Golf equipment can seem like fashion at times. While fashion trends dictate what we should and shouldn’t wear, golf equipment trends dictate what we should and shouldn’t play with. Equipment...
Golf equipment can seem like fashion at times.
While fashion trends dictate what we should and shouldn’t wear, golf equipment trends dictate what we should and shouldn’t play with.
Equipment trends nearly always start in the professional ranks and trickle down into the amateur game, with mixed results.
We’ve seen a fair assortment of trends through the years. Square drivers were designed to help us hit straighter drives. Hybrid clubs were designed to replace our long irons. Driving irons gives us an iron-like appearance if we can’t get used to hybrid looks.
If we look at the current market in 2025, we are witnessing the continued growing trend of mini-drivers.
High-profile players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott were early adopters, adding mini drivers to their golf bags and binning their three woods. Jake Knapp secured his first PGA Tour victory last year with a mini driver to his bag.
The mini driver also captured the curiosity of players like Rory McIlroy, who tinkered with one during practice sessions between tournaments. His club sponsor, TaylorMade, even posted a video on its YouTube channel of McIlroy’s session experimenting with a mini driver, in which he talks up the club’s advantages.
It’s time we took a closer look at the mini-driver and asked ourselves: Is it just another trend, or is it here to stay for the foreseeable future?
To answer these questions, we’ll guide you through the following:
The mini driver is an easy enough concept to understand. Its name describes exactly what it is: a smaller-headed version of a driver designed to be used off the tee and, on certain occasions, off the deck.
Mini driver heads are between 280 and 340cc in size compared to drivers, which are 460cc in the majority. Mini driver lofts tend to be between 12 and 15 degrees; in old-school terms, this lofting would make the club a two wood.
The mini driver shaft length tends to be around 43.5 or 43.75 inches, the traditional length of a steel-shafted driver when drivers were still predominantly constructed from persimmon.
We mentioned in our intro that many trends start at tour level before filtering down into the amateur ranks. The mini driver has become more interesting to tour players because most course setups they face each week have trouble off the tee in the 300 to 320-yard mark to catch errant drives.
Last year, the average drive on the PGA Tour breached the 300-yard barrier for the first time, which could mean more pros are looking at the mini driver as a great compromise for staying short of trouble but not so short compared to a three-wood.
While the argument might be clearer in the professional ranks, are mini drivers any good for amateurs? The answer could be yes, and for similar reasons, more professionals are adding mini-drivers to their bags.
For long enough, the three wood had been considered the “go-to” option if the driver wasn’t behaving or accuracy was a premium over distance.
In research by Shot Scope, the average handicap player loses just over 20 yards between their driver and three wood. The distance loss would be acceptable if the percentage of fairways hit increased drastically for using the more lofted three wood. However, Shot Scope’s research indicated that the average handicap player was only likely to increase their chances of hitting the fairway by 2% using a three-wood off the tee compared to their driver.
Losing at least 20 yards from the tee and still hitting it into trouble is not a good play for any level of golfer. If you are really struggling with your driver and cannot hit fairways with your three wood, you feel like you have no workable option off the tee.
This was partly the case for DP World Tour player Eddie Pepperell, who couldn’t find a driver he could trust. He played most of last season using a mini-driver as his main driving club.
The case for mini drivers starts with the fact that they feature the same technology as drivers, which can mean high MOI stability, as we’ll see in some of the models we’ll explore later in the piece. The larger footprint of a mini driver backs up the high MOI argument. If, for argument’s sake, we say the average mini driver head size is 300cc, it’s at least 100cc bigger than the biggest three-wood head. The larger size of the mini driver can offer more confidence off the tee and more stability.
Mini drivers aren’t just designed to be used off the tee. They can be used off the deck.
Manufacturers ensure their mini drivers have soles that glide through the turf in a similar fashion to standard fairway woods.
This added flexibility means you could consider a mini driver for long approaches into par fives, long par fours, or even long par threes.
Think about the turf conditions in which you generally play golf. If you play on links courses where you get a lot of tight lies on the fairway, would you be happy to take a shot on from the deck with a mini driver?
If you play parkland courses, the ball might sit up nicer on the turf, giving you more confidence in flighting a mini driver better from the deck.
The one major drawback to mini-drivers off the deck is that they tend to feature a deeper face than a three wood.
A secondary drawback is that the mini driver presents less loft at address, which can lead to you manipulating your swing to help get the ball airborne. Traditional three woods with 15 degrees of loft look much more friendly down at the ball.
We’ve discussed that the trend for mini-drivers in 2025 shows no signs of slowing down. With two big launches recently, let’s look at some of the options currently available.
The GT280 is more at the player's end of the spectrum. Its 280cc head makes it one of the smaller mini-drivers on the market.
