TaylorMade Aero Burner Mini Driver reviewed and tested by Mark Crossfield PGA professional AskGolfGuru. Mark hits the mini driver from TaylorMade and with the help of GC2 HMT he delivers real ball numbers on this golf club. The Aero Burner brand within TaylorMade has been very successful on the PGA and european tours can it help your golf game too.
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I just cant see myself replacing a much needed club with this. Every club
in my bag has a use. This club however, can only be used on the fairway if
it’s sitting up and would only be used off the tee if I couldn’t hit a
straight 3 wood through a narrow fairway. I get it that the distance with
control is the gimmick but it doesn’t seem very versatile. There are times
when I cant reach the green with a good 3 wood but then I’m not a low
handicap and wouldn’t expect to reach EVERY par 5 in TWO ! ( just when I’m
in a medal…. lol)
Nice review Mark.
‘Fair Way Hunting’ with Mini Driver.
Really don’t get these things. Relatively the same distance as a 3 wood.
Less playability from the ground. If you can’t hit a modern day driver you
need to practice more. Buying a one trick pony two wood isn’t gonna do much
for you. This is the wood equivalent of those chipping putters they used to
sell
What’s happened happened to your bunker mentality clobber??
Hit my 14deg half inch mini driver just as long and much much straighter
than my driver. Great club for my home course which is narrow and full of
gorse.
Sweet! Glad you did a video on this club. I’d love to see more exploring
the 14′ & 16′ along with who this fits & how this fits in a bag.
I’m exited to give this one a try because I think I’ll love the white/black
look (haven’t seen it in person yet). I didn’t like the look of the SLDR
Mini so I wasn’t compelled to try it out.
I want it to fit as a 3wood replacement but fear it going out the same as
my driver. I have the Covert 2.0 Performance for my driver & like it. My
3wood is an older club, used 95% only off the tee. I want this to fit so I
have a larger headed option flying out less than driver that I can hit off
the tee.
Just not sure if the 14′ will fit or if I should go 16′.
I’ve just got one of these for the very reasons you point out. I’m
struggling to hit fairway with my 915 d3, so got one of these as a
replacement for my driver. Hoping to correct my driver stats soon but until
then I am definitely hitting more fairways with this. Can’t hit it off the
deck though.
Nice well-rounded review. Good to have an analysis of how this club would
benefit someone in a variety of situations. You are the anti-ego pro.
That’s why I love your videos. That and the Lockey buggy review.
I just bought one of these last week and I’m using it as a driver
replacement. It goes basically as far as my driver but I’ve gone from
hitting 60-70% fairway with driver to 90-95% with the mini. Great club for
guys like me that struggle with the larger headed and longer shafted
drivers.
+Mark Crossfield When’d you pick up the Puma sponsorship?
For those of us (including myself) who have the stronger swing speeds, I
think this is a suitable replacement for a driver.
I’ve had one for about two weeks now, first few rounds it was hard to see
what it offered over a 3 wood or a driver, but the more i’ve used it the
more i see the benefits. For me this club, once you get used to it has many
benefits, especially in summer when you get that extra roll on the long par
4s to help reach in two, or the par 5s that allow me to get an easy chip
for the third shot, it’s also good into the wind, not spinning up like my 3
wood does. I also find this club easy to hit off the deck, not just on
fairways but depending on the lie, rough as well. Off the tee i’m not
really seeing many benefits as i hit my driver further and don’t really
suffer from many hooks or slices, the only benefit is on holes that have
hazards stopping me using the driver, and when i use this for those holes
it does seem to be very straight when hit right.
What do you use to get yardage sand club speeds?
Interesting club but no place for it in my bag. I’m all about distance with
my driver, so I wouldn’t be willing to give up 20 yards or so by replacing
it with this. That said, I’m currently on the market for a new driver and
will be demoing a few at Haggin Oaks Demo Days this weekend at my home
course in Sacramento, California. Can’t wait!
