TaylorMade SIM Max, SIM Max OS Irons deliver feel and forgiveness

While the past couple of years have shed light on the players-distance iron category, early signs in 2020 point to the game-improvement category being the focus for new iron releases.

TaylorMade’s newest iron models, the SIM Max and SIM Max OS, both fall into the game-improvement category, offering performance, distance, and forgiveness for golfers who may not find the center of the clubface with every swing.

The SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons are a part of TaylorMade’s transition from the M family to the SIM family. According to TaylorMade, SIM, which stands for Shape in Motion, represents a significant upgrade in technology and performance that warranted an entirely new name.

TaylorMade’s mission with the SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons is to enhance distance, forgiveness, and feel. Through a series of technologies, some new and some old, TaylorMade has delivered two iron models with superb feel and game-improvement performance.

Returning from the M family is TaylorMade’s patented Speed Bridge, which crosses over the cavity back to connect the topline and the sole together. This design, introduced in the M5 and M6 irons, stabilizes the clubhead at impact and improves face flexing for more ball speed across the entire clubface.

Tomo Bystedt, Senior Director of Product Creation at TaylorMade, says the Speed Bridge has been fine-tuned in the SIM family irons compared to the M family design to enhance performance.

“Whenever you have a new technology, you can always refine it for the second version,” Bystedt said. “Our R&D (department) spent a lot of time optimizing where that bridge crosses the back to deliver an even more flexible face. This has allowed us to actually thin out the face and make it even faster, and that Speed Bridge across the back helps support the face.”

The clubface in the SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons is built ultra-thin at 1.5mm with Progressive Inverted Cone Technology to maximize the sweet spot and provide ball speed increases off the center of the face.

TaylorMade has also invested more resources into improving the feel in its irons, and this applies to the SIM family. A new dampener in the SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons helps minimize unwanted vibrations and deliver better feel at impact.

“Essentially, what we’re going for is forged feel,” Bystedt said. “We have a new full-length damper in the cavity that we call the ECHO Dampening System. That damper allows us to not only provide more dampening across the whole face, even on mis-hits, but it’s also designed to not impede the flexibility of the face. So it really combines that speed with excellent sound and feel.”

While the SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons are built with many of the same technologies, their shapes differ in order to provide different performance characteristics and fit more golfers.

One big change TaylorMade is rolling out in 2020 is delivering a game-improvement iron and a super game-improvement iron under the SIM family. In 2019, TaylorMade’s M5 and M6 irons were more catered toward the players-distance and game-improvement categories.

The SIM Max irons are designed with standard game-improvement shaping characteristics, such as a thick topline, thick sole, and undercut cavity design. Meanwhile, the SIM Max OS is designed for super game-improvement performance with an even larger profile and stronger lofts.

“Really what’s different is in the shaping of the clubs,” Bystedt said. “We’ve actually positioned the SIM Max OS a little different from how we did M5 last year in that instead of going for the players-distance segment, we’re actually going for the super game-improvement segment. So we’ve actually made that iron a little bit bigger than the SIM Max with a taller face, a little bit more offset, and thicker toplines to give it a more confidence-inspiring look.”

TaylorMade is better known for its production of metalwoods, but its investment into irons is really starting to pay off, especially in the game-improvement category. The M5 and M6 models were highly successful in 2019, and the technologies that made it happen have been carried over, optimized, and paired with new innovations from TaylorMade engineers.

The result is a couple of iron models that deliver exceptional feel, superb distance, and premium performance on mis-hits, a combination that any golfer can get behind.