golfer_LD
I have always played with a driver....the 460cc, since they came out with them. Now that I'm getting older (71), and losing swing speed, height and, as a result, distance, this year I decided to go with a "thriver-like" head, a Wishon 919 driver, but with 13* if loft. I built it to regular driver length though. It's performed well for me all season, but
I like hitting the driver with the ball teed fairly high. If I liked hitting fairway woods off the tee (I don't....don't
have much luck with them!), then I guess I'd consider the mini driver with a shorter shaft. I feel it's up to
each golfer to decide for himself what suits his game best in a case like this.

    rsvman The 320 hit on the screws is every bit as long as anything, missed at all and it is far more punishing that today's equipment. On a good day, I'd game it.

      rsvman

      When they first came out, I gamed one and loved it. Let me know when you are looking to dump it, doc. 😊

        I went out today for 9 holes and played my Taylormade SLDR 14* Mini Driver. I hit every fairway and my drives were about 10-15 yards shorter than my regular 460cc driver but that's OK on my home course. I'm in the fairway and plenty long to have a 100 to 130 yard second shot on par 4's. On longer courses it might be a problem, but it's really nice to not worry about spraying a drive way right or a big hook way left. I can control the Mini Driver and will gladly sacrifice 10-15 yards for more accuracy.

        All of this thriver talk has me thinking about a steel shafted one a had a while back. I have to see what I ever did with the parts for that thing.

        ptjn1201
        Just picked one up to experiment. I used to use a Titleist 975D pretty effectively, so if this is more forgiving it will be fun. Thanks for the heads up.

          16 days later

          golfer_LD

          215g and 12 degree loft makes sense. You can build it to 4 wood length. I tried one of the original Acer thrivers. It was a beautiful dark copper color but all I hit were balloon balls. I gave better results with draw biased drivers anyway.

              sdandrea1

              I'm pretty sure I'm the one that bought that Acer Thriver head from you haha. I put in a pretty low launching shaft and if I don't watch my tee height I can balloon them as well but I am pretty good at finding the fairway with it which should be the main goal of a tee club.

                Gee, 215g sounds great. I have an Alpha V5 LX I have weighted up to 212g and it feels good -- it's just not as forgiving as I need some days.

                I thought that originally Thrivers were meant to have a driver sized heads with 3 wood loft and 3 wood length shaft. I built one using one of the older model Hireko Thriver heads (think it was 16, but might have been 13) , shafted with a Pure Energy shaft. Since I'm pretty accurate , but short, with a driver, usually 11/14, the Thriver did not give me any advantage. It was shorter, with the same accuracy as my driver and quite high in flight which cancelled my ball run-out, it didn't bring anything to the table. Sticking with my Cally GBB 12.5* Kuro Rgae.

                  Bigborgel I think a better idea would be to have a smaller head size with a 3-wood loft and a 3-wood length shaft, but that's just me.

                      Thanks, Dc, but the larger head gives you more confidence, and a better chance of making center contact.

                      DC300 lol. I meant with a larger head than a 3-wood, but not 460.

                          I used a Wishon driver that 13.5* with a smaller head than 460. Shafted it at 43" it was a fairway finder. I could also, at that time, hit it off the deck if I played a small fade to help get it up in the air.

                          I have a 3 wood that I almost never hit off the turf, but it's a great tee off club on a lot of holes.

                          460 is just too big for my eye

                          The SMT DB 455 was made that it didn't look that big, but the face was huge. 400-425 is my comfort zone. My R9 Superdeep is 440cc and that is as far as I want.

                          rsvman haha, I got that, just couldn't resist. The struggle is finding that sweet spot, why wouldn't I want 460cc if that's the max allowed? But at the same time is it too big? The answer is different for everyone obviously, I would like something right around 300cc, for me I think that would be the ultimate the club.

                            When my driver game went south I built an Acer XS thriver shafted with a True Temper steel wood shaft. Played it at a normal three wood length.

                            It greatly improved accuracy off the tee. The distance loss was considerable but serviceable.

                            The issue then became psychological. Over a couple of rounds the desire to regain those lost yards had me swinging way too hard and any advantage was lost.