I have the Callaway Mini driver from a few years back, but to be honest it hasn't been used very much.

I like the concept... I can adjust the loft from 12º all the way up to 16º and it is a very handsome-looking club. But... the oversized head and deeper face make it very challenging to use off of tight lies as a fairway wood option, at least for those of us who struggle obtaining a shallower angle of attack on our fairway wood shots and tend to come in more steeply. I love it off the tee on the shorter par4's, and perhaps as an option on the longer par3's at my club into the wind playing 200 yards or better. But just like every other club - it requires a good swing and there's not a lot of forgiveness off the deck... you have to be exact.

Of course - that's more of a swing-flaw problem than the overall design of the club.

Hoping that perhaps next season I can tidy up that aspect of my long game and put it in the bag a little more often.


Sounds like I'm the oldball. I bag my driver AND a Mini 1.5. The driver is a tad bit longer off the tee, but not much. Driver if more difficult to turn over and can be relied on for a "power fade". Mini is much easier to turn over and will give me a nice baby draw. Even with the draw, just a little shorter. It also can double as a "fairway thriver" where I have it set. Driver XR16 10.5 set +2 @12.5. Mini 1.5 14 set +2 @16. Have two holes on our home course that demand right to left off the tee with big trouble right. I always hit the Mini off those boxes. Most other holes I'll use the driver... as long as it got up on the right side of the bed that day. If the driver is a little balky early in the round, I have no problem just hitting the Mini.
I have dropped the shorter Mini shaft into the driver head. Haven't seemed to gain anything in consistency, ball flight characteristics, distance. With two different driver shafts and the Mini shaft, found myself switching too often and losing consistency with "unfamiliarity". Have left the same driver shaft in the XR16 for a number of rounds, now, and have really found its likes and dislikes.
I don't carry a 3-wood. I do carry a 5-wood that I love and hit really well. Depending on certain shots into a strong wind or if I am really striking the ball well that day, I'll hit the Mini off the fairway. Not consistent enough with it off the deck to depend on it on an every day basis.

Spuzz Just curious how those are working out for you??? Distance compared to your
460 ccc driver????? I've had my eye on a 420 component head on Ebay for a while now......

      LBlack14 I don't think average golfers make enough consistent contact with a 3w/smaller head. Most would be better off playing their driver at 3w/shorter length. Jmo.

      Here is one that is 460cc and 219g and plays at 5 wood length.
      https://www.diamondtour.com/golf-sale/deal-of-the-week/components/in1zone-single-length-driver-component.html

      Hireko has some "Thriver" offerings as well at 460cc 210g and designed to be played at 3 wood lengths.

        fatshot
        No loss of distance for me, but dispersion is better.
        Ball striking has never been an issue for me.
        Lighter shaft has helped a lot (for my back) and therefore regained some of the distance I lost the last 3 years.
        🙂

          I've gone the pseudo thriver route and my driving has never been better- driver heads at about 212g and shorter lengths-44.5-45". Previously I had the most success with 47" and standard head weight. I play 2 drivers and a 4 wood. One driver is set open and one is set slightly closed to eliminate one side of the fairway when needed. I tried a Taylormade mini driver but it was non adjustable and closed so I kept hooking it but ball contact was great. Really hard to hit off the deck- eventually I ended up building my pseudo thriver as it just made sense.

          I haven't tried one, but suspect that it's something that might work for me as the equivalent of a strong 3-wood (as in something that I would carry in addition to a standard driver) - find that I need to hit quite a few 3-wood shots into the wind in most rounds (and it's windy quite a bit of the time where I play!) Current drivers are a bit too big for me to be able to hit them off the fairway, although it's something that I used to do a fair bit with older models (the last one that I was able to do this with any consistency was a Titleist 975J-VS).

          I have the original 3 Deep in the bag, which was what Phil started the whole thing with. It will be there until the day it breaks. It’s not quite as long as a driver, but the side spin reduction and lower trajectory make it a killer weapon on a lot of courses.

          Seeing what it does in my hands, I would guess a lot of people lose a lot of distance and don’t have the actual game to play it like a “driver”. I lose about 20 yards all things even, which is actually fine for me, but the mass population can’t lose that much and take a space in their bag that’s only good for shorter tee shots WHEN they hit it well. I can still miss the thing almost completely if I don’t stay down, which results in a 50 yard piddle shot, where I have to shake it off and go hit it again.

