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TaylorMade M2 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Got to mess around with this today on flight scope. At first I was really enjoying the feel of this one. I was finding the center of the face somewhat consistently, but then I started to get after it and noticed shots towards the heel. And like a 30-40yrd decrease in distance. I expect distance loss when not hit on center but to me it seemed there was no forgiveness in that area and flight scope backed that up. I still think it's a great feeling club and had good balance but the forgiveness just wasn't there.
 
tequila4kapp said:
That's a 13.5% reduction in carry and total distance. What are the retention numbers for drivers that tend to lead in the forgiveness category?
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that's a very good question and something i'm interested in as well. however, and i'm not saying you're saying this, but if someone were to see that number and think, "that's not too bad," i would caution that focusing on a percentage might be misleading. i think it has to be analyzed in terms of gross loss. a 40 yard loss is about 4 clubs. i would think the percentage chance an average golfer is going to hit a green with a 5i is substantially lower than the chance of hitting the green with a 9i in hand. again, not saying you didn't consider this, but when i see 13% that doesn't worry me too much, but when i see 40 yards i run the other direction.
 
War Eagle said:
Letting a lot of THPers try this one on the range and getting it on the flight scope.

Will go in to detail more later, but want to share this...

X.Man is crushing this driver. Hitting center of the face, he was carrying it 273 yards and total of 303 yards.

His next shot was off the heel, 236 yards carry and 262 yards total.

To say that the heel miss isn't penalizing is absurd. I've never seen any driver be so drastic wth a slight heel miss.
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Like unsaid above when struck on center is was pure joy to hit. But how often does the average golfer hit on center???

That distant loss was crazy. Heck I probably would have been ok with a 20yrd loss in distance but the number swe saw were concerning to say the least. And is unfortunate because of it weren't for that penalizing heel miss this could be a serious gamer!
 
I think at this point we can all agree that this club has a serious weak spot, the heel side miss.

What I want to know is how the heck something like that gets past all the testing the OEMs allegedly do prior to releasing a product. They must have know about this right? I'd love to hear more about that process and what decisions they make and what testing they do.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I think at this point we can all agree that this club has a serious weak spot, the heel side miss.

What I want to know is how the heck something like that gets past all the testing the OEMs allegedly do prior to releasing a product. They must have know about this right? I'd love to hear more about that process and what decisions they make and what testing they do.
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I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that meeting


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Took several swipes with this with War Eagle watching and bouncing feedback off me of what he's seen in it. When you catch it, the flight is strong and the ball gets out there.

Toe hits, the ball wasn't quite as strong but the flight was good. Heel though, yikes. It's as if it just knuckles through the air. The flight looks normal in the beginning but then it starts tailing right very weakly, like it's just ran out of gas.

Kind of a bummer too, cause two thirds of the driver feels really good and is playable where you hit it. That heel miss though is definitely an issue.
 
MWard said:
Took several swipes with this with War Eagle watching and bouncing feedback off me of what he's seen in it. When you catch it, the flight is strong and the ball gets out there.

Toe hits, the ball wasn't quite as strong but the flight was good. Heel though, yikes. It's as if it just knuckles through the air. The flight looks normal in the beginning but then it starts tailing right very weakly, like it's just ran out of gas.

Kind of a bummer too, cause two thirds of the driver feels really good and is playable where you hit it. That heel miss though is definitely an issue.
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So so so odd that this wasn't fixed in the lab. Really odd glaring weakness from what I am reading.


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ArmyGolf said:
I think at this point we can all agree that this club has a serious weak spot, the heel side miss.

What I want to know is how the heck something like that gets past all the testing the OEMs allegedly do prior to releasing a product. They must have know about this right? I'd love to hear more about that process and what decisions they make and what testing they do.
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I think many clubs will have impact losses and in fact I will say all do. If not nobody would ever buy anything else, although purchasing is more emotional than performance based.
 
JB said:
I think many clubs will have impact losses and in fact I will say all do. If not nobody would ever buy anything else, although purchasing is more emotional than performance based.
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All true.
I'm just wondering if they knowingly had to trade something off to get something else. Maybe they had to lose heelside performance to get the awesome sound/feel they were after? Maybe they were willing to give up heel performance for toe or sweet spot performance?
Otherwise they took a driver they knew was only "forgiving" on 2/3 of the head and decided to release it under the "forgiving" marketing umbrella.
 
Or, maybe, the inverted cone face tech's time has passed. The variable thickness just doesn't cover the range that others do, namely high toe and low heel.
 
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I know this is the M2 thread, but isn't the face and crown the same as the M1? The differences being on the sole and weight designs. Has anyone hit both side by side and seen any similarity in results?


Tapped from my smarter than me phone.
 
garethw said:
I know this is the M2 thread, but isn't the face and crown the same as the M1? The differences being on the sole and weight designs. Has anyone hit both side by side and seen any similarity in results?


