Taylormade M5 & M6 Woods - Pics added page 46

[Lemonde]

Do all these online testers actually get fit for every driver they test and post videos online? If not pretty insane to put much into the videos and #s

 

Rick did say that he has them setup optimally for him. As far as fitting for a specific shaft, I would imagine he has a rough idea what would work for him. I am not too familiar with any other reviewers, but he does seem to know enough about it to roughly fit himself.

 

Rick would have probably been using his standard rogue silver 110 msi

[Konklifer]

All of this marketing b.s. makes me want to go hit Honma's.

[Lemonde]

Haha the teaser pics and the hype is quickly dwindled upon release

 

What’s feelings on the m5 fairway face depth/shape?

 

I’m feeling better than ever about my M2 tour 15* en route

 

The hype has only just started. There’s too many of us watching the 1000 YouTube reviews to have any time to post. This is no different than any other Oem release.

[markheardjr]

 

Does it work?

 

So all of the the tech behind the new drivers is fascinating, but the important question is did I gain ball speed? Are TaylorMade’s claims legit? Did I get faster? I had some issues during my fitting, but the data shows I got faster.

 

For some background, my gamer is a TaylorMade M3 9.5, with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP-6s shaft, playing at 44.5”. My swing speed is 105 mph and my ball speed is consistently between 154-155 mph on center strikes, with the occasional 156-157 mph on pure strikes. For the testing, I selected an M5 460 9.0 head with a GP-6s shaft, hoping to do as close to an apples-to-apples test with my gamer as possible. Unfortunately, the only GP-6s shaft available played at 45.5”, which is too long for me.

 

I started the testing by hitting the 2019 TP5x (more on that later) with the M5 GP-6s combo at its full length. This didn’t go so well. Nearly every shot was struck low on the heel side due to the longer shaft. I expected the numbers to be awful, but after five balls TrackMan reported an average swing speed of 105.5 mph and average ball speed of 154.7 mph. Those are center strike numbers for my M3, so I was a little surprised.

 

Next I tried choking up an inch on the club, but that was even worse than full length because I lose my sense of feel when choking up (the extra shaft behind the hand feels like a counterbalance). The five shots we recorded were all centered, but struck low on the face. Here again, however, the numbers were surprising: 105.3 mph average swing speed, 154.5 mph average ball speed. Essentially, they were also numbers I see with center strikes on my M3.

 

At this point, I’ll admit to being a little frustrated because I wasn’t able to get a great sense of the club’s performance due to the shaft being too long. Another fitter with whom I’d spoken to earlier must have sensed my frustration because he stopped over and asked how everything was going. When I explained the shaft length situation he said to hold tight and he soon returned with an Atmos Blue 7S that played 44.5”. The change was immediate on the first ball struck with that shaft.

 

My strike location with the Atmos instantly reverted back to my normal spot: ever so slightly toward the high toe side of center. On the five recorded shots, my swing speed averaged 105.1 mph and the average ball speed jumped to 156.9. The Atmos wasn’t a great fit due to it being a 70g shaft, but it did its job and the shaft length centered the strike location.

 

Did you not have your game with you? Could you not use your GP 6S? Or does this mean the adapter tips are changed again?

[WidespreadPanic]

I really want the M5 3 wood. $400 is crazy for a 3 wood though. Absolutely crazy.

[Lemonde]

All of this marketing b.s. makes me want to go hit Honma's.

 

Homna? Honma? (See crossfields video it is quite funny)

[chris975d]

For my particular purposes I'm less concerned about cheating and more concerned about the resin moving around. Wonder what the melting temp on the resin is. I try not to, but I've been known to have to leave my clubs in the car after an early morning (pre work) round. I assume that the resin is thick enough that I don't have to worry about it melting? More like speed foam and less like hotmelt. I'm assuming that's the case because it would be a major QA nightmare if that's not the case.

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about that. From my time hands on with the cutaway during product sales meetings and seeing the resin dams behind the face, as best as I can tell try to think of the resin as more of a solid after it cures...almost like epoxy. I don't see it melting or running like that.

[jll62]

Does it work?

 

So all of the the tech behind the new drivers is fascinating, but the important question is did I gain ball speed? Are TaylorMade’s claims legit? Did I get faster? I had some issues during my fitting, but the data shows I got faster.

 

For some background, my gamer is a TaylorMade M3 9.5, with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP-6s shaft, playing at 44.5”. My swing speed is 105 mph and my ball speed is consistently between 154-155 mph on center strikes, with the occasional 156-157 mph on pure strikes. For the testing, I selected an M5 460 9.0 head with a GP-6s shaft, hoping to do as close to an apples-to-apples test with my gamer as possible. Unfortunately, the only GP-6s shaft available played at 45.5”, which is too long for me.

