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TaylorMade M2 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
erock9174 said:
Jman,
When you experience the heel shot and distance loss, what is the shot shape?


I used to play an R9 10.5* and R11s 12*and hit them both quite well.
When the SLDR came out I lofted up to 14* and when my swing was on I hit some of the prettiest and longest drives ever for me. Downside was when my swing was off it produced nothing but 180 yd snap hooks. Upon demo-ing both the M1 and M2 I saw the same thing on the range when I missed. Just ugly low snap hooks again.I’ve never experienced this with other drivers.I mean you name it, I have tested just about them all from every oem out there. Sure I still pull the ball (my normal miss) and sometimes will hit a big sweeping push draw but overall distance is still close to my norm (210-230).


I guess I am just wondering why the more recent crop of TM drivers produce that ugly short shap hook for me. Could it be they are too low spinning for me?


Currently I play a G 10.5, prior to that a G30 SF Tec 10*.
The M1 and M2 I tested were 10.5 and the ball flight seemed plenty high for me on good swings. Just wondering why the off swings are that much worse with the TM drivers.
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erock9174 said:
I get that. I am far from a perfect driver of the ball but I would say keeping the ball in play off the tee is one of my strong suits. I might be out of shape once during a round, so I'm not a complete gump on the tee box.

As mentioned above, in owning and testing many, many drivers I also miss and still seem to get a respectable yardage and result.

Jman has mentioned he has seen a loss of ball speed low on the face with the M2. I am wondering if perhaps the newer TM's aren't as forgiving on my bad strikes or if not what is causing those ugly low snappers. Is it a spin issue, etc?
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Spin will play a role, yes. This is definitely a lower spinning head than the G30 and G30 SF.

Too many simply view spin as the enemy no matter what, and it truly isn't, different misses have different needs. Additionally, you have to take into account all of the different face structures and designs on heads as it pertains to ball speed retention across the face. IMO, and it is only that, the recent TM heads have been focused on center strike and a vertical miss, whereas with this I finally see them embracing a more vertical and horizontal focus. That said, for the improvements I am seeing high and heel/toe, the low miss is now pretty harsh. PING, Cally, and Cobra are the leaders in OVERALL retention on misses IMO (on specific models of course) and its not all that close, but that is their goal, I think TM is still redefining and looking for their goal, but this is a good step to see them making.
 
I also want to add this, I am not by any means "bashing" TM in any of my comments or takes on the M2 design. Rather, I want TM to reawaken and give the rest of us something more playable than we have seen from them in the past 4 or 5 releases, I believe this is a large step back toward that mindset for them. Its not perfect, the low miss is harsh, but its better than I have experienced from TM in some time. This driver has a LOT of "pro's" to it, but its not without its "con's" IMO.

In the end, its a fun head, I really cannot say that enough, and that is why I continue to tinker with it and record data on it. As I said in my thoughts last night, its an enigma for me right now.
 
Jman
Thanks for the insight.

I did go to the range today and was able to hit an M2 HL head and saw better results without any of the low snap hooks.
Also I have been toying around with playing a shorty driver again and tried the HL head with an M1 3w Fuji Pro 70 R shaft (assuming total playing length was around 43.5").
I liked it. Fun club to hit and the sound/feel is very nice on this one.
 
Playing another round with this tomorrow.

Will be focusing on getting my launch dialed in. 10.5* was too high. 9.5* was too low and a little too much side spin.

Playing with the 9.5* lofted up to 10.25* tomorrow. Excited to see if this helps get it where I want it.

And loving all the great feedback from others reviews. Keep it up!
 
erock9174 said:
Jman has mentioned he has seen a loss of ball speed low on the face with the M2.
I am wondering if perhaps the newer TM's aren't as forgiving on my bad strikes or if not what is causing those ugly low snappers.
Is it a spin issue, etc?
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LOL, I love to blame my clubs too, but it isn't their fault.
Forgivability is only goes so far.
It is only valid when an otherwise good swing misses the optimum point on the face.
Hitting low duck hooks are not a spin issue, those are a swing issues.
No head will fix that.
If you are so far off center then you have "other" problems.
It's not just you, it's a lot of us.
I'm not picking on you, I just think your focus is off a bit.
I tinker with my clubs a lot, but the bottom line is I have to put a good swing on it first or at least close to it before I can make valid adjustments that make sense.
 
Numbers don't lie, only politicians do (and marketing people). Having said that I've seen none of the issues outlined here but much like all the love for the GBB I had the exact opposite experience. Far and away the worst driver experience I've ever had, despite trying it with a wide variety of shafts. Whereas the XR16 is money for me. Everyone's mileage varies.
 