Tapped from my smarter than me phone.
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I I would be interested in this as well.
 
garethw said:
I know this is the M2 thread, but isn't the face and crown the same as the M1? The differences being on the sole and weight designs. Has anyone hit both side by side and seen any similarity in results?


Tapped from my smarter than me phone.
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Crown is, face is not. Both have inverted cone tech, but the M2 actually has a flatter face than the M1. M2 also has a very slight surface roughness, which the M1 doesn't have.

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Hopefully it doesn't get lost in this whole heel side issue, but this is still a freaking awesome head for a guy who doesn't miss inside too often. I'm seeing my best driver performances ever with it and confidence is sky high right now.
 
ArmyGolf said:
Hopefully it doesn't get lost in this whole heel side issue, but this is still a freaking awesome head for a guy who doesn't miss inside too often. I'm seeing my best driver performances ever with it and confidence is sky high right now.
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Glad to see this is working for you, and also helping with confidence which is price less.
 
Grabbed a demo M2 with the stock Fukijura stiff shaft and hit it about a dozen times this morning. I left it in the standard 9.5 setting. Nice head, love the sound. I found it quite forgiving. It felt balanced and easy. Just comparing it to my BBA 815 ( 10*, core down) and visual ball flight, I was hitting it too high with more spin than I want. I think I would need to look at a different shaft. Not sure about the shaft feel either. I can't put my finger on it though. Nothing stood out, just there. I will see if the pro shop has any other shafts to try.
 
ArmyGolf said:
Hopefully it doesn't get lost in this whole heel side issue, but this is still a freaking awesome head for a guy who doesn't miss inside too often. I'm seeing my best driver performances ever with it and confidence is sky high right now.
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Agreed. My tee game has never been stronger.
 
I've experienced several heel misses with the M2 that have fortunately gone straight whereas my miss with the XR16 is left, though no where near as bad as my experience with the GBB. For my game the perfect balance of face forgiveness and accuracy this year has been the Ping G but it lacks the "wow" drives I've gotten from the M2 and XR16


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mtcowdog said:
Grabbed a demo M2 with the stock Fukijura stiff shaft and hit it about a dozen times this morning. I left it in the standard 9.5 setting. Nice head, love the sound. I found it quite forgiving. It felt balanced and easy. Just comparing it to my BBA 815 ( 10*, core down) and visual ball flight, I was hitting it too high with more spin than I want. I think I would need to look at a different shaft. Not sure about the shaft feel either. I can't put my finger on it though. Nothing stood out, just there. I will see if the pro shop has any other shafts to try.
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I have been doing a lot of M2 testing against the 815 in the 10* setting too! I have found my M2 does in fact launch higher than my 815, even with an X-Flex shaft. This IS what I was looking for though. I love the launch, sound, and look of this club. Hopefully you will be able to get your hands on some other shaft options to try out, as this club is advertised as being offered with 30+ no-up charge shafts! I have tried this head with a handful of different shafts and still feel it maintains great feel across the board. Good luck and can't wait to see what you think if you decide to take more swings!
 
This is such an easy driver to hit and 15 yards longer than my Fly Z+... I have a super low launch and low spin so I have the M2 HL head at 12.75 degrees with a Ozik50 Regular shaft and it launches at around 14.5 degrees and 2000rpm. Swing speed is a smooth high 90s and I am getting 235 carry and 260+ total.
 
2012BFT said:
I have been doing a lot of M2 testing against the 815 in the 10* setting too! I have found my M2 does in fact launch higher than my 815, even with an X-Flex shaft. This IS what I was looking for though. I love the launch, sound, and look of this club. Hopefully you will be able to get your hands on some other shaft options to try out, as this club is advertised as being offered with 30+ no-up charge shafts! I have tried this head with a handful of different shafts and still feel it maintains great feel across the board. Good luck and can't wait to see what you think if you decide to take more swings!
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M2 is high on my list. The feel is excellent. I found out we have a demo day May 21, and supposedly we get the full monty of testing options. I will also head down to Colorado for a long Memorial Day weekend. Between those two, I should be able to explore M2 more thoroughly and compare it to a couple of other appealing options. Getting fitted will be helpful. In the meantime I am feeding my inner geek with a new driver shaft. Hopefully that will keep me patient enough to follow through on this plan.
 
NoLine said:
I've experienced several heel misses with the M2 that have fortunately gone straight whereas my miss with the XR16 is left, though no where near as bad as my experience with the GBB. For my game the perfect balance of face forgiveness and accuracy this year has been the Ping G but it lacks the "wow" drives I've gotten from the M2 and XR16


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It was between the XR 16 and M2 for me while getting fit. Numbers and distance were very similar, but the misses with the XR were left bad. M2 misses were still straight-ish or a fade.
 
rozo22 said:
It was between the XR 16 and M2 for me while getting fit. Numbers and distance were very similar, but the misses with the XR were left bad. M2 misses were still straight-ish or a fade.
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I was just surprised you jumped in and got one before the THP Event next month where they are available as prizes to the winning team.
 
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