Used vs. New Golf Clubs – Testing TaylorMade Drivers
[Music] foreign [Music] golfers Lou here for
golf Avenue and today we're trying out drivers that's right we're going to compare different
generations of TaylorMade drivers against one another we'll compare the three latest driver
releases against model from 5 and 10 years ago in an attempt to see is newer really better alright
so before we go any further we'll be taking a look at the drivers we'll be testing out today I've
got a few drivers with me the oldest one we'll be looking at is the SLDR from 2014 we'll be
looking at the M4 from 2018 the M5 from 2019 Sim to Max from 2021 the stealth in 2022 and this
year's newest releases the stealth 2.
So for this test we'll be using a trackman simulator in order
to give you the best data possible on each strike we make with the drivers the system should allow
us to compare different data points in order to see which driver is really the best one or
which one is giving us the best performance so here's how the testing will be going today
I'll be hitting all the shots with the drivers we'll be keeping three best drives from each age
clubs which will serve other basis to compare the performance from one another also this test will
allow us to answer a few key questions that our experts have been asked before from some of you
guys at home questions such as which generation offers best performance or which generation
is the most forgiving or which generation is the best bargain for let's say a beginner an
intermediate golfer or even an expert golfer so make sure to stick around until the end
of this video to see which driver performed best which one was most forgiving and which one
was best for beginners intermediate and expert golfers we'll win one more thing before I forget
guys so real quick we're going to be using a dtl camera just so you can get all the angles when
I'm hitting the balls we're going to be fast forwarding through the shots just so we make the
video more efficient more tightly but aside from that you'll still get to see all the balls and
see how I've hit him and now they perform and how each trajectory you want on the screen so
make sure to stick around and see all of this [Music] all right guys we just finished with the testing
phase now it's time to compare our drivers we'll be looking at each one of them separately and
then we'll compare all of them together and we'll answer the question that we post at the
start of this video so let's start with the Sim 2 max that's the first driver I started my
testing phase let's see what the results were foreign [Music] Max I've always personally
like it's a driver that has always felt like it suits me when I'm addressed at a dress
standing over the ball right off the tee um it feels nice for me it looks nice for me but
from what I've seen with the data that I've guided from my test I can confidently say that it's not
only suitable for me but it would probably be suitable for any golfer looking for a reliable
and forgiving driver in terms of performance I did not hit my longest drives with the Sim 2 max
but it did feel nice on every single strike I was hitting and it was definitely the club that
felt most comfortable for me throughout the entire testing phase it needs to be said that we
use a club head with a 9 degree loft this is the lowest Loft we use for this test and it probably
skewed the numbers a bit just made the strikes a bit further with the Sindhu Max but it's not you
know World frankly the 10 and a half degrees from just as well and the launching the dynamic launch
angle that I gathered from the test and from the trackman were pretty much similar around 14
degrees for all the clubs but I have to say this intermax is quite impressive to me and I would
recommend it that any golfer out there simply for the feel and the Forgiveness that it provides off
of every single strike [Music] [Applause] [Music] next up we have the stealth driver from TaylorMade
released in 2022 this driver made a lot of noise upon release simply for the fact that it had a
full Club face made out of carbon fiber entirely it was the first for TaylorMade not a first
in the industry though for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about we're talking
about 60 layers of carbon fiber stacked on top of one another to make a very strong resistant Club
face for the stealth that was one of the biggest biggest selling point it was one of the bigger
topic of the year in 2020 who when it first came out on the market and it's also part of the reason
why I was so apprehensive to hitting this club I didn't know what to expect I don't know what what
the feel was going to be like uh hitting the ball off the club face and after hitting it I can
confidently say that it does feel great off the club face it's not your typical feel that you get
with a titanium Club face but it does feel nice and it's extremely consistent that was the biggest
thing for me my dispersion was the lowest of all the clubs I used even though I said the Sim 2 max
felt better for me the dispersion with the stealth was the lowest one of all of them all I felt like
when I went to put a certain the ball on a certain line I was able to get it on that very line in
terms of distance it was in the craziest one it did provide plenty of distance and on every single