 

I started the testing by hitting the 2019 TP5x (more on that later) with the M5 GP-6s combo at its full length. This didn’t go so well. Nearly every shot was struck low on the heel side due to the longer shaft. I expected the numbers to be awful, but after five balls TrackMan reported an average swing speed of 105.5 mph and average ball speed of 154.7 mph. Those are center strike numbers for my M3, so I was a little surprised.

 

Next I tried choking up an inch on the club, but that was even worse than full length because I lose my sense of feel when choking up (the extra shaft behind the hand feels like a counterbalance). The five shots we recorded were all centered, but struck low on the face. Here again, however, the numbers were surprising: 105.3 mph average swing speed, 154.5 mph average ball speed. Essentially, they were also numbers I see with center strikes on my M3.

 

At this point, I’ll admit to being a little frustrated because I wasn’t able to get a great sense of the club’s performance due to the shaft being too long. Another fitter with whom I’d spoken to earlier must have sensed my frustration because he stopped over and asked how everything was going. When I explained the shaft length situation he said to hold tight and he soon returned with an Atmos Blue 7S that played 44.5”. The change was immediate on the first ball struck with that shaft.

 

My strike location with the Atmos instantly reverted back to my normal spot: ever so slightly toward the high toe side of center. On the five recorded shots, my swing speed averaged 105.1 mph and the average ball speed jumped to 156.9. The Atmos wasn’t a great fit due to it being a 70g shaft, but it did its job and the shaft length centered the strike location.

 

Did you not have your game with you? Could you not use your GP 6S? Or does this mean the adapter tips are changed again?

 

I did not have my clubs with me, so I couldn't use my shaft. Prior to the trip, TaylorMade had asked for our driver specs, so I had assumed they were going to build one up the matched what we played. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

 

The adapter has not changed.

[bladehunter]

Does it work?

 

So all of the the tech behind the new drivers is fascinating, but the important question is did I gain ball speed? Are TaylorMade’s claims legit? Did I get faster? I had some issues during my fitting, but the data shows I got faster.

 

For some background, my gamer is a TaylorMade M3 9.5, with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP-6s shaft, playing at 44.5”. My swing speed is 105 mph and my ball speed is consistently between 154-155 mph on center strikes, with the occasional 156-157 mph on pure strikes. For the testing, I selected an M5 460 9.0 head with a GP-6s shaft, hoping to do as close to an apples-to-apples test with my gamer as possible. Unfortunately, the only GP-6s shaft available played at 45.5”, which is too long for me.

 

I started the testing by hitting the 2019 TP5x (more on that later) with the M5 GP-6s combo at its full length. This didn’t go so well. Nearly every shot was struck low on the heel side due to the longer shaft. I expected the numbers to be awful, but after five balls TrackMan reported an average swing speed of 105.5 mph and average ball speed of 154.7 mph. Those are center strike numbers for my M3, so I was a little surprised.

 

Next I tried choking up an inch on the club, but that was even worse than full length because I lose my sense of feel when choking up (the extra shaft behind the hand feels like a counterbalance). The five shots we recorded were all centered, but struck low on the face. Here again, however, the numbers were surprising: 105.3 mph average swing speed, 154.5 mph average ball speed. Essentially, they were also numbers I see with center strikes on my M3.

 

At this point, I’ll admit to being a little frustrated because I wasn’t able to get a great sense of the club’s performance due to the shaft being too long. Another fitter with whom I’d spoken to earlier must have sensed my frustration because he stopped over and asked how everything was going. When I explained the shaft length situation he said to hold tight and he soon returned with an Atmos Blue 7S that played 44.5”. The change was immediate on the first ball struck with that shaft.

 

My strike location with the Atmos instantly reverted back to my normal spot: ever so slightly toward the high toe side of center. On the five recorded shots, my swing speed averaged 105.1 mph and the average ball speed jumped to 156.9. The Atmos wasn’t a great fit due to it being a 70g shaft, but it did its job and the shaft length centered the strike location.

 

Did you not have your game with you? Could you not use your GP 6S? Or does this mean the adapter tips are changed again?

 

I did not have my clubs with me, so I couldn't use my shaft. Prior to the trip, TaylorMade had asked for our driver specs, so I had assumed they were going to build one up the matched what we played. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

 

The adapter has not changed.

 

What ballspeed and smash did you see ? Can you explain the 1.55 smash and 170 plus ballspeed for 111mph swing speed the other tester showed vs what rick shields posted with same swing speed ?

