TaylorMade M3 and M4 Drivers and Metalwoods

[IHFN]

Has anyone paid to see the rest of this video?

Curious if it's worth it.

[3_Jack_Par]

<snip>

I don't really understand how you'd be getting 8+ extra yards of carry based on those numbers. Same ball speed with lower launch angle and less spin, would equal less carry at the speed you're launching it. Flightscope Optimizer shows that the first club would carry about two yards more than the second one. There really shouldn't be much of a difference at all given the two sets of numbers you posted. Certainly not close to 10 yards.

 

It's because they are averages. His low ball speed with the M4 was 4mph faster than his low ball speed with the M2.

I understand they're averages, but you're not going to get 260+ carry with 145 or 146 ball speed and high 1000s/low 2000s spin, unless you're playing at ~5000 feet of elevation. It looks like he was maybe a bit more consistent with the M4, because there wasn't as much of a range of launch angles and spin with that one, and I could see a few yards difference if he was more boom or bust with the M2, but based on the comment that he was swinging it well, I assumed that he hit most of them around where the averages fell. But based on the ball speed and spin numbers, the M4 shouldn't carry much more than 250 even at the best ball speed/spin/launch combination on his report. It seems like there might have been some funny business with the monitor with the new driver.

 

[RonSwanson]

<snip>

I don't really understand how you'd be getting 8+ extra yards of carry based on those numbers. Same ball speed with lower launch angle and less spin, would equal less carry at the speed you're launching it. Flightscope Optimizer shows that the first club would carry about two yards more than the second one. There really shouldn't be much of a difference at all given the two sets of numbers you posted. Certainly not close to 10 yards.

 

It's because they are averages. His low ball speed with the M4 was 4mph faster than his low ball speed with the M2.

I understand they're averages, but you're not going to get 260+ carry with 145 or 146 ball speed and high 1000s/low 2000s spin, unless you're playing at ~5000 feet of elevation. It looks like he was maybe a bit more consistent with the M4, because there wasn't as much of a range of launch angles and spin with that one, and I could see a few yards difference if he was more boom or bust with the M2, but based on the comment that he was swinging it well, I assumed that he hit most of them around where the averages fell. But based on the ball speed and spin numbers, the M4 shouldn't carry much more than 250 even at the best ball speed/spin/launch combination on his report. It seems like there might have been some funny business with the monitor with the new driver.

 

Maybe the OP can jump in with some answers. All of the "low" numbers for the M2 are significantly lower than the "low" numbers for the M4.

[shadygolfSB]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked but I have had a person tell me I should loft up a minimum of 2 degrees in these heads to get desired flight of not super low with low spin. This seems a little counter productive to me as it is my understanding with the twist face an off center hit especially on the HIGH TOE will actually add loft also What about going to the 440 head I am obviously looking to reduce spin I was thinking going 440 10* so I can open the face and get it closer to 9* with an open face to take some of the hook out. I am not super long I carry it 250-265 I just like the smaller head and the benefits of getting my spin down into the mid to low 2k range. Thanks

[RonSwanson]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked but I have had a person tell me I should loft up a minimum of 2 degrees in these heads to get desired flight of not super low with low spin. This seems a little counter productive to me as it is my understanding with the twist face an off center hit especially on the HIGH TOE will actually add loft also What about going to the 440 head I am obviously looking to reduce spin I was thinking going 440 10* so I can open the face and get it closer to 9* with an open face to take some of the hook out. I am not super long I carry it 250-265 I just like the smaller head and the benefits of getting my spin down into the mid to low 2k range. Thanks

 

I have not heard of a single player going up in loft from the M1/M2 to the M3/M4. Everyone I know stayed in the same loft (the majority) or went down.

[3_Jack_Par]

<snip>

I don't really understand how you'd be getting 8+ extra yards of carry based on those numbers. Same ball speed with lower launch angle and less spin, would equal less carry at the speed you're launching it. Flightscope Optimizer shows that the first club would carry about two yards more than the second one. There really shouldn't be much of a difference at all given the two sets of numbers you posted. Certainly not close to 10 yards.

