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TaylorMade M1 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Canadan said:
Out of curiosity, is there genuine value in getting numbers like this when smash factor is a static number?
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Yeah I was going to say something about that too. It is just assuming a swing speed based upon ballspeed so in the earliest data it just appeared Johan was swinging M1 faster to significantly exceed the other two clubs when infact he probably wasn't. M1 just provided more ballspeed. When that was questioned it looks like he then tried to dig out three similar swing speeds to appease but that was inacurate as club speeds were simply a mathematical assumption, so M1 really performed even better in relation IMO. He also stated when he did this he just took the first 3 M1 results and cherry picked better results from the other heads ("throwing out every other one") to get similar ballspeeds to M1 ... ie more forgiving. If he had included those lesser results with the other heads, M1's relative gains should've looked even greater in his appeased data set.
 
FYI

The details I decided not included were omitted for brevity.

As I had originally planned on test all four heads at six different loft settings I thought something peculiar might be revealed.

But after the first and second round of loft settings and shafts changes revealed a clear winner further testing was called off.

To avoid boring everyone to death I then searched for the most optimal settings for each club. The goal achieving 17 degrees of launch angle and 1700 rpm spin. I then just report the one best representative result for each club.

The SLDR 430 was omitted from the final conclusion because it's results were identical to the 460 head with my swing.

So there full disclosure.

When it became clear that the M1 was going to win running away from the field I presented a concise representation of my results.

But on a side note. The M1 just looks amazing.

Don't you think.

Cheers

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Daddio said:
Yeah I was going to say something about that too. It is just assuming a swing speed based upon ballspeed so in the earliest data it just appeared Johan was swinging M1 faster to significantly exceed the other two clubs when infact he probably wasn't. M1 just provided more ballspeed. When that was questioned it looks like he then tried to dig out three similar swing speeds to appease but that was inacurate as club speeds were simply a mathematical assumption, so M1 really performed even better in relation IMO. He also stated when he did this he just took the first 3 M1 results and cherry picked better results from the other heads ("throwing out every other one") to get similar ballspeeds to M1 ... ie more forgiving. If he had included those lesser results with the other heads, M1's relative gains should've looked even greater in his appeased data set.
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Precisely My Dear Watson.

Ditto

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Nearly 20 rds now with vaunted slayer known as M1 dunt,dunt, duuuuuunnn......seriously this driver has rejuvenated my spirits and confidence in a level of consistency that hasn't been around for awhile....obtaining the driver coincided with weight loss so YMMV......on medium length par 5 of somewhere between 490 and 510.....not sure of actual tee box; anyways slightly into and across from the right (I'm lefty) I hit a solid one that left me 245-ish middle.....pulled my freshly re-shafted M1 3 metal and just swept it off the rug on decent line.....really didn't aim it too much figuring that there wasn't a chance in hadjes of getting there.....low and behold I was in the greenside bunker in two!

First, I really don't hit 3 metals off deck much at all anymore....slower swing means lack of elevation normally. ...not with this booger! So now we must add a 5wd as hybrids and I don't get along that well.

More to follow Thursdays' round...
 
I think people like this club. Lol it's definitely a great stick. Personally I didn't see the numbers to validate paying the M1 premium over the R15 in my personal testing, but your mileage will of course vary. Admittedly I think the forgiveness is a lot higher with the M1, so we'll see what effect that has.

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Well my dear friends.....

The M1 did not disappoint

Longest drive 279.

Average 257

Shortest 224 on a sky ball when I teed the ball up too high.

10 of 14 fairways.

GIR 12 of 18.

Most second shots were Sandwiches.

And BTW it wasn't a great ball striking day for the driver.
68e550979e69e2ded7d49a3f17b2a3da.jpg


As you might be able to detect I hit the balls all over the face. Heel. Toe. Top and bottom. The longest drive was hit one inch from the sweet spot middle towards the heel.

Straight straight straight. As others have said it felt like I was cheating.

First hole. Uphill into the wind dogleg left. 255 middle of the fairway


My partners were laughing and teasing me. Even they were beyond impressed.

I was so consistent and straight I was hitting driver on the short par 3's and flipping a wedge for my GIR.

I have never take a driver out if the box. Hit a few balls on the launch monitor over night to dial in the loft and weights and creamed the ball round the track.

All day. Every day. Money. MO money. MO. Money.


The M1 is a bombing machine leading the way to paradise.

