Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons

Taylormade M4 Vs Sim Max

There are few things more thrilling for a golfer than receiving a new set of irons.

When it's time to buy new irons, you'll be making a decision can have a big impact on your golf game. With so many options to choose from, it might be difficult to know where to start.

This article we'll look at two sets of irons the M4 and the Sim Max Irons both by Taylormade.  The M4's are cheaper than the Sim Max Irons both of which are geared towards the mid-high handicap golfer. 

Taylormade M4 Overview

The new Taylormade M4 irons replace the popular M2 irons and improve on many of the design characteristics seen in the previous generation. Taylormade added RIBCOR to help you score lower, especially if you are a mid to high handicapper with a slower swing speed. This is intended to assist you in hitting the ball higher, straighter, and longer.

If you want a reasonable priced set of irons that offer distance and forgiveness, the M4 irons should be on your radar. It inherits the sole face slot and speed pocket from previous models and works with the new RIBCOR technology to prevent the most common misses: low hooks (snap hooks) and high slices (banana slices)—a mistake seen by golfers with a high handicap.

Like all sets of irons, these have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Pros	Cons
Provides a high, straight ball flight with good spin rates, resulting in excellent carry and roll.	Although the sound and feel of irons at impact are rather harsh, they are consistent across the entire face.
The irons' lightweight design aids in increasing swing speed without exerting too much extra effort.	Each iron has a slightly lower loft than previous years
Long irons are easier to hit.
The price is reasonable.

 

Taylormade Sim Max Overview

The Taylormade SIM Max irons are a direct replacement for TaylorMade's M6 and are intended squarely towards golfers looking for distance and forgiveness.

Pros	Cons
Highly forgiving	Less spin control
High launch angle	Less workable
Large sweet spot
Great distance

 

Taylormade M4 vs. Sim Max Irons

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons – Technology

Sim Max

The Sim Max irons feature the following Taylormade technology.

• Speed Bridge™
• Speed Pocket™
• ECHO® Damping System
• Inverted Cone Technology

The Sim Max irons also feature a forgiving shape design. The club shape is designed to provide a combination of distance, forgiveness, and playability.

It combines a large face for increased stability and a wide sole geometry for added forgiveness. 

M4

The M4 irons feature the following Taylormade technology.

• RIBCOR
• Speed Pocket
• Faceslots

RIBCOR & Faceslots

Both RIBCOR and Faceslots are designed to help you hit longer, and straighter. It's engineered to reduce the amount of energy loss on impact. Broadly speaking they achieve this by stiffening the head and the toe area while maintaining the flexibility of the face. 

Speed Pocket

Speed Pocket is designed to help you minimize misses. One of the more frequent misses for mid-range handicap players is striking the ball on the lower half of the face (below the sweet spot). Speed Pocket is designed to provide a more consistent ball flight and distance when these misses occur.

Inverted Cone Technology

Inverted Cone Technology was created by TaylorMade to increase the Coefficient of Restitution (COR) zone of their irons. On off-centre hits, this results in increased ball speed and distance. 

ECHO® Damping System

This specially curved damper design, which runs over the entire face (from heel to toe) and uses several contact points for rapid vibration damping.

Speed Bridge

The speed bridge is the section you see running from the top of the club to the bottom (on the back). That connective piece is designed to stiffen and support the club while allowing the face to be more flexible. This helps improve distance.

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons - Face Shape & Design

M4

To improve launch, spin, and forgiveness, the Fluted Hosel and 360° Undercut technology shift the club weight lower in the club head.

Sim Max

Progressive inverted cone technology and a 1.5mm ultra-thin face design expand the sweet spot and facilitating straighter ball flight and fewer misses.

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons – Loft

M4

CLUB	4	5	6	7	8	9	PW	AW	SW	LW (custom only)
LOFT	19.0°	21.5°	25°	28.5°	33.0°	38.0°	43.5°	49.0°	54.0°	59.0°

 

Sim Max

CLUB	4	5	6	7	8	9	PW	AW	SW	LW
LOFT	19.0°	21.5°	25.0°	28.5°	32.5°	38.0°	43.5°	49.0°	54.0°	59.0°

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons – Workability

M4

M4 irons don't offer a high degree of workability. Typically with forgiveness and distance you give up some level of ball shaping ability.

Sim Max

Like the M4 the level of forgiveness and distance is quite high on these irons. As a result it can be harder to control ball flight.

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons – Forgiveness

M4

The M4 irons feature a high degree of forgiveness. The speed pocket technology ensure a higher degree of your misses turn into solid strikes.

Sim Max

These irons have a rear compartment, so you'll get more forgiveness than a forged tower blade. Like the M4s these offer a high degree of forgiveness.

Taylormade M4 Vs. Sim Max Irons - Handicap Range

M4

The M4 is a good iron for mid-high handicappers. 

Sim Max

The Sim Max iron has a mid-high handicap range. The speed pocket technology on both of these sets of irons was designed with players in the 5-25 handicap range.

According to Taylormade one of the more frequent misses is the low face miss. That is to say, when you strike the ball below the sweet spot which results in a lower ball flight and inconsistent distance.

Who is a Taylormade M4 Iron Best Suited For?

The Taylormade M4 iron is best suited for those golfers looking for a high degree of forgiveness with their iron striking. Typically these are best suited for mid-high handicappers.

Who is a Taylormade Sim Max Iron Best Suited For?

Similar to the Taylormade M4's the Sim Max iron's are best suited for mid-high range handicaps.