Is this Mini a straight driver replacement?

[Erin B]

53 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

A little bit of background about me. I'm currently playing a Paradym AI Smoke Triple Diamond Max Tour issue with a 2024 Ventus Black 7X tipped an inch. I am 6'9" with long levers so I generate a lot of speed. Anywhere from 127-131 club. I am also admittedly not a great ball striker so ball speeds could be higher but usually end up in the 182-187 range. For me that was the best I could find as far as driver goes when it comes to forgiving but still maintaining low enough spin to not balloon. I had played a few rounds and hit a few more good drives than I normally would have so I was excited about it. I got the Callaway TI 340 mini driver as a replacement for 3 wood since I normally only hit 3 wood off the tee. I figured the mini driver may be easier to hit than three wood and could be used on tighter tee shots.

 

Last Saturday I went out with that set up at the top of the bag and this is what transpired.

1: Mini driver, Fairway, Bogey (flubbed approach shot)

2: Mini driver, Fairway, Birdie

3. Driver, Rough, Bogey

4: par 3

5: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

6: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

7: Mini driver, fairway, par

8: par 3

9: Driver, rough, par

10: Driver, native, bogey

11: Driver, water, bogey

12: par 3

13: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

14: Mini driver, drove the green, birdie

15: Mini driver, fairway, par (toughest driving hole on the course)

16: Driver, native, triple

17: par 3

18: Driver, rough, bogey

I looked back at my round, realized I was +7 when I teed off with driver, E when I teed off with mini driver, and +1 on par 3s because I can't putt (don't worry we are working on this).

 

I decided to look back at my last 10 rounds and see what the biggest issue was from a statistical standpoint. Regardless of how many times I have heard it and no matter how many times I have realized it, I just kept hitting driver bad and ruining what could be far better rounds if I just hit a few more fairways. Driver is the problem. I don't want to abandon it yet and may cut it down to a shorter playing length to try and hit more fairways. I do think at this point that maybe it's time to move on and just play mini driver at the top of the bag and deal with a small loss of yardage. I hit mini driver far enough to keep up with or surpass my playing partners still so I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything. The plan is to hit mini driver more and see if I am scoring better and maybe just make the mini my longest club.

 

Those of you have have switched to mini driver as your only driver, what have you seen?

Right now I am in the same boat as you. I cannot seem to hit a driver lately. The minis (I have both, the Callaway as 2W, the BRNR as 3W) are in the fairway or short rough. Earlier in the year I was hitting the driver just fine. May be time for a fitting check at Collindale Academy in Fort Collins CO.

[Shrek74]

48 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

A little bit of background about me. I'm currently playing a Paradym AI Smoke Triple Diamond Max Tour issue with a 2024 Ventus Black 7X tipped an inch. I am 6'9" with long levers so I generate a lot of speed. Anywhere from 127-131 club. I am also admittedly not a great ball striker so ball speeds could be higher but usually end up in the 182-187 range. For me that was the best I could find as far as driver goes when it comes to forgiving but still maintaining low enough spin to not balloon. I had played a few rounds and hit a few more good drives than I normally would have so I was excited about it. I got the Callaway TI 340 mini driver as a replacement for 3 wood since I normally only hit 3 wood off the tee. I figured the mini driver may be easier to hit than three wood and could be used on tighter tee shots.

 

Last Saturday I went out with that set up at the top of the bag and this is what transpired.

1: Mini driver, Fairway, Bogey (flubbed approach shot)

2: Mini driver, Fairway, Birdie

3. Driver, Rough, Bogey

4: par 3

5: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

6: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

7: Mini driver, fairway, par

8: par 3

9: Driver, rough, par

10: Driver, native, bogey

11: Driver, water, bogey

12: par 3

13: Mini driver, just off fairway, par

14: Mini driver, drove the green, birdie

15: Mini driver, fairway, par (toughest driving hole on the course)

16: Driver, native, triple

17: par 3

18: Driver, rough, bogey

I looked back at my round, realized I was +7 when I teed off with driver, E when I teed off with mini driver, and +1 on par 3s because I can't putt (don't worry we are working on this).