strike but it did not feel like it was the most the best performing for me in terms of distance
overall the stealth driver is an excellent choice for any golfer looking for forgiveness on the golf
course and you'll even be able to get a little more extra distance out of it if you have an older
driver from maybe five or ten years ago but since it was only released a year ago the stealth will
still hold a very good military value which means that if you want to get one in your bag you might
have a shell a bit more cash in if you were to look at some older options that were released a
few years ago talking about older options let's take a look at one that was released five years
ago and I'm talking about the TaylorMade M5 driver as I mentioned before the M5 was released in
2018 but it gained full notoriety in 2019 when tiger used it to win his fifth green jacket
it's the wonder that big cat loved this club he got to adjust it to specific liking with the
rail mounted adjusted weight on the sole of the club and he also got to make the most out of twist
face from TaylorMade which allows him to control every strike and pinpoint the exact location
off the club face when he wanted to this is very interesting and very important with M5 because one
of the things I noticed when I was testing it is that if you're not going to hit the sweet spot or
if you're not gonna really Hammer the spot you're going to hit you're going to be in trouble one of
the things that was said about tiger in 2019 on the back nine is he was going and we'll just use
a club here as an example he was going really more closer to the heel or more that section right here
to find Fairways with the driver personally when I was sitting this section of the club it didn't
go as well for me because then the Tiger Woods obvious me but when I did manage to hit the sweet
spot or a little higher near the the toe of the club um that was really The Sweet Spot and you
could feel the by the ball flying off it and I was really able to control the ball at that point
but if you're going to miss the sweet spot and hit maybe a little more off the toe a little off the
heel higher in the club face lower the club face uh you're gonna struggle it's normal this club
is definitely distant for higher higher hand skill players players are able to shave the ball
around the golf course and really hit the same spot in the club on the club face consistently
but it needs to be said that if you're a golfer looking for more forgiveness any of your club
that will provide you with more consistency on every strike even if you miss a sweet spot
then I'd probably have something for you the M4 okay now for a forgiving option and for uh it was
released a year before the M5 and it's definitely the opposite of what the M5 is supposed to do with
dm4 is there to provide you with forgiveness and to help players who are not as consistent with
their strike still find a fair way and they hit longer strikes uh one of the things with the
M4 was the introduction of the twist space that I mentioned earlier with the M5 the M4 was the
introduction of the twist face to the TaylorMade line and it clearly makes a difference I was able
to make I was able to benefit off of it when I was testing out testing earlier to clubs and I can say
that even my off center strikes felt pretty good and I was never really terribly in trouble even if
I missed the The Sweet Spot in the club face the ball would never fly off too far offline or would
never make something crazy one thing that needs to be said about the M4 is that in terms of distance
it Stacks up really well to the brand new drivers in terms of carry and average carry distance this
was the longest driver for me during my testing phase it did not roll out as long as some of the
newer drivers simply because the spin rates from for a disk driver are way higher this is another
thing that's in place to help golfers with the slower slower swing speed get the ball up in the
air when they hit the ball at the ball off the team so what I would say about the M4 is that
for a driver that is uh like five or six years old now it still Stacks up very very well to the
newer models or market so if you're in the market for a new driver but you're looking for something
forgiving and you're in in the market for use or pre-loved drivers uh the M4 I really strongly
suggest looking into that one it performs very well offers a lot of forgiveness and feels great
off the club face I would recommend it to any golfer looking for just something reliable
off the tee but while the M4 still Compares well to this brand new drivers it'd probably be
interesting to take another trip bag down memory lane and see how far can we go back in time to
compare to these brand new drivers maybe the SLDR [Music] talking about the SLDR from TaylorMade yeah that's
right the oldest driver we're testing out today uh it was also the driver as it was most excited to
try out simply because I was so excited to see how well it would match up compared to those brand new
drivers I'll also get to also got the test during our testing phase one I think I'll say about the
SLDR right after that it's the look it's got that old school look of the big clubhead titanium look
that we love and it's still got that pingy sound that we used to love from titanium heads not as
