arydolphin
GTHC!
Pretty interesting "teaser" marketing that you're going to see on the tournament coverage this weekend....the staff bags and hats are going to say "Taylor Ade", obviously drawing attention to what is missing.
TaylorMade M1 Driver Review Thread
I think they are going to place an "F" in there for the "m".
Typhoon
Well-known member
Double sliding weights.....forward cg....it's just NOT a forgiving formula. You got people that can't break 100 hitting them that's a problem.
Take a page out of Pings g30 playbook and make a forgiving easy to hit driver (Aeroburner ) and then expand on that....like Ping did with the LST. Give it a touch less forgiveness, move a little weight forward and give it an adjustable hosel.
Take a page out of Pings g30 playbook and make a forgiving easy to hit driver (Aeroburner ) and then expand on that....like Ping did with the LST. Give it a touch less forgiveness, move a little weight forward and give it an adjustable hosel.
There's a lot of truth here. A major OEM is going to fair much better starting with forgiveness and moving towards 'Tour' with subsequent releases than they are pumping out unforgiving, low spin heads. It's a tried and true way to own the pre-owned rack at every retailer.
Miller Time
Twitter - @joshmlr
Noticed that and I think it will draw some people in. I like it.
Popeye
Well-known member
I wonder if that crown is half carbon fiber or its just a cosmetic touch. I was not a fan of the composite crowns of the past.
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Absolutely, TM needs to stop marketing all drivers to all golfers. Borrow a page from Callaway and segment the market.
I put a lot of money into TM clubs a few years ago based on marketing and others who drank the kook-aid. After further disgust, will not buy another TM product. They lost me. No big deal, or maybe there are a million others like me, since sales have slid, CEO's have been chopped, and they are on the sales block.
You've got to care about the market and make certain your product gets into the right hands -- or it will bite you in the a## -- it bit TM -- remember this history lesson.
So basically you hate Taylormade because you bought something that didn't work for you? Nobody is forcing you to "drink they koolaide." You, as a consumer, should have done your homework and bought what worked for YOU. It's not their job to make a product specific for you, although I'm sure there is something in their lineup that would work for 90% of golfers out there. It's on the consumer to research and find what's best for them.
Would you be mad at Nike because you bought shoes that claim to offer better cushion, support, traction, etc but when you put them on they just didn't fit well on your foot? Thy may do all of those things they claim to do and fit on 90% of human feet but for whatever reason it just didn't work for YOU.
It's ok that something didn't work for you but don't hate on the company that made the product because you failed to buy the right product for you needs.
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i'll respond to this as someone who has had similar experiences with other oems and written them off.
ping has a very devoted following. i tried ping, going so far as to get fitted, and spent more money on a set of irons than i've ever spent before (and hope to ever spend again!) trying to get them to work for me. they didn't, and the whole experience soured me to the entire brand.
to your nike shoe analogy, i've written off true linkswear because of this very thing. i tried on the shoes and they were comfortable. then i bought the shoes because they were comfortable. but on the course they were murder to my feet. i think it's a poorly-made, ill-designed product.
so i think it's entirely possible to purchase something by doing homework and testing only to have it not work for you.
TaylorMade M1 Driver
TaylorMade M1 Driver
I'm not saying that's not possible, but I'm saying it's wrong to dismiss or write off, or in some instances I've seen here downright hate a manufacturer because their product didn't work for you.
I used to only wear nike shoes and then when they started going to the "free" style I couldn't wear them anymore because they had little to no support and I have bad feet from 16 years of full contact martial arts. I can't hate on Nike because they fed into a market demand of lighter shoes. There's just no way for them to make a "free" show with the type of support I need. Fortunately I didn't waste money figuring all that out, but I can see where some people would have. I also know that Nike has other lines of shoes roger than the "free" that work just fine so I'm not writing off an entire brand because one product didn't meet my needs.
I just don't see the point or value of hating on a company because what they made didnt work for you and it took learning the Hard way to figure that out. Sometimes that's just what needs to happen. You buy the wrong thing before you figure out what the right thing is. Hopefully it's a mistake you only make once.
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TaylorMade M1 Driver
I'm not saying that's not possible, but I'm saying it's wrong to dismiss or write off, or in some instances I've seen here downright hate a manufacturer because their product didn't work for you.
