Are You Ready for the Mini-Driver?

No, this isn't a joke. Golf Digest has done a short slide show with 4 new clubs, two of which are mini-drivers, which they define as "about half the size of today's drivers--is larger and has a longer shaft than a typical 3-wood." Numerically, the loft is typically more than a regular driver but less than a regular 3-wood. Here's the picture of the Taylormade Aeroburner Mini-Driver.


Now, these mini-drivers have been out for a while although Golf Digest is just now featuring them. In fact, this Taylormade is a new model of an existing club, the SLDR Mini.

The idea behind mini-drivers (as the Golf Digest article suggests) is that they're smaller than a driver (naturally) but the heads are bigger than a 3-wood and have a longer-than-normal shaft. I've often recommended that weekend players simply get a 3-wood with a driver-length shaft in order to gain more consistency off the tee, but the larger heads on these clubs also make the face easier to hit than a normal 3-wood.

Many of these clubs aren't so easy to hit off the turf. But if you're having trouble hitting your normal 3-wood off the turf, that's not such a big deal. The article suggests that you get a fairway wood with more loft to use in place of the 3-wood, and add a mini-driver for a second option off the tee.

There are a number of reviews of these clubs on the Web, in case you're interested -- you can just Google the club's name with the word "review" after it. (In fact, here's a recent review of the Taylormade club from GolfMagic.com to get you started.) Maybe you'll want to check some of them out -- perhaps this is an idea whose time has come.