bad maybe as perhaps like the Sasquatch driver if you guys remember that that was the loudest of
the bangs and this is still a pretty good pain knowing you like to hear it and nice old school
feel if you if you will as soon as you flip the club over it's not that old school you'll see that
there's a rail Mountain adjusted weight much like the M5 at the M5 S2 wanted to heal on the back of
the the sole one running across from the face to the back of the of the soul in the case of
SLDR they just got one great running along was sold near the face of the club again this is
simply there to help you adjust the club to your liking and whatever ball trajectory you prefer
what else about the SLDR is that it's surprisingly still Compares very well to the new drivers while
dressed you'll fit into the room right away the distances are not as free the discrepancy is very
minor though it's probably five to ten yards at Max depending on driver depending on swing speed
and depending on where I was with the testing I think it was in the later drivers that I tested
so I might have been a little more tired but the distance discrepancy is not that major compared to
the price that you would be paying for a brand new driver who would give you those five to ten extra
yards so this is a crossroad right this is where you got to ask yourself am I willing to pay the
extra money two three four hundred dollars more that I would have to pay for the newest driver on
the market to gain five or ten yards or should I stick with the older model from a couple of years
ago or maybe five ten years ago that will give me pretty much the same performance on the course
but I'll be saving again for 500 on the price tag so this is where you have to make a decision
when it comes to these types of drivers but in terms of performance of forgiveness really hard to
not the SLDR in this case it still performs very well one thing about the Forgiveness of dsldr
is that it won't be as overwhelming as it was with the M4 simply because the SLDR was designed
as a Players Club which meant that you've seen it with the rail-mounted adjustment weight it
is meant to be adjusted to the specific needs of the golfer so that they can maximize their
performance and it's not necessarily made to be super for gaming like the M4 so I although
I didn't have any trouble finding a fairway it's not its primary job on when you're out on
the course this job is more to maximize your performance but as I mentioned earlier this is no
wonder that dsldr is made for performance it's got the rails just like the M5 and like some still
newer models that TaylorMade is really releasing and while we're on the subject of newer models
we might as well look at the last driver from our test and what also happens to be the newest
driver in the list there's still two for sale [Music] it was released earlier this year as a follow-up
to this original stealth as you can obviously guess the differences between the two are mostly
minor almost uh only cosmetic if you look at the original Sim you'll see when you look at the club
face especially nearing around the club face on the edge of the club face there's a slight Edge I
don't know how to call it other any other way this small Edge is very thin and near the bottom and
the side edges of the club face but if you look at the top the top line of the club face this
small Edge becomes wider this same Edge can be found on the newer model however the larger part
it runs all around the club face this time around and we've seen online some videos of people
happening at their Club face exploit off their stealth driver the original one I think that's
one of the things that tell me wanted to tackle with this small change just to avoid having Club
face exploding all around the golf courses with golfers being unhappy with their clubs right so
one thing about the Stealth 2 is they feel for the ball off the club face is much better from the
original I didn't spend too much time on that from the original this that was one of my complaints it
was it was really hard to have a feel for the ball simply because there was the new carbon fiber face
I think it was it was it's still a new technology something's tend to be developed and and improve
but there's already Improvement showing with the second Club because hitting ball I I was really
more able to feel where I was making contact with the ball off the club face that also leads
me to one thing is that I was never really able to find a sweet spot for me with this into uh the
stealth tube I always felt like I I was able to make good contact with them all but never really
find this spot that was the right one for me but on the other side the great thing about this club
is that TaylorMade markets it has fargiveness so this all this is a combination obviously of
far and forgiveness in the sense that yes the stealth 2 flies far it goes very very far when
you hit it but it also needs to be said that the forgiveness is not lacking on this one it was by
far the most forgiving Club I knew even if I was like I said I couldn't really find my sweet spot
but even if when I was missing a sweet spot I was still hitting very good strikes that were not too
far away from the Fairway even off-centered ones overall there's no denying the quality of the
stealth too I was able to hit my longest drive with it the feel for the ball was amazing and it
