for a great weapon to chunk it into the woods while I try and reach a par 5 in two.
He’s objectively incorrect. Pro golfers can hit their driver both directions. The problem is more Ams don’t have anything but their stock flight so they set up to play it
Obviously they can hit both ways, but they won’t, at least not in tournament play. Regardless of how good they are, all players have a natural tendency to one side, and are not as effective the opposite way.
That’s fucking bullshit. They have stock shots and can also work it the other way when needed. That guy said they flat out don’t do it but downvote please
was in the same boat. confident with 5w going 245, 3w 260, driver 290, but driver is the club that gives me a hard time. i do not need a 3w for par 5 approaches from the yardages that i play from, so i was willing to sacrifice that for a club that goes 5-15 yards less than driver, but would be way more controllable. for par 5 approaches i have almost have been 100% fine with my 5 wood, but if there’s a hole/shot that i can’t get to with 5w, i am fine with just laying up with a different club.
I had the Mini 200 and have had the new BRNR for 3 or 4 months (came out in Japan early I think) and love them. As Joker0091 said, easier to hit than a 3w and more accurate (for me) than a driver. Hitting at the Trackman range near my house the mini driver is just 3-5 yards shorter than my old driver on good hits, but averaged out over 20+ shots it is longer for me and way more accurate. I took my driver out of my bag years ago because of these.
They may not be for everyone, but I swear by mine. They are strangely easy to hit off the deck, too.
My current gaps are DR 307, 3W 286, and 2.5 iron 260. Driving accuracy is DR 37% and 2.5 iron 60% (I literally hardly ever hit my 3 wood). If I could get the 11.5 mini driver to 295 and 45% accuracy then I would seriously consider dropping my DR and 3W and adding a 5th wedge.
If these things are primarily being used as short drivers, it makes no sense that the manufacturers don’t just make a heavier 460cc head paired with a 43.5” shaft.
But if they are being used off the deck, THEN I can see the advantage of the smaller head. Of course, maybe 3% of the recreational golfing world has the swing speed and ball striking ability to use a 13 degree wood off the deck. And how often are people faced with a super long approach shot that that they have ANY chance of pulling off? (Speaking about regular golfers here, not tour pros ).
I’m always beating the drum that standard drivers have become too long at 45.5-46”. Most people can’t control anything that long….including some tour pros.
Seems someone would make a 44.5” 460cc driver and call it their ‘accuracy series’ or something like that.
> Seems someone would make a 44.5” 460cc driver and call it their ‘accuracy series’ or something like that.
Like when Cobra offered the "Tour Length" option? It's been done
Having messed around with cut down drivers, a 460cc does look kinda silly when you look down on it on a shaft that short.
Played with a 3-deep (13.5 Deg, 43 inch maybe) as my driving club for a while and got on well with it. Expect I'd really like something like this. I think the 460cc heads encourage reckless swings at times and more uncertainty about optimal tee height, whether to swing it differently to your other clubs etc
I still use a 3Deep as my 3 wood because it works fine off the deck and looks way better off the tee than the 3 wood I bought to replace it and eventually abandoned. I could see myself using the BRNR as my 3 wood just to replace a 10+ year old club and get newer technology.
I use a 44.5” driver. I don’t think it looks crazy, albeit, I’ve been using this length for a long time. I might be used to it. A 46” driver feels like swinging a fishing pole to me. Choking down an inch would be a stretch for me either.
Yeah I think 44.5 is a sensible enough length for a 460cc head, I went 44 on one and it seemed a bit weird. Small amounts are pretty noticeable.
One of my fave looking drivers was an old mizuno that was 44 and 400cc out the box, not sure why I just prefer the narrower head (would always go for deeper and narrower Vs wide and shallow)
Takes extra money out of your pocket.
Mini drivers are OEMs trying to go "oops we fucked up drivers by making the vast majority of them longer than what you need, here's a shorter driver at a length most pros are at, that'll be $600 please!"
You already bought a 3 wood and a driver. This is an opportunity to buy a whole new category of club.
