TM SIM VS KE4 TC 1 st post updated

[Popeye64]

I had a Sim in the simulator today with an Xcaliber Rapid Taper driver shaft. I was seeing some fantastic numbers. My time was really limited and I never got a chance to test against the KE4.. but what I saw was quite something.

This wasn't a one shot high either. It was very repeatable.

Side by side are two of the test shafts. One tipped 1" and the other tipped 4". The 4" was a super low spin setup. The 1" was varying in spin from 2200-3000. The 4" was 1600-2200. I'll have them both on course tomorrow and see in real time what they can do.

[KaiserSoze]

Haven’t hit the KE4 yet and I steer away from launch monitors so can’t answer that either. The 10’ STw gives me about what I would expect from a 10’. I know that’s not helpful but it’s all I got.

[shokosugi]

I meant compared to the g410, spin and launch. Even without a launch monitor, you can probably roughly gauge how they compared

[KaiserSoze]

I played a 10.5’ 410 lofted up on the big + because that’s the only way I could get a square face when the club was soled. Consequently it hit really high and spun a lot. The 10’ STw is a true 10’. I hit a mid flight boring trajectory. You’d have to be a really strong swinger to hit it too high.

[kleydejong]

I took the plunge and put together a KE4 TC Driver.

 

I've had such a good experience with Maltby's wedges and my set of TS1 irons that I've been curious about the longer clubs. I'll share that my non educated assumption was that with something like a wedge the Maltby's will compete 100% as their isn't as much technology or design development as compared to a driver. So I thought a major OEM might have a leg up as they might be more capable of making great drivers. So consider this my experiment to see how Maltby competes across the bag.

I'm coming off of a TaylorMade M3 and before that an SLDR. The M3 was a great performer for me. I gamed it for about 1.5 years and felt pretty comfortable with it. But in another year it will be 3 generations old, so I figured if the Maltby can compete then I can probably sell the M3 now and fund the Maltby build most if not all of the way. I would also admit that I really enjoy testing and trying new things for myself.

The KE4 is a nice looking club. Setting it down at address I think it looks excellent. It has some Ping vibes with the fins. I think they look very cool. Love the look at address. Very sleek and confidence inspiring. The back side is kind of meh. The two white pieces on the back edge of the heel and toe look a little offputting to me. I've felt this similar feeling with other Maltby clubs like the M series wedge or STi2. The aesthetics just don't always strike me as being as premium as a major OEM. This is not a major problem for me, but I want to be honest. If it performs well I will quickly overlook. Also with Maltby clubs I feel a lot more freedom to personalize, so I may try some paint fill or even try to strip the white off.

Compared to my M3 I noticed the head is a little taller from the ground up to the crown. I have to tee the ball up just a smidge higher. It seems a touch less long from heel to toe as well. The sound is markedly different. The KE4 sounds much more 'classic' to me. A higher pitched TING type sound that feels familiar for drivers I used to play before the M3 - which sounds a lot more lower pitched THWACK. I find the Maltby to sound good and like this change.

I bought an adaptor, and the driver comes with one - so I have two. I bought a UST Miyama Proforce V2 stiff flex in 65 grams. I like that the adaptor is adjustable, though it goes +/- 1 degree while the M3 had more adjustability. I would tweak the loft with some frequency, so this adjustability is very welcome. I would consider it a slight negative that it can't go flatter than 9*. For me starting at 9* with ability to adjust from 8-10 would be ideal. I have not experimented much with shafts in the past. I found the one I hit best in the store / fitting and stuck with it. I'm looking forward to trying a couple different shafts. The UST feels whippier than the stock OEM Tensei Blue Stiff I had in the M3. So far this change in shaft feels like it is kind of shrouding my opinion of the head.

In terms of performance I have played about 4 rounds with the KE4 so far. I played one round with it going head to head with the M3. I notice no loss of distance with the KE4. It also seems to be quite forgiving, that even despite me feeling some discomfort with the new shaft and how it kicks, I'm still finding a lot of fairways. Right now I feel that if I were to dial in an optimal shaft I would be able to really take it to the next level.