I really had the best round of the year.

 
SkiBumGolfer said:
I think people like this club. Lol it's definitely a great stick. Personally I didn't see the numbers to validate paying the M1 premium over the R15 in my personal testing, but your mileage will of course vary. Admittedly I think the forgiveness is a lot higher with the M1, so we'll see what effect that has.

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I agree. It wasn't necessarily the length, because it is just probably just as long as any other premium club, that made today extra special. It was the level of forgiveness. This was my B swing which was rewarded with incredible results. On a tough windy course with the greens play to 11.6 and the fairways lush from early morning irritation. With minimal roll I was sitting pretty with a sandwedge wait to go for the green.

It's not that easy hitting the greens from 60 to 90 yards out.

I even moved the weight from front to back while keeping the front track at neutral. Minimal ball flight changes bit maximum forgiveness Factor in play.

Just feels more stable with the increased MOI from back weight setup.

So. I'm very very happy.

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Johan185 said:
I agree. It wasn't necessarily the length, because it is just probably just as long as any other premium club, that made today extra special. It was the level of forgiveness. This was my B swing which was rewarded with incredible results. On a tough windy course with the greens play to 11.6 and the fairways lush from early morning irritation. With minimal roll I was sitting pretty with a sandwedge wait to go for the green.

It's not that easy hitting the greens from 60 to 90 yards out.

I even moved the weight from front to back while keeping the front track at neutral. Minimal ball flight changes bit maximum forgiveness Factor in play.

Just feels more stable with the increased MOI from back weight setup.

So. I'm very very happy.

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Now you need a signature change!
 
I had the worst round of iron striking this year today. However this thing off the tee is something else at the moment. I caught it thin off the toe and ended up middle of the fairway longer than my usual tee shot would land with my 915. I had to play a provisional for the first time since owning the M1 this morning when a errant slice reared its ugly head coupled with trying to avoid the bunkers on the left. First ball was found just in bounds at 253 yards, the provisional was gps measured at 299 in the middle of the fairway. The hole does play slightly downhill and the was minimal wind. I'm having more and more consistent distances between 240 and 270 on well struck shots. My misses are more toe biased and I am still seeing better distance and direction than the 915.

The more I relax and just swing my swing instead of over complicated thinking the ball just flies. I'm interested to get on Trackman soon and actually see what the club speed / ball speed is, but more importantly what my AoA and swing path is doing. During my fitting I was nowhere near the club speed to get distances I am seeing on course at the moment, however my AoA was hovering around +4 and in to out path, previously it has been closer to zero or - with a out to in path. In the mean time my Shanky iron shots can be almost forgotten from the pleasure and confidence I am now getting off the tee.

P.S. The shop has just called to say my 3 wood has arrived :bananadance:
 
There is nothing better than starting your first day of holidays before flying overseas, than with a demo day from one of the big manufacturers. This is the first TaylorMade Demo day I have been to and it was quite simnply one of the most enjoyable hour and a half I have spent at a driving range and tinkering with clubs.

Today I had my first experience hitting the TaylorMade M1. Wow. I currently game a Cobra Bio Cell Pro with 72g Aldila Stiff shaft. Swing speed with that is around 104-106mph. Not too sure on carry numbers, but I have had long drives for me out there at roughly 270 metres (total), which is roughly 295yards. But of course, that is only when the stars are all aligned.

I stepped up and had a couple of swings with my Cobra on Trackman and was getting some OK numbers. Only really bad point was peak height, and descent angle. Descent angle was in the mid 40's, so there is usually NO roll from my driver. Today I was getting roughly 220-230metres carry with the Cobra.

I started out with the stock stiff Fujikura shaft in the M1 but it felt way too whippy for me. Still OK length, but it was still a bit high and spin was around 3500. Far too much. They swapped me into a heavier shaft, which was still a bit whippy and had better spin and launch, but just struggled with finding the centre of the face and lost accuracy.

The Tmag fitter was trying to get his thinking cap on and was looking around in the fitting cart for a particular shaft which he wasn't too sure if they even had with them. Luckily they did. In went the Fujikura Pro 73Gram Stiff (blue) shaft. Stock 9.5 degree head, weight set in the back, and some draw bias slider weight. BANG. The guys asked if they could take a couple of photos as I was swinging this and the look on the guys face after I nutted one was priceless!! Club head speed was now hovering around 110mph, launch was between 13-14.5 degrees, spin was 2300-2500, and my carry jumped up to 246 metres (270 yards). Not only that, but I actually felt CONFIDENT swinging this driver. I currently fear pulling my Cobra out as I honestly do not know where the ball is going to go.