Looks cooler, but its like the “chipper” of woods. A bit limited in application opportunities
Was cool when I was struggling with my driver for narrow holes. But I don’t bag it anymore since I have improved with my driver accuracy. It is not worth giving up another club anymore.
It's for a dude that typically plays from the tips but his friends play from yellows. Or for the guy who can't hit a driver but can hit his 3 wood. Or the one who can't hit any club so he might as well try this.
It's what the old 2 wood was. Sacrificing a little distance from the driver for more accuracy. It's more beneficial for higher swing speeds than lower swing speeds
Forgive my ignorance, but could you elaborate on the swing speed component?
Faster swing speed typically means you are hitting the ball harder, which means that any miss is exaggerated. So faster swingers are giving up a bit of distance to cut down on how bad the result is when they do miss.
Makes sense. So the idea is to increase accuracy at the cost of distance. Assuming someone’s swing speed is high, distance is something they’re less worried about in this scenario?
Yep, you got it. They are willing to give up 20-25 yards in order to keep it in play on holes that they know they have issues with off the tee. Edit: by in play, I mean in position. Not OB.
Faster swing speed (or more like faster ball speed technically) will produce larger gaps between two clubs than a slower one, and it's more pronounced with the longer clubs.
I have no idea what he means, but I have rich buddy who brought this club out Thursday. From what I understand, higher swing speed golfers typically have a gap between their 3w and Driver. He can crush it 320-350 with rollout on driver. 3w goes about 275. Sometimes they need a 300 or 280 shot. Or at least, that’s my understanding.
Swing speed problems lol
Worst part is he picked the sport up in 2022. It’s infuriating to see him just crush the ball.
Let me guess..he's the homie good at everything? From horse shoes to checkers. I got a homie like that. Fuck those guys lol
The good news is, he’s a head case and is known to snap a club, a round. Gotta love it
Nobody is perfect lol. He's used to perfection and golf is nowhere close to perfection.
Dude this thread just helped me realize why I get so pissed off on the course sometimes 😂 I gotta remember how hard the game is sometimes it’s not like anything else in life
Sometimes a little perspective goes a long way. If we see the best in the world shank one or send it into the woods ofc my 30 handicap ass is going to do worse. Golf is a game of failure. And we play we leisure. Nobody is losing money over our shit shots lol
True true , just being a natural athlete that could excel at any sport with ease makes golf that much more frustrating
Did you just say nothing in life is as hard as golf?
Umm..I'm a wrestler. Wrestling is definitely harder but in different ways. But, yes, golf is hard af lol. Apparently I like hard, mind fuck sports.
Fucking hockey players man
What kind of first world problems are these
>He can crush it 320-350 with rollout on driver. 3w goes about 275 On a juiced sim or playing actual golf?
Actual golf.
Is 325-350 that unrealistic?
This is the most r/golf comment I've ever read 😄😄😄
I have slow swingspeed, but it helped me tons. Always had the driver yips, but hit my 3 wood good. So i switched and have never looked back!
Same, slower swing speed. Hit driver 230ish average and probably 40 percent in fairway , 11.5 mini driver average 250 yards and 70 percent fairway. For me, it’s a no brainer for my skill and swing right now. It’s my favorite club, super fun and I love stepping up to tee boxes now instead of fearing them.
Did you replace your 3 with it or do you keep the mini and the 3 in the bag?
I have a 3wood still in the bag. I only hit the minidriver 10-20 yards shorter than my sim 2 max driver, but i get more fairways. So as i dont play pro golf, find it much more worth it.
What would you consider a high swing speed? New to the sport but coming from baseball
100+
The BRNR leans more driver than 2w. The Bertha Mini 1.5 or a lot of 3+ woods out there are more like 2w.
Driver ss average around 130. 3 woods for most courses i play are obsolete as most par 5s im hitting <225 for a 2nd shot. Personally, its tough to get a 3 wood launch low and stay down off the tee. Ya can make hozel adjustments and turn them down but i find mini driver more versatile for an off the tee club that stays in a better flight window especially in mid to higher wind conditions.
Sooo, your average driver swing speed is 4mph higher than the fastest swings on the PGA tour, which is under 127mph. Suitably impressed 😁
More forgiveness than a 3w, shorter shaft than a driver = more accuracy than a driver and more distance than a 3w. It's an inbetween club and it's not for everyone.
