2024 Mini drivers – Syndication Server

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver
Price: $449.99 with Project X Denali shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Forged titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, movable sole weights and adjustable hosel.
Available: June 27

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Who It’s For: Golfers who only use their 3-wood off the tee and who want an alternative to their driver.

The Skinny: Designed with all the technologies of Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, the Ti 340 Mini driver is designed to be used off the tee for extra control and shot-shaping without sacrificing too much distance.

The Deep Dive: As analytics and stats become more engrained in golf, it becomes apparent to some players that they don’t use their 3-wood anywhere except off the tee. So, if you are only using your 3-wood off the tee on holes when hitting your driver could bring hazards into play, or you find it easier to hit a draw with a fairway wood instead of a driver, a mini driver could be a smart club to add to your bag.

Callaway has offered mini drivers and strong-lofted fairway woods in the past (remember the Phrankenwood from back in 2013?), but none has been more exclusively for use off the tee than the just-released Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver has a titanium Smart Face, carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel like the standard Ai Smoke drivers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

At 340 cubic centimeters in volume, it’s 26 percent smaller than a typical 460-cubic-centimeter driver, and it comes in two loft options, 11.5 and 13.5 degrees. It also comes standard at 43.75 inches in length, which is about 1.5 to 2 inches shorter than most modern drivers. So the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver is a little smaller, a little shorter and has more loft than the driver, but in nearly every other way, it is a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver.

The Face: Callaway gave the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver an Ai Smart Face that was created using artificial intelligence after computers studied how real golfers swing. As with the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, it is optimized to perform better on the most-common mis-hits.

The Crown: The carbon fiber crown reduces weight on the top of the head and allowed designers to shift the center of gravity lower.

Moveable Weights: Like the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, the Ti 340 Mini driver has a forward and back weight. If comes with a 12-gram weight in the back and a 4-gram weight in the front, but players and fitters can swap them to fine-tune the spin rate and ball flight.

Adjustable Hosel: Like other Callaway woods, the Ti 340 Mini driver has a hosel that lets players and fitters independently change the loft and lie angle.

With a deep-face design and large volume, skilled players could use the Ti 340 Mini driver off the fairway on long par 5s, but it is designed to be played off the tee when using a driver could bring hazards into play or when golfers want more control.

Below are several images of the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini driver.

Gear: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper
Price: $449.99 with UST Mamiya ProForce 65 shaft and Golf Pride TaylorMade Victory Copper grip
Specs: Titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, adjustable sole weights and adjustable hosel. 11.5 and 13.5-degree models

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Who It’s For: Fast-swinging golfers who want an alternative to their driver off the tee but who want more forgiveness and distance than most 3-woods provide.

The Skinny: Smaller than a driver, yet much larger than a typical 3-wood, the BRNR Mini Driver Copper combines exotic materials and driver-like technologies to create a powerful alternative off the tee for elite players.

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The Deep Dive: Aside from the possible exception of a driving iron, no club in golf is more macho than a mini driver. Carrying one says to the world that there are times on the course when your driver goes too far, and, you are skilled enough to get the ball airborne with a fairway wood that has driver-like loft.

TaylorMade has quietly made mini drivers available for a few seasons. The Original One Mini debuted in 2019, and in 2021, the 300 Mini driver was released. Last year, TaylorMade offered the BRNR Mini, and a few pros, including Tommy Fleetwood, have put it in play frequently. Now, on the eve of the 2024 Masters, TaylorMade is dropping the BRNR Mini Driver Copper, a club that is virtually identical to the 2023 BRNR Mini but cosmetically pays homage to the late ’90s Burner woods.

The BRNR Mini Driver Copper’s head size is 304cc, which is 34 percent smaller than most drivers on the market today, like the 460cc TaylorMade Qi10 Max. However, the BRNR Mini Driver Copper dwarfs 3-woods like the Qi10 Max (200cc) and Qi10 Tour (170cc). The BRNR Mini Driver Copper also comes standard at 43.75 inches in length, which is a half-inch longer than those 3-woods but 2 inches shorter than a stock Qi10 LS driver and 1.75 inches shorter than a standard Qi10 Max driver.

With specifications like that, and being available only in 11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts, some golfers will call the BRNR Mini Driver Copper a 2-wood instead of a mini driver. Regardless of what you call it, the club is designed to excel off the tee as alternative to a driver.

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TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper — The BRNR Mini Driver Copper has a titanium face and body along with a carbon fiber crown. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The BRNR Mini Driver Copper has a titanium face and body, along with a carbon fiber crown, to create a significant amount of discretionary weight, which engineers re-purposed in the form of two sole weights. With the 13-gram weight in the front and 1.5-gram weight in the back, the BRNR Mini Driver Copper produces more ball speed, less spin and a lower launch angle. However, with the 13-gram weight in the back port and the lighter weight in the front, golfers should see an increase in both spin and launch angle, along with more stability.

The BRNR Mini Driver Copper also has Twist Face, a shot-straightening technology that debuted in 2018’s M3 and M4 drivers, and it has a Speed Pocket slot in the sole to allow the lower portion of the hitting area to flex more efficiently on low-struck shots.

If players decide to play the BRNR Mini Copper off the deck, its K-shaped sole is designed to allow the bottom of the club to skim across and over the turf more effectively. But be warned: With a deep face and large size, this club was designed to be used primarily off the tee. Fast-swinging, skilled players will be able to create enough lift to get shots up in the air, but slower-swinging players might struggle to generate enough spin to maximize carry distance.

To fine-tune the spin and trajectory, the BRNR Mini Copper comes with an adjustable hosel that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by up to 2 degrees.

Even with all those modern features and technologies, the copper accents and the font used to spell the word TaylorMade on the sole will immediately be recognizable to golfers who remember using Burner drivers and fairway woods in the 1990s. And, if you recall that turning the head cover of last season’s BRNR Mini driver inside-out revealed a fuzzy rainbow design that some players opted to use, you will be pleased to know that turning the BRNR Mini Copper’s headcover inside out reveals a fuzzy blue-patterned option you can go with.

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Below are several close-up images of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper.