Mini Driver Players - Check in!!

[Jjakobsen1998]

If anyone hates their new Taylormade Mini Dirver I would gladly take it off their hands. I’m still rocking the areo burner mini driver and love it. 

 

 

[driveandputtmachine]

13 hours ago, chamgel2 said:

You mind me asking where you got the weight from and how heavy you went with?  

I will have to check when I get home.  I am travelling without access to a scale.  I ordered it from Billy Bob's golf, and I decided on the weight by how much lead tape I added until I got it where I liked it.  Just added up the lead and existing weight to decide on the new weight.

[chamgel2]

2 hours ago, driveandputtmachine said:

I will have to check when I get home.  I am travelling without access to a scale.  I ordered it from Billy Bob's golf, and I decided on the weight by how much lead tape I added until I got it where I liked it.  Just added up the lead and existing weight to decide on the new weight.

That makes sense and makes it super easy.  Thank you for responding.  I’ve got a roll of lead tape so will do exactly that.   

[jmkorting]

Here is my BRNR set up ---

Shaft - Kinetixx Mach

Weight - 58g

Flex - D20 (reg)

Grip - Jumbomax Tour standard (41g)

Length - 43.75"

Swing weight - D3.7 (2g's 3M lead tape on sole / dead smack in middle)

Loft - 11.5* @ -2* so plays at 9.5*

 

I play this as my driver replacement as I don't own a driver.  I have a backup shaft, but have yet to finalize how I want it to play in my BRNR.  Back up shaft is a VA Composites Vylyn 65 Four (stiff flex) tipped 1/2".

[manVSgolf]

I just put a TPT Fairway 15hi on my ‘23 BRNR 11.5 (set to 13*).  I really like the stock shaft (surprisingly good, love the looks too) but I prefer a heavier/more solid feel.  
 

I freaking love this club.  

Edited April 26, 2024 by manVSgolf

[Chris Min]

I was able to get 40% discount from TM, but I didn’t want any of the custom shaft options TM had, so I just ordered it with a shaft with no upcharge (Mitsubishi Kai’li 70x) and ordered my gamer separately from another vendor.

The head was about $300 after tax and discount, but the shaft was $400 🤣.

My head/shaft combo is BRNR Copper 13.5 with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX 1” tipped. This combo allows me to work both directions off the tee and hit high cut off the deck on par 5s.

[Sleeky_D]

9 hours ago, jmkorting said:

Here is my BRNR set up ---

Shaft - Kinetixx Mach

Weight - 58g

Flex - D20 (reg)

Grip - Jumbomax Tour standard (41g)

Length - 43.75"

Swing weight - D3.7 (2g's 3M lead tape on sole / dead smack in middle)

Loft - 11.5* @ -2* so plays at 9.5*

 

I play this as my driver replacement as I don't own a driver.  I have a backup shaft, but have yet to finalize how I want it to play in my BRNR.  Back up shaft is a VA Composites Vylyn 65 Four (stiff flex) tipped 1/2".

With yours being a driver replacement, do you swing/set up like a driver or a fairway? I’m looking at the doing the same with my mini but am having trouble finding consistent results. 

[jmkorting]

31 minutes ago, Sleeky_D said:

With yours being a driver replacement, do you swing/set up like a driver or a fairway? I’m looking at the doing the same with my mini but am having trouble finding consistent results. 

Yes, i do.  I vary my tee height as well.  If I am trying to hit it as far as my swing allows I will tee it a bit higher, hover my club, and try to hit up on it.  Now this is my struggle with driver.  So i can get squirrelly doing this.  If I want more control, or what I feel like is more control I will tee it down a little more.  I will say I find strike better with a lower tee height.  Still set up inside front foot heel though.

[JamesFisher1990]

2nd round with the BRNR - I moved the weight into the front. Could always be me but it just felt way harder to hit huge high draws. When I originally played it, i turned it all the way to 13* and weight back and it was drawing almost too much and spun and flew crazy high. With weight forward and turned down to 12* It honestly doesn't want to draw it wants to go straight.

 

While that's not a bad thing I do really want this club turning over for some specific holes where even straight balls are kind of less than ideal.

[Thrummyfox]

1 hour ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

2nd round with the BRNR - I moved the weight into the front. Could always be me but it just felt way harder to hit huge high draws. When I originally played it, i turned it all the way to 13* and weight back and it was drawing almost too much and spun and flew crazy high. With weight forward and turned down to 12* It honestly doesn't want to draw it wants to go straight.

