There can be no doubt that the trend of mini drivers certainly seems to be riding a wave right now. While TaylorMade were undeniably first on the scene with the Original One mini driver and more recently the BRNR mini driver, the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver has now comes to market (admittedly in limited quantities) but what makes it stand out from the increasing crowd?
It really is a miniature version of the Paradym Ai Smoke driver from a looks standpoint, while possessing the titanium construction seen on the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway wood. As the name suggests, the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 mini driver is 340cc, which is notably larger than the BRNR mini driver which measures 304cc.
Made initially as a tour only prototype and tested by the likes of Xander Schauffele and Christian Bezuidenhout at this year's RBC Heritage, the likelihood is the Ti 340 mini driver was built primarily as a club to be used from the tee in order to find tight fairways. With Xander and many of the other PGA Tour golfers now pushing past the 180mph driver ball speed mark, they are very rarely going to be left with a distance into a green that requires them hitting a mini driver. So the larger profile will theoretically produce a more accurate club from the tee than a three wood without giving up as much distance in the process.
While I have my own reservations about the playability of this size of head from the fairway, Callaway has incorporated the same groundbreaking Ai Smart Face technology in this Ti 340 mini driver as is found in the rest of the Paradym Ai Smoke range, which takes data from thousands of golf shots in order to create multiple sweet spots, helping optimize launch and dispersion on poorly struck shots.
While the Ai Smart Face technology has certainly been proven to boost forgiveness in our testing, it’s the dual weight system that I feel may just give the Ti 340 mini driver the edge over the BRNR mini driver. The Ti 340 mini driver comes with two interchangeable weight ports on the sole, behind the face and towards the rear of the club. The 4g and 12g weights allow golfers to customize a certain ball flight by moving the weight around into a preferred setting. For those seeking a penetrating ball flight, placing the 12g weight towards the front will take spin off and knock the ball flight down and vice versa, those seeking additional launch and spin will prefer to have the 4g weight at the front and 12g at the rear.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 mini driver will be available in two lofts, 11.5° and 13.5° and will feature and adjustable hosel, so loft and lie angles can be adjusted. With a playing length of 43.75”, the Ti 340 mini driver really does fall halfway between typical fairway wood and driver lengths. The Ti 340 mini driver will come to retail at $449/£449 and with how popular the BRNR mini driver has been, I’d imagine you’ll have to move pretty fast if you want to get your hands on one given they're only being sold in small volumes.
Now the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 mini driver is officially on the market, it will be very interesting to see if other brands now follow suit and bring their models to retail. We have already had glimpses this year of a Titleist 2 wood that made its way into the hands of Max Homa and Cameron Young as well as a PXG mini driver that was added to the USGA conforming list a few months back.
As the US Open kicks off at Pinehurst this week it will certainly be interesting to see if the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 mini driver makes it into the bags of any players. With positional play and ball striking being of utmost importance over distance, it could well be a club in the bag of the US Open champion come Sunday evening.
We've recently received a sample and will be testing it out very soon so be sure to check back in to the Golf Monthly website for our full review.