Overall though my review is that it is a great driver. My preconceived notions that Maltby doesn't compete as well with longer clubs has been busted.

[Popeye64]

Nice write up. Maltby after years of having a legend in the CT250 driver head had a string of so-so driver releases. But this KE4 TC erases all of those in one sweep.

Since you have two adapters I highly recommend trying that Tensei Blue in the KE4 head. It matches up well.

[03trdblack]

I still have (3) CT250 heads shafted up. They are rocket launchers and can hang with anything out today.

[Taylormadegack]

I have played about 6 rounds with my KE4 driver. Once I figured out my swing I am loving it. I feel it is more forgiving than my past drivers but just as long. Do not think I have gotten more distance but I love the feel and confidence I have with it. However there are three things I don’t like about it.

1.) I had Golfworks assemble the driver I have to send it back as there is about a half inch separation from the adaptor and the ferrel and the shaft turned quite a bit. About a half rotation.

2.) The sound, not really a fan. Takes me back about 10 years. Especially when all your buds are hitting newer drivers and they have the nice composite sound to them. But hey, I still out drive them. :)

3.) Agree with the poster above, like the top of the club, do not like the white on the bottom of the club.

I normally swing a x-stiff shaft however I wanted to try the Maltby Pro Series shafts so I had to settle for stiff. I actually like the shaft, has good feel and does not feel to soft. I may try to find a use Blue Tensi to try out also.

 

[Popeye64]

If you are getting any rotation of the head on the shaft stop playing the club. Return it as soon as you can. That epoxy has failed entirely.

I have seen the need to make sure you prep the shaft where the ferrule will end up and epoxy the ferrule.

[calfan36]

Yes!! The Sim for sure freaky forgiving. It's crazy on mishits

[Taylormadegack]

Does anyone have any experience with the Maltby Pro Series shaft vs CK Blue Tensi? Do they play pretty similar in terms of stiffness? Other differences? Looking at ordering a CK Blue Tensi to compare to a Maltby Pro Series Stiff shaft in my KE4 driver. Appreciate your help!

[Popeye64]

Sent you a pm. I habe one in S flex if you want to give it a go.

[Taylormadegack]

You da man Popeye!

[kleydejong]

10 days of playing since my previous post. I will say that I had a few outings where I was feeling a little meh about it. I did not acclimate well to the UST Proforce V2. I ordered a Tensei Blue and installed it in a second adaptor cut to 44.5". That was much more familiar and a nice improvement. But I just did not feel like I was really comfortable or clicking with the KE4, even with the Blue.

Today my club had a TaylorMade fitter out and so I booked a 30 minute appointment. I haven't been through a session with a fitter in probably 10 years. I intended to really see how the KE4 compared to the SIM. I had plenty of time to warm up and then had a little chat with the fitter. He was familiar with Ralph Maltby and was on the same page with me for what I was hoping to find out. My first three swings were with the KE4. Poor strikes. Low on the face and very spinny. 138 ball speed and 3400-4400 back spin. 205 carry and 220 total. Yuck. In hindsight I believe these first three bad swings were a warm up to the fitting session more than anything and should be discounted.

My pro was watching. He made the beautifully simple suggestion of teeing the ball up a bit higher. Duh... I commented on how tall the face is earlier, and I just haven't gotten used to that yet. Man, that really unlocked this driver for me. 144 ball speed, 3000 rpm backspin. 240 carry. 255 total. Much better.

From there I went into the SIM. I hit probably 30 shots with different shaft and head configurations. Ended up liking the 9* standard SIM best with a little draw bias in the adjustable weight. At the end I hit one more good one with the KE4. In hindsight I wish I had switched back and forth more frequently. I only have two solid strikes for the KE4 and about 20 for the SIM. The averages are:

I immediately went out and played 9. I consciously implemented my Pro's tip to tee it higher. I'm trying to get the equator of the ball to just peek past the top of the crown. I smashed the KE4 and shot even par, which is quite solid for me. I honestly can't believe how much better I feel with this driver now that I'm not hitting 3500 rpm spinners off the bottom of the face.