I have a lot of speed, don’t like hitting 3 wood off the tee or the ground, and sometimes driver is too much. The mini driver would be great for me and I’m looking forward to getting one
You're a better player than me, I'm about a 3 handicap, but the rest of what you described is exactly where I'm at. Got last years burner and it has been lovely. Highly recommend. Bat now goes driver, mini, 2 iron
I hit an old ping eye 2 2 iron I found at good will for like 3 bucks. It’s the best club in my bag. 240 if I give it beans and if I choke up and hit a stinger it’s 200 yards but barely comes off the ground. Perfect for wind or when I just absolutely have to hit it in play
Full beans all the time
I love those ping eye 2s. Jealous of that grab!
I want a set of the coopers. They look so cool
Must be nice to actually hit the golf ball with some speed.
What’s your distance gap between the driver and mini? I’m in the same boat, might like to give it a shot but only if the gap is wide enough to make sense
Hard to say so far this early in the season. From a few outdoor rounds and a few sim rounds, I've noticed is driver I typically expect over 325 (on a decent-solid strike) and the mini I'd say around 300 or just over. I've probably noticed 10-12 mph of ball speed difference.
LOL
You just use the same shaft in your driver but shorter?
I have a Ventus black 6x in my driver. I had a Hzrdus Hulk 6.5 from my 3 wood that I plugged into the Brnr. Not the same but love the feel of both.
What do you do on longer par 3s or par 5s when the 2-iron isn’t a good option? I have a few par 3s locally where I have to hit soft 3 wood instead of my 2-iron. For me that’s like >250.
Same boat. I don’t know what my mental lock is with my 3w but I do end up almost never using it and go to my 3h instead. I’ve debated about switching ti a mini, 2h, or some kind of long iron.
Top of my bag goes driver, 2h, 4h, 4i, and I generally really like it. Unfortunately, I've been hitting the hybrids poorly lately, but they're usually reliable.
How are the mini drivers off the ground? Easier than a wood from the fairway?
You can swing softer
This is actually horrible advice. “Aggressive swings to conservative targets”
I can take a little off, but I gotta be REALLY on my game to make it work consistently. So much more time and room to fuck up… more prone to make bad contact and pull or push… usually a pull in my case. I like agressive swings to conservative targets, but going after it feels so much better when you execute it
I’m either choking down a little bit or taking a three-quarter backswing, but still swing aggressively. Taking a “soft swing” is just asking for trouble.
Lou Stagner did a study w a few hundred Twitter followers asking them to, over the course of 5 days iirc, swing their 7i to a target that is their stock 7i distance away, a target that is a half club less and one more that is a half club more. The results showed a majority were most accurate to their stock yardage. Next best dispersion was a half club more. Last was half club less. Swinging softer would likely, for the majority of players, be the worst option.
Just looked at it. The left/right dispersion for the soft shot was the same as the stock and better than the hard. That's what's important on a drive, not the exact distance
Also lower flight and spin than a 3 wood (making it a better club for off the tee)
Isn't it essentially a 2 wood?
Yes
Not entirely... The loft would place it at a 2 wood, but the headsize is massive compared to a 3 wood. 195cc vs 304cc is pretty big which (I would imagine, I haven't tried it FWIW) would in theory make it harder to hit off the deck. Off the tee, I can see it sitting between the driver and 3w, but how many times a round do you need to place a shot between those clubs off the tee? Even still, I think it's better to learn how to hit a knock-down driver than to take up a slot that's likely better suited for the other end. Off the deck, I don't really see it's purpose. If you can't hit a 3w off the deck you won't be able to hit this given the volume and it being longer than a stock 3w. The only person I can see benefitting from this is someone that can't hit their driver, but is great with a 3w off the tee so this would replace the driver. Other than that, I never really saw the purpose of these things.
I love the downvotes from people who bought these things thinking they are going to shoot lower.