[jll62]

For my particular purposes I'm less concerned about cheating and more concerned about the resin moving around. Wonder what the melting temp on the resin is. I try not to, but I've been known to have to leave my clubs in the car after an early morning (pre work) round. I assume that the resin is thick enough that I don't have to worry about it melting? More like speed foam and less like hotmelt. I'm assuming that's the case because it would be a major QA nightmare if that's not the case.

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about that. From my time hands on with the cutaway during product sales meetings and seeing the resin dams behind the face, as best as I can tell try to think of the resin as more of a solid after it cures...almost like epoxy. I don't see it melting or running like that.

 

More like epoxy is a good way to describe it. It's not going to move around through the normal course of play or storage. I didn't think to ask about warm temps while I was there (among many things I wish I had asked in hindsight), but I have no reason to suspect this will be an issue. It's such an obvious point of failure that I trust it's been tested thoroughly.

 

 

[mrmikeac]

Lol what’s with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

[TK3309]

Amazing write up! I’m def going to have to give the M5 tour head a shot since my spin is usually around 2800-3000.

 

Did they by chance show you the custom shaft options that they are going to offer?

 

I don't know the custom shaft option upgrades at this point unfortunately.

 

Thank you! Really nicely done! I appreciate the detail, breakdown of each component, and what you think made a difference.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see that you got to hit the M5 Tour and found no big difference in forgiveness. That's the one I have my eye on due to being a high spin guy. I've been wavering on getting the M3 440 but think I'll wait now.

 

Thanks again for a well put together review.

 

I was surprised too by my dispersion with the M5 Tour compared to the M5 460. This fitting was 5 weeks ago and I still go back and forth saying do I really need a 435 head? You see every Tour player with the M5 460 why am I going into the Tour head? I can use the benefits of the larger head but the numbers don't lie and I'm going to start with the M5 Tour.

[QuigleyDU]

all marketing hype. every company is sooo close to the legal limit already that moving .00000000000000000000000001% closer will not make a noticeable difference in ball speed.

[QuigleyDU]

Lol what’s with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

 

TM employee spreading the good word. haha.

[bladehunter]

all marketing hype. every company is sooo close to the legal limit already that moving .00000000000000000000000001% closer will not make a noticeable difference in ball speed.

 

Lol. But they have someone on here claiming 10 mph now and 1.55 smash. I’m flabbergasted that nobody else saw that post.

[jll62]

Lol what's with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

 

We met up with Johnny from WRX and he knew we were writing up something for TM's community and he asked us to cross post here. Would you rather we not share the info? It's not like I'm some random who suddenly popped in with marketing BS. This was literally my take on what was an amazing experience. No different than what people post after WRX trips.

[boycer]

I was very fortunate to be invited out to the TaylorMade 2019 Product Launch, along with jll62, to view the new lineup. It was a whirlwind 2 days that flew by. Our experience kicked off Wednesday night with the keynote presentation giving us the first glimpse at the new products. The following day was spent at the Kingdom and TaylorMade HQ. The morning consisted of a deep dive into the new products and Q&A with product development at The Kingdom. In the afternoon we were able to get our hands on the new product and start testing. Read along for my fitting experience.

 

EVERYBODY GETS FASTER. That is what TaylorMade is claiming with the 2019 M5 and M6. With manufacturing tolerances, it was very difficult to have every head at, or near the legal COR limit. It was just not possible. TaylorMade started asking themselves how they could live in the space between legal limit and “Tour Spicy Heads” and make every head as close to the legal limit as possible.

 

The way to get the heads as close to the legal limit as possible is to make the head illegal and then bring it back to conforming. To do that, resin is added behind the face to bring the club head back under the COR limit where the screws are on the face. The max amount inserted into a head is 1-2g, so it is a very minimal amount. This is NOT speed foam. With the COR limit being pushed to the limit, the sweet spot on the M5 and M6 drivers grew 66%.

 

The question was posed how durable the screws on the face are and if there would be any performance hindrances while making impact on the screws. TaylorMade tested the screws and there were no issues with durability and hitting it on the screws as opposed to hitting it anywhere else on the face. Also, Twist Face will again be incorporated in both the M5 and M6 drivers. The feedback and testing were so positive they do not see a driver that won’t have Twist Face technology moving forward.

 

DRIVING FITTING

I currently game a TaylorMade M3 9.5 with a Fujikura Motore Tour 7.2X set in the lower position. I prefer the lower setting because I like way the club sits at address. I was fit into the Motore Tour shaft a while back and have not found anything that has beat it out. My swing speed is 113, ball speed 165ish and my driver length off the tee is typically in the 285-295 yard range.

