In this video, Joel Tadman tests the TaylorMade 300 Mini Driver that sits in between a 3-wood and a driver to see how it performed against a TaylorMade SIM2 driver and SIM2 Max 3-wood. The results are interesting so be sure to watch right to the end.
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00:00Do you need a tailor-made mini driver?
00:03That's the question we're gonna try and answer
00:05in this video.
00:06Is this a club that you've never thought
00:08to put in your bag before
00:09but you could actually really do with
00:10or is it simply a super niche product
00:13that the vast majority of players
00:15just simply don't need?
00:16So we're here at the beautiful Wellingborough Golf Club.
00:18We're gonna hit some shots
00:19with this tailor-made mini driver
00:21off the tee, off the deck,
00:22see how it compares with a three-wood
00:24and a driver to really gauge
00:26if this is a club that could be useful in your bag.
00:30So what have tailor-made done
00:35with the design of this club?
00:37Well, it's a throwback from the 300 series of drivers
00:40back in 2000, so it's 307 cc's,
00:43much smaller than the 460 cc drivers we see today.
00:47It comes in two lofts, 11.5 and the 13.5 degree loft
00:51I've got here, which is obviously adjustable
00:53so you can go up or down up to two degrees.
00:55And interestingly, the shaft on this driver
00:57is 43.75 inches long, so much shorter
01:01than the 45.7 inch drivers we'll see on the Sim 2 drivers,
01:05but only largely longer than the three-woods
01:08in the Sim 2 range, so half an inch longer than that.
01:11So it's an interesting concept, it's got twist face,
01:13it's got the V-Steel sole here,
01:15which we see in some of the three-woods,
01:17and it has been put in the bag by Phil Mickelson
01:20and Dustin Johnson.
01:21So clearly some players are finding
01:23that it's become useful for them
01:25in certain courses and certain shots.
01:26But how does it play for me?
01:28Well, before we hit some shots with it here on the whole,
01:30we're down on the 17th, it's a par five,
01:32and it's a super, super tight hole.
01:34So for me, that's where I think a club like this
01:36might be beneficial, is on holes where you need to hit the fairway,
01:39you're not too worried about distance,
01:41you're worried about accuracy,
01:42and potentially this could be a fairway finding option
01:45versus a driver.
01:46But I did hit this driver up against a normal Sim 2 driver,
01:50my custom-fitted driver, and a Sim 2 Max 3-wood
01:53on the full swing golf simulator at Silvermere
01:56to get some launch monitor data,
01:57and I'll flash it up on the screen now,
01:58and I think you'll agree,
02:00some interesting findings there,
02:01versus a 15-degree 3-wood.
02:03This club was actually flying a little bit lower,
02:06as you might expect from the loft,
02:07but the total distance was a lot longer than the 3-wood,
02:11so while it wasn't carrying much further,
02:13it was giving me a lot more distance,
02:15but it was nowhere near where I was with my driver,
02:17my fitted Sim 2 driver,
02:19this was much shorter, about 12 yards on average,
02:22and I tested it off the deck and off the tee,
02:25and the results were fairly similar.
02:26I think, obviously, off the tee, it definitely excelled,
02:29and I think that's the position
02:30where I'm gonna be excited to try it more.
02:32Can this give me more accuracy off the tee
02:34versus a driver or a 3-wood?
02:36So let's hit some shots with it and find out.
02:40Right, so I've got all three clubs,
02:41my Sim 2 driver, my Sim 2 Max Fairwood,
02:43and the 300 Mini driver,
02:45and what's interesting, you know, down at the dress,
02:47it has quite a tall face,
02:49so you see a lot of the face impact,
02:50even though it's a bit stronger in loft versus the 3-wood.
02:53It looks like it's got more loft on it,
02:55if that makes sense.
02:56Obviously, it's a little bit larger than that 3-wood,
02:59and obviously, tee height is crucial
03:01when using this Mini driver,
03:02you have to make sure that the ball
03:04is hitting the centre of the face.
03:05You don't want to see it as low as you would a 3-wood,
03:09so making sure you get it just right,
03:11kind of about there, I would say,
03:12so it's kind of in between where you would be
03:14with the 3-wood and the driver.
03:16So let's hit some shots.
03:17We're gonna hit two balls with each
03:19on this really tight hole at Wellingborough,
03:22see if this Mini driver gives me, potentially,
03:25the best combination of accuracy and distance.
03:37Consistent.
03:46It's gone pretty straight, very high, though,
03:49into the wind.
03:50That's gonna fall a long way short,
03:52much higher than the Mini driver.
04:01Same line as the Mini driver, but a lot higher.
04:06You can see how those compare.
04:08Let's hit driver now.
04:14Hit that well.
04:19Oh, I've hit that well.
04:20Okay, so two pretty good shots with each of those clubs.
04:25Let's go and see where they've finished.
04:31Okay, so we're up on the fairway,
04:32and this is where my best shot
04:34with the Mini driver finished from TaylorMade.
04:37You see about 20 yards up there,
04:39hit a really good one with the driver,
04:41so that's a good 20 yards pass there.
04:44Then the other shot with the driver hit that tree
04:46and came down.
04:47You can see it just in the rough there, maybe.
04:49And then the three-wood shots,
04:50we're hitting into the wind here,
04:52and they really did climb quite considerably
04:54versus the Mini driver,
04:55so they're a long way short to 10 yards over there.
04:57Just off the fairway,
04:58and there's one on the fairway,
05:00about 10 yards back from where we are now.
05:02So the shots, or the results of the shots,
05:04clearly kind of match up where we were
05:06with the launch monitor data,
05:07or what you would expect in terms of the Mini driver
05:09giving you, in terms of distance,
05:11more than the three-wood, less with the driver.