 

It's because they are averages. His low ball speed with the M4 was 4mph faster than his low ball speed with the M2.

I understand they're averages, but you're not going to get 260+ carry with 145 or 146 ball speed and high 1000s/low 2000s spin, unless you're playing at ~5000 feet of elevation. It looks like he was maybe a bit more consistent with the M4, because there wasn't as much of a range of launch angles and spin with that one, and I could see a few yards difference if he was more boom or bust with the M2, but based on the comment that he was swinging it well, I assumed that he hit most of them around where the averages fell. But based on the ball speed and spin numbers, the M4 shouldn't carry much more than 250 even at the best ball speed/spin/launch combination on his report. It seems like there might have been some funny business with the monitor with the new driver.

 

Maybe the OP can jump in with some answers. All of the "low" numbers for the M2 are significantly lower than the "low" numbers for the M4.

For sure - I spent WAY too much time putting in different data points into the trajectory optimizer, and found a possible range from 214 yards (at 139.5mph, 8.7 LA, 1171 spin) to 256 (at 147.7/17.3/2223) with the M2 and only a 10 yard possible gap with the M4. Whether that is due additional forgiveness on certain shots or just better contact on the swings with the M4 would need to be answered by Mr. Noodle.

[gambit]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked but I have had a person tell me I should loft up a minimum of 2 degrees in these heads to get desired flight of not super low with low spin. This seems a little counter productive to me as it is my understanding with the twist face an off center hit especially on the HIGH TOE will actually add loft also What about going to the 440 head I am obviously looking to reduce spin I was thinking going 440 10* so I can open the face and get it closer to 9* with an open face to take some of the hook out. I am not super long I carry it 250-265 I just like the smaller head and the benefits of getting my spin down into the mid to low 2k range. Thanks

 

Who the heck told you that?

[RonSwanson]

For sure - I spent WAY too much time putting in different data points into the trajectory optimizer, and found a possible range from 214 yards (at 139.5mph, 8.7 LA, 1171 spin) to 256 (at 147.7/17.3/2223) with the M2 and only a 10 yard possible gap with the M4. Whether that is due additional forgiveness on certain shots or just better contact on the swings with the M4 would need to be answered by Mr. Noodle.

 

Yeah, I couldn't help but notice "Display shot 70 of 70"....haha.

[3_Jack_Par]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked but I have had a person tell me I should loft up a minimum of 2 degrees in these heads to get desired flight of not super low with low spin. This seems a little counter productive to me as it is my understanding with the twist face an off center hit especially on the HIGH TOE will actually add loft also What about going to the 440 head I am obviously looking to reduce spin I was thinking going 440 10* so I can open the face and get it closer to 9* with an open face to take some of the hook out. I am not super long I carry it 250-265 I just like the smaller head and the benefits of getting my spin down into the mid to low 2k range. Thanks

This is based on about 10 balls each with the M4 and M3 460. In the M4, I would highly doubt you'd want to loft up, because I found that playing it in the Lower setting in a 9.5 head (7.5 degrees, if the loft stamped on the head is to be believed), which is about the same as my Epic SZ (9* head set to 8*, again if the stamped loft is accurate), and the M4 launched significantly higher for me than my current driver. The M3 was more similar to my gamer in trajectory, probably slightly lower. I'd expect the 440 to launch slightly lower than the 460, and if you're moving from a G, which is a higher launching head, to a M3 440, you might want a little extra loft, so if you want to play it open, the 10* head might be the better option than the 9*.

[3_Jack_Par]

For sure - I spent WAY too much time putting in different data points into the trajectory optimizer, and found a possible range from 214 yards (at 139.5mph, 8.7 LA, 1171 spin) to 256 (at 147.7/17.3/2223) with the M2 and only a 10 yard possible gap with the M4. Whether that is due additional forgiveness on certain shots or just better contact on the swings with the M4 would need to be answered by Mr. Noodle.

 

Yeah, I couldn't help but notice "Display shot 70 of 70"....haha.

[nickolney3]

Anyone with 2017 M1 deciding on switching to M4? And has anyone hit the Evenflow Blue shaft?