 

I decided to look back at my last 10 rounds and see what the biggest issue was from a statistical standpoint. Regardless of how many times I have heard it and no matter how many times I have realized it, I just kept hitting driver bad and ruining what could be far better rounds if I just hit a few more fairways. Driver is the problem. I don't want to abandon it yet and may cut it down to a shorter playing length to try and hit more fairways. I do think at this point that maybe it's time to move on and just play mini driver at the top of the bag and deal with a small loss of yardage. I hit mini driver far enough to keep up with or surpass my playing partners still so I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything. The plan is to hit mini driver more and see if I am scoring better and maybe just make the mini my longest club.

 

Those of you have have switched to mini driver as your only driver, what have you seen?

I'm jealous of that TD Max head you have. I missed out on grabbing one of those.

If you can, don't chop down by such a large amount. Try to do it in smaller amounts and then utilize blowing your grip on and off to reuse the same grip as you test. Maybe 1/4" or 1/2" increments.

I'm playing both my TM Mini and Ti 340 Mini just shy of 44" playing length. Basically cut at 43 3/4" playing length, then gripped. They seem to be doing very well as I'm hitting more FW's and when I miss it's much closer than it was. Both are missing left/right at about the same amount, but my TM stays in play more.

Here's the Breakdown for me, for whatever that's worth:

13% of my Ti 340 Mini drives end up OB. 4% of my BRNR drives end up OB. That's not nothing. That's 7 shots vs 3 1/3 shots.

Again, take all this for whatever it's worth to you.

I'm also adding a new Mizuno STMax driver into the mix to see if I can find a length with that driver that can work for me. I'd rather have a 44" full size driver than the mini for it's benefits. But we'll see how that goes.

[bigzb4412]

52 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

I'm jealous of that TD Max head you have. I missed out on grabbing one of those.

If you can, don't chop down by such a large amount. Try to do it in smaller amounts and then utilize blowing your grip on and off to reuse the same grip as you test. Maybe 1/4" or 1/2" increments.

I'm playing both my TM Mini and Ti 340 Mini just shy of 44" playing length. Basically cut at 43 3/4" playing length, then gripped. They seem to be doing very well as I'm hitting more FW's and when I miss it's much closer than it was. Both are missing left/right at about the same amount, but my TM stays in play more.

Here's the Breakdown for me, for whatever that's worth:

13% of my Ti 340 Mini drives end up OB. 4% of my BRNR drives end up OB. That's not nothing. That's 7 shots vs 3 1/3 shots.

Again, take all this for whatever it's worth to you.

I'm also adding a new Mizuno STMax driver into the mix to see if I can find a length with that driver that can work for me. I'd rather have a 44" full size driver than the mini for it's benefits. But we'll see how that goes.

 

54 minutes ago, Erin B said:

Right now I am in the same boat as you. I cannot seem to hit a driver lately. The minis (I have both, the Callaway as 2W, the BRNR as 3W) are in the fairway or short rough. Earlier in the year I was hitting the driver just fine. May be time for a fitting check at Collindale Academy in Fort Collins CO.

 

1 hour ago, Josh Parker said:

I play at 44.75in and as far as weighting, you can get weights off Amazon pretty cheap to make up the difference and fix swing weight. 

I think cutting down driver a little bit at first is going to be my first move.

Shrek, the TD Max head is unreal. Have hit some of the best drives of my life with it and that is why I don't want to abandon it just yet. I think that getting it down to a more manageable length will be helpful. I had been playing more forgiving heads in hopes of keeping the ball on the planet but in the wind they were unplayable for me. This head is still quite forgiving and still ridiculously deep. Haven't been on a trackman with it yet but on course performance has been amazing on the great to medium good strike spectrum.

Erin, I really had a hard time with the Brnr copper and just about gave up on mini drivers but was so intrigued by the Callaway I had to give it a shot and I'm glad I did. I have never been up to Collindale as I'm south of Denver a little bit but I hear great things about the place.

Josh, I have looked into weights and just wouldn't know where to start necessarily. Will have to do some research and testing to even see what swing weight is right for me. I have the heavy weight forward and the light weight back is about the extent of my knowledge when it comes to that right now. Also have a DF3 on the way to help with the putting woes. Hoping to see some improvement there.

Hoping to get a few range sessions and rounds in the next couple weeks to get this all dialed in before a tournament I'm looking forward to in September. Will try and get on a trackman and report back with my findings.

 

[Josh Parker]

2 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

Josh, I have looked into weights and just wouldn't know where to start necessarily. Will have to do some research and testing to even see what swing weight is right for me. I have the heavy weight forward and the light weight back is about the extent of my knowledge when it comes to that right now. Also have a DF3 on the way to help with the putting woes. Hoping to see some improvement there

There are some calculators out there and there is a big group of builders here that could probably help more than I can, but I imagine it's only a couple grams extra to keep everything the same once you trim the shaft. 

