In life and on golf equipment, I strongly believe that Walt Whitman/Ted Lasso Credo applies.
Be curious, not judgmental.
However, when I entered Golftec in Danvers, Mass., Earlier this month, my mind was created. I reserved a suitable mini driver and was not leaving without one.
My plan was simple: I would throw my driver and 3-wood, fixed my 5-rail up to 16 degrees and open a specific course slot in my bag. It was a sound plan and it worked to the part where we applied the Earl Weaver’s conclusions to Walt Whitman/Ted Lasso Credo:
Is what you learn after you know everything you really count.
Why did I want a mini driver?
My mini driver’s flirtation dates back to 2015 when I did an X2Hot Pro 2 Callaway. Decent called it a street wood But at 12.5 degrees, it was a beast out. Over the past decade, however, I have evolved into a conventional driver configuration/3-drung. The problem is that the 3-dude has become my 50-50 club. Fifty percent of the time, it works every time.
I play most of my golf in Morning Hill in Greenland, New Hampshire. Brian Silva’s design is not long, but it requires accuracy from Tee and is punishing if it flies green. Of the 14 way out, only seven require a driver. Four accuracy more favor, but a little more distance than a 3 -tree offer would not hurt.
Two of the three par-5 morning are accessible to two, but only if you are accurate enough to avoid water or forests. More often than not, this 64-year-old plays it safe.
When my driver is done with squirrels, it is usually a premature stroke. When my 3-finger is done with a squirrel, it is usually a stroke of the legs that find the territory unexplored to the right. My goal was to find a club to mitigate both losses in vain. I wanted long and right without being too long, but only in certain holes.
As I write those words, I now understand why Steve, my most close, smiled at me with a touch of sadness.
Initial base setting
Golftec Instructor/Fitter Steve Thomson has worked with me for three years, rebuilding my swing after knee surgery. He has seen my handicap fall from an iffy 10 to 5.8 traveling. He knows I can reach 255 to 260 with a driver when I’m swinging well. He also knows that when I am not, someone or anything on the left is in great danger.
We started throwing an initial base with my gamer, that gorgeous Dorito-s view Cleveland Hibore XL With shares Mitsubishi Tensei Blue in Stiff (she plays a little softer than that).
“You are at the low end of the starting window (14.4 degrees) but with a high rotation (2,800 rpm average), but this is what this driver does,” he told me. “This model is atypical to you; you usually destroy it a little better, but we’re getting good shooting with evil. We won’t wear anything.”
My best shots were between 246 and 250 yards; My worst was in the 220s with over 3,200 RPM rotations. The biggest problem was that my best shots were about eight yards left in the center while my worst was about 30. My averages were 235 yards and 16.5 yards left in the center.
“Let’s see your nine first nine real drives,” Steve told me. “This is your nine front (holes). You mostly kept it in the game, but you have a double double blow, some that can lead to a bird effort and a pair of premature effort. There are 41 at the front.”
Our goal, then, was not necessarily to last longer. It was to become narrower.
Callaway and Taylormade look it
I had great hopes for Callaway Elyte Mini. With the Black Denali 60 Black shares, the rotation fell to about 2,500 rpm. The angle of departure was about the same, though Elyte was set at 11.5 degrees while Dorito was placed at nine degrees.
The distance was very close, with an average of 231 yards with an average ball speed of 135 mph. My best was a 244-oyster pool rocket immediately in the middle, just about one outside yard. However, he was a farthest. My average was 14 yards offline on the left with a pair of early premature hooks first flying to the left of the golden banana on Street 1.
The other was Taylormade R7 Quad Mini set at 13.5 degrees. Singudarely, the spin fell to other 100 rpm, while the departure angle was almost the same despite the added attic. Surprisingly, the ball speed was thrown some MPH and the average distance was 239.5.
Hey, now
We also got a little narrower, in the 12.5 yards left out of line.
That was an attractive attention. What happened next broke out my mind.
A shaft xs? Are you joking with me?
So far, Taylormade was longer and narrower, so was Ta-Ta Elyte and a large Hello, sailor to r7 mini.
“Elyte Mini was not helping us to fix the left prejudice,” Steve said. “Sometimes it’s like, why try to make it work? Startup and rotation were fine, but you are hitting it the same way you are hitting Dorito.”
Yes, I did it by calling it Dorito, too.
Steve came out his grief and made Quad R7 do r7 quad things. He moved the only heavier weight toward the toe to make it faded. Then he inserted-depending on your hat-a shaft of extra-staff.
Friends, I have not played an extra-staff since the Clinton administration.
The son of a weapon if this would not do. My average offline fell from 12.5 yard left to just over seven. My distance was below a touch, but this old man was passing shortly after all the shooting.