I am honestly in awe of this club and how nice it felt, how easy it was to hit. Sure, I had a couple of duffs, but I do that with any club. The consistency with this one when you launch it though is nothing else. Safe to say, I think I will be putting in a custom order for this driver, as no shops over in Western Australia stock the Fuji Pro shaft. I am not sure if there are any Tmag reps on this site, but if there are, I want to thank you for the Demo Day at Wembley Golf Course today (13/11/15) and wish to send positive feedback to Matt Tudor (the fitter) as he was awesome and really knew what he was doing. I have never had a TaylorMade driver before, but I think I will definitely be ordering one!!
 
Well the M1 was not a one hit wonder.

No swing thoughts. Point and shoot. Click click click. FIR. Dominated.

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M1 different beasts...

So today I was happily cranking out driver after drive on my M1 430 10.5 shafted with an Elements Chrome 6F4T at 44.5" at the range. The guy next to me saw me and he wanted to try my M1, he had a 460 M1 460 9.5 with the Fujikura Pro 60 stiff, stock. It was his first time on the range with his M1. His setting was all normal. Mine is notch open from Standard.

I could not for any life, hit his combo. All my drives were low and left. I heard good things about this Fuji and eventhough it was stiff, it really felt terrible when contrasted to the Elements Chrome, especially how stable the EC was at impact. I had no idea with the Fuji.

I went back to my M1 430 and piped one down. I hated his driver. Yeah, it's 1/2 more but it was terrible, for me :(

He on the otherhand, loved my driver and even took a picture of the head and shaft.

Just goes to show, it may be an M1 but boy, you need to find the fit...
 
Johan185 said:
Well the M1 was not a one hit wonder.

No swing thoughts. Point and shoot. Click click click. FIR. Dominated.

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This has been my experience with the club everytime. Such an easy club to hit.
 
SwingBlues said:
M1 different beasts...

So today I was happily cranking out driver after drive on my M1 430 10.5 shafted with an Elements Chrome 6F4T at 44.5" at the range. The guy next to me saw me and he wanted to try my M1, he had a 460 M1 460 9.5 with the Fujikura Pro 60 stiff, stock. It was his first time on the range with his M1. His setting was all normal. Mine is notch open from Standard.

I could not for any life, hit his combo. All my drives were low and left. I heard good things about this Fuji and eventhough it was stiff, it really felt terrible when contrasted to the Elements Chrome, especially how stable the EC was at impact. I had no idea with the Fuji.

I went back to my M1 430 and piped one down. I hated his driver. Yeah, it's 1/2 more but it was terrible, for me :(

He on the otherhand, loved my driver and even took a picture of the head and shaft.

Just goes to show, it may be an M1 but boy, you need to find the fit...
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I have the same elements chrome 6F4T in my 460 10.5 M1. It's a great combo.. I was fitted into a Rogue Black 60 in reg flex but I just couldn't get along with the reg flex swing speed high 90s to 100. Kept missing right all the time so I dropped the EC shaft in and it's worked great for me. Ave drive is the mid 250 range easily 10 to 15 yards more on ave than my R15 was. I tend to hit the toe a lot and this thing still gives me good distance when I do. Most consistant driver I've ever had in my bag.
 
Got my 2nd round under my belt with the M1 - on perfect strikes this thing is just a bomber - high and straight for me.

On one shot I know I hit it out on the toe and still went straight for me with a distance loss of about 30 yards - not nearly as long but still was playable (even in the rough)....

I did put a sloppy swing on a later hole and it went right - not OOB right but with my previous driver it would've been alot worse.

I am 100% confident again when I step up to the tee with this club - love the look, feel and forgiveness it provides. Taylormade definitely made a winner with the M1
 
Hit this today at an outdoor range, in the 12 degree head with the Kuro Kage. Loved the look of it. Seems to have a bit of fade bias (at least to me) which I really liked since I hate missing left. Was mostly hitting close to the center of the face, but definitely missed a few towards the toe and high, and it was way more forgiving than the SLDR in those areas. Never hit the R15 so cant compare to that one. Absolutely a great driver from TM. Can see why it is getting great reviews.