 

I initially wanted to try a couple other shafts besides the Atmos which is most comparable to my current shaft. I started with the M5 460 9.0 with the HZRDUS Smoke and the Pro Orange to start out. The M5 460 set up great and I really liked the matte black carbon finish on top. I was consistently getting numbers in the 165-167 ball speed range, but I could tell both shafts weren’t a fit for me.

 

I then switched into the Atmos 6X and I had a feeling this was going to be the right fit since I had been fit into my current setup for a while now. The first shot with the Atmos ball speed went up to 169 which was already a 4mph increase from my current setup. I was repeatedly getting 169mph ball speed and it became a fun game with the fitters trying to push to the 170mph ball speed mark. A few shots in I hit 170 ball speed, but my spin numbers were still a bit high. RPM was around 2600. We toyed with some of the weight configurations and settled on 1 weight completely up front and the other was in the way back toe for fade.

 

I have always been a bit of a high spin player, but I play the TP5 because I love the feel and spin around the green. The TP5 gives me the window I like to see with all my clubs and more of a lower flight. I was hitting all my initial shots with the 2019 TP5 and my fitters Joe and Tommy (awesome guys) said I need to give the TP5X more of a shot. I switched to the TP5X and was hitting 172 ball speed instantly! Total yardage of 300 yards and I was up 7mph at this point with just the combination of the 2019 ball and M5 head. The spin was in a respectable spot (2400 range) and launch at 13 degrees with the M5 460 9.0 but Joe insisted, “Hold on one second let me grab something”, and he came back 2 minutes later with a M5 Tour 9.0 head.

 

The M5 Tour is a 435cc head and it was the only one they had on site at The Kingdom. None of the Tour players had hit the M5 Tour at this point. Joe said, “Let’s try the M5 Tour to bring that spin down”. Until the original M1, I played a smaller headed driver for years. Right away looking down I thought it looked great. It is a compact, pear shaped head. It did look small after being used to the 460cc head for years now. First shot with the M5 Tour resulted in these numbers...

 

 

 

 

 

175 ball speed and spin down to 1939! Like I noted earlier I’m typically shy of 300 yards and can push it to 300 when I catch one perfectly. I have never seen numbers like this in my life and I’ve been fitted multiple times.

 

The M5 Tour has improved aerodynamics resulting in more speed and I saw the benefits instantly. My miss is typically low on the face too, so that is another positive for me with the M5 Tour head. I was worried about forgiveness, but I hit 15 shots with this setup to really test it and saw no downfall from forgiveness compared to the 460cc. I was repeatedly getting 174-175mph speed and spin in the 2000-2100 range.

 

In the matter of 30 minutes I went from my M3 with a very similar shaft (down from 7x to 6x though), new TP5X ball and the new M5 Tour head and gained 10mph ball speed! I know people might think that’s impossible saying I wasn’t optimized before, but I was darn close in my prior fittings. I would agree that the TP5 was a bad fit for me with the driver before. My shaft change was minimal, the new ball promoting ball speed is no joke (also tested with 6 irons and saw similar gains) and if you’re a high spin player, the M5 Tour head is a must try. I would attribute the M5 technology to a 3mph gain, M5 Tour head for 3mph, 2019 ball 2mph, and another 2mph with a touch lighter shaft.

 

The one negative I did see with both the M5 and M6 was the standard length coming in at 45.75”. All manufactures are moving to a longer stock shaft but I don’t think the average golfer needs a driver that long and can only be a hinderance. Make sure when getting fit, to get fit for the proper length.

 

FAIRWAY WOODS

Both the M5 and M6 fairway woods will have Twist Face technology. TaylorMade went through extensive testing to get the Twist Face correct as the fairway wood was a much different animal than the driver in getting the Twist Face correct. The driver incorporates one degree of twist in the face, the fairway woods will have 1.5 degrees of twist. The Twist Face in the fairways results in a reduction of 15 yards of left to right on shots hit off center.

 

The M5 line will feature a titanium head which I think will be a very welcome addition to the lineup. Along with the new titanium head the M5 3 wood will feature a new movable weight system which is a 65g steel movable weight. The movable weight makes up 30% of the total head weight. In the morning I held the weight not in the club and it’s incredible just how heavy it is. There are 7 different positions the weight can be moved to; neutral, 3 fade positions and 3 draw positions. The new M5 fairway line doesn’t have a HL option because the new titanium head promotes a higher launch. There will be a 14 degree (Rocket), 15 degree and an 18 degree option in the M5. The M6 will be avaialbe in 14 (Rocket), 15, 18, 21 and 24 degrees.