I have the SLDR version , like you say great of the tee and does need
flatish lies but would not be without it
I feel this is a club for a under 80 golfer im not sure how much help it
would be for those not hitting many fairways I would rather use my 3 Wood.
But I will say it is a great Idea for an club in between a driver and a 3
wood
Really like the new into and outro Mark, but I think the audio seems a bit
off for the outro compared to the rest of the vid. Seems too loud and not
that great quality.
As for the mini driver, I could see people who play tight courses or
struggle with the driver but not so much their woods/hybrids (and probably
don’t have a 3 wood) there could be a place for that club in their bags
Mark you’re looking puma swagtastic lately. I think it’s definitely a style
improvement.
So when will they add dimples to the back/Top of the driver (forget
Turbulators)? They must be running out of gimicky stuff to add by now,
surely?
I always had driver trouble and put the SLDR 14 degree in my bag and
instantly my driving improved dramatically.
I was averaging around 260 with roll and on downhill I was getting just
over 300 yards.
The smaller shape just really helped my game.
My x2hot 2 deep 12.5 is my go to off the tee club, can’t see this replacing
that to be honest.
Agree with Mark about the dubious priorities of other reviews where
distance is seemingly everything and the fact that we can see all the shots
on the computer each time (an excellent feature which mark needs to
incorporate!!) and how wayward some of them are when hit hard is not always
factored in as much as distance.
The perfect review would combine the best of both worlds!
Definitely a situational club,but 10 extra yards 6 to 8 times a round is
nice. It’s about time I replace my BIG BERTHA 13° WARBIRD 3+W.
Would be a great club to have the the armoury
Great club, loving the choices we are now getting. Its big decision time
for me. I hardly use the driver and mostly drive with my 3 wood. The driver
is such an un-versatile club, I cant hit it off the deck, its really just
for driving down a couple of long and very open fairways. To me this is the
strength of the Aeroburner mini-driver. It is versatile and can be hit off
the deck. Well my new MP-H5 driving 3 iron has blown all this out the
water, I hit it dead straight 200 yards off the tee and that is further
than the 3 wood. I have just taken delivery of my new MP-H5 Hitogami 1 iron
(your fault Mark, i loved your review and thought that will be fun with
some friends down the range seeing if we can actually hit it at all). Well
I absolutely rip the 3 iron and if I can hit the 1 iron further there is
only one outcome, it will take the place of my Covert driver in the bag
and, to be honest, I cant see me missing it ;-)
Its a 2 wood
Great review. I especially like your small dig at ‘certain’ egotistical
testers – :o)
Just a thought. I think the mini-driver would be best for long par-5’s
where people do not want to hit a driver off the deck.
One example would be a hole being 500 yards. The player drives the ball 250
yards, and in order to get in on 2, they may go for the mini-driver
alternative, barring the fact that they get more substantial distance than
their 3 wood. This would definitely be for the ambitious player that is
confident in hitting their 3 wood off the deck, going back to that niche
market you were talking about +Mark Crossfield .
great video!!! awesome review!!
I hit this club at my local golf town the other day and absolutely loved
the numbers I was getting. Average carry at around 270 where as my driver
hits about 290 on a good day but felt like I had much more control of the
ball with the mini. I sometimes struggle off the tee with a driver so am
forced to lay back with my 3 wood so I am seriously considering adding this
club to my bag as a driver replacement on most days. Great review Mark as
always! Cheers
Nice vid
Mark could u explain why somebody can hit a fairway with that club and not
their driver…I know it’s the case as I went through a leave my driver
home phase once myself but u can easily buy a 12 degree driver with a 460
cc head now so would people not be better doing that and then having a 15
degree 3 wood for hitting off the deck? Also why don’t u file the wing off
that club and see how much u distance and dispersion changes so we all know
if we need wings 😀
I can see this appealing to an older player a bit daunted with a lower loft
but still wants to keep some distance.
Haven’t tried this one, but bought a 16* SLDR S Mini TP and loved it so
much that I just ordered a 12* SLDR S Mini TP to hit off the tee more
regularly. I love the new category of club that TM has created!