The reason so many PGA Tour players are now using the mini-driver over the three wood has been explained

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Golf clubs are an ever improving technology and it seems like we see brand new tech every year to tempt us to part ways with our hard-earned cash.

Over the years, golf clubs have developed from the old hickory style to the more chic looking irons and drivers right through to the modern carbon fibre golf clubs which see the best in the world hit distances never seen before.

Of course, that tech is constantly revolving and on the PGA and LIV Tours, it seems like everyone is always looking for a new ‘toy’ to put in the bag.

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This weekend at the ZOZO Championship, we saw Rickie Fowler use one of the increasingly popular ‘mini drivers’.

Fowler explained just why he uses the mini driver, citing loft and tee shots as two of the big reasons behind it’s inclusion.

And adding further weight to Fowler’s comments, former PGA player Smylie Kaufman has now given more insight into the club’s uses.

Smylie Kaufman explains why a mini driver is such a good club for pro golfers

Speaking on the latest episode of his Smylie Show on YouTube, Kaufman explained in detail why he thinks so many are now turning to the mini-driver instead of a two or three-wood.

“The reason why I think is a driver, in the way these clubs are built now, it’s so difficult to control trajectory and control shot shapes. There’s very few players in the world who are able to change trajectory with the driver and change curves in both directions.

“Rory McIlroy is one who can bring it up, bring it down, and hit it both ways, he’s the best driver of a golf ball in the world.

“The mini driver, I’ve never hit it, but what I can tell, it’s a club that’s going to fly that 260-280 depending how long or short you are. But what it allows you to do, guys who are nervous off the tee and want to find a fairway, they’ll tee down.

“What it allows you to do is not get underneath. It allows you to stay on top, so when it comes to hitting fairways and being accurate…guys get really off, they don’t match up in their pivot, there’s a stall. With this club, you can swing it more like an iron and swing less up on it. It’s a way you can go and swing like you’re on the range and it comes out the right ball flight and you can change shot shape with it.”

What is a mini driver?

A mini driver is essentially what it says on the tin. It is a driver, that’s slightly smaller than a standard driver that allows a golfer to hit different types of shots to the usual woods in the bag.

Key features of a mini driver are the shorter shaft length – as Kaufman hints at – and the head being smaller than a normal driver to allow for more control.

Crucially as well, a mini driver will typically have a loft somewhere in between the normal driver setting of around nine or ten degrees and a three-wood’s angle of around 15 or 16 degrees.

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A mini driver is normally around the 13.5 degrees mark, allowing for straighter more accurate shots both off the tee and fairways if needed.

All in all, it’s very much a modern golfer’s club and while you need to be a good level to use it effectively, you can imagine it will trickle down into the amateur game eventually.