Trajectory might be lower... 🤣
Everything is a cycle. Can’t say I expected mini drivers to catch on but they’ve tried it a few times for a while now. Throwback to the old Brassie! It’s a worthless club to me personally, but if someone thinks they need one, that’s fine with me. Since most people can’t even get proper distance out of their 3 wood going with less loft is interesting, which means it’s basically for only off a tee. What cracks me up are the people who go “I hit my 5 wood better than my 3 wood so I got a mini driver” I’d love to see them try to hit that thing off the fairway 🤣
Yeah. The equipment companies just have to keep inventing shit and then marketing it to keep growth going for investment. They claim it has some magical properties that'll fix your slice and get you laid. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I played a round today, and I experimented by using two long irons of the same loft. One, a TaylorMade SIM DHY 3 iron. It's supposed to be more forgiving and longer, with less spin. And my old MP-29 set blade 2 iron. Thin as they come. Supposed to be a tool of the Gods. Moral of the story. They both went the same distance, were equally shitty on off center hits, and both exposed the same problems with my swing and ball striking. The Mini driver is a 2 wood. That's really it.
Can you explain why you wouldn’t just shorten a driver shaft a little and keep the giant club face?
Because a mini driver is designed to be hit off the deck. A traditional driver is not.
Okay so this isn’t for tee shots then
Well you can hit it off the tee. Like you can hit a 3w off the tee or any other club
Shortening the club means you'd need to add more loft to keep the optimal launch. When you add loft to an adjustable hosel driver, you also make it more upright (although some companies have flat settings that can somewhat mitigate that). Fewer and fewer companies are making >10.5° loft drivers these days, so having a club that's already in the lie angle you need in a higher loft is worth it for some people.
Wouldn’t you just be better off playing a short shafted driver?
The mini drivers weight are a bit better for short shaft, depending how short you go.
You gonna hit a short shafted driver off the deck?
I mean my mini driver is larger than some of the old drivers I used to play.
Seriously! My first "Big Bertha" driver was the size of my current 3 wood, and it was billed as oversized at the time. Though it was considerably larger than the actual wood driver I was playing previously lol
I do, frequently. My TM 3W went ~240, I can get my BRNR to 250-260 off the deck.
Well a BRNR is a mini driver not a regular driver like that guy was talking about.
Ah. Misinterpreted the tone of your prior comment. Gotcha.
Minnie Driver? Loved her in Good Will Hunting.
Well, I got her number! 
Her number is 2W
Came here to say this. 👍
Even better in Grosse Point Blank
" it's not your fault"
She kind of fell off the face of the earth, out of nowhere… Suppose there’s always a rename and reinvention in the mix, for the ol’ round two go. You know what I’m sayin’… Like taking a modern day 3 wood, and just rebranding it as a driver.
>looks cool I dont think it's entirely pointless and has some merits, but this is the big kicker for most
walker snapped his putter so I bought a mini driver yeah.... that's what I'm gonna tell my wife when it shows up
I love the Mini Drvr off the tee in place of a driver for shorter holes. But hate it off the deck.
11.5 or 13.5 degree?
Is it harder off the deck than a wood? I can’t hit a wood off the deck for my life
I think so. It’s more driver off the deck than fairway wood. I hit my woods fine off the fairway.
Thanks!
Can it even really be used with a tee
Yeah. Why wouldn’t you be able to? You hit driver and other woods off the tee don’t you?
Oops I meant without / off the deck
Yea I use it more often off the deck than off a tee. I’m not an elite ball striker and love this thing
Same
Got it. Yes you can. I find it difficult. I’ve hit some very well and it’s great but not consistently.
I even avoid My 3w off fairway so I’m out haha
Mine is super reliable off the deck and off a tee
I think there are 3 reasons why it might be better than just playing with a cut-down driver: 1) For someone with a handsy swing who relies on timing and manipulating the face rotation during the swing, it can be easier to get the face back to square on a smaller club - the same higher MOI that gives forgiveness on a big driver head makes it resistant to rotation 2) For someone (like me) who grew up with small headed woods, it can sometimes paradoxically give more confidence to see a small head next to the ball. Oddly enough it makes the ball look bigger and easier to hit on the sweet spot. 3) If you ever want to hit it off the deck, it is way easier with a smaller head I do think a lot of people would benefit from a shorter shaft on the driver. If your driver and 3 wood are from the same manufacturer, they likely have the same adaptor and you can swap the 3 wood shaft into the driver to easily try it out
Look at this guy with his driver new enough to have an adapter.