I used to only wear nike shoes and then when they started going to the "free" style I couldn't wear them anymore because they had little to no support and I have bad feet from 16 years of full contact martial arts. I can't hate on Nike because they fed into a market demand of lighter shoes. There's just no way for them to make a "free" show with the type of support I need. Fortunately I didn't waste money figuring all that out, but I can see where some people would have. I also know that Nike has other lines of shoes roger than the "free" that work just fine so I'm not writing off an entire brand because one product didn't meet my needs.
I just don't see the point or value of hating on a company because what they made didnt work for you and it took learning the Hard way to figure that out. Sometimes that's just what needs to happen. You buy the wrong thing before you figure out what the right thing is. Hopefully it's a mistake you only make once.
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- #337
Is it wrong? Spending one's own money is a personal experience and frankly an emotional experience. Buying a driver is no different. Is it any more wrong to dislike a brand because their stuff doesnt work for you than it is to be blindly loyal to a brand before testing? Nobody seems to take issue with brand loyalty, why take issue with the opposite side of the spectrum.
I believe in testing, and do so with every piece of golf equipment. Next year, THP will do this very thing with Club Clash for people here that want to be a part of it too. I dont think anybody should tell anybody else how to feel about a brand, as long as they are dealing with correct info and facts.
Can one dislike the cable company that they deal with if they dont have a solid product compared to others? Can one love their cell phone if it works? I think people confuse hatred for dislike a lot of times and love for like, because the written word has to be so informative and high pitched to get a point across it seems. Its much easier to dismiss an opinion that might be different, when no facts can get in the way because its dealing in subjectivity.
Hate? Fantastic Company - anyone that can market Ferraris to 18 cappers, well that is amazing. But it hurts you and hurts the golfing public in the long run.
As to me, who cares? Did my homework, consulted my super club maker, the R1 was a good club, just a tad too much for me. My son loves it; he is a 3 capper with an Attas Shaft in it.
The other woods? Not so much for me, but who cares? Well, I guess Adidas cares.
Look, I'm sure they have millions of followers, good golf company, but ya' know, not my kind of golf company, not the kind of golf company for their CEO's and employees with the pink slips, not my kind of golf company where R&D can't deliver what marketing promises. Hey, they sold their soul to the devil for 2 years, and are paying for it... on the sales block. What goes around, comes around. Fantastic people, I'm sure, love them, but they did not market honestly. If everyone were single cappers with speed, no doubt they'd be number one, but 96%, no 110% of the market is not single cappers with speed. So they have a limited market. Yeah, I'm Trumping on you.
Problem is they lack credibility now with retailers and the golfing public. With excellent golfers, they still love 'em some TM. Three years later, I can now play TM, at least in the Aeroburner woods. Will I? No way. Once you eff the average golf consumer, and they did it in a fantastic fashion with the SLDR line, I won't come back to you for about 5-6 years. But that's just me.
Play your TM, Fantastic clubs for some, for others, not so much.
The M1? Fantastic Driver, I'm sure. TM will tell you so. Great marketing, fantastic, I'd hire them to sell ice to Eskimos. And that club will perform, I'm sure, for 2% of the public, but they'll market it to everyone .... some never learn, or maybe they will.
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And that's exactly what they used to do. The Burner line owned the freaking world for a long, long time. And then inexplicably they started downplaying it in an effort to try and sell their "premium" (aka low forward unforgiving) line to everyone, and it backfired horrifically. They realized their boo-boo and brought back the Burner line with Aeroburner, but marketed it like the budget option and didn't make it adjustable.
The Aeroburner is actually a very good and fairly forgiving driver, if that took that, marketed it logically, and above all made it adjustable, I really think they'd have a winner on their hands.
Shakey
#TheGolfWhisperer
I'll give it a whirl. I really liked the Aeroburner this year.
So they have a new driver coming out I hear...
Hey I'm not saying you can't just like the company or dislike their products, but I see a lot of hatred towards TM. I'm talking about the people that say will never buy another tailor-made products because they were burned when the sldr Did not fit their game. While it's true that the SL DR has been for the most part I major failure that shouldn't be a reason to totally abandon ship and never buy another one of their products. I am always of the mindset buy whatever works for you, and I have learned my lessons along the way as well. For instance the r9 irons never really fit my game and I bought into all the marketing hype around those at that time. I also love my R1 driver but last year I switched to a Nike driver that works better for me at the time, but now I am back on board with an R 15. So while some product works for me and some did not I never felt it was necessay to burn the TM house down.