“Your trend is Snapper,” Steve said. “But what we’re seeing here is the smallest head and the XS shaft are helping you NO Hit Snappers. The goal here is to keep the ball online. “
For the record, we didn’t try the young man Title GT280 Mini Mini Driver For a very good reason: Golftec did not yet have one.
An existential crisis
For giggles and grins, Steve placed a big big boy’s big driver for me. It was placed at 10.5 degrees with an EC1 Blue 65 arts in extra-staff. The ball speed and distance were not much different from Cleveland but the opening of the eye was accuracy: an average of 5.8 offline yards.
This is 11 yards narrower than Dorito. Worse with the triple diamond was better than mine average Offline with Cleveland.
“You are in modern equipment, so we won’t see much in the way of remote profits,” Steve told me. “You just want to hit the narrower ball and this 11 tighter yards. Your swing speed is slower because the shaft is a shorter half inch, but you are still hitting it just as far away.”
This sound you hear is the gang at Mygolfsky headquarters hysterically laughing at my expense.
“Dorito is a good gamer for you,” Steve says. “It’s not the longest, but you hit the ball quite well with it. However, the offline average, however, is worse than R7 min.”
For the record, I asked Steve which driver would recommend: Cleveland or The Triple Diamond. He didn’t even allow me to finish the sentence before I responded.
“The triple diamond-is not as biased as previous versions. Your worst offline on the left was what was your average with Cleveland. We are seeing many bad players get into it.”
Gee, thanks.
What did we learn?
When I’m hitting the driver well, 250 to 260 is a special option. When I am not, I can settle in about 225 to 235. As long as I am on the road, I am a happy guy.
However, my plan to throw both the driver and the Woodway Wood turned out to be a bad idea. We reached that conclusion though, on the appropriate day at least, the R7 mini was actually longer than my driver.
“I would put the mini driver in your bag to fill your driver,” Steve said. “If you have a good day driving, you will not need, except for the holes where the driver is too long.
“If you fight with 3-down off the ground and not do enough, what is its purpose? Just use your 5-land off the ground; you will hit better.”
We tried the mini driver from the mattress and was surprisingly easy to hit. The ball didn’t go too high, but it went away and reasonably straight.
“You can hit the mini driver off the ground if you need,” Steve said. “But you’re not good enough in Golf where it will change your game.”
Gee, thanks again.
Mini driver fits
So I dipped my credit card and bought Taylormade R7 Mini. On okay, so I don’t have it yet, but I’ll update you how it works on the course. It will be a complement to my driver, not a replacement. Mini should be a useful weapon on a small regular course like Hill Hill. In courses with a little more space, maybe not so much.
“You may be going through a nice day of driving and a pretty good round. The mini driver won’t cheat it,” Steve says. “Maybe you are in a narrow hole going down to the stretch. You don’t want to lose with your driver and make a pair and have no confidence in your 3rd.
“With mini, you know you will be there 230 to 240 and you will be on the right track or at least near it.”
You also need to know that my 3-dude knows something is over. Modeling the new Wilson carbon model and since the mini driver fits, it has been a beast. I’ve even reached some par-5 in two with her.
I don’t know how but these things simply know. Carbon is not falling without a war.
As with any fit, there are some loose edges. First, would things change the GT280 title? What will happen if (when) I turn off the mini tayormade mini up to 11.5 degrees? Wauld what would happen if you climb an XS shaft to the Elyte Mini, or even Dorito? And what about Secret weapon pxg?
Questions like these, dear friends, make the life of a golf writer worth living.
Final thoughts
Earl Weaver was right: she IS What you learn after you know everything you really count. My plan going inside was well thought out and extremely reasonable. The data, however, had other ideas. I will keep the driver (whatever he is on) in the bag, throw 3-wood, fasten 5-down to probably 16 degrees and add to the R7 mini.
It also pays to be provided by someone who knows your pace if you can. Steve and I have a long training relationship. He knows my tendencies. If I had a bad day while mounting, he still knows what I’m capable of. If I were great, he would restore me again. He also spoke to me through what I was looking for.
“I’m not just trying to sell you a club. I’m trying to help you play better. We just went through all the scenarios where you will use a mini driver. It is a supplement to your bag, not a replacement for your driver. And, according to numbers, it will help you play better.”
Oh, one more thing. I am being enrolled in Medicare soon and I am playing a extra. Don’t care if it’s a “made”, Sunuvabitch says “xs”. You bet your ass i will go a little.
To borrow the target marking from a very old and very fucking joke, “dad, I’m saying Everyone!“
office I was provided for a mini driver and here’s what I learned first appeared in MygolfSSS.