[SM1098]

did the face at address look very "open" compared to the M2 for anyone else?

 

I stopped by a local place to swing the M4 for a bit (did not have time for the M3). Gaming a '16 M2... I will say the M4 sounded better (to my ears), however I was not noticing a great deal of better performance out of the M4. With regards to the toe/heel misses being aided by the "TwistFace"... it was hard to take notice in such a short session. It'd be unfair to say it doesn't work based off a quick stop at a simulator with a shaft and ball that isn't my normal set-up.

 

Based off feel, I did enjoy the M4... I don't think it's quite enough to kick the '16 M2 out of the bag, but I do anticipate ordering an M4 head whenever one comes available to give the TwistFace tech an honest chance at potentially aiding my misses.

[swanry30]

Anyone with 2017 M1 deciding on switching to M4? And has anyone hit the Evenflow Blue shaft?

 

absolutely...

 

the m4 was head and shoulders above everything i tested including my gamers (2017 m1 460 tour issue 9.9 and 8.8). ball went extremely straight, was hotter off the face and flighted lower.

 

i'm playing the t1100 6.5 75g shaft and have a even flow black 6.5 75g. the blue does not fit my profile at all but is a great shaft for those with a less aggressive transition.

[taylorx300]

Not sure what you are looking at but the Black / Yellow and Red are all available at no charge.

No hand crafted versions are offered.

[edryer3]

I tell you what the M3 3 wood is the best fairway I have hit, ever! I think I found a 3W that won’t leave the bag! Straight mid flight bullets and easy to work! Have my Tensei Pro White 80TX in it and it is money! Way better than my M2 Tour 3W from last year!

[gmiller598]

did the face at address look very "open" compared to the M2 for anyone else?

 

I stopped by a local place to swing the M4 for a bit (did not have time for the M3). Gaming a '16 M2... I will say the M4 sounded better (to my ears), however I was not noticing a great deal of better performance out of the M4. With regards to the toe/heel misses being aided by the "TwistFace"... it was hard to take notice in such a short session. It'd be unfair to say it doesn't work based off a quick stop at a simulator with a shaft and ball that isn't my normal set-up.

 

Based off feel, I did enjoy the M4... I don't think it's quite enough to kick the '16 M2 out of the bag, but I do anticipate ordering an M4 head whenever one comes available to give the TwistFace tech an honest chance at potentially aiding my misses.

 

I got to hit the M4 on Sunday. I wouldn't say it looked open but the twist of the face does show you more of the toe area which could lead you to believe the face was open. I honestly enjoyed the feel of the M4 as well. I wasn't strongly considering it but I'm going to do a fitting this coming weekend where I'll try the Rogue and G400 against the M4 to see if anything improves what I've got now.

[mgasparibc]

Has anyone paid to see the rest of this video?

Curious if it's worth it.

 

 

bump!

[Jds13]

Tested the m4 today and did not work for me . Have heard our m3 demos should arrive tmr so I’m excited to try it out

[BigHook25]

I tell you what the M3 3 wood is the best fairway I have hit, ever! I think I found a 3W that won't leave the bag! Straight mid flight bullets and easy to work! Have my Tensei Pro White 80TX in it and it is money! Way better than my M2 Tour 3W from last year!

 

What makes it better then the 2017 M2 tour fairway. Just curious as I currently play the M2 tour 3 wood, but looking for a change. I don't think its as low spin as you would think, and the more I hit it the more I realize it isn't really forgiving.

[edryer3]

I tell you what the M3 3 wood is the best fairway I have hit, ever! I think I found a 3W that won't leave the bag! Straight mid flight bullets and easy to work! Have my Tensei Pro White 80TX in it and it is money! Way better than my M2 Tour 3W from last year!

 

What makes it better then the 2017 M2 tour fairway. Just curious as I currently play the M2 tour 3 wood, but looking for a change. I don't think its as low spin as you would think, and the more I hit it the more I realize it isn't really forgiving.