I just posted in the preview feed so I came here to read some feedback. JMan's comment about sound with the M2 is the same for me. I absolutely loved the sound of this driver!!! I have only hit this at the one demo day and with five different shafts, but I really liked it. I am going to head over to Dick's tomorrow to hit a few on the monitor as I didn't get any numbers at the demo day since the rep didn't have his Trackman. No matter how much I liked the M2, I will have a hard time pulling the trigger just because I'm leery of TM quality right now. I think I will have the thought in my head for some time that TM drivers just aren't forgiving and they aren't made well. The forgiveness is sliding away with this M2, but I still don't view this club as well made...
 
Pkielwa said:
I just posted in the preview feed so I came here to read some feedback. JMan's comment about sound with the M2 is the same for me. I absolutely loved the sound of this driver!!! I have only hit this at the one demo day and with five different shafts, but I really liked it. I am going to head over to Dick's tomorrow to hit a few on the monitor as I didn't get any numbers at the demo day since the rep didn't have his Trackman. No matter how much I liked the M2, I will have a hard time pulling the trigger just because I'm leery of TM quality right now. I think I will have the thought in my head for some time that TM drivers just aren't forgiving and they aren't made well. The forgiveness is sliding away with this M2, but I still don't view this club as well made...
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Post your feedback up after you hit it!

The sound is phenomenal, just a solid sound that lets you know the ball was hammered. More work in on this one this weekend, loft raised a bit to hopefully get rid of that heel miss I hate.
 
smschulz said:
Hitting low duck hooks are not a spin issue, those are a swing issues.
No head will fix that.
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but some people don't have the time to fix that issue and just want to play golf a couple times a month, so they need help. super low spin drivers can really hurt someone with this miss. I know from experience. so while I agree with you that a driver won't fix that miss, a driver can certainly help make that miss more playable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
^ well put c.a. That's the point I was trying to convey.
 
I've always been wary of fixing a miss with driver settings. What happens when you work out your swing issue? A new miss? Also, I think that the light weight of this driver may be contributing to the snap hooks. I recently upped the loft causing me to have to open the face to counteract the slight closed position. My miss has now moved right but I'm bombing my good swings almost 50 yards longer than when I started. The right misses seem much less penalized as far as distance goes. I was hitting 9 irons and in all day on Thursday. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with my 9 iron.
 
c.a.eleric said:
but some people don't have the time to fix that issue and just want to play golf a couple times a month, so they need help. super low spin drivers can really hurt someone with this miss. I know from experience. so while I agree with you that a driver won't fix that miss, a driver can certainly help make that miss more playable.
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Well, I certainly understand the need for a casual player but I don't understand how a driver low or not makes you hit know duck hooks?
My understanding is that driver spin refers to backspin and face angle will determine direction.
Hitting farther from the optimum will increase the spin rate but is that really the issue.
My only point is on hits so far off coupled with other problems then there is a point where you should stop looking at the club.
Maybe someone can explain technically how low spin drivers can make you hit low duck hooks vs the same hit on a driver deemed to spin more?
 
smschulz said:
Well, I certainly understand the need for a casual player but I don't understand how a driver low or not makes you hit know duck hooks?
My understanding is that driver spin refers to backspin and face angle will determine direction.
Hitting farther from the optimum will increase the spin rate but is that really the issue.
My only point is on hits so far off coupled with other problems then there is a point where you should stop looking at the club.
Maybe someone can explain technically how low spin drivers can make you hit low duck hooks vs the same hit on a driver deemed to spin more?
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No one is saying it will keep you from hitting them, BUT, the tech in some clubs 100% can make it a much more PLAYABLE miss. Things like MOI, face tech (like Cobra's E9 or Callaways Hyper Speed) play very real roles in keeping the ball in play for many, will it fix the miss totally directionally? No. But again, it can make it much more playable.
 
smschulz said:
Well, I certainly understand the need for a casual player but I don't understand how a driver low or not makes you hit know duck hooks?
My understanding is that driver spin refers to backspin and face angle will determine direction.
Hitting farther from the optimum will increase the spin rate but is that really the issue.
My only point is on hits so far off coupled with other problems then there is a point where you should stop looking at the club.
Maybe someone can explain technically how low spin drivers can make you hit low duck hooks vs the same hit on a driver deemed to spin more?
Click to expand...

i'm not smart enough to explain the "why," i can only tell you from my personal experience. it's not as much my miss anymore, but 18 months ago this low, fall-out-of-the-sky with crazy top spin hook was all i hit off the tee. my path was WAY OPEN to my target and face was only slightly open. but my spin was also crazy low, like sub 1,500. contact was tap dead center. as it was explained to me, if i was a higher spin player i could have launched the ball high enough so that i was playing a high hard hook. instead, i wasn't spinning the ball enough to keep it in the air and i was absolutely dead. at the time, he put me into a higher loft head, higher spin/higher launching shaft to try to help, and opened it as much as possible. since then i've gotten my plane a bit more neutral so it's not as much of an issue and i'm spinning the ball a bit more, but when the miss was its worst the low spin options out there were the polar opposite of what i needed.

hope that helps
 
smschulz said:
Well, I certainly understand the need for a casual player but I don't understand how a driver low or not makes you hit know duck hooks?
My understanding is that driver spin refers to backspin and face angle will determine direction.
Hitting farther from the optimum will increase the spin rate but is that really the issue.
My only point is on hits so far off coupled with other problems then there is a point where you should stop looking at the club.
Maybe someone can explain technically how low spin drivers can make you hit low duck hooks vs the same hit on a driver deemed to spin more?
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The ball can only spin on a single axis.
 
