- 3 hours ago
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.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
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.
03:48It's done pretty straight.
03:49Very high though.
03:50Into the wind.
03:51That's gonna fall a long way short.
03:52Much higher than the Mini driver.
03:56Same line as the Mini driver, but a lot higher.
04:06You can see how those compare.
04:07Let's hit driver now.
04:11Okay, so two pretty good shots with each of those clubs, let's go and see where they
04:27finished.
04:29Okay, so we're up on the fairway and this is where my best shot with the Mini Driver
04:36finish from TaylorMade, you see about 20 yards up there hit a really good one with the driver,
04:41so that's a good 20 yards pass there, then the other shot with the driver hit that tree
04:46and came down, you can see just in the rough there maybe, and then the three-wood shots,
04:50you know, we're hitting into the wind here and they really did climb quite considerably
04:54versus the Mini Driver, so they're a long way short to 10 yards over there just off the
04:58fairway and there's one on the fairway about 10 yards back from where we are now.
05:02So the shots, or the results of the shots, clearly kind of match up where we were with
05:06the launch monitor data or what you would expect in terms of the Mini Driver giving you, in
05:10terms of distance, more than the three-wood, less with the driver.
05:13Is it giving you more accuracy with the driver?
05:15I would say probably not, obviously it depends on how confident you are with the driver versus
05:20the three-wood or a club like this, but for me there's no gain in accuracy with the Mini
05:24Driver versus a driver.
05:27Obviously I was fitted for my driver and I wasn't fitted for the Mini Driver and that's
05:30gonna have a really big impact on your ability to square the clubface and the accuracy that
05:35results from that.
05:36So, inconclusive really, but for me, Mini Driver not really delivering me any more accuracy
05:41versus the driver.
05:42Okay, so we've seen how the 300 Mini Driver fares off the tee, let's see how it fares off
05:48the deck.
05:49TaylorMade claiming this is a club that is playable off the deck, so let's see, hit some shots
05:53into this flag.
05:54We've got the flag down there about 230 yards away into a fairly strong breeze, so it's a
05:58perfect shot to see how this compares with a three-wood.
06:01Could it be a useful asset into shots or into par fives like this where you need to get
06:05the ball up by the green to give you a chance at birdie?
06:07Let's find out.
06:08Right, so here we are up by the green, these are the three shots that I hit with the Mini
06:31Driver.
06:32You can throw a pretty small blanket over them, they're all pretty consistent, they're
06:36just past the pin.
06:37My shot with the three-wood is actually just short of the pin over in that gully behind
06:41that mound.
06:42So, in terms of distance, it's actually pretty similar versus the two clubs, I think the reason
06:47for that is you're not getting as much carry distance with a Mini Driver as you are a three-wood.
06:52So, in terms of how the ball lands in the grass, you're not going to get as much disparity
06:56in terms of where the ball's finished, but the fact that these three Mini Driver shots
07:01missed to the right versus the three-wood that missed to the left, I think is a result
07:04of the fact that you feel like you need to kind of trap it a bit more, get steeper into
07:08it a bit more across the line to get the flight and the strike with the Mini Driver and that's
07:12why they've curved a bit more to the right versus the wind hitting into the wind has definitely
07:17accentuated that.
07:18In terms of playability off the deck, I don't think there's a great amount of difference
07:23and I did feel like the three-wood is a little bit easier to flight, but if you are hitting
07:27a longer shot, maybe into the wind on a par five, the Mini Driver actually found it surprisingly
07:32easy to strike.
07:33These were all pretty good hits, so I wasn't miss hitting them pretty significantly.
07:37So, in terms of the ease of strike, I felt like it was easy to achieve, but I don't
07:42think it was any better necessarily than the three-wood.
07:46So, the answer to the question we asked at the start of this video, do you need a TaylorMade
07:49300 Mini Driver, I would say probably for the majority of players, no.
07:54I'd say most players were better off using a driver and then a three-wood.
07:59But there are situations, I would say, where a club like this could actually come in handy.
08:03The first, while it wasn't necessarily the case for me, I think over a longer period of
08:07time, a longer number of shots, the shorter shaft versus a driver will give you more control
08:14of the clubface.
08:15Yes, you might not swing it quite as fast, but this is definitely giving you a bit more
08:19speed and a stronger flight than a three-wood, and especially if you play into the wind.
08:24If you hit a lot of shots in the wind, you want to fight the ball down and you struggle
08:27with driver, if you struggle to control the driver, a club like this, I think, could give
08:31you more control.
08:32So, if you play a lot of links golf, exposed golf courses, you need to keep the ball down.
08:36If you play a lot of long par fives, long par fours that maybe you struggle to reach,
08:40this club could help you hit those greens a bit more often versus a three-wood that maybe
08:45balloons, spins too much, and you don't get the carry that you want.
08:48Obviously, the larger head versus a three-wood does inspire a bit more confidence over the
08:53ball off the deck.
08:54I don't think it's necessarily any easier to hit off the deck, and you might actually
08:57be sacrificing a little bit of playability, but if you do practice with it and you work
09:02out how to hit it cleanly, I found it actually surprisingly easy to 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, it could be an option to add into your bag
09:13along with a driver or along with maybe a five-wood, it's basically like just a strong
09:17three-wood, gives you a bit more distance versus a traditional three-wood that some people
09:21find too intimidating to hit.
09:23So, it's definitely food for thought there, and there will be some golfers where the makeup
09:27of the bag calls for a club like this, or the course they play, or the conditions they
09:31play.
09:32I think they're relatively niche, but there's definitely a need for it.
09:34Would I put it in my bag?
09:37Probably not, because I quite like the driver I've got at the moment, but if you struggle
09:40with the driver and you're not confident with your three-wood, it could be a really exciting
09:44option to try.
09:45Hopefully, this video has given you a really good insight into what this TaylorMade 300
09:49Mini Driver is all about and whether it could be right for you.
09:52Do like the video if you like what you're watching and comment down the video, is this something
09:55that you'd be considering putting in the bag?
09:58I'd love to hear from you.
09:59But that's all for me from Wellingborough Golf Club, I'll see you next time.
Be the first to comment