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TaylorMade M1 Driver
TaylorMade M1 Driver
Maybe I do not know as much about the inner workings of TM corporate but I'm confused as to why you're throwing their CEO and their employees into the equation of whether or not you like their equipment. If you're telling me you won't buy Another TM product because you're disgusted with their CEO and his business practices that's an entirely different story but it seems to me like you're hating on the The company has a whole because you spent money on a product that didn't work.
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TaylorMade M1 Driver
Maybe I do not know as much about the inner workings of TM corporate but I'm confused as to why you're throwing their CEO and their employees into the equation of whether or not you like their equipment. If you're telling me you won't buy Another TM product because you're disgusted with their CEO and his business practices that's an entirely different story but it seems to me like you're hating on the The company has a whole because you spent money on a product that didn't work.
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- #344
Here is another example. What if you loved TaylorMade drivers up until SLDR. Lets say you owned every one of them starting with the 510. Then SLDR came out and you hated it. Upon research you found out that the guy that made all of those drivers at TM, up until SLDR left the company to go to a competitor. You try the competitor's driver and love it, and it reminds you of the other drivers you love. Would that make sense? I ask this as a genuine question, because the exact thing happened.
It's called levity, and the current ala mode, is "Trumping."
Hey, I take accountability for my purchases -- I tested the R1, thought it was a good driver, played it fairly well, but needed a tad more forgiveness for me. I gave it to my son as he could realize its potential - his SS is 114. As to the fairways and hybrids, I tried a 17 fwy, but after open heart surgery, I wasn't up to its weight or necessary speed - TM did not make the lightest clubs at the time. The Stage 2 hybrids, I thought, were an abomination compared to the original RBZ. At least for me. I played a lot of TM product in the late 90's. Can you say Burner Bubble? So it was my bad. Had to get a new swing after surgery.
It was only when I saw the SLDR campaign, and their jettisoning of the JetSpeed, that made my business and consumer blood boil. Had nothing to do with me. NO WAY should they have marketed the SLDR line to the general public as they did -- deceptive. If I was a State AG or in the FTC, I would have sued them for those claims -- the fantastic advertisement with the guy with the quick pencil drawing -- those commercials always turn me off -- because I turn them off -- on the net, they turn out to be 25 minute snow jobs. And that's what the TM advertising reminded me -- a fantastic, amazing snow job.
Maybe they've come to their senses with the M1.
Ha ha I almost forgot about the quick dry eraser markers board guy! I guess at the end of the day it's no different than a lot of other companies that do the same type of marketing, I just try not to fall into the trap. I can't blame them for marketing campaigns they're trying to sell a product and as anything that are disclaimers so that consumers can't sue themwhen they don't see the results. You'll notice that a lot of the distance claims always reference things like last years model or a previous generation so that consumers don't get upset when they don't get it 17 yards further then they're paying driver for example. Always check for an asterisk.
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SW
Grinder
The Ping comparison is so far off track Magellan couldn't find it. You tried to make them MAKE them work?
The true linkswear, yeah those croc looking things were/is/will always be awful.
That makes sense and what I would say if that again it comes down to what works for you but you can't hate on the company because their product did not work for you.
The president of my company left years ago and went to a competitor and while he was there he turned that company from a nobody into A major player. He did that through groundbreaking product development that changed the entire landscape of our industry. He then came back to our company and we are stronger than ever. Why did he come back? Because he realize that our customers loyal to the brand and that he could take what he learns and bring it back to us and that we would dominate our industry as we always have and will continue to do.
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I think the issue in context of TaylorMade, the issue is that their clubs haven't worked for the vast majority of golfers - when you're a retail company, that's a problem. They made a big bet on low and forward, and it turns out most golfers aren't that good, and that setup isn't the best for them. Sure, it's great for the touring pros, but when people go to hit drivers in the store, they're seeing better numbers from other companies who have segmented the market. I think that, more than anything, is why we're seeing the decrease in sales.
Said club designer who's moved elsewhere has had a hand in producing some of the more well-received drivers in terms of performance for the average golfer in recent years.
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- #350
If someone can love a company, someone can hate a company. An opinion of a company that's sole purpose is to sell products, is absolutely open to love and hate and like and dislike.
Hopefully the M1 brings some people back to the middle because the brand has made themse incredibly polarizing over the last few years based on their marketing and approach. They have fallen back in so many ways in terms of consumer awareness and I hope that is starting to change with a back to the basics approach. Although I am skeptical.