As a fun comparison I was hitting it back and forth with the great big bertha, and they were going just about the exact same distance just a slightly different ball flight. Flight with the bertha was a little higher, and had a touch more spin to my eye (obviously hard to tell a bit) whereas M1 was a bit more penetrating. Bertha seems a tad more draw biased, and slightly more forgiving. Both absolutely top-notch drivers, just which 1 each player prefers.
 
Bstubbs42 said:
I have the same elements chrome 6F4T in my 460 10.5 M1. It's a great combo.. I was fitted into a Rogue Black 60 in reg flex but I just couldn't get along with the reg flex swing speed high 90s to 100. Kept missing right all the time so I dropped the EC shaft in and it's worked great for me. Ave drive is the mid 250 range easily 10 to 15 yards more on ave than my R15 was. I tend to hit the toe a lot and this thing still gives me good distance when I do. Most consistant driver I've ever had in my bag.
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I, too, hit the toe a fair bit, found out that I was lifting my left foot as I try to post so that brings the face in at the toe bias, it has to since my left side is rising and away. I use to compensate by teeing the driver on the heel side but in the end, if I remind myself to keep a "soft" left knee, thats stopped my toe hits substantially. This one is hard to diagnose unless you have a video or friend as it manifest itself at impact which is a split second.

I still have my R15 430 and my SS is around 105-108 depending on how little or more beers I have. Also give the Kuro Kage Tini a try as well, that one works well in my R15 but not so well in the M1. I had the Black Rogue 60 in stiff originally and it was boardy, boardy and all I hit was low left hooks...well, thats my impression and experience. The Silver Rogue was much better but neither Rogues hold a candle to the Elements Chrome in terms of feel, kick and dispersion.
 
SwingBlues said:
I, too, hit the toe a fair bit, found out that I was lifting my left foot as I try to post so that brings the face in at the toe bias, it has to since my left side is rising and away. I use to compensate by teeing the driver on the heel side but in the end, if I remind myself to keep a "soft" left knee, thats stopped my toe hits substantially. This one is hard to diagnose unless you have a video or friend as it manifest itself at impact which is a split second.

I still have my R15 430 and my SS is around 105-108 depending on how little or more beers I have. Also give the Kuro Kage Tini a try as well, that one works well in my R15 but not so well in the M1. I had the Black Rogue 60 in stiff originally and it was boardy, boardy and all I hit was low left hooks...well, thats my impression and experience. The Silver Rogue was much better but neither Rogues hold a candle to the Elements Chrome in terms of feel, kick and dispersion.
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I like that thought, I know I tend to push my hips in towards the ball which makes me stand up a bit when I hit the toe. I may try and focus on the left knee flex instead of trying to think about spine angle, hips and head all at the same time..
 
M1-gasm

M1-gasm

Was waiting for the snow to melt here in Colorado yesterday so I went to my local GS, who have just refurbished including some new GC2 Foresight simulators, to swing some of the new drivers.

Started with the King LTD (one word, disappointing) then tried the M1 ... HOLY CRAP. Was hitting the 460 w/ Kuro Kage TiNi 60g shaft and it was going 300 without even trying. Had one of the staff guys double check the settings, they were normal for our mile high altitude. Went out to the the car and got my Razr-Fit 8.5° (which I love cause I crush it), well all I can say is DAMN!!

With the same swing speeds (99-103mph) I was AVERAGING 15 yards more carry and 19 yards more overall with the M1. Best drives = 291 vs. 329! I was getting avg launch angle of 14.5 & 2,000 rpm with the M1 with some in the 1,650-1,800 range, the RF was averaging 2,800. I spent more time and went back and forth and the numbers remained the same.

I even tried the XR (unhittable for me), D2, BB and R-15 for comparison (all in same range as my Razr-Fit).They didn't have demos for the 816 DBD and the King LTD Pro, but at this point I'm not sure that matters. I also tried the Fujikura shaft in the M1 (didn't fit me at all) and a 430 9.5° which had too of a trajectory.

I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of the numbers. I'm going to take a breather and go back Monday or Tuesday after work and give it another go but I woke up this morning and my first thoughts were about the possibilities with the M1 :D I haven't paid full price for a driver in about 8 years, but I think I'm about to ...
 
Playing today and the high will be 42, let's see how the m1 does in the cold.

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Guys around 90mph. What loft are you choosing ? 10.5, 12*, 14* ?
 
I went with 10.5* 430


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