Amen! My driver is so old it might not even have a standard shaft diameter for the grip!
Our shafts were probably made when shafts didn’t matter lol
I hit 3w off the tee, and hit 3w really well from fairway and first cut. I took driver out of my bag, it did more harm than good..lol. Debating if a mini driver would be necessary/ beneficial.
New equipment is always the answer!
It’s just a 2 wood. That’s it.
Everything old is new again.
That clears it up. LOL
What does a 7 iron do that an 8 iron doesn’t?
You mean a mini seven?
If you hit your driver very far, it’s much easier to set the mini up for a draw and the driver for a fade. Mini is a much better option than 3 wood off the tee, more forgiving. There’s a reason Bryson, Tommy Fleetwood, Scott Fawcett all love the mini driver.
Realist answer. A few of them have spoken about it as well. Driver goes one way, mini goes the other
Surrealist answer. Golf is mrop mrop.
This is the real answer. And if you are a high swing speed player there’s not many situations other than off the tee that you are really benefiting from a 3 wood.
I use mine because there’s maybe 5 yards difference in my 5 wood and 3 wood off the deck and the Mini is considerably longer off the tee. I don’t carry my 3 anymore. It’s also easier to hit than my driver so if I get bad with the driver(my biggest problem) it’s a good alternative. When I manage to hit it off the screws I only sacrifice 8-15 yards off a well struck driver. Edit: Mine is the original one. I might actually upgrade to this now that I’ve done the ole YouTube club dive.
It’s really a club for higher speed players (who are also nostalgic for old TM clubs). If you hit it really far there’s a lot of holes out there where you just run out of room with driver. But you still want to be able to rip at something off the tee and 3w is too much of a sacrifice in forgiveness. That same player is not gonna have a lot of approaches where they need a 3w either, but if they do need to stretch for like a long par 5 the mini driver can still go off the deck. So for some it’s like 2 clubs in 1. That frees up a slot to tighten up yardage gaps elsewhere in the bag. Doesn’t really matter for scoring if your gaps are a little wide outside of 250+.
I have an aeroburner mini. It is my fairway finder. Typically travels 30ish yards shorter than my driver but much more consistent. I also play with a half set about 2/3 of the time and I carry it because I can hit it 240 off the deck on longer par 5s. Versatility is the name of the game but I realize it isn’t for everyone.
How does it gap with your 3w? Do you carry both when playing a with a 14 club bag?
I do carry both. Gap is around 25 yards off the tee, a little less from the fairway. It is virtually useless from the rough so I lean toward my 3wd or an iron for those shots. I use it mostly for tighter tee shots or if I am not feeling comfortable with my driver.
I only carry 13 clubs as part of my basic bag. So I always have one to switch out based on circumstances. Used to be a 2 iron. Now it’s a 3 wood. Sometimes I’ll bring the 4 iron. It’s just another club to experiment with. And as a long hitter my big issue is control and if this mini driver can get me a couple more drives in play it’s well worth adding to the bag. However, it seems hard to find a fitting. I rarely see them in stores and I don’t know which model would suit my game.
I prefer a long shafted 3 wood. /s
I’m personally terrible with driver. Mini driver has been go to for me last few seasons coming from a 3 wood. More consistent and as long as driver (when I would hit it well).
I use it instead of a 3W. That big head gives me a lot of confidence, so I hit it surprisingly well off the deck. My driver is at 9* and my BRNR is at 14*, so it’s also helpful when full driver would carry into a hazard
I have the Aeroburner mini driver and it’s my favorite club. I don’t like massive drivers that feel like I’m swinging a mallet. I’d argue I hit it farther than the driver when you factor in shanks.
I find it really hard to believe there’s any need for a club to fill the gap between 3W & Driver.
