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
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.
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.