05:13Is it giving you more accuracy with the driver?
05:15I would say probably not.
05:17Obviously, it depends on how confident you are
05:19with the driver versus the three-wood,
05:20or a club like this, but for me,
05:22there's no gaining accuracy with the Mini driver
05:25versus a driver.
05:27Obviously, I was fitted for my driver,
05:29and I wasn't fitted for the Mini driver,
05:30and that's going to have a really big impact
05:32on your ability to square the clubface
05:34and the accuracy that results from that.
05:36So, inconclusive really,
05:37but for me, Mini driver,
05:39not really delivering me any more accuracy
05:41versus the driver.
05:43Okay, so we've seen how the 300 Mini driver
05:45fares off the tee.
05:47Let's see how it fares off the deck.
05:48TaylorMade claiming this is a club
05:50that is playable off the deck.
05:52So let's see, hit some shots into this flag.
05:54We've got the flag down there about 230 yards away
05:57into a fairly strong breeze,
05:58so it's a perfect shot to see
05:59how this compares with the three-wood.
06:01Could it be a useful asset into shots,
06:03or into par fives like this,
06:04where you need to get the ball up by the green
06:06to give you a chance at birdie?
06:08Let's find out.
06:28Right, so here we are up by the green.
06:29These are the three shots that I hit with the Mini driver.
06:32Actually, you could throw a pretty small blanket over them.
06:34They're all pretty consistent.
06:36They're just past the pin.
06:37My shot with the three-wood
06:38is actually just short of the pin
06:40over in that gully behind that mound.
06:42So in terms of distance,
06:44it's actually pretty similar versus the two clubs.
06:46I think the reason for that is
06:48you're not getting as much carry distance
06:50with a Mini driver as you are a three-wood.
06:52So in terms of how the ball lands in the grass,
06:55you're not going to get as much disparity
06:57in terms of where the ball's finished.
06:58But the fact that these three Mini driver shots
07:01missed to the right versus the three-wood that missed to the left,
07:03I think is a result of the fact
07:05that you feel like you need to kind of trap it a bit more,
07:07get steeper into it a bit more across the line
07:10to get the flight and the strike with the Mini driver.
07:12And that's why they've curved a bit more to the right
07:14versus the wind hitting into the wind
07:17has definitely accentuated that.
07:18So in terms of playability off the deck,
07:21I don't think there's a great amount of difference.
07:23And I did feel like the three-wood
07:24is a little bit easier to flight.
07:26But if you are hitting a longer shot,
07:28maybe into the wind on a par five,
07:30the Mini driver actually found it surprisingly easy to strike.
07:33These were all pretty good hits.
07:34So I wasn't miss hitting them pretty significantly.
07:37So in terms of the ease of strike,
07:39I felt like it was easy to achieve,
07:41but I don't think it was any better necessarily
07:43than the three-wood.
07:46So the answer to the question we asked at the start
07:48of this video, do you need a TaylorMade 300 Mini driver?
07:51I would say probably for the majority of players, no.
07:54I'd say most players were better off using a driver
07:58and then a three-wood.
07:59But there are situations, I would say,
08:01where a club like this could actually come in handy.
08:03The first, while it wasn't necessarily the case for me,
08:06I think over a longer period of time,
08:08a longer number of shots,
08:10the shorter shaft versus a driver
08:12will give you more control of the club base.
08:15Yes, you might not swing it quite as fast,
08:17but this is definitely giving you a bit more speed
08:20and a stronger flight than a three-wood.
08:22And especially if you play into the wind,
08:24if you hit a lot of shots in the wind,
08:25you want to fight the ball down
08:27and you struggle with driver,
08:28if you struggle to control the driver,
08:30a club like this, I think, could give you more control.
08:32So if you play a lot of links golf, exposed golf courses,
08:35you need to keep the ball down.
08:36If you play a lot of long par fives, long par fours,
08:38that maybe you struggle to reach,
08:40this club could help you hit those greens a bit more often
08:43versus a three-wood that maybe blooms, spins too much,
08:46and you don't get the carry that you want.
08:48Obviously, the larger head versus a three-wood
08:51does inspire a bit more confidence
08:53over the ball off the deck.
08:54I don't think it's necessarily any easier
08:56to hit off the deck and you might actually be sacrificing
08:58a little bit of playability,
09:00but if you do practice with it
09:01and you work out how to hit it cleanly,
09:03I found it actually surprisingly easy
09:05to hit cleanly off the deck.
09:06You do get more carry distance off the deck.
09:09So again, if you're getting into the wind,
09:11it could be an option to add into your bag,
09:13along with a driver or along with maybe a five-wood.
09:16It's basically like just a strong three-wood,
09:18gives you a bit more distance
09:20versus a traditional three-wood
09:21that some people find too intimidating to hit.
09:23So there's definitely food for thought there,
09:25and there will be some golfers
09:27where the makeup of the bag calls for a club like this,
09:29or the course they play, or the conditions they play.
09:32I think they're relatively niche,
09:33but there's definitely a need for it.
09:35Would I put it in my bag?
09:36Probably not,
09:37because I quite like the driver I've got at the moment,
09:39but if you struggle with your driver
09:41and you're not confident with your three-wood,
09:43it could be a really exciting option to try.
09:45Hopefully, this video has given you a really good insight
09:47into what this TaylorMade 300 Mini Driver is all about,
09:50and whether it could be right for you.
09:51Do like the video if you like what you're watching,
09:53and comment down the video.
09:55Is this something that you'd be considering
09:56putting in the bag?
09:58I'd love to hear from you.
09:58But that's all for me from Wellingborough Golf Club.
10:01I'll see you next time.