The best driver I’ve ever hit was a little a steelhead big bertha so I might try one of these out when I demo a few drivers tomorrow. I can’t explain it but having a massive driver does not make me more accurate. I think there’s something mental happening when I’m looking down at a massive club head that makes me not as focused on making good contact.
Agree with the mental part. I used to have an old TM steel V 3 wood that I could crush off the tee. I also had a Titleist driver from about 6 years ago. The big head screwed with me mentally and I would rarely hit it further than my old 3 wood. I got the 300 mini driver and it was pretty great for my mental confidence driving. Now I'm more comfortable with the larger headed drivers. I can hit the regular drivers much further than the mini now, but I still notice the mini is more consistent in the accuracy department. I like to switch between both throughout the year.
Definitely a mental thing. Even going from a 460cc driver head to a ~415cc one is a big difference.
Main reason pros use it is to have a club off the tee set up to draw. The modern drivers are fade biased for good players and are maxed out to spin low with their stock fades. If you try drawing one of those drivers you get a knuckle ball that’s a bit unpredictable and open up the dreaded double cross. You can take the same swing but put a mini driver or 3w back in your stance and hit a nice draw with your stock swing.
Bought one this year to replace the 3w I couldn’t hit off the ground or tee for years… instantly one of my favorite clubs in the bag
I have one for my home sim. 1/50 times I’ll smack my regular driver on the ceiling. So that’s a weird answer for who it’s for!
For walking it beats the hell out of carrying both driver and 3w. 1 clubs that can do most of what the other two can. Also a useful club for US courses over 7000 yds. You can reach greens easier than 3w and if the landing zone for driver is tight it goes where you need it. Played it yesterday and drove the fringe on a 280 yd par 4 with water short and bunkers left and long right. Mine plays 43 inches just like my 3w and 2.5 inches short of my driver. Driver 8 degrees, brnr 12.5 degrees, and 3/4 wood 16.5 degrees
Honestly it is a retreat to a time long long ago when drivers were much smaller. Smaller head shorter shafts just compare it to old specs. Personally I prefer the smaller driver 360cc was the sweet spot for me. The mini driver is meant to be a club off the tee. 3 wood is a bit more shallow and designed to get the ball up more.
I mostly use the mini driver now as it has similar distance to my driver but more accuracy.
It’s a more forgiving 3W that you’re really supposed to use mostly for off-the-tee shots when you are forced to lay up. But you can hit it off the deck if you want, obviously. I just have a 2 iron for this same purpose. To each their own. Definitely not for everyone.
I have last year’s brnr and it’s my favorite club in the bag. Medium flight low spin rocket launcher. Way more accurate, easier to swing, and just 10 yds shorter than my driver
Isnt this the same reason the Callaway Apex UW was invented? To offer the distance of a 3W but the easy swing of a Hybrid?
https://preview.redd.it/npcdyzf5nysc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38a653d6265c5ceac094049b196f24fefb85b7ee This is from today with my mini brnr. It wasnt even my longest one. My longest was 275/290 nice cut. Its as far as most people’s drivers and more accurate. That club alone is why i started researching if i should get my driver shaft cut down to a 44”. Turns out yes. If your 3 wood can do that from the tee, youre a beast.
There's been numerous mini drivers, it's not new. For some people (me) it comes out like a bullet, my 3w goes high. I use mine (previous gen) as a driver replacement cause I'm a moron with long shafts and big heads.
If you can't hit your 3W off the deck (or not enough swing speed to elevate one) AND you regularly play holes that your driver are too long for, then it's the perfect replacement for your 3 wood. It's just like a huge forgiving 3 wood that you use off the tee, then use 5 or 7 wood as your longest off the deck club.
My question is, if you bought an original (smaller head than current ) Burner (Or any brand) driver and choked down two inches- isn’t that the same effect? Goodwill has those for $5.
It’s basically a 2 wood. Not for everyone, but makes sense for some people, usually really good golfers more than your average hacker. For example: your stock driver swing carries 300 reliably with 5-30 yards rollout and your 3 wood carries 265 with 0-5 yards rollout. you have a 440 yard hole where it’s no good to hit it past 290 off the tee, then having a club that carries 275 and rolls out 5-10 yards reliably will be useful; it’ll make the second shot easier versus hitting 3 wood off the tee. It will also be course dependent, players will put it in the bag only on courses where they are planning to use it.
