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Question: A couple of my golf buddies swear the mini driver has changed their life off the tee. Is it really that much better than a 3-wood?
Answer: It sounds like your buddies have been drinking the mini-driver Kool-Aid. I’ll be the first to admit that a mini can solve a lot of issues off the tee, but I wouldn’t blindly buy one off a few random recommendations without understanding how it differs from the traditional 3-wood.
Let’s start with the obvious difference: head size. The standard 3-wood face is shallow, and the head size ranges from 150 to 180 cubic centimetres. The face on a mini is going to be noticeably deeper with a head size of about 300 to 340 cc.
The larger face on a mini makes it more forgiving than a 3-wood, which is a massive plus for those dealing with contact issues, particularly strikes low on the face. Also, opting for a larger clubface makes catching a piece of the face easier on severe mis-hits.
The shaft on a mini is typically about 43.75 inches, while a 3-wood’s is somewhere in the 43-to-43.5-inch range. Both should be easier to handle than a driver, so I wouldn’t say one holds an edge there. However, the longer shaft on the mini does increase the potential for extra distance.
Akshay Bhatia reduces the loft on his Callaway Elyte 3-wood to squeeze out a few more yards. (Jonathan Wall/Golf Digest)
Speaking of longer shots, the most obvious question is how a mini would gap with your current setup. Let’s say your driver carry distance is 240 yards, and your 3-wood goes about 210 on a good shot. There’s a good chance the mini will routinely beat your 3-wood in distance, which means you could wind up with two clubs that go similar distances at the top of your set.
That could be a good thing if you find yourself hitting 3-wood off the tee more than off the turf. But if the mini goes a similar distance to your driver, that widens the carry gap leading into your next longest fairway wood, hybrid, etc. You want to avoid “tweener” yardages that force you to lay off or step on a club to hit a certain number. The last thing you want to do is make your longest shots more difficult.
The good news is, a mini driver and a 3-wood both come with adjustable hosels, so you can tweak the loft sleeve if you need to add a specific carry yardage to your bag.
The mini’s ideal if you primarily need a secondary option off the tee and possess a positive attack angle. For those who’ve never heard the term “attack angle” before, it’s used to describe how your clubhead impacts the ground.
Swinging up on the ball produces a positive attack angle while swinging down on the ball yields a negative attack angle. If you’re neutral to slightly positive with most of the clubs in the bag, the deeper face on the mini could be a huge benefit. There’s a higher likelihood you’ll swing it more like a driver and reap the benefits of the larger, hotter face.
If there’s an area where the 3-wood has an advantage, it’s off the turf. The wider, flatter sole makes it easier to execute shots from the fairway and especially the rough. Adjustments have been made to improve the sole shape of the mini, but it’s still a big ask for a middle-handicapper to hit a deep-faced wood consistently off the turf.
Ultimately, the decision to go with a 3-wood or mini driver is a personal one. You can listen to your buddies and pick one up, but I’d recommend linking up with a certified club fitter to understand if there’s an edge to be had for you by using one over the other. Getting sound club fitting advice will save you headaches—and shots—in the long run.
Main Image: Jonathan Wall/Golf Digest