JB said:
The ball can only spin on a single axis.
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When I got to go out with Cobra a couple years ago now Yagley had the coolest GIGANTIC golf ball prop to show everyone there this fact. Its amazing how many don't realize that its a single axis.
 
I guess Im in the party of not understanding how a driver can help a snap hook as well. My understanding of a snap hook is basically a shut down club face to your path. I would have thought this to be a swing flaw that no club would be able to help. What clubs out there could help with this?
 
IMO, no one is intending to say that a driver snap hooks, we ALL know that is a swing thing, but again, some heads make that swing/miss more or less playable than others, that much is fact.
 
c.a.eleric said:
i'm not smart enough to explain the "why," i can only tell you from my personal experience. it's not as much my miss anymore, but 18 months ago this low, fall-out-of-the-sky with crazy top spin hook was all i hit off the tee. my path was WAY OPEN to my target and face was only slightly open. but my spin was also crazy low, like sub 1,500. contact was tap dead center. as it was explained to me, if i was a higher spin player i could have launched the ball high enough so that i was playing a high hard hook. instead, i wasn't spinning the ball enough to keep it in the air and i was absolutely dead. at the time, he put me into a higher loft head, higher spin/higher launching shaft to try to help, and opened it as much as possible. since then i've gotten my plane a bit more neutral so it's not as much of an issue and i'm spinning the ball a bit more, but when the miss was its worst the low spin options out there were the polar opposite of what i needed.

hope that helps
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That actually makes my point to a degree.
There are many other factors besides the spin characteristics of the head itself that contribute to the success of the swing.
 
smschulz said:
That actually makes my point to a degree.
There are many other factors besides the spin characteristics of the head itself that contribute to the success of the swing.
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one more time and then I'm out because this is getting repetitive. it's a swing thing. that is established and undisputed. but the characteristics of the head can make that miss more or less playable. respond if you wish, but there's nothing more to say that hasn't already been said.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is a driver review thread, let's get it back on topic.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
c.a.eleric said:
one more time and then I'm out because this is getting repetitive. it's a swing thing. that is established and undisputed. but the characteristics of the head can make that miss more or less playable. respond if you wish, but there's nothing more to say that hasn't already been said.
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OK, this is the last from me too.
But just to be clear, I never said a head can't make a difference.
I also get it that some like to make a general statement without facts, that's OK too.
I just wanted some clarification other than playable but I get what you mean.
No problem here with casual conversation, one way communication works too.
Out.
 
Ugh, why does such a conversation point always turn to one side taking the proverbial ball and going home. Just because one doesn't agree with the other, doesn't mean that it's one sided or whatever.

As to the conversation, I do believe it pertains to this driver review, and all others for that matter. We are talking about a specific miss and how the head can make a difference in the reaction of that miss. Yes, the swing causes the miss and will always cause the miss but certain heads respond better in terms of retaining ball speed and spin on that particular miss which will help the ball stay airborne and with less gear effect than others. Will it still be a hook? Sure. Can it be a more playable hook with one head compared to the next? Absofreakinglutely.

As to the M2, it doesn't respond well to the low heel miss, massive drop-off in black speed and crazy spin reaction which leads to the equivalent of low liners from what I have recorded with 4 different people so far. Compare that to what I saw when reviewing the Cobra F6 with its E9 face and the ball speed retention and spin was much more playable of a miss on the low heel, to the point of dispersion being improved 30% comparatively and on average 20 yards longer.
 
Going through data, I'll add to that last part.

Comparing the same two drivers with a high miss and the M2 excels, to the point that its borderline shocking to me. I'm talking a massively increased ability to keep the line of dispersion (20% or roughly around that without fully breaking down the math/averages) while keeping significantly higher ball speeds at lower spin and similar launch. Meaning a more playable, and longer, miss.
 
smschulz said:
OK, this is the last from me too.
But just to be clear, I never said a head can't make a difference.
I also get it that some like to make a general statement without facts, that's OK too.
I just wanted some clarification other than playable but I get what you mean.
No problem here with casual conversation, one way communication works too.
Out.
Click to expand...

just to be clear, the only reason i bowed out is because we were just saying the same thing over and over. we were getting repetitive. i appreciate the conversation very much, and also appreciate someone like jman coming in and explaining it in terms i can understand it.
 
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