BallerNate’s WITB

[sergizmo]

17 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Yup…it sure is!

 

Honestly, this move is because I think my Qi10 Max was damaged/defective in some way.

 

I found over my first 3 rounds and range sessions that I was about 30-40 yards short from where I was hitting my Paradym X last season.

 

At first I thought it might be cold temps, but then this week I played with a buddy I out-drove by 20-30 yds on average last year, to him blowing past me consistently this year. Hasn’t been making sense, and finally decided I needed to fix it ASAP!

Carbon face de-lamination/failure. The layers may be separated or cracked internally and you can't see it. 

 

I'm 100% convinced TM has a different process or quality screening for tour players. There are so many failures in the field for regular golfers, no way they would risk that with Rory, especially as he swings so much faster.

 

Go back to titanium faces dude.

 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, sergizmo said:

Carbon face de-lamination/failure. The layers may be separated or cracked internally and you can't see it. 

 

I'm 100% convinced TM has a different process or quality screening for tour players. There are so many failures in the field for regular golfers, no way they would risk that with Rory, especially as he swings so much faster.

 

Go back to titanium faces dude.

 

Agree 100% Serge, probably done with Carbon faces…especially buying used.

 

I’ve tried every TM carbon faced Driver that they’ve released and it’s just not working out.

 

Edited May 3 by BallerNate

[BallerNate]

So I might have done this yesterday too, Lol.

 

Like I said, when an addict relapses it can get ugly fast! 😬🤣 

[Garney17]

How are you liking the 430 max vs the Sim 2 max?

Also just curious as you don't see 5s shafts too often, what is the reasoning for the 5 instead of the more common 6 or 7? 

Great setup as always 👍

[MHills]

3 hours ago, BallerNate said:

So I might have done this yesterday too, Lol.

 

Like I said, when an addict relapses it can get ugly fast! 😬🤣 

 

$340 Golftown deal? I've always wanted to try these or the woods (LOVE the look of them) but need the X-Stiff flex so it is always a no go.

[BallerNate]

2 hours ago, Garney17 said:

How are you liking the 430 max vs the Sim 2 max?

Also just curious as you don't see 5s shafts too often, what is the reasoning for the 5 instead of the more common 6 or 7? 

Great setup as always 👍

Thanks my man, appreciate the kind words!

 

I did a range session this morning where I hit a ton of Driver shots, and tested out the G430 Max and the SIM2 Max, and tried out different shafts as well.

 

The clear winner for me was the SIM2 Max, and I ended up sticking with my Hzrdus Smoke Black 6.0 shaft….WICKED combo!!! 🔥🔥🔥

 

The Ventus 5-S shaft has always been the stock option here in Canada. I didn’t have my preferred grip on there though, so I’ll put a new grip on and test it out further.

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, MHills said:

 

$340 Golftown deal? I've always wanted to try these or the woods (LOVE the look of them) but need the X-Stiff flex so it is always a no go.

Correct! ✅ 

 

Made it easy to give it another try. I had a SIM2 Max a couple of years ago, and really liked it. But I ended up getting a free Stealth Plus from TaylorMade, and gave up on the SIM2 Max too early.

 

Had a good range session with it, then just played 18 Holes with it and LOVED it!!!! Going to keep working on dialing in the right settings, and shafts, but it Won the battle today for sure!

[CDLgolf]

6 hours ago, BallerNate said:

So I might have done this yesterday too, Lol.

 

Like I said, when an addict relapses it can get ugly fast! 😬🤣 

 

Newer is not always better. I thought the sim2 max was a very good driver.

[BallerNate]

54 minutes ago, CDLgolf said:

 

Newer is not always better. I thought the sim2 max was a very good driver.

100%!!!
 

I’d go one step further now that I’ve owned the OG SIM, SIM2, SIM2 Max, Stealth Plus, standard Stealth, Qi10 Max, and also tested the Qi35 Max, that the OG SIM and SIM2 lines might actually be better than all the Carbon face releases that have come out.

 

The best 2 Golfers that I play with still use the M5, and M2.

 

It almost makes me wonder if the famous Qi10 “Dot” that Rory and Scotty are playing actually have Titanium faces and are just dressed versions of the SIM or SIM2, Lol.

 

I know, now it’s getting into conspiracy theory territory, but now that there have been 4 Carbon face releases, TaylorMade might have a problem if their old stuff was actually better.

[sergizmo]

Morikawa held onto his OG SIM forever. Aaron Rai still plays an M6. The differences year to year are getting smaller.

 

I think contractually Rory and Scotty are probably required to play current drivers or at least within a few months of launch. TM would do whatever they had to do to make that happen, including the dot head rumors if absolutely needed.

 

Enjoy your Sim2 Max Nate! Still tons of love for this head.

 

 

[Ben B]

19 hours ago, BallerNate said:

100%!!!
 

I’d go one step further now that I’ve owned the OG SIM, SIM2, SIM2 Max, Stealth Plus, standard Stealth, Qi10 Max, and also tested the Qi35 Max, that the OG SIM and SIM2 lines might actually be better than all the Carbon face releases that have come out.

 

The best 2 Golfers that I play with still use the M5, and M2.

 

It almost makes me wonder if the famous Qi10 “Dot” that Rory and Scotty are playing actually have Titanium faces and are just dressed versions of the SIM or SIM2, Lol.

 

I know, now it’s getting into conspiracy theory territory, but now that there have been 4 Carbon face releases, TaylorMade might have a problem if their old stuff was actually better.

Coming from the OG SIM, the Qi10 core is by far and away better on mishits off of the toe. With the SIM, mishits off of the toe were diabolical. The spin dropped way too low and they went hard left. If it was for that, I'd still be gaming the SIM....when centered, there is nothing that beats it. 

 

[BallerNate]

17 hours ago, sergizmo said:

Morikawa held onto his OG