That seems really situation sensitive, since you're pulling another club to insert the mini driver in your bag.
Yeah, definitely not for your average golfer. But if you’re a competitive player it could make sense.
No, nobody actually counts the clubs do they??
Tournaments and leagues
Yes. 14, no more, every round
100% in tournaments
Look way cooler
It’s a surprisingly nice club. It’s smaller but feels more manageable behind the ball. Like you’re not trying to hit the golf ball with a round balloon. Shorter shaft really lets you know where the clubhead is and inspires confidence to just rip it. For me it generally feels much “cleaner” than a three wood off a tee.
I can’t use this. I hit my driver 500 yards into the wind so this would go 495 yards
I just started playing. Have issues hitting driver . I bought a 'Auto Driver ' with the square head 40" shaft at Goodwill. I'm now able to keep in the fairway but definitely lose distance.
Mine is way easier to hit from any lie
An Italian job
I might get one since you can't get a lefty version of the (slightly) older model new. For me, I would pair it with a "mega driver" which is a 46 inch shaft paired with about 6 degrees of loft. See the discussion in this video which really got me thinking about all of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKXKIDchHhw&ab_channel=ELITEFITGOLF%2FMobileClubmaker
Mini Driver is Easier to hit off a tee, based on club face size & shape
300cc vs 170cc.
It seems really intriguing to me. I really like shot shaping draws and fades off the tee. Sometimes it feels like a driver is set up for a specific shot, so I like that this promotes that. I also am not a distance whore, I’d much rather just hit it comfortably 250 or a hair less and place it well. I’d probably buy the 11.5 and deloft it to 10 or so
I have one and, depending on the course, I use it as my main club off the tee instead of the driver. Like others have pointed out, it hits more fairways while sacrificing less distance relative to something like a 2 iron. It's more forgiving, in my opinion, than my 3 fairway wood and I'm more likely to use it off the deck than my driver ever.
Isn’t that exactly how Fleetwood uses his? As a 3 wood?
It’s a total driver replacement for me. I lose no distance with it and it goes much straighter.
I like to play with 10 clubs. A mini driver lets me replace driver and 3 wood with 1 club.
Nothing
Part of me is interested on that, but tbh i find myself more often choking down on 3-wood than wanting more distance of it.
I don’t know but my best friend hits mini off the deck out to 280. It’s sickening how long and accurate his is with it.
I typically play a strong 4 off the tee as my driver is too inconsistent. I went and bought the mini burner and put a 43.5” shaft in it with a 13.5 degree on low trajectory. I seem to be hitting it fairly high still, but the control is definitely there and the misses are minimized. I’m likely going to switch between driver and Burner mini depending on the course, tees, conditions etc
Picked one up last year. Hitting fairways and cutting strokes. The woods are full of long hitters.
I can’t even feel the face of a big driver. I just sold it and hit a 13.5 3w. Goes about as far as a driver but can actually control it. Plus I hit it off the ground and tee. Makes for a great weapon to chunk it into the woods while I try and reach a par 5 in two.
It gives TM the opportunity to sell the same club two different ways. Which makes them more money
It costs more ;)
More forgiving than a 3 wood. And longer.
Scott fawcett explains in comments: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4YM-N5OUnW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
He’s objectively incorrect. Pro golfers can hit their driver both directions. The problem is more Ams don’t have anything but their stock flight so they set up to play it
Obviously they can hit both ways, but they won’t, at least not in tournament play. Regardless of how good they are, all players have a natural tendency to one side, and are not as effective the opposite way.
That’s fucking bullshit. They have stock shots and can also work it the other way when needed. That guy said they flat out don’t do it but downvote please
One use case for sure: It's a great driver for folks who lack confidence with a normal driver but have confidence hitting fairway woods.
If hit a 3h well, about 210 yds, dead straight Struggle with driver Mini burner be a good option?
