- today
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 and a driver
00:25to really gauge if this is a club
00:27that could be useful in your bag.
00:30So what have tailor-made done with the design of this club?
00:34Well, it's a throwback from the 300 series of drivers
00:40back in 2000, so it's 307cc,
00:43much smaller than the 460cc 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,
01:12it's got twist face, it'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 that it's become useful
01:24for them in 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
01:38to hit the fairway, you'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 some 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 going to 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 3-wood,
02:43and the 300 Mini driver.
02:45And what's interesting, you know, down at address,
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
02:53versus 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 center 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.
03:38It's gone pretty straight.
03:39Very high though.
03:40Into the wind.
03:41That's gonna fall a long way short.
03:42Much higher than the Mini driver.
03:44Same line as the Mini driver, but a lot higher.
03:45You can see how those compare.
03:46Let's hit driver now.
03:47Hit that well.
03:48And that's gonna go up.
03:49It's gone pretty straight.
03:50Very high though.
03:51Into the wind.
03:52That's gonna fall a long way short.
03:53Much higher than the Mini driver.
03:56Same line as the Mini driver, but a lot higher.
04:04You can see how those compare.
04:07Let's hit driver now.
04:10Hit that well.
04:14Hit that well.
04:21Oh, hit that well.
04:22Okay, so two pretty good shots with each of those clubs.
04:25Let's go and see where they've finished.
04:30Okay, so we're up on the fairway,
04:31and this is where my best shot with the Mini driver
04:35finished from TaylorMade.
04:36You see about 20 yards up there,
04:38hit a really good one with the driver.
04:40So that's a good 20 yards past there.
04:43Then the other shot with the driver hit that tree
04:45and came down.
04:46You can see just in the rough there maybe.
04:48And then the three-wood shots,
04:49we're hitting into the wind here,
04:51and they really did climb quite considerably
04:53versus the Mini driver.
04:54So they are a long way short to 10 yards over there.
04:56Just off the fairway, and there's one on the fairway
04:59about 10 yards back from where we are now.
05:01So the shots, or the results of the shots,
05:04clearly kind of match up where we were
05:05with the launch monitor data,
05:06or what you would expect in terms of the Mini driver
05:08giving you, in terms of distance,
05:10more than the three-wood, less with the driver.
05:12Is it giving you more accuracy with the driver?
05:14I would say probably not.
05:16Obviously, it depends on how confident you are
05:18with the driver versus the three-wood or a club like this.
05:20But for me, there's no gaining accuracy
05:23with the Mini driver versus a driver.
05:26Obviously, I was fitted for my driver,
05:28and I wasn't fitted for the Mini driver.
05:29And that's going to have a really big impact
05:31on your ability to square the club face
05:33and the accuracy that results from that.
05:35So, inconclusive really, but for me, Mini driver
05:38not really delivering me any more accuracy versus the driver.
05:41Okay, so we've seen how the 300 Mini driver fares off the tee.
05:46Let's see how it fares off the deck.
05:48TaylorMade claiming this is a club
05:49that is playable off the deck.
05:51So let's see, hit some shots into this flag.
05:53We've got the flag down there about 230 yards away
05:56into fairly strong breeze.
05:57So it's a perfect shot to see how this compares
05:59with the three-wood.
06:00Could it be a useful asset into shots
06:02or into par fives like this
06:03where you need to get the ball up by the green
06:05to give you a chance at birdie?
06:06Let's find out.
06:23Right, so here we are up by the green.
06:28These are the three shots that I hit with the Mini driver.
06:31Actually, you could throw a pretty small blanket over them.
06:33They're all pretty consistent.
06:35They're just past the pin.
06:36My shot with the three-wood is actually just short of the pin
06:39over in that gully behind that mound.
06:41So in terms of distance, it's actually pretty similar
06:44versus the two clubs.
06:45I think the reason for that is you're not getting as much carry distance
06:48with a Mini driver as you are a three-wood.
06:51So in terms of how the ball lands in the grass,
06:54you're not going to get as much disparity in terms of where the ball's finished.
06:57But the fact that these three Mini driver shots
07:00missed to the right versus the three-wood that missed to the left
07:02I think is a result of the fact that you feel like you need to kind of
07:05trap it a bit more, get steeper into it a bit more across the line
07:08to get the flight and the strike with the Mini driver.
07:11And that's why they've curved a bit more to the right versus
07:14and the wind hitting into the wind has definitely accentuated that.
07:17So in terms of playability off the deck,
07:20I don't think there's a great amount of difference.
07:22And I did feel like the three-wood is a little bit easier to flight.
07:25But if you are hitting a longer shot, maybe into the wind on a par five,
07:29the Mini driver actually found it surprisingly easy to strike.
07:32These are all pretty good hits.
07:33So I wasn't miss hitting them pretty significantly.
07:36So in terms of the ease of strike, I felt like it was easy to achieve,
07:40but I don't think it was any better necessarily than a three-wood.
07:43So the answer to the question we asked at the start of this video,
07:47do you need a tailor-made 300 Mini driver?
07:50I would say probably for the majority of players, no.
07:53I'd say most players were better off using a driver and then a three-wood.
07:58But there are situations, I would say,
08:00where a club like this could actually come in handy.
08:02The first, while it wasn't necessarily the case for me,
08:05I think over a longer period of time, a longer number of shots,
08:08the shorter shaft versus a driver will give you more control of the club base.
08:14Yes, you might not swing it quite as fast,
08:16but this is definitely giving you a bit more speed and a stronger flight
08:20than a three-wood.
08:21And especially if you play into the wind,
08:23if you hit a lot of shots in the wind, you want to flight the ball down
08:26and you struggle with driver, if you struggle to control the driver,
08:29a club like this, I think could give you more control.
08:31So if you play a lot of links golf, exposed golf courses,
08:34you need to keep the ball down.
08:35If you play a lot of long par fives, long par fours
08:37that maybe you struggle to reach,
08:39this club could help you hit those greens a bit more often
08:42versus a three-wood that maybe balloons, spins too much
08:45and you don't get the carry that you want.
08:47Obviously, the larger head versus a three-wood
08:50does inspire a bit more confidence over the ball off the deck.
08:53I don't think it's necessarily any easier to hit off the deck
08:56and you might actually be sacrificing a little bit of playability.
08:59But if you do practice with it and you work out how to hit it cleanly,
09:02I found it actually surprisingly easy to hit cleanly off the deck,
09:05you do get more carry distance off the deck.
09:08So again, if you're getting into the wind,
09:10it could be an option to add into your bag along with a driver
09:13or along with maybe a five-wood.
09:15It's basically like just a strong three-wood,
09:17gives you a bit more distance versus a traditional three-wood
09:20that some people find too intimidating to hit.
09:22So there's definitely food for thought there
09:24and there will be some golfers where the makeup of the bag
09:27calls for a club like this, or the course they play,
09:30or the conditions they play.
09:31I think they're relatively niche, but there's definitely a need for it.
09:34Would I put it in my bag?
09:36Probably not because I quite like the driver I've got at the moment.
09:38But if you struggle with the driver
09:40and you're not confident with your three-wood,
09:42it could be a really exciting option to try.
09:44Hopefully, this video has given you a really good insight
09:46into what this TaylorMade 300 Mini Driver is all about
09:49and whether it could be right for you.
09:51Do like the video if you like what you're watching
09:52and comment down the video,
09:54is this something that you'd be considering putting in the bag?
09:57I'd love to hear from you.
09:58But that's all for me from Wellinburgh Golf Club.
10:00I'll see you next time.
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