2020 TaylorMade SIM and SIM Max drivers (in hand photos, M5/M6 comparison pics)

[Brooks_Cupcake]

Couldn’t agree more. @TaylorMade Golf always disappears when people get into the weeds or say anything that doesn’t have to do with hype or releases.
As soon as the Swingweight issue came up with hundreds of members....crickets....
Just got my Ventus Black SIM, Length is 3/8” longer than ordered, and SW is 2.5 lighter than the D4 I requested making it unplayable for me at 45”
And of course, they won’t offer sliding weights to order.

[budcangolf]

I have an M5 weight I put in my SIM to help with SW. It went in easy and I have had no issues just an FYI. Mine was too light as well but it at least bumped it up closer to what I wanted.

[Krt22]

They absolutely changed mine. I posted pics a few pages back.

[getitdaily]

Standing on the range right now testing weight distribution on my SIM. I posted previously that I tried and loved a 4g weight added to the front track. I need 4g to get sw up. My initial testing was phenomenal. But I broke the 4g weight (stripped the screw) before I could play it. I tested first this morning, 4g of lead tape along the toe and heel side of the back weight. That brought sw up but the head still felt light. And the ball was kind of everywhere. I moved the front weight around and it didn't help with consistency.

I got more 4g weights in 2 days ago so my next progression was to put the 4g weight in the front track. I removed the lead tape altogether. This club comes alive for me with that weight in the front. I actually tried 4g all the way in the toe and 10g halfway toward the heel and the difference in consistency is huge. Nothing hard right and not a single ball left. That's what a fader is after...

An added bonus of the weight up front...at the same total weight, the head feels heavier.

[gmr04]

It's called the honeymoon for a reason, I suppose.

[DNice26]

Yeah, but we are talking honey moon without consummation here...

[gmr04]

It was great...in my mind.

[zrheisler22]

upgraded from the M3 to the Max, just hope they release an extra head weight so I can get it back to D7 without using lead tape.

Initially had no plans to upgrade when it first came out but at CC today just wasn’t swinging it that well and my misses were going a good 15 yards farther and much straighter. Figured on the good days they are the same but days I don’t have it, it’s a nice relief.

[geakins]

My SIM should be in soon. I also ordered .50 shorter am very curious what the head weight will weigh. The guy at PGASS told me that he was positive they would do the SW!! But I’m not holding my breath, thankfully I have an extra m5 weight I can use if needed.

[Shakespeare]

Sorry for not reading the entire thread, but does anyone know the standard shaft length from the top of grip to end of adapter? Thx

[rdangelo1077]

Unfortunately, I think you are one of very very few that it actually came in correctly whether intentional or not, and with the prices they charge I'm not willing to roll the dice to end up having to either buy myself a hotmelt gun or take it somewhere else.

I actually just got back from a fitting this evening and I was surprised by how unimpressed I was during my fitting. Previous fittings I have always gravitated towards TM drivers, and for the last couple of years nothing could get my M1 out of the bag. Even today the M1 fared pretty well. The SIM and Max in various lofts, face/lie angles, and shafts just couldn't out perform what I had already. Either big push cuts or the face was shutting down.

Alas, upgraded to a newly discounted TS3 with either Aldila Rogue Silver 130 or Evenflow T1100 this coming season. Wife will be happy I saved some extra change!

[herbert7890]

you probably haven't heard of something called a range (which if you read my post fully, would have seen I have gone twice to the range this week with the SIM) SMH with people in this forum sometimes...... and played with it today and shot my best round so far in 2020 (and also in the last 4 months), a 2 over, 74 (8th straight round in the 70s)

[herbert7890]

I went from Epic Flash Subzero 9 to SIM 9, both with the same shaft, the glorious Hzrdus Smoke Black (70gm) 6.0 I tested some other shaft with pretty similar results but the feel of this shaft will win time and time again.