[Erin B]

7 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

 

 

I think cutting down driver a little bit at first is going to be my first move.

Shrek, the TD Max head is unreal. Have hit some of the best drives of my life with it and that is why I don't want to abandon it just yet. I think that getting it down to a more manageable length will be helpful. I had been playing more forgiving heads in hopes of keeping the ball on the planet but in the wind they were unplayable for me. This head is still quite forgiving and still ridiculously deep. Haven't been on a trackman with it yet but on course performance has been amazing on the great to medium good strike spectrum.

Erin, I really had a hard time with the Brnr copper and just about gave up on mini drivers but was so intrigued by the Callaway I had to give it a shot and I'm glad I did. I have never been up to Collindale as I'm south of Denver a little bit but I hear great things about the place.

Josh, I have looked into weights and just wouldn't know where to start necessarily. Will have to do some research and testing to even see what swing weight is right for me. I have the heavy weight forward and the light weight back is about the extent of my knowledge when it comes to that right now. Also have a DF3 on the way to help with the putting woes. Hoping to see some improvement there.

Hoping to get a few range sessions and rounds in the next couple weeks to get this all dialed in before a tournament I'm looking forward to in September. Will try and get on a trackman and report back with my findings.

 

I love the south Denver area. My daughter played hockey in Littleton for Colorado Select for years. It was tough on us to drive from Cheyenne to Littleton 5 days a week but the time I got to spend with her is priceless. I just played Thorncreek in Thornton on Saturday, hit the mini so well I only hit a driver once. I messed with the weights a couple times and ended up back to stock with the heavier weight in the back. I do have a shorter shaft in the driver today but I'm taking the day off from golf. May play or practice tomorrow but I'm also on the mend from tennis (golf) elbow in my lead arm so I think that is also a contributing factor on my drives. I don't have a scheduled tee time until Wednesday so maybe I chill.

[Shrek74]

15 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

I think cutting down driver a little bit at first is going to be my first move.

Shrek, the TD Max head is unreal. Have hit some of the best drives of my life with it and that is why I don't want to abandon it just yet. I think that getting it down to a more manageable length will be helpful. I had been playing more forgiving heads in hopes of keeping the ball on the planet but in the wind they were unplayable for me. This head is still quite forgiving and still ridiculously deep. Haven't been on a trackman with it yet but on course performance has been amazing on the great to medium good strike spectrum.

I think I need to grab one while I can. I have a rewards cert with GG plus some funds that were refunded from GG. Plus, Rakuten is offering 9% cash back at GG right now. So I'm thinking I need to grab one.

[Shrek74]

3 minutes ago, Erin B said:

I love the south Denver area. My daughter played hockey in Littleton for Colorado Select for years. It was tough on us to drive from Cheyenne to Littleton 5 days a week but the time I got to spend with her is priceless. I just played Thorncreek in Thornton on Saturday, hit the mini so well I only hit a driver once. I messed with the weights a couple times and ended up back to stock with the heavier weight in the back. I do have a shorter shaft in the driver today but I'm taking the day off from golf. May play or practice tomorrow but I'm also on the mend from tennis (golf) elbow in my lead arm so I think that is also a contributing factor on my drives. I don't have a scheduled tee time until Wednesday so maybe I chill.

Haha, I used to live in Thorncreek the first time I lived in Denver. That's funny how small of a world it is.  I also lived in Centennial, which isn't horribly far from Littleton.

When I worked in Longmont, we had a data center in Cheyenne as well that I made more than a few trips to.

Funny things like this just amuse me.

[bigzb4412]

3 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

Haha, I used to live in Thorncreek the first time I lived in Denver. That's funny how small of a world it is.  I also lived in Centennial, which isn't horribly far from Littleton.

When I worked in Longmont, we had a data center in Cheyenne as well that I made more than a few trips to.

Funny things like this just amuse me.

