TaylorMade, the makers of the number one driver in golf, released another set of new drivers this year; the M3 and M4. The M3 is the driver that replaces last year’s M1, the highly adjustable driver in TaylorMade’s collection this year. Between the weight and shaft adjustability, the TaylorMade M3 offers plenty of options for every golfer.
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Twist Face
To start, the big catchphrase this year is “Twist Face.” It’s a dramatic change in face design, which allows you to hit the ball straighter and farther. Twist Face refers to the shape of the face on the M3 and M4 drivers. Now, there’s a different curvature and face angle that corrects a shot’s direction on mishits. So, side spin is greatly reduced to create a straighter shot.
Most drivers feature a consistent curve from heel to toe, called bulge, and crown to sole, called roll. These curves will help improve a shot hit that is off-center. TaylorMade engineers noticed that bulge did not actually help the most common mishits, heel and toe shots, so the Twist Face was developed to specifically address this. The Twist Face now curves open at the top and moving towards the toe. The reverse is also true, the face curves closed at the bottom and toward the heel. This creates more overall forgiveness in TaylorMade’s new driver.
Y-Track & Straight Distance
Both the M3 and M4 feature the new “Twist Face” technology, but it’s only the M3 that allows for adjustability along their “Y-Track” system. Last year, the M1, featured a “T-Track” design for weight adjustability. The slight change provides players significantly more adjustability options. Not only that, but the adjustability is incredibly simple to understand, with five main positions for standard, max speed, forgiveness, max fade, and max draw. Along the “Y-Track” there are two 11-gram weights that can be moved in any position desirable.
Hammerhead & Forgiveness
The M3’s “Hammerhead” design has a slot that is visible on the underside of the club, directly behind the face. This Hammerhead slot creates a lighter, more flexible face. The face reinforcements increase the size of the sweet spot, leading to greater forgiveness, and increasing the ball speed immediately after impact. TaylorMade’s design helps every golfer experience longer and straighter drives more often.
Head Size
Many drivers these days follow the “bigger is better” rule, but in drivers, that’s not always true. So, TaylorMade created an M3 driver that will be 440cc; the M3 440. For those folks who like a slightly smaller club head, but still want all the advanced features of a modern-day driver, the M3 delivers. Though it offers no statistical difference from the 460cc, it will offer a more comfortable look for the old-school players.
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Shaft Selection
As with all drivers, shaft selection is crucial. TaylorMade offers three, diverse shafts with the M3 driver this year. There’s the Tensei White, Blue, and Red, each one offering a different benefit to players.
First of all, the Tensei White is a heavier shaft (79g) that will launch the ball lower, with low torque, and less spin. The Tensei Blue is a 64-70g shaft that provides a mid launch, mid spin, and mid torque. Finally, the Tensei Red is the lightest in weight that will launch the ball high, provide a mid-spin rate, and high torque.
In general, if you hit the ball too high, look for a shaft that’s heavier and provides a lower launch (tip stiff) and vice versa. Also, if you slice the ball, look for a shaft that has a higher torque, in order to straighten your drives out.
Conclusion
The TaylorMade M3 provides significantly greater benefit from last year’s M1. The adjustability of the “Y-Track,” forgiveness of the “Twist Face,” and increased ball speed of the “Hammerhead” design all lead to a driver that over-delivers in a variety of categories.