 

While that's not a bad thing I do really want this club turning over for some specific holes where even straight balls are kind of less than ideal.

I e ordered mine specifically cos my bad shots are a hook / pull hook and left is trouble everywhere at my home course

[vanderputts]

I’ve been playing both the 11.5 & 13.5 interchangeably for the past 7+ months depending on the course.
 

I play it as a 2W both off the deck and fairways. I don’t carry a 3W or 5W any longer.

 

I went down the rabbit hole of shafts and have a pile of them that I’ve tested from Ventus, Graphite Design, etc.

 

What works with my swing and has remained in the bag the longest is:

 

13.5” set to standard - 4g front, 13g back

Project X HZRDUS Smoke 6.5 60g Low Spin

42.75” playing length

Swing weight - C9 (325 TTL/grams / 32.5 balance point)

 

Swing Speed - 105mph

265 off a low tee

245 off the deck or fairway

 

If I need to keep it down, the 11.5 degree drops in with the same settings

 

It’s become my automatic fairway finder or rip it stick on long par 5s

Edited April 29, 2024 by vndrsmth

[golfjam]

Found a cheap BRNR head on my local OfferUp and decided to give it a try. Paired with an old Speeder IV 661. This thing is basically point and shoot, only missed one fairway because I tried to be cute and didn't draw enough. The rest was money, either straight or baby draws. Dispersion is so tight, will definitely keep it. I honestly had very low expectations, already play a 13.5 3W and thought it would be reduntant but it's not. It will take the spot of my 60 wedge.

Edited April 29, 2024 by golfjam

[gioreeko]

I love my 11.5 Mini 300. I have a little PRGR radar unit, and my SS with it is around 115, and is almost as fast as my driver SS, which can get up to around 120. I rarely hit driver on the course now, the mini is so easy to hit straight and long, and if I go after if a bit, I can get around 310 with roll out. I get so many inquiries about it when I'm playing that I should be on TM staff, lol

[me05501]

Can anyone tell me if the weights in the BRNR head are the same as Callaway weights? 

 

My 11.5* BRNR was built 1/2" long and it has the stock weights in it. I'm hitting it well but the swing weight is D6 compared to D4 at stock length. 

 

I thought about just taking out the 1.5g weight at the front as an experiment. OTOH if Callaway weights fit I could play around with different weights at the back instead. I have just about every weight in Callaway driver weights.  

[vanderputts]

Swing weights will vary for everyone depending on shaft, etc. 

My TSRs and Cobras all spec at C8-D2 - stock length with Ventus shafts and no additional head weight.

 

Swinging this in DX felt off for me at least.

 

You can get cheap TM head weights on Amazon that come with screws: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YLWFMQC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

 

Might be the same weights as the stealth?

 

I'm running the 13g in the back and a 4g in the front

Edited April 29, 2024 by vndrsmth

[vanderputts]

5 hours ago, me05501 said:

Can anyone tell me if the weights in the BRNR head are the same as Callaway weights? 

 

My 11.5* BRNR was built 1/2" long and it has the stock weights in it. I'm hitting it well but the swing weight is D6 compared to D4 at stock length. 

 

I thought about just taking out the 1.5g weight at the front as an experiment. OTOH if Callaway weights fit I could play around with different weights at the back instead. I have just about every weight in Callaway driver weights.  

 

Might be just as easy to regrip with a slightly heavier grip or two layers of tape 

 

[Atxdivebezel]

I just put the 11.5 copper in the bag and it’s a weapon. Played one round with the stock shaft in and tied my personal best.  Ventus black 7x arrived today, swapped it in and the swing weight dropped to DO. Any one have luck with finding compatible back weights? Not sure if my math is correct but I believe adding a 8g weight in place of the 1.5 to the rear should get me close to D4/5.

[me05501]

9 hours ago, Atxdivebezel said:

I just put the 11.5 copper in the bag and it’s a weapon. Played one round with the stock shaft in and tied my personal best.  Ventus black 7x arrived today, swapped it in and the swing weight dropped to DO. Any one have luck with finding compatible back weights? Not sure if my math is correct but I believe adding a 8g weight in place of the 1.5 to the rear should get me close to D4/5.

 

I checked with the tech at my local golf shop and he said the weights are not the same as Callaway and told me to look for Stealth/Sim weights. There's a website that sells all the various weight kits but I'll probably just do eBay or amazon.