 

FAIRWAY WOOD TESTING

As I do with my driver, I play my fairway wood on the lower setting because I like the look of a more open club face at address. I currently play a M1 2017 HL set to lower so it’s at 15 degrees of loft. I started with the M5 3 wood 15 degree head set 2 clicks open to about 14 degree. At the start I moved the 65g weight all the way to the fade position just to test. My 2017 M1 has the weight one click toward fade. It was incredible how much influence the weight had on the shape of the shot. I hit a couple and they were all a slice. We moved it just to one click toward fade after that and it dialed in to about a 5 yard fade I liked to see. The amount of influence the new 65g weight is like nothing I have experienced with a club yet.

 

Right now, I hit my 3 wood 250 yards but I was seeing 260 yards consistently with the M5. I was very impressed with the feel, turf interaction and how straight I was hitting the M5 once the weight settings were adjusted. The only shaft available to me was a Tour AD-GP 7x which fit well for me, but I was surprised at how stout it was. It was an easy decision for me with the fairway as I knew right away I’d be getting a 15 degree M5 head and using my old Speeder 757 shaft that I’ve had in my fairway wood for years.

 

For fun my fitters Joe and Tommy said let’s try the Rocket head. It was a missile off the club. If you’re someone who likes to hit fairway woods off the tee and hit them better than drivers, the Rocket is the club to test. With the loft sleeve set to lower, I was seeing 272 yards carry and 286 yards total! For me personally that shot doesn’t fit into what I need in a 3 wood, but it was incredible the numbers I was seeing with a fairway wood.

 

It was a bit of a surprise seeing a $399 price tag for the M5 fairways. I wasn’t expecting a $100 increase and I can see how that could turn people off, but with the addition of Twist Face, a titanium head and the 65g movable it’s hard to offer that type of high end product without a price increase. Add in the 12 different loft sleeve adjustments and there isn’t another fairway wood on the market with this much adjustability. You won’t walk away disappointed from the M5 and M6 fairways after you test.

 

For my full review including the new TP5 and TP5X check it out here. https://community.ta...ience/ba-p/4746

 

Great review

[QuigleyDU]

I was very fortunate to be invited out to the TaylorMade 2019 Product Launch, along with jll62, to view the new lineup. It was a whirlwind 2 days that flew by. Our experience kicked off Wednesday night with the keynote presentation giving us the first glimpse at the new products. The following day was spent at the Kingdom and TaylorMade HQ. The morning consisted of a deep dive into the new products and Q&A with product development at The Kingdom. In the afternoon we were able to get our hands on the new product and start testing. Read along for my fitting experience.

 

EVERYBODY GETS FASTER. That is what TaylorMade is claiming with the 2019 M5 and M6. With manufacturing tolerances, it was very difficult to have every head at, or near the legal COR limit. It was just not possible. TaylorMade started asking themselves how they could live in the space between legal limit and “Tour Spicy Heads” and make every head as close to the legal limit as possible.

 

The way to get the heads as close to the legal limit as possible is to make the head illegal and then bring it back to conforming. To do that, resin is added behind the face to bring the club head back under the COR limit where the screws are on the face. The max amount inserted into a head is 1-2g, so it is a very minimal amount. This is NOT speed foam. With the COR limit being pushed to the limit, the sweet spot on the M5 and M6 drivers grew 66%.

 

The question was posed how durable the screws on the face are and if there would be any performance hindrances while making impact on the screws. TaylorMade tested the screws and there were no issues with durability and hitting it on the screws as opposed to hitting it anywhere else on the face. Also, Twist Face will again be incorporated in both the M5 and M6 drivers. The feedback and testing were so positive they do not see a driver that won’t have Twist Face technology moving forward.

 

DRIVING FITTING

I currently game a TaylorMade M3 9.5 with a Fujikura Motore Tour 7.2X set in the lower position. I prefer the lower setting because I like way the club sits at address. I was fit into the Motore Tour shaft a while back and have not found anything that has beat it out. My swing speed is 113, ball speed 165ish and my driver length off the tee is typically in the 285-295 yard range.

 

I initially wanted to try a couple other shafts besides the Atmos which is most comparable to my current shaft. I started with the M5 460 9.0 with the HZRDUS Smoke and the Pro Orange to start out. The M5 460 set up great and I really liked the matte black carbon finish on top. I was consistently getting numbers in the 165-167 ball speed range, but I could tell both shafts weren’t a fit for me.

 

I then switched into the Atmos 6X and I had a feeling this was going to be the right fit since I had been fit into my current setup for a while now. The first shot with the Atmos ball speed went up to 169 which was already a 4mph increase from my current setup. I was repeatedly getting 169mph ball speed and it became a fun game with the fitters trying to push to the 170mph ball speed mark. A few shots in I hit 170 ball speed, but my spin numbers were still a bit high. RPM was around 2600. We toyed with some of the weight configurations and settled on 1 weight completely up front and the other was in the way back toe for fade.