 

8 minutes ago, Erin B said:

I love the south Denver area. My daughter played hockey in Littleton for Colorado Select for years. It was tough on us to drive from Cheyenne to Littleton 5 days a week but the time I got to spend with her is priceless. I just played Thorncreek in Thornton on Saturday, hit the mini so well I only hit a driver once. I messed with the weights a couple times and ended up back to stock with the heavier weight in the back. I do have a shorter shaft in the driver today but I'm taking the day off from golf. May play or practice tomorrow but I'm also on the mend from tennis (golf) elbow in my lead arm so I think that is also a contributing factor on my drives. I don't have a scheduled tee time until Wednesday so maybe I chill.

Crazy small world! Grew up all over the country but most of the formative years around here. Found my way back and hope to never have to leave again!

[Erin B]

2 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

Haha, I used to live in Thorncreek the first time I lived in Denver. That's funny how small of a world it is.  I also lived in Centennial, which isn't horribly far from Littleton.

When I worked in Longmont, we had a data center in Cheyenne as well that I made more than a few trips to.

Funny things like this just amuse me.

Wow!!! It is a small world! I love playing CO courses. My favorite is Highland Meadows. Thorncreek is a fantastic course, didn't score well, but now that I've played it once, GAME ON!

[Erin B]

1 minute ago, bigzb4412 said:

 

Crazy small world! Grew up all over the country but most of the formative years around here. Found my way back and hope to never have to leave again!

I don't want to leave Cheyenne but the cold winters are starting to wear on me.

[Shrek74]

Just now, bigzb4412 said:

Crazy small world! Grew up all over the country but most of the formative years around here. Found my way back and hope to never have to leave again!

I was a bit of the opposite. We did move a few times with dad's job growing up, but in my adult life I have a 2+ page Word doc with all my address history.  Including 3 stops in the Denver area (Thornton, Broomfield, Centennial). There's likely 1 more move or me after I lose my dad (no rush), which will be either back to Phoenix or up to NV (LV or Mesquite) for retirement.

[Erin B]

4 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

I was a bit of the opposite. We did move a few times with dad's job growing up, but in my adult life I have a 2+ page Word doc with all my address history.  Including 3 stops in the Denver area (Thornton, Broomfield, Centennial). There's likely 1 more move or me after I lose my dad (no rush), which will be either back to Phoenix or up to NV (LV or Mesquite) for retirement.

I could totally do Mesquite! Spousal unit couldn't she wants the coast. FLA looks like my future...

[Shrek74]

2 minutes ago, Erin B said:

I could totally do Mesquite! Spousal unit couldn't she wants the coast. FLA looks like my future...

Mesquite is probably top of the list as of today. New home vs LV which would be a gut job on a resale. Both would be DelWebb communities (Sun City Mesquite, Sun City Summerlin) with courses all around.

Be sure to have your mosquito repellent in one hand, and gator repellent in the other while you're playing.

[Erin B]

2 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

Mesquite is probably top of the list as of today. New home vs LV which would be a gut job on a resale. Both would be DelWebb communities (Sun City Mesquite, Sun City Summerlin) with courses all around.

Be sure to have your mosquito repellent in one hand, and gator repellent in the other while you're playing.

Have an annual trip to Mesquite in March for up to 10 rounds of golf between St George and Mesquite. Mostly Mesquite.

[Erin B]

Well spies, the Callaway mini is now the driver for probably the rest of the season. Here goes nothing ! With both minis in my bag I just think I need to play them exclusively. The Driver just isn’t working for me since the elbow injury. And although I’m feeling way better, the consistency is what I need most right now. I love the Paradym TD, just not hitting it as consistently as the Callaway mini and the BRNR mini. I feel this is the best option going forward this season. I’ll continue to work on the driver during practices but I need the extra slot in the bag. GAME ON for the rest of the season!

Let's finish this!

 

[CFreddie]

2 minutes ago, Erin B said:

Well spies, the Callaway mini is now the driver for probably the rest of the season. Here goes nothing ! With both minis in my bag I just think I need to play them exclusively. The Driver just isn’t working for me since the elbow injury. And although I’m feeling way better, the consistency is what I need most right now. I love the Paradym TD, just not hitting it as consistently as the Callaway mini and the BRNR mini. I feel this is the best option going forward this season. I’ll continue to work on the driver during practices but I need the extra slot in the bag. GAME ON for the rest of the season!

Let's finish this!

 

Feel free to send one of those minis to me if they start collecting dust

Good luck and God Speed - excited to see how this plays out @Erin B!