 

[NRJyzr]

In the thread for the BRNR, someone mentioned using a Stealth2 round weight in their BRNR.  Might want to check that thread for a little verification, instead of relying on an old guy's memory (me).  😉

 

Dug up the post I was thinking of:

 

 

Edited May 2, 2024 by NRJyzr

[Atxdivebezel]

Appreciate y'all - I grabbed one of the stealth plus compatible round weight sets off Amazon - it arrives tomorrow and I will update with pics and a range report ASAP.

[Atxdivebezel]

Confirmed the weights are compatible, only thing is that they don’t fit as flush as the OEM it’s bit recessed. I put the 8 gram in the front, set comes with a few options (2,4,5,7,8) Range was rained out today but will do some tinkering out there tomorrow. 

 

Spoiler

[BMC]

My mini driver is actually a driver.  PING G2 EZ. 400cc, 15.5 degrees at 45 inches.  I hit a draw so I'm not losing distance with that loft.  It was designed for older, slower swings.  It's hard to miss the fairway.

[Doggo]

Using a brnr mini as my 3 wood and love it 🔥

[ClayNotTon]

I’m going to try out some of the weights linked in thread for my BRNR. I love it off the tee, not hitting it well enough off the deck to beat my 4W which would be next club in bag if replace 3W with mini. Have a 300 mini as well, hit it off the deck without issue. ~1k+ more revs off a medium height tee on 300 compared to BRNR with same shaft. 300 seems more consistent between shafts. Both 13.5. Considering a 11.5 with something more like a TR Red just for testing. BRNR might get relegated to an 7 club bag with some BeCus in need of some love or alongside a 4/6/8/PW in the new aged coppers if TM would sell me a half set 

[ronnbee]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:38 AM, Jjakobsen1998 said:

If anyone hates their new Taylormade Mini Dirver I would gladly take it off their hands. I’m still rocking the areo burner mini driver and love it. 

 

 

Traded mine in to Dicks

[Andygolderson]

On 4/24/2024 at 10:04 PM, Tree Levino said:

Can’t say I understand having two mini drivers in the bag 

 

On 4/24/2024 at 11:25 PM, me05501 said:

 

I get that. And I'm not sure both will stay long-term but I'm trying it on for size.

 

I'm also experimenting with them. On the course lies are much different from driving range, so i look for opportunities where to test the 13.5 from the deck.

 

I'm also trying to test out the "hitting down, need more loft theory" So far, i can't say it's beneficial to have more loft, as the 11 notched down to 9 from a tiny slightly raised tee is doing great. 18th hole tee shot on saturday was 310yards.

 

The only thing i'm struggling with is hitting it straight off the deck. For some reason, i'm swinging it like a slicey FW wood and fading it all the time. (I have the heavy weight in the back for the FW version).

Of course, i have it -2 down, so i should play it at STD to maybe improve.

Otherwise, i can of course just rely on 5w, which is usually sufficicent for me, however, if i ever need something over 240yards and want to make it, then i need to fill that gap.

 

11 is my driver and 13.5 is my 3 wood - you wouldn't question people taking Driver + 3W, so it's a bit redundant to question 2 different lofted , differently spec'd mini drivers.

 

For all these weight questions, i'm also very interested how people are playing different weight settings ? So far i use the standard, but wondered what happens when you take zero weight, or 2 small weights, or 2 big weights, for example

[JamesFisher1990]

What head cover are you guys using if you go after market? I feel like a driver is too big and my wood cover stretches out over it but is very tight (and starting to rip the seams).

[dcmidnight]

I went with a driver cover on the BRNR. Its....maybe one hair too big but honestly it was the best option. Like you said, I could squeeze it into some FW covers but it was annoying and the Seamus ones started to stretch too much.

 

I picked up a #3 pin flag cover from Erin Hills and it fits good plus makes a nice "3 wood" cover.

 

[Thrummyfox]

My 11.5 came last night. Tracked on lunch monitor v current driver and 3 wood. Literally outdrove driver on average and far less dispersion.

 

And that without starting to play with lift and lie.

 

Didnt need launch monitor to tell me was hitting out of the middle much more often.

 

Really pleased and would recommend to anyone 

Edited May 15, 2024 by Thrummyfox

[RoverTiger]

Not a mini driver per se since it still checks in at 460cc, but I'm really thinking about building one of these between now and the end of the year.

 

https://www.hirekogolf.com/acer-xv-ultimate-thriver-clubhead-tm128534.html