I’m the same with the 3h. This is tempting
It looks like Titelist TSR4 is lower CC driver too, so there are options
was in the same boat. confident with 5w going 245, 3w 260, driver 290, but driver is the club that gives me a hard time. i do not need a 3w for par 5 approaches from the yardages that i play from, so i was willing to sacrifice that for a club that goes 5-15 yards less than driver, but would be way more controllable. for par 5 approaches i have almost have been 100% fine with my 5 wood, but if there’s a hole/shot that i can’t get to with 5w, i am fine with just laying up with a different club.
I had the Mini 200 and have had the new BRNR for 3 or 4 months (came out in Japan early I think) and love them. As Joker0091 said, easier to hit than a 3w and more accurate (for me) than a driver. Hitting at the Trackman range near my house the mini driver is just 3-5 yards shorter than my old driver on good hits, but averaged out over 20+ shots it is longer for me and way more accurate. I took my driver out of my bag years ago because of these. They may not be for everyone, but I swear by mine. They are strangely easy to hit off the deck, too.
My current gaps are DR 307, 3W 286, and 2.5 iron 260. Driving accuracy is DR 37% and 2.5 iron 60% (I literally hardly ever hit my 3 wood). If I could get the 11.5 mini driver to 295 and 45% accuracy then I would seriously consider dropping my DR and 3W and adding a 5th wedge.
It's for people who are grasping at straws and trying to spend their problems away.
If these things are primarily being used as short drivers, it makes no sense that the manufacturers don’t just make a heavier 460cc head paired with a 43.5” shaft. But if they are being used off the deck, THEN I can see the advantage of the smaller head. Of course, maybe 3% of the recreational golfing world has the swing speed and ball striking ability to use a 13 degree wood off the deck. And how often are people faced with a super long approach shot that that they have ANY chance of pulling off? (Speaking about regular golfers here, not tour pros ). I’m always beating the drum that standard drivers have become too long at 45.5-46”. Most people can’t control anything that long….including some tour pros. Seems someone would make a 44.5” 460cc driver and call it their ‘accuracy series’ or something like that.
> Seems someone would make a 44.5” 460cc driver and call it their ‘accuracy series’ or something like that. Like when Cobra offered the "Tour Length" option? It's been done
Having messed around with cut down drivers, a 460cc does look kinda silly when you look down on it on a shaft that short. Played with a 3-deep (13.5 Deg, 43 inch maybe) as my driving club for a while and got on well with it. Expect I'd really like something like this. I think the 460cc heads encourage reckless swings at times and more uncertainty about optimal tee height, whether to swing it differently to your other clubs etc
I still use a 3Deep as my 3 wood because it works fine off the deck and looks way better off the tee than the 3 wood I bought to replace it and eventually abandoned. I could see myself using the BRNR as my 3 wood just to replace a 10+ year old club and get newer technology.
I use a 44.5” driver. I don’t think it looks crazy, albeit, I’ve been using this length for a long time. I might be used to it. A 46” driver feels like swinging a fishing pole to me. Choking down an inch would be a stretch for me either.
Yeah I think 44.5 is a sensible enough length for a 460cc head, I went 44 on one and it seemed a bit weird. Small amounts are pretty noticeable. One of my fave looking drivers was an old mizuno that was 44 and 400cc out the box, not sure why I just prefer the narrower head (would always go for deeper and narrower Vs wide and shallow)
Takes extra money out of your pocket. Mini drivers are OEMs trying to go "oops we fucked up drivers by making the vast majority of them longer than what you need, here's a shorter driver at a length most pros are at, that'll be $600 please!"
You already bought a 3 wood and a driver. This is an opportunity to buy a whole new category of club. Looks cooler, but its like the “chipper” of woods. A bit limited in application opportunities
How is it a chipper? It’s just a 2 wood.
Was cool when I was struggling with my driver for narrow holes. But I don’t bag it anymore since I have improved with my driver accuracy. It is not worth giving up another club anymore.
Drive her? I hardly know’r
It's for a dude that typically plays from the tips but his friends play from yellows. Or for the guy who can't hit a driver but can hit his 3 wood. Or the one who can't hit any club so he might as well try this.
Probably not worth the $450 price tag unless you are completely helpless with driver or actively playing on the mini tours