 

I honestly didn’t get along with the M2 tour as I missed on the toe quite a bit. And wasn’t a huge fan of the deep face. The M3 looks great at address and sounds really good to me. I like the adjustability of the M3 and I am carrying the M3 farther than my M2 tour by about 10 yards. Lost confidence on the M2 tour and today playing the M3 it was point and shoot, and took off like a rocket for me. Brought all the confidence back in my 3 wood play on the deck and tee.

[noodle3872]

<snip>

I don't really understand how you'd be getting 8+ extra yards of carry based on those numbers. Same ball speed with lower launch angle and less spin, would equal less carry at the speed you're launching it. Flightscope Optimizer shows that the first club would carry about two yards more than the second one. There really shouldn't be much of a difference at all given the two sets of numbers you posted. Certainly not close to 10 yards.

 

It's because they are averages. His low ball speed with the M4 was 4mph faster than his low ball speed with the M2.

 

The machine that I was using requires the dots on the club head to accurately gauge clubhead speed. So the numbers posted are estimates. I've been measured on Trackman at 104-108 mph with the driver.

 

No shots were deleted from my data. I was much more consistent with the M4. For whatever reason I found the middle of the face more often with the M4. I am a high toe miss guy and I believe for me, Twist Face helped me keep the ball in play. I hit a good number of dogs with the M2 driver.

 

Good strike for good strike, I don't think there would be a whole lot between the drivers.

[Golfrnut]

<snip>

I don't really understand how you'd be getting 8+ extra yards of carry based on those numbers. Same ball speed with lower launch angle and less spin, would equal less carry at the speed you're launching it. Flightscope Optimizer shows that the first club would carry about two yards more than the second one. There really shouldn't be much of a difference at all given the two sets of numbers you posted. Certainly not close to 10 yards.

 

It's because they are averages. His low ball speed with the M4 was 4mph faster than his low ball speed with the M2.

I understand they're averages, but you're not going to get 260+ carry with 145 or 146 ball speed and high 1000s/low 2000s spin, unless you're playing at ~5000 feet of elevation. It looks like he was maybe a bit more consistent with the M4, because there wasn't as much of a range of launch angles and spin with that one, and I could see a few yards difference if he was more boom or bust with the M2, but based on the comment that he was swinging it well, I assumed that he hit most of them around where the averages fell. But based on the ball speed and spin numbers, the M4 shouldn't carry much more than 250 even at the best ball speed/spin/launch combination on his report. It seems like there might have been some funny business with the monitor with the new driver.

 

GC2, if that was the one used, grossly overestimates carry yardage on high launch/low spin shots.

[BigHook25]

I tell you what the M3 3 wood is the best fairway I have hit, ever! I think I found a 3W that won't leave the bag! Straight mid flight bullets and easy to work! Have my Tensei Pro White 80TX in it and it is money! Way better than my M2 Tour 3W from last year!

 

What makes it better then the 2017 M2 tour fairway. Just curious as I currently play the M2 tour 3 wood, but looking for a change. I don't think its as low spin as you would think, and the more I hit it the more I realize it isn't really forgiving.

 

I honestly didn’t get along with the M2 tour as I missed on the toe quite a bit. And wasn’t a huge fan of the deep face. The M3 looks great at address and sounds really good to me. I like the adjustability of the M3 and I am carrying the M3 farther than my M2 tour by about 10 yards. Lost confidence on the M2 tour and today playing the M3 it was point and shoot, and took off like a rocket for me. Brought all the confidence back in my 3 wood play on the deck and tee.

 

I originally bought the M2 tour more for the deep face and lower spin, as I hit 3 wood off the tee quite a bit and usually need to knock some spin off. The toe hits are punished quite a bit (more then many fairway woods), and those were some I didn't feel like I missed by much. Right now I'm seriously considering the Callaway Rogue SZ. Seems to be a lot more forgiving and still pretty low spin.

[gambit]

I tell you what the M3 3 wood is the best fairway I have hit, ever! I think I found a 3W that won't leave the bag! Straight mid flight bullets and easy to work! Have my Tensei Pro White 80TX in it and it is money! Way better than my M2 Tour 3W from last year!

