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Our pick for most golfers is the TaylorMade R7 Quad ($479.99). Four movable weights, one setting for a slight draw. A mini driver is a smaller driver head on a shorter shaft: easier to find the fairway with than a driver, bigger than a 3-wood. It is not more forgiving than a full-size driver. All 4 are compared below.
TaylorMade's mini driver: a 305cc head with four movable weights. Both heavy weights at the back is TaylorMade's setting for more forgiveness; heel forward and toe back gives a slight draw. In 11.5°, 13.5° or 15.5°. Also sold left-handed.
Cobra's mini driver, which it sells on forgiveness and control: a 303cc head weighted low and back for launch, and a hosel that sets the 13.5° head anywhere from 11.5° to 15.5°. Right-handed only.
Order: Most forgiving first, then price. Use the arrows to sort.A dash means the maker does not publish it.
Who should carry a mini driver
The golfer it helps most is the one who has stopped hitting driver off the tee because it goes too far offline, and hits a 3-wood instead. A mini driver gives that golfer a bigger head than the 3-wood and a shorter, more lofted club than the driver. The Callaway Quantum has the biggest head here (340cc), $549.99 at Golf Discount, checked 2 Nov.
It is the wrong club if your driver is mostly fine: a forgiving 460cc driver goes further and forgives more (the most forgiving drivers). It is also the wrong club to replace a 3-wood you hit mostly from the fairway: a forgiving fairway wood or a 7-wood gets the ball up from the turf more easily. Each head here scores 3.0 of 5 for forgiveness, against 4.0 for the makers' most forgiving drivers.
Earlier mini drivers, often cheaper
Mini drivers their makers have replaced, still sold new by some shops and used, each beside the head that replaced it. The picks above choose from the current heads only.
A driver-shaped head smaller than a 460cc driver, on a shorter shaft. The 4 here run from 303cc to 340cc and 11.5° to 15.5°. It sits between the driver and the 3-wood, and most can be hit off the tee or the fairway.
Is a mini driver more forgiving than a driver?
No. A full-size 460cc head with the maker's most forgiving build keeps more of a mishit than a smaller head. A mini driver helps a golfer who misses the driver because of its length and low loft: the shorter shaft is easier to strike from the middle, and the extra loft makes a slice curve less. The driver length guide gives every driver's and mini driver's stock length.
Is a mini driver more forgiving than a 3-wood?
Off the tee it usually is, because the head is bigger. Callaway sells its Quantum mini driver as giving "more distance and forgiveness than a fairway wood and more control than a driver". Off the fairway, a 3-wood's shallower head is easier to get up from a tight lie, so keep the 3-wood if that is where you use it most.
Will a mini driver fix my slice?
It can make a slice curve less, because it has more loft and a shorter shaft than a driver. The TaylorMade R7 Quad has a weight setting for a slight draw. A dedicated draw driver does more: see the drivers for slicers.
Should a high handicapper carry a mini driver?
Only if the driver is costing you balls. If you find the fairway with your driver most of the time, a forgiving 460cc head goes further. If you hit 3-wood off the tee because the driver goes anywhere, a mini driver is the easier club for that job.
Left-handed?
3 of 4 are listed left-handed: the TaylorMade R7 Quad, the Titleist GTS300 and the Callaway Quantum.
Do mini drivers come in senior flex?
None of the 4 lists a senior (A) or ladies (L) flex in stock. The Titleist GTS300 also comes in softer flexes Titleist calls R3 and R2; on the others regular is the softest. A slower swing usually gets more from a forgiving driver in senior flex or a high-lofted fairway wood.
Driver shafts for a slower swing, more height or a mid flight, with each one's weight, torque and flexes from its maker, and the stock shafts on every forgiving driver.