The tech driving the GT280 is Titleist’s Thermoform Crown and L-Cup Face technology. Moveable weights allow the mass to be concentrated to give higher, more stable ball flights if positioned in the rear or turn it into a low-spinning bombing machine if moving the mass forward.
Titleist has also worked on flattening the sole and lowering the leading edge to aid contact from tight lies off the deck.
Finally, Titleist’s reliable SureFit adjustable hosel allows the GT280’s launch and shot shape to be manipulated to any player’s liking.
The Elyte Mini sits at the larger end of the spectrum, coming in at 340cc. The Elyte Mini boasts the same tech as the Elyte range, so you get a Thermoforged Carbon crown and Ai 10X Face. The Elyte Mini also benefits from high levels of adjustability with moveable weight in the rear of the head to produce a draw or fade bias. You can also position the weight in the neutral position to maximise stability.
Callaway’s OptiFit hosel allows more customisation of trajectory and ball flight, allowing you to dial the club in exactly how you want it.
PXG’s Secret Weapon is 300cc and boasts a high MOI thanks to its carbon fibre crown and carbon sole inserts. Performance comes from an ultra-thin titanium face that maximises the trampoline effect at impact.
The Secret Weapon focuses on weight distribution, with four moveable weights positioned at the front and rear of the sole and towards the heel and toe. These four weights allow for full customisation of the Secret Weapon’s setup to suit any golfer and the ball flight and shape they desire.
The configuration of the weight ports might also be influenced by whether you want to have the option to use the Secret Weapon as much from the fairway as the tee.
Having so much adjustability in the sole might compensate for the fact that the Secret Weapon is the only model we’ve discussed without an adjustable hosel.
TaylorMade’s BRNR Mini driver has been around for nearly a year and takes its copper colour scheme inspiration from the distinctive Burner Bubble series of drivers and fairway woods from the late 1990s.
The BRNR Mini is 304cc and features TaylorMade’s tried-and-tested technologies, such as Twist Face and Thru-Slot Speed Pocket, to boost performance. It also has an adjustable hosel to alter loft and lie. A freshly designed K-SOLE helps turf interaction, which will suit players who want to use the BRNR Mini off the deck as effectively as from the tee.
While nothing has been confirmed, a replacement for the BRNR Mini could be available later this year.
Cobra currently has a mini driver on the USGA’s approved list. The model will likely form part of the DS-Adapt range, but not much else is known about it at the time of writing.
If you are thinking about adding a mini-driver to your arsenal, some key considerations must be taken into account.
First is the type of golf course you mainly play. If you play at a course where accuracy is the premium but still need some distance from the tee, the mini driver might be right for you.
You also have to think about how you would use a mini-driver. Would you use your mini driver for:
Investing in a mini-driver is a serious business. Mini drivers aren’t that much cheaper than a driver, with the cheapest model we’ve looked at in our guide costing £357 ($456) for the PXG.
Making sure a mini driver could benefit your game comes down to custom-fitting. The reason why custom-fitting is so important when choosing this type of club is down to understanding how far you hit your driver and your three wood.
Be mindful that whatever use you see for a mini driver, you may have to also make changes in your remaining lofted woods or hybrids to ensure consistent distance gapping from your driver to your longest iron.
Working with an experienced fitter with a launch monitor will help determine the distances you hit your existing clubs at the top end of the bag. From there, it becomes clearer where the mini driver could fit in and, if so, whether changes need to be made with your other fairway woods/hybrids to ensure consistent distance gapping.
With so many adjustable options available in mini drivers, the fitter can also ensure that the club is optimised to your exact needs.
Mini drivers are packed full of technology and can offer a genuine alternative to a driver if your driving game is really poor, and your confidence has gone.
Mini drivers offer some flexibility where they can be used off the deck. Still, they can look intimidating to higher-handicap players who like to see some loft behind the ball in their fairway woods.
At the start, we asked if mini-drivers were just a current trend. The answer is that they will likely be around for the foreseeable future. They are useful clubs that, if fitted properly to your game, can help you shoot lower scores.
Book a custom fitting session with us at Nine By Nine Golf if you want to explore whether a mini driver can benefit your game.
Our experienced fitters will work with you to unlock how a mini-driver can benefit your game and ensure you have consistent gapping in your clubs if you do opt for a mini-driver.
You can book a custom fitting session through the Nine By Nine Golf website, where you can also browse our range of mini-drivers.
We’d be happy to help if you have any other questions about mini-drivers or how custom fitting could benefit your golf game.
Sources:
YouTube video Rory McIlroy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsPHX9p2XJk
Tour average drives in 2024: https://golf.com/instruction/driving/how-far-golfers-hit-drives-play-smart/
Shot Scope info:
https://shotscope.com/blog/practice-green/stats-and-data/driver-or-3-wood-what-is-better/
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