[zeke66]

I’m about to pull the trigger on this. Have a ventus 7x ready to go into this with a plus 4 grip now I’m paranoid about the swing weight. What is going on here? Maybe I should bang it and get something else? The sim was performing awesome at the store. How should I order this if I’m planning on junking the stock shaft?

[alpineto]

are the Ventus shafts that come stock with these made for or are they the real deal

hit the Sim at the PGA superstore today with the Ventus blue in it , liking it but still to

early to say if I'll switch I'll wait for some demo day before I decide I currently game a Epic subzero 10.5 .

[gambit]

Made for. Real ones say velocore and arw

a $250 upcharge.

[DNice26]

Don’t get your panties in a bunch. All good. I find it odd that two range sessions with a club, no course time, warrants a love label. Typically it takes me at least one round of golf to marry a club and proclaim my love to the world, but to each their own. Congrats on your round. I’m happy to read the range translated to the course for you.

[tomg1969]

Don't let all of the SW crap scare you away. The SIM is really good. I'd order one with something other than a project x shaft and order it 3/4 inch short. The driver will be fine.

Ohh....when it come in, put your Ventus in and go hit it before you check swing weight and see how it goes. Fitting is not really the exact science that some think it is and regardless of SW, you may bomb it with the Ventus or not.

[JerryTBall]

Myself I’m a type that answers that question, how do you learn, video, reading or classroom instruction? I never judge love or hate hitting in a bay, I’m really not comfortable in a bay, hitting balls and being fit on the range imo, is best way to go, real turf, wind, sun!

I’ll always chose the visual lesson. I’ll take to range to get feel of the weight, if I can’t get the height I want and is it so heavy even though hitting good, is it wearing me out! First time hit my m5 on range I loved the weight and how the sound changed as you moved the weights around, I found quietest setting to be weight (both) all way draw! So the M5 on the range for me was all over the place but loved everything else about it, but as I said I’m very visual player, so if it’s wide open in front of me, I’m like whale away, so no accuracy, so took to course, trees, dog legs, traps, M5 went where I wanted very predictable. Not sure but I might go take a look at the SIM 9 or 10.5 if worth the upgrade from my M5, but I am trading a set of ping irons and may do those towards a new Mizuno everyone claims so good.

[Grizpharm]

Posted in another thread but thought I would post here too since so much talk about SW being off. Can you remove the back weight for hot melt? Or is there a hot melt port for non tour issue? Don’t really want to lead tape. Heard you can go through hosel but seems like that’s going to be a nightmare to place the melt correctly.

[tbone18]

the back weight is removable. I ordered my SIM at 45.25" and it came in at D4 swing weight. I took off the back weight and the weight was 15.5g including the screw. The normal back weight in the stock 45.75" length driver is 11g.

[Ryan5508]

Went with a friend to hit the Sim / sim max this morning.

 

In a poorly heated outdoor bay with the feels like temp at 16 deg with rock hard range balls.

 

Can't say either of us was impressed with the TM stuff vs our ping drivers. I disliked the Sim right away and the spin was extremely too low for me. The Sim max was better and hit a few really nice drives with it. Was around 2200-2400 spin vs 1800 and under for the sim. Overall I still had better feel and overall numbers with my 410 +. Maybe it's the Hazardous shaft but it just didn't feel good at impact. My ping felt faster even with the frozen golf balls. I wish I had the ability there to test with a real ventus like the ping has to be completely fair.

Same story with the woods. I still prefered my epic SZ vs the TM woods. Nothing jumped out at me as bringing an improvement vs the epic.

I really loved the p790 7i we took with us to test though. That thing is a monster I was getting 170+ yards with 7k spin even with the bad balls.

[jabwind51]

Ordering SIM MAX 9.0 with Ventus Black to replace my TS4. Just kicked it’s butt on the simulator with over 70 shots to compare. Shaft is an inch longer than mine but 5 mph ball speed and lowered spin by 300 to 2200. I’m excited for this season.