          For me, I’ll can cover 300 yards with that, so it’s not an instant death sentence, but if you are counting on one to go 170 yards on a well struck tee shot and then miss.. you are in big trouble. You would be better off out there at say 150 yards from the tee with a miss hit 460cc driver. It’s the same reason my wife took the woods out of her bag, a good drive might roll out to 175, super rare occasions 200 yards. There’s no room for a three wood she can’t elevate from the fairway, nor is she really good enough to justify using it off the tee. That’s the story of a mini driver for most people. The big hitters and the truly skilled guys like them, but that’s not going to sell.

          IF the club head speed is the same with a 3 wood and a driver and the smash factor is the same then the distance will be the same. My 919THI 11 deg. is 44.25" playing length. My Swing Science FC-One 3 wood 15 deg. is 43" playing length. I see about 2-3 mph club head speed gain in driver playing length that equates to around 4 yards carry distance. I am more accurate with the 3 wood plus I can tee lower which I prefer and the 15 deg. scrubs off side spin. Therefore, a mini driver might be in the cards but why use one when the 3 wood serves two purposes. I can hit the 3 wood off the tee and also tight lies in the fairway. Try that off a tight lie with a driver or mini driver. I have built some mini driver for clients I don't see any appreciable better performance from the mini driver. One would need to be in the 105+ mph club head speed player to start taking advantage of most of these topics that are brought up and for the majority I don't see this kind of player much at all.

          I would love to see these 20 - 30 yard gains with a driver at 90 mph driver club head speed. Now when you get to in that 105+ then I can see it. As jack Webb used to say....just the facts please. 🙂

            scotts33 IF the club head speed is the same with a 3 wood and a driver and the smash factor is the same then the distance will be the same.

            Weight factor and length of club makes no difference?

            I would think, at same club length, a person would hit the 3 wood farther.(heavier head weight & probably heavier shaft....more overall weight)

                Tried the Callaway mini 1.5 and the TM aeroburner and both were not as long and as consistently straight as my Tour Edge Exotics xcg 3 wood. It may help that I have an 85 gram shaft it rather than the lighter weight ones that are in the mini drivers.
                I also found the mini drivers to be terrible off the deck. Again the 3 wood is better.
                I used to use 975d quite effectively so I thought it would work.

                  braveheart

                  I’ve got the X2 Hot Deep in the 12, 14.5, and 18.5*. Off the tee these things are beasts. The 3 and 5 woods are long off the deck, when the deck is nice and fluffy. When the fairways are tight like they usually get this time of year, then those fairways stay in the house and the shallow faced fairways come out to play.

                    Par4QC

                    In real world testing I have never seen heavier heads go further in distance with average Joe Hacker. maybe as club head speeds are gained but I work with very few in that realm. Shaft weight can optimize what a specific golfer needs. Head weight matching for MoI/heft match is the important factor.

                        I have a SLDR mini I have in the bag quite often. Normally drop my driver for it and still keep a traditional 3 wood in the bag. I can hit the mini of the deck, but only when I am swinging well.

                        My average distance is about the same with the driver and mini, due to a greater consistency of solid contact. I have a thriver but do not hit it as well.

                        I might look for an older, smaller driver head to experiment with. I do have an old 975D, the loft is way too low for me anymore.

                        I never could make myself think I needed another 3 wood-like club in the bag. I did try a 12 degree driver once, but it only gave me about 10 yards over the 3 wood so I stopped carrying it. Maybe it's a good idea for people at a different swing speed than I have.

                        scotts33 You said same club head speed and same smash factor.

                        If I'm tearing down a wall, and swing them the exact same speed, a 16# sledgehammer is gonna do a lot quicker job than a 16 oz. claw hammer, at the same length.. Or a 16oz. claw hammer vs. a tack hammer, at the same length. 😉

                            Par4QC

                            But can you swing a 16# hammer as fast as a 16 oz hammer?

                            • ode replied to this.

                                JeffTilley depends on the behemoth swinging it.....it's more about what fits the particular golfer. SS is overrated if you can't hit the center of the face and more importantly control where the golf ball is going.

                                I do think there is something too the heavier club being able to have a higher Cor or CT.....Wilson triton was non conforming with the heavier sole plate AND the heaviest screw weights, BOTH installed....COR/CT was past the limit! Now, that will only work if it fits the golfer. Most likely would not be able handle that much weight at that stock length.....so it's all relative. Funny thing is that the usga can't do squat about a triton owner getting to that same weight, but in a different way (rat glue or lead tape or???) and still having a higher than allowed COR/CT. I am convinced that my f6, both heaviest weights possible in both ports and several grams of lead tape, has a higher COR than stock which is about 16 grams lighter (headweight), but ???, it's not a matter of COR/CT for me, but getting to something I can swing.....stock anything, especially woods and hybrids are sh1te for me.