 

I have always been a bit of a high spin player, but I play the TP5 because I love the feel and spin around the green. The TP5 gives me the window I like to see with all my clubs and more of a lower flight. I was hitting all my initial shots with the 2019 TP5 and my fitters Joe and Tommy (awesome guys) said I need to give the TP5X more of a shot. I switched to the TP5X and was hitting 172 ball speed instantly! Total yardage of 300 yards and I was up 7mph at this point with just the combination of the 2019 ball and M5 head. The spin was in a respectable spot (2400 range) and launch at 13 degrees with the M5 460 9.0 but Joe insisted, “Hold on one second let me grab something”, and he came back 2 minutes later with a M5 Tour 9.0 head.

 

The M5 Tour is a 435cc head and it was the only one they had on site at The Kingdom. None of the Tour players had hit the M5 Tour at this point. Joe said, “Let’s try the M5 Tour to bring that spin down”. Until the original M1, I played a smaller headed driver for years. Right away looking down I thought it looked great. It is a compact, pear shaped head. It did look small after being used to the 460cc head for years now. First shot with the M5 Tour resulted in these numbers...

 

 

 

 

 

175 ball speed and spin down to 1939! Like I noted earlier I’m typically shy of 300 yards and can push it to 300 when I catch one perfectly. I have never seen numbers like this in my life and I’ve been fitted multiple times.

 

The M5 Tour has improved aerodynamics resulting in more speed and I saw the benefits instantly. My miss is typically low on the face too, so that is another positive for me with the M5 Tour head. I was worried about forgiveness, but I hit 15 shots with this setup to really test it and saw no downfall from forgiveness compared to the 460cc. I was repeatedly getting 174-175mph speed and spin in the 2000-2100 range.

 

In the matter of 30 minutes I went from my M3 with a very similar shaft (down from 7x to 6x though), new TP5X ball and the new M5 Tour head and gained 10mph ball speed! I know people might think that’s impossible saying I wasn’t optimized before, but I was darn close in my prior fittings. I would agree that the TP5 was a bad fit for me with the driver before. My shaft change was minimal, the new ball promoting ball speed is no joke (also tested with 6 irons and saw similar gains) and if you’re a high spin player, the M5 Tour head is a must try. I would attribute the M5 technology to a 3mph gain, M5 Tour head for 3mph, 2019 ball 2mph, and another 2mph with a touch lighter shaft.

 

The one negative I did see with both the M5 and M6 was the standard length coming in at 45.75”. All manufactures are moving to a longer stock shaft but I don’t think the average golfer needs a driver that long and can only be a hinderance. Make sure when getting fit, to get fit for the proper length.

 

FAIRWAY WOODS

Both the M5 and M6 fairway woods will have Twist Face technology. TaylorMade went through extensive testing to get the Twist Face correct as the fairway wood was a much different animal than the driver in getting the Twist Face correct. The driver incorporates one degree of twist in the face, the fairway woods will have 1.5 degrees of twist. The Twist Face in the fairways results in a reduction of 15 yards of left to right on shots hit off center.

 

The M5 line will feature a titanium head which I think will be a very welcome addition to the lineup. Along with the new titanium head the M5 3 wood will feature a new movable weight system which is a 65g steel movable weight. The movable weight makes up 30% of the total head weight. In the morning I held the weight not in the club and it’s incredible just how heavy it is. There are 7 different positions the weight can be moved to; neutral, 3 fade positions and 3 draw positions. The new M5 fairway line doesn’t have a HL option because the new titanium head promotes a higher launch. There will be a 14 degree (Rocket), 15 degree and an 18 degree option in the M5. The M6 will be avaialbe in 14 (Rocket), 15, 18, 21 and 24 degrees.

 

FAIRWAY WOOD TESTING

As I do with my driver, I play my fairway wood on the lower setting because I like the look of a more open club face at address. I currently play a M1 2017 HL set to lower so it’s at 15 degrees of loft. I started with the M5 3 wood 15 degree head set 2 clicks open to about 14 degree. At the start I moved the 65g weight all the way to the fade position just to test. My 2017 M1 has the weight one click toward fade. It was incredible how much influence the weight had on the shape of the shot. I hit a couple and they were all a slice. We moved it just to one click toward fade after that and it dialed in to about a 5 yard fade I liked to see. The amount of influence the new 65g weight is like nothing I have experienced with a club yet.

 

Right now, I hit my 3 wood 250 yards but I was seeing 260 yards consistently with the M5. I was very impressed with the feel, turf interaction and how straight I was hitting the M5 once the weight settings were adjusted. The only shaft available to me was a Tour AD-GP 7x which fit well for me, but I was surprised at how stout it was. It was an easy decision for me with the fairway as I knew right away I’d be getting a 15 degree M5 head and using my old Speeder 757 shaft that I’ve had in my fairway wood for years.