[awtryau89]

Finally got to the range today with the Sim Max 9* Fujikura Pro 2.0. I am a medium spin player that used to fight spin. I have a +2-3 positive AOA. I have been playing a custom Ping G410 plus 9* with hotmelt low and forward at 8* with a Ventus Black. This club spins on the higher side of 2500 for me but is super stable and stays in the fairway. I saw on GC Quad indoors the Sim 9* wasn't for me with spin under 2000 on many shots. I could have lofted up with that club but I wanted to err on the side of forgiveness. The 9* Max spun in the 2300 range for me. Today at the range without a monitor hitting range balls, everything was working as planned. Ended up having to loft up to 9.75* with the Max. Saw about the same launch as the Ping and a very boring trajectory. It is easier to turn over than the Ping but does not get way from you. This driver is very very stable. Toe misses are very good and feel better with less twisting than the Ping. This surprised me. Low face shots are better than the Ping. Center contact is so pure and the driver sounds like a wooden bat compared to the Ping. I found I immediately had to tee the ball lower to get the right center contact. Could be the lie angle difference between the 2 drivers as I have to always tee the Ping higher than I would like. Now I have to get it on the course and see if I can keep it in play. Initial results are very good. The Ventus Black could be in store for a tip change.

[OspreyCI]

Not sure I saw it in this thread. Is the Max THAT much more forgiving? Big difference? Or just a little? Face height making the difference?

[dlow206]

Just picked up a Sim Max today with the made for Ventus Red S. Can't wait to put it into play. Couldn't resist with the trade-in bonus.

[Kmac]

Got out for 18 today with another rogue winter day here on the east coast and came away pretty impressed with all the SIM in my bag. I didn’t get much range time with the driver but the hybrid, 3 and 5 woods were awesome. Came away very impressed with how easy the max 5w was to hit and how long it was. I bumped up the max driver one click from the stock 9° spot because my epic flash sz was playing at 10 degrees and wanted to keep it close. For me and I’m not a big hitter like the rest of you around here I found the driver to be long enough and easy to hit. I did have one drive that I left the face wide open and lost it way right, lol. For some reason I tend to do that more with TM drivers than others. The driver feels amazing, much better than the epic flash sz did. No aluminum bat sound at all which was one thing I didn’t care for with the flash. I loved the max 5w and loved the sim 4 hybrid. That hybrid did not go left once. I think I’ll need to dial the max driver and rocket 3w in a bit but a solid first round.

[wobgon]

I would say the first two sentences in your post say a lot. Nice looking pup by the way.

[stoneydukes]

I went and tried the std SIM again today and it was a complete disaster. I just plugged into my Tensei White 60S and had at least 8 of probably 20 total shots with spin less than 1000. I don't think it was a defective tracker or anything but went to a different bay and hit 6-8 really good shots with the M5. Next time I'll try the max again. I still think I'll end up in one but glad I'm exercising a little more patience this time around as the M5 is performing well, I just like the way the SIM sounds and sets up relative to the M. Still like reading all of your feedback, except the SW issues of course as I don't really want to have to deal with hotmelting or waiting for additional weights from TM.

[zeke66]

I went in and did a full testing of these things. Numerous shafts, epic flash triple diamond (tensei orange), ping g410 lst (ping tour shaft, aldila green proto), sim and sim max with tensei, Ventus, aldilas etc. we tried everything we could to beat... get this... the g410 with the stock shaft. Crazy. I’m glad I did it because I’m not switching. I hit way too many good shots with the ping. My ball speed (~175-180) and launch were more stable and consistent. Sim in all these settings just didn’t do it for me. The best one I hit lacked in ball speed. I hit some others hard that launched high but spun a touch too much or didn’t spin enough. I don’t know. It just wasn’t as consistent. I wanted to walk with the SIM too. The fitter who is incentivized to sell me a new one said I must have a hot ping head and should keep it. Ha.