[Josh Parker]

5 minutes ago, Erin B said:

Well spies, the Callaway mini is now the driver for probably the rest of the season. Here goes nothing ! With both minis in my bag I just think I need to play them exclusively. The Driver just isn’t working for me since the elbow injury. And although I’m feeling way better, the consistency is what I need most right now. I love the Paradym TD, just not hitting it as consistently as the Callaway mini and the BRNR mini. I feel this is the best option going forward this season. I’ll continue to work on the driver during practices but I need the extra slot in the bag. GAME ON for the rest of the season!

Let's finish this!

 

They are consistent and predictable. 

[Erin B]

1 hour ago, Josh Parker said:

They are consistent and predictable. 

It was a tough decision. I love the Paradym, but it doesn’t love me right now. 

[Shrek74]

For me, the BRNR is in the bag. It's been far more predictable and consistent than the Ti 340. I'll continue to work on it, hut not till after the member-member on the 10th-11th. Plus, I'll have the TD Max to work with as well as the STMax. I think I may have a bit of a sickness.

[Just_the_Chip]

I just picked up a new to me 2024 brnr. With the weights on the bottom I’ve heard that heavy in the front means low piercing less spin? And heavy in the rear means higher flight but more forgiving? How does the back heavy weight increase forgiveness? 
 

thanks

[Josh Parker]

26 minutes ago, Just_the_Chip said:

I just picked up a new to me 2024 brnr. With the weights on the bottom I’ve heard that heavy in the front means low piercing less spin? And heavy in the rear means higher flight but more forgiving? How does the back heavy weight increase forgiveness? 
 

thanks

It creates a better center of gravity and MOI with the weight in the back. Higher flight and more forgiving. 

[Shrek74]

16 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

It creates a better center of gravity and MOI with the weight in the back. Higher flight and more forgiving. 

 

[Shrek74]

Played another round yesterday with the BRNR. One thing I changed was I turned it down from 11.5* (std) to 10*. That also increased the lie angle by 1.25* and the face was now 3* open. I had hoped those two would cancel each other out and I'd still get a relatively straight ball flight but with less loft. Not so much. I was far more inconsistent with it than I'd been in the previous rounds. I had a couple lost balls that I think were caused by my overcompensating the face angle by closing down the face at grip/address. I'm going to put it back to standard for this weekend's member-member, and then work on the setting changes on the range to see if I can just let it be with those lie/face changes the settings add.

I did have a few good swings with good distance. My last swing of the day was me saying "I'm swinging out of my shoes" because I was exhausted and drained. Ended up being my straightest ball flight of the day, right down the middle at 235 yards (second longest non-cart path aided drive). Parred the par 5 18th, so maybe that's a lesson for me to swing out of my shoes every time. *shrug*

[Shrek74]

I'm still having a bit of a fade issue with the BRNR after our member-member last weekend. I had a lot of quality balls, but still not where I want the overall to be.

I'm very likely selling the Ti340, keeping the BRNR. I also have the STMax 230 and a TD Max coming to test out. I'll have a couple Blue RDX shafts to use with the TD Max, so I feel ok letting the Ti340 go.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

According to a thread on WRX, someone stated PGASS told them the callaway mini's are discontinued and that TM has a trademark on the term Mini Driver. Curious how this all plays out and if there is any fire to this smoke of a rumor.

[Josh Parker]

40 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

According to a thread on WRX, someone stated PGASS told them the callaway mini's are discontinued and that TM has a trademark on the term Mini Driver. Curious how this all plays out and if there is any fire to this smoke of a rumor.

First I have heard of it.  

[bigzb4412]

Little update here. Put a driver head on the shaft I had in the Callaway mini driver and have no real use for it anymore. Same or better dispersion and more distance. Seems like it was a length thing for me.

[Josh Parker]

53 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

Little update here. Put a driver head on the shaft I had in the Callaway mini driver and have no real use for it anymore. Same or better dispersion and more distance. Seems like it was a length thing for me.

This is how I play mine.  I have my old Paradym Newton Shaft in the mini at 44.75in and have loved it!

[bigzb4412]

44 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

This is how I play mine.  I have my old Paradym Newton Shaft in the mini at 44.75in and have loved it!

My apologies. I put Mini Driver shaft into AI Smoke Max TD 8* head. 

[Josh Parker]

50 minutes ago, bigzb4412 said:

My apologies. I put Mini Driver shaft into AI Smoke Max TD 8* head. 

ah.... all good.  lol  Glad to hear that its working out well for you!  I'm sure you are making consistent contact on the face.