 

For fun my fitters Joe and Tommy said let’s try the Rocket head. It was a missile off the club. If you’re someone who likes to hit fairway woods off the tee and hit them better than drivers, the Rocket is the club to test. With the loft sleeve set to lower, I was seeing 272 yards carry and 286 yards total! For me personally that shot doesn’t fit into what I need in a 3 wood, but it was incredible the numbers I was seeing with a fairway wood.

 

It was a bit of a surprise seeing a $399 price tag for the M5 fairways. I wasn’t expecting a $100 increase and I can see how that could turn people off, but with the addition of Twist Face, a titanium head and the 65g movable it’s hard to offer that type of high end product without a price increase. Add in the 12 different loft sleeve adjustments and there isn’t another fairway wood on the market with this much adjustability. You won’t walk away disappointed from the M5 and M6 fairways after you test.

 

For my full review including the new TP5 and TP5X check it out here. https://community.ta...ience/ba-p/4746

 

113 club head speed and 175 ball speed seem impossible. that is a 1.55 smash..... if that is the case i will be breaking 190 ball speeds.

[QuigleyDU]

all marketing hype. every company is sooo close to the legal limit already that moving .00000000000000000000000001% closer will not make a noticeable difference in ball speed.

 

Lol. But they have someone on here claiming 10 mph now and 1.55 smash. I'm flabbergasted that nobody else saw that post.

 

i saw it, i just had not worked it out.

[Rig14Port]

 

175 ball speed and spin down to 1939! Like I noted earlier I’m typically shy of 300 yards and can push it to 300 when I catch one perfectly. I have never seen numbers like this in my life and I’ve been fitted multiple times.

 

 

113 club head speed and 175 ball speed seem impossible. that is a 1.55 smash.....

 

Maybe they forgot to add the resin to that one.

[jll62]

Does it work?

 

So all of the the tech behind the new drivers is fascinating, but the important question is did I gain ball speed? Are TaylorMade's claims legit? Did I get faster? I had some issues during my fitting, but the data shows I got faster.

 

For some background, my gamer is a TaylorMade M3 9.5, with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP-6s shaft, playing at 44.5". My swing speed is 105 mph and my ball speed is consistently between 154-155 mph on center strikes, with the occasional 156-157 mph on pure strikes. For the testing, I selected an M5 460 9.0 head with a GP-6s shaft, hoping to do as close to an apples-to-apples test with my gamer as possible. Unfortunately, the only GP-6s shaft available played at 45.5", which is too long for me.

 

I started the testing by hitting the 2019 TP5x (more on that later) with the M5 GP-6s combo at its full length. This didn't go so well. Nearly every shot was struck low on the heel side due to the longer shaft. I expected the numbers to be awful, but after five balls TrackMan reported an average swing speed of 105.5 mph and average ball speed of 154.7 mph. Those are center strike numbers for my M3, so I was a little surprised.

 

Next I tried choking up an inch on the club, but that was even worse than full length because I lose my sense of feel when choking up (the extra shaft behind the hand feels like a counterbalance). The five shots we recorded were all centered, but struck low on the face. Here again, however, the numbers were surprising: 105.3 mph average swing speed, 154.5 mph average ball speed. Essentially, they were also numbers I see with center strikes on my M3.

 

At this point, I'll admit to being a little frustrated because I wasn't able to get a great sense of the club's performance due to the shaft being too long. Another fitter with whom I'd spoken to earlier must have sensed my frustration because he stopped over and asked how everything was going. When I explained the shaft length situation he said to hold tight and he soon returned with an Atmos Blue 7S that played 44.5". The change was immediate on the first ball struck with that shaft.

 

My strike location with the Atmos instantly reverted back to my normal spot: ever so slightly toward the high toe side of center. On the five recorded shots, my swing speed averaged 105.1 mph and the average ball speed jumped to 156.9. The Atmos wasn't a great fit due to it being a 70g shaft, but it did its job and the shaft length centered the strike location.

 

Did you not have your game with you? Could you not use your GP 6S? Or does this mean the adapter tips are changed again?

 

I did not have my clubs with me, so I couldn't use my shaft. Prior to the trip, TaylorMade had asked for our driver specs, so I had assumed they were going to build one up the matched what we played. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

 

The adapter has not changed.

 

What ballspeed and smash did you see ? Can you explain the 1.55 smash and 170 plus ballspeed for 111mph swing speed the other tester showed vs what rick shields posted with same swing speed ?