was highly forgiving if you're willing to spend the money on it and if you're into the market
for a brand new driver this is definitely a great option for anyone so with strawberry seemed like
the best bargain for beginners intermediate and advanced golfers well the answers will probably
make sense for most so let's start with beginners budget wise I would always recommend the SLDR
it's the best value that you're gonna get still performs great still offers plenty of forgiveness
and it's super affordable for most people especially if you're just trying to build your
first bag and this should come in at about like we'll say 150 maybe a little more maybe a little
less depending on the season depending on the time of the year depending on a bunch of circumstances
and also the condition which also can affect the price at any time you should be able to
get this driver for relatively low price or a quarter or even less of what you'd be
paying for this you hear the style too um if if you can afford to spend a little more uh
maybe go with the M4 honestly as as I mentioned and you guys have heard already I've been tracing
this driving like crazy today and I really believe that this one can fit in any golfer's bag
especially golfers looking for more forgiveness this is the way to go for you and it's still super
affordable right now again when you compare it to newer drivers in the market but if money is the
object to you and if you've got not a limited funds but if you got a sizable budget and you just
want to spend on the best clubs possible that will last you the longest time well they all the answer
is quite obvious here the most forgiving one even for beginners will be the stealth 2 driver super
forgiving flights great of the cup face and you'll never never have any trouble with it and like with
such a brand new technology with carbon fiber Club faces you'll probably be set for the next 10
years and your Club will be relevant again down line and we'll probably perform just as well
as other drivers that will be on the market at this time so in terms of intermediate golfers and
men in the cappers much like me I would probably turn towards something a little more pricier
simply just because it'll get more performance out of your driver but also I would go towards
something a little more recent just because I want to get again more performance out of my
driver so in this case I would go with the Sim 2 max if you're looking for something a little
more forgiving and something that'll allow you to still make mistakes off the tee with your
strikes but still perform very well at any time or if you're looking to make something happen on
the course or trying to get around some trees or shave a shot the Cinemax will still allow you to
do that without too much Sim 2 Maxi or nuts and Max but if you're looking to spend a little more
again and you're looking to get getting to the next level of skill as golf wise the stealth will
be the move for you the original style it flew great for me it went far I personally the only
knock I would give it is the feel for the ball of the club face but that's really not the end
of the world otherwise it'll give you excellent performance especially if you're mid-end you can't
really have I'll probably allow you to to unlock that next step you're trying to get to finally
for experienced players or Advanced players you probably know what I'll recommend already but I'll
be going with the M5 from TaylorMade as I said um the performance when you hit the sweet spots
are incredible you're able to shape it the way you want it you're able to push it as far as you can
depending on your swing speed the one thing though is that if you're not consistent of the tea you're
going to struggle with that clock missing missing The Sweet Spot is that that sentence if you will
off the tee uh you're not going to get the results you want you're going to have either a really
short drive or something that's completely out of line for experienced players I would also go
with the style 2 or this the original stealth the only thing is I would probably go with the player
models for these ones so the stealth plus and this L2 plus just because these drivers are probably
better suited for players with a faster swing speed and also someone who might be looking
to take their performance to the next level or maybe to their limits uh these the plus models
for these drivers would probably serve you best and allow you to unlock all your capabilities on
the course I hope this video has provided you with some helpful insight on how TaylorMade drivers
have developed over the years and that it has helped you figure out which one is best for you
for more content featuring all your favorite golf clubs from back in the day make sure to subscribe
to Golf Avenue Channel and to grow the community make sure to leave us a like and one more thing
before I go if you're interested in any of the golf club mentioned in a video if you want to take
a closer look at it or maybe add one to your bag for next season or for the season coming make
sure to head down into comments we left a link to each one of these drivers so you can take
a personal look at each one of them and see maybe which one will be best for you for Golf
Avenue I've been Lou until next time [Music]