Reviewing these average numbers is also quite impressive to me. Again, these are the 'solid' strikes. I removed 3 'poor' strikes from the SIM grouping. This was after tee height fix, but just made some meh / poor swings. Ball speed averaged to 141, spin at 3200, carry at 225, total at 245. I was quite impressed at how forgiving the SIM was. I'll need more numbers to test this further, but I can't say at this time how well the KE4 keeps pace with poorer strikes.

My final thoughts are that the KE4 continues to be a solid performer.

[Popeye64]

Yesterday I had the Sim 9.0 with a Prototype Xcaliber Rapid Taper vs KE4 TC with an Xcaliber Pro T6☆ S. I had not hit this KE4 combination yet but I brought it along for some bench marks. Even though it was a new combination I was on a small 9 hole course where I really know the yardage on and what's a good shot vs a dud.

At first the SIM was beating out the KE4 on a lot of shots. Some tee boxes I would hit three balls each. I struggled a bit to find a happy swing with the KE4 and after the fourth hole I started to really let it rip. A good majority of the time the two were neck and neck. Playing well to 280+. But the KE4 every few holes would just blow by the SIM, 7-8 yards at times. I settled into a little bit of a draw setup with the KE4 and just let it rip. I couldn't get that same swing to work for the SIM so that draw motion may have been solely responsible for the added length.

I will say the the Sim with the Rapid Taper shaft is just about the straightest I've hit a driver in a long while.

Feel wise I certainly like the KE4 better and I know instantly when I uncorked one. The feeling is unmistakable. SIM has more of a crack to it. The KE4 has that flushed it feel on great hits.

Today i had some range time in early evening dying light. It was tough to tell how far they went but that SIM combination is stupid straight. Even exhausted after a ton of balls it still stayed online. I could not keep the KE4 in a groove when tired like I could with the SIM. That may be purely the shaft. That Rapid Taper has seemed to correct players faults or at least straighten them out a bit. I have seen it a lot. This week I'll do a ton of outdoor player testing so I'll try and take better notes. Wish I had a damn portable monitor that was good for drivers.

This is probably the last time I'll put those head to head for a while since I have all that testing this week.. but it's certainly fun pairing those two heads together.

 

[Popeye64]

I have had the Sim 9.0 with the Xcaliber Rapid Taper in play for the last week. In a string of new to me courses and the performance has just gone to the next level. Not knowing fairways can kill my swing but this made me look good.

I tried over 10 versions of this shaft and settled into the 52-3 version. Thats a 52" blank that was tipped 3". The more I play with it the more it keeps improving.

Yesterday I didn't have a LM but took it to the range against every driver head and shaft i have at the house trying to beat it. Ke4 TC heads, ISO-T heads that have all previously either edged out the Sim or tied it by the LM numbers when head to head.

Well at the range there is a row of heavy grass that ends the range. Landing before the grass is 270, into the grass is 280. The Sim with the Rapid Taper 52-3 was one hopping into the tall grass, some carried it. Nothing else was touching it.

The only club to come close was the KE4 TC with a PRO TSL which is a sub 50g shaft. That shaft can have some serious swing speed but gets tough to controll when I'm really getting after it. No where near the consistency of the SIM/RT setup though. I had a Ventus Shaft, Hazrdus Green and a Tensi Blue. None of them in the SIM came close either. Two Different Xcaliber shafts as well. T6☆ and a Classic 5.

I shipped the other Prototype shafts back.. Im keeping this 52-3.

The specs of the shaft are going to be the base line of a new version being made with HM carbon fiber that will have the Rapid Taper shafts down into the high 50 and 60 g class. The 52-3 is almost 70 but you can't feel the weight at all. It feels like a low 60s shaft but its far more stable.

Not only does this shaft flat out work but the feel can't be matched either.

I let a guy hit this on course and the first thing he said,, 'That's the first SIM driver I hit that felt good.' He was 12 yards further than with his Ping.

The hardest thing messing with these prototypes is finding just the right setup and then having to wait for a retail version. Though I'm more than ok with the blacked out look as it matches my irons.