by Jon Watchowski, Club Fitter
Let’s start off by looking back to early 2020. TaylorMade comes out with one of its best drivers to date, but the pandemic did not allow it to reach its full potential. The new “shape in motion” technology was a great design that allowed golfers of all skill types to gain yardage and accuracy. With three different driver models available, there was one for practically anyone.
Now moving forward TaylorMade decided to simply build upon this new technology and head design and improve upon it. The SIM 2 lineups have been a huge success so far. Some of the biggest contributors to that would be the new forged ring and the back milled face. One thing that players will notice right away when hitting the new driver is that the feel and sound has been vastly improved. While working with the original SIM, players would often say that it sounds a little muted, but the SIM 2 has changed that. The sound is crisp, and the feel is more active. Another change due to the back milled face is that the injection port is now on the toe of the club rather than the face. This allows for the same speed injection as before but gives the face a cleaner appearance.
Today, we are going to look at the driver line up – SIM 2, SIM 2 MAX and SIM 2 MAX D. SIM 2 is the lower spinning head for the players that are looking for a little more penetrating ball flight. It has the smallest face size along with a heavier weight forward in the head. The weight in the back is now 16-grams to keep the driver stable. TaylorMade also took away the adjustable weight. This makes the driver more stable and keeps the play neutral.
Next up is the SIM 2 MAX, built for the player looking for maximum speed and forgiveness and maybe a little higher ball flight. The MAX face is slightly larger, and the weight forward is light and more towards the heel of the driver as compared to SIM 2. This may seem like it would create a draw bias, but it does not. The 24-gram weight in the back offsets the forward weight to gain maximum stability across the driver.
Last but not least is the SIM 2 MAX D – the draw biased model of the lineup. You have a 22-gram weight in the back and another weight all the way to the heel of the club to help players turn the ball over. This model also has the largest face size in the lineup.
Enough tech talk, it’s time to discuss the numbers. All testing was conducted with a TP5x ball and all drivers were 9 degrees of loft on the lower setting. The shaft was a Graphite Design XC-6X.
Club | Ball Speed (MPH) | Club Head Speed (MPH) | Launch Angle (Degrees) | Spin Rate (RPM) | Carry Distance (Yds) |
SIM 2 | 158 | 107.5 | 13 | 2692 | 268 |
SIM 2 MAX | 156 | 107.4 | 15 | 3107 | 262 |
SIM 2 MAX D | 156 | 107.4 | 14 | 3172 | 260 |
As you can see the drivers did essentially what they were expected to do from a ball flight perspective. I will say that the SIM 2 MAX D was able to turn the ball over much easier which for myself was resulting in a slight pull at times but would be perfect for players looking to reduce a fade or fight the slice. For myself, the SIM 2 provided the best launch conditions because I typically need a lower spinning driver, but the miss hits on the face were definitely punished. The SIM 2 MAX was an extremely easy driver to hit and even slight misses on the face provided a genuinely nice ball flight with not much curve.
Looking at the numbers, I highly recommend getting fit to see what driver would be best for your swing and playing style. With all the models and loft options available, there is definitely one built for virtually everyone.