 

What makes it better then the 2017 M2 tour fairway. Just curious as I currently play the M2 tour 3 wood, but looking for a change. I don't think its as low spin as you would think, and the more I hit it the more I realize it isn't really forgiving.

 

I honestly didn’t get along with the M2 tour as I missed on the toe quite a bit. And wasn’t a huge fan of the deep face. The M3 looks great at address and sounds really good to me. I like the adjustability of the M3 and I am carrying the M3 farther than my M2 tour by about 10 yards. Lost confidence on the M2 tour and today playing the M3 it was point and shoot, and took off like a rocket for me. Brought all the confidence back in my 3 wood play on the deck and tee.

 

I had the same experience with the M2 Tour. I thought it would be a great club, but for me there was not one thing I liked about it from feel to sound to performance. Picked up '16 tour issue M1 and it was lights out.

[ignitewvu]

For guys who have hit the M3 440, what did the face angles look like at neutral???

 

I'm scared to go 9 because I like to open up the face a littler bit & it might end up at 8 or lower. Would the 10 turned down to 9 win out???

[QuigleyDU]

did the face at address look very "open" compared to the M2 for anyone else? I stopped by a local place to swing the M4 for a bit (did not have time for the M3). Gaming a '16 M2... I will say the M4 sounded better (to my ears), however I was not noticing a great deal of better performance out of the M4. With regards to the toe/heel misses being aided by the "TwistFace"... it was hard to take notice in such a short session. It'd be unfair to say it doesn't work based off a quick stop at a simulator with a shaft and ball that isn't my normal set-up. Based off feel, I did enjoy the M4... I don't think it's quite enough to kick the '16 M2 out of the bag, but I do anticipate ordering an M4 head whenever one comes available to give the TwistFace tech an honest chance at potentially aiding my misses.

 

i didnt think it looked too open. i liked it.

[scottaz]

For guys who have hit the M3 440, what did the face angles look like at neutral???

 

I'm scared to go 9 because I like to open up the face a littler bit & it might end up at 8 or lower. Would the 10 turned down to 9 win out???

 

I wouldn't sweat it. 8 or lower may become your new thing with this head. Mine is a few degrees open.

[ignitewvu]

For guys who have hit the M3 440, what did the face angles look like at neutral???

 

I'm scared to go 9 because I like to open up the face a littler bit & it might end up at 8 or lower. Would the 10 turned down to 9 win out???

 

I wouldn't sweat it. 8 or lower may become your new thing with this head. Mine is a few degrees open.

 

Did you go with a 9 then?? I can easily hit a 9 degree head, but I wouldn't want to go much lower. I generally like to see a Driver head that "looks" open 1.5-2 Degrees at address. My M1 440 is set to 1 notch lower.

[shadygolfSB]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked but I have had a person tell me I should loft up a minimum of 2 degrees in these heads to get desired flight of not super low with low spin. This seems a little counter productive to me as it is my understanding with the twist face an off center hit especially on the HIGH TOE will actually add loft also What about going to the 440 head I am obviously looking to reduce spin I was thinking going 440 10* so I can open the face and get it closer to 9* with an open face to take some of the hook out. I am not super long I carry it 250-265 I just like the smaller head and the benefits of getting my spin down into the mid to low 2k range. Thanks

 

Who the heck told you that?

 

I wont say names but a golf pro on staff with TM

[scottaz]

For guys who have hit the M3 440, what did the face angles look like at neutral???

 

I'm scared to go 9 because I like to open up the face a littler bit & it might end up at 8 or lower. Would the 10 turned down to 9 win out???

 

I wouldn't sweat it. 8 or lower may become your new thing with this head. Mine is a few degrees open.

 

Did you go with a 9 then?? I can easily hit a 9 degree head, but I wouldn't want to go much lower. I generally like to see a Driver head that "looks" open 1.5-2 Degrees at address. My M1 440 is set to 1 notch lower.

 

 

Yes. I played the M1 440 at 9.5 for a bit and at 9.5 it was lower launching then my M3 is at 7.5. Just my experience.

 

Keep an open mind when testing. I didn't think I'd go down that low either.