 

I don't have screen shots from my testing because I was preoccupied by the shaft issues, but my numbers are all above. Highest ball speed I saw was 157.1 mph from a 105.2 mph swing. 1.49 smash. To be honest, I was hoping to see 3-4 mph more ball speed between the club and the ball, but I didn't. But I definitely saw off-center speed increases and I had center strike numbers that were consistently higher than normal by 2-3 mph.

 

Shiels never posted his strike location in his review from what I recall, so I have no idea where he struck the ball on the face. Hard to compare two swings without knowing all the input.

[DatSliceDoe]

LOL $550 for this?

[jll62]

One thing I will add is that I dislike the look of the sole on the M5 drivers. I thought I'd get used to it, but the lighter color carbon panel doesn't work for me. It looks kind of cheap and out of place on a $550 driver. The only thing I could come up with is TaylorMade wanting the sole of the driver to stand out now that the silver on top is so much smaller. No idea if that's true or not, just idle speculation.

 

But, am I going to bypass the M5 because of the sole aesthetics? No, I'll still get one. The driver from the address position is sexy as hell. Easily the best looking driver I've used and makes my M3 look old and crusty each time I've teed it up in the simulator since I hit the M5 in late November.

[ago33]

So much hype, no results. I’ll stay with my. Sub zero again.

 

Had my wallet ready too.

[mrmikeac]

Lol what's with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

 

We met up with Johnny from WRX and he knew we were writing up something for TM's community and he asked us to cross post here. Would you rather we not share the info? It's not like I'm some random who suddenly popped in with marketing BS. This was literally my take on what was an amazing experience. No different than what people post after WRX trips.

 

Who says I was referring to YOUR post?

[jll62]

Lol what's with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

 

We met up with Johnny from WRX and he knew we were writing up something for TM's community and he asked us to cross post here. Would you rather we not share the info? It's not like I'm some random who suddenly popped in with marketing BS. This was literally my take on what was an amazing experience. No different than what people post after WRX trips.

 

Who says I was referring to YOUR post?

 

I assumed you were referring to either mine or Tony's (TK3309), since those were the only ones that I felt could be construed as "sudden marketing" in the thread. If I was mistaken, I apologize.

[mrmikeac]

Lol what's with the sudden marketing on this thread? (internet eye roll)

 

We met up with Johnny from WRX and he knew we were writing up something for TM's community and he asked us to cross post here. Would you rather we not share the info? It's not like I'm some random who suddenly popped in with marketing BS. This was literally my take on what was an amazing experience. No different than what people post after WRX trips.

 

Who says I was referring to YOUR post?

 

I assumed you were referring to either mine or Tony's (TK3309), since those were the only ones that I felt could be construed as "sudden marketing" in the thread. If I was mistaken, I apologize.

 

No worries at all, I saw your post and read it thoroughly and it is quite an interesting write up, we will see how this all pans out but something tells me that I will have a bag full of TM this year as my P760’s are in transit. Never thought I’d say that. Wow.

[chris975d]

Anyone else see the obvious issue with producing an illegal club, then use resin to make it legal again?

 

How many clubs with the resin removed will we see out there in the wild? There will be no way to see that from the outside of the club. Probably won't be an issue on PGA Tour but on smaller national tours or even my own hobby tour with the boys :-)

 

Edit: Wanna bet how many hours before we have video tutorial on how to remove the resin?

 

I have thought about that as well, but after seeing the cutaway head in person and seeing the "resin", as I stated above, I honestly think it's more like fancy epoxy. Cured epoxy doesn't melt and flow when heated, so it would be really hard to get it out (potentially, if what I'm saying is close to accurate) without really messing it up.

[nfmoto]

all marketing hype. every company is sooo close to the legal limit already that moving .00000000000000000000000001% closer will not make a noticeable difference in ball speed.

 

Lol. But they have someone on here claiming 10 mph now and 1.55 smash. I'm flabbergasted that nobody else saw that post.

 

Trackman is probably under-reporting clubhead speed. Common issue.

[mrmikeac]

Anyone else see the obvious issue with producing an illegal club, then use resin to make it legal again?

 

How many clubs with the resin removed will we see out there in the wild? There will be no way to see that from the outside of the club. Probably won't be an issue on PGA Tour but on smaller national tours or even my own hobby tour with the boys :-)

 

Edit: Wanna bet how many hours before we have video tutorial on how to remove the resin?

 

I have thought about that as well, but after seeing the cutaway head in person and seeing the "resin", as I stated above, I honestly think it's more like fancy epoxy. Cured epoxy doesn't melt and flow when heated, so it would be really hard to get it out (potentially, if what I'm saying is close to accurate) without really messing it up.

 

The face will crack before any of that