The mini-driver explosion is something we are keeping tabs on at Golf365 – and we are not alone.
Influencers in the golf space are all over this trend.
For those who don’t have access to prototypes, the new mini drivers on the market are from TaylorMade and Callaway.
TaylorMade had the market to themselves for a while but the R&D at Callaway were also already on a project to develop their own mini.
Watch the video below to get Hannah Holden’s opinion on these two clubs and which is better between the TaylorMade BRNR mini driver and the Callaway Paradym AI Smoke mini driver.
Holden points out that the TaylorMade mini-driver is more of a shotmakers club against the Callaway which performs like a more lofted driver.
Callaway didn’t engineer their mini driver to be about shotmaking as they aimed for a consistent alternate tee club.
“This isn’t necessarily your “bomber” spec; this isn’t looking for extra added distance as compared to your driver,” Paul Winterhalter, Product Manager at Callaway said.
“But this is an alternative club to where it’s giving you that consistent distance. It’s that smaller footprint for a player that’s probably a little bit higher caliber, looking to control.”
Callaway believe their mini-driver will see players hitting the fairway over and over.
“What we’ve seen from a Tour aspect is that Tour players are rarely hitting their 3-woods into greens as approach shots,” Yontz said.
“The 3-wood has become nearly a tee-only club, so situationally I think we’re going to see tour players lean into this at certain golf courses and certain setups as a club that they can use to hit more fairways.”
Meanwhile, the BRNR Mini Driver from Taylormade has the shotmakers impressed with its workability. It pairs retro styling with Movable Weight Technology giving players their choice of forgiveness and versatility or increased distance and piercing ball flight.
It may look like a throwback, but all signs point to TaylorMade’s BRNR Mini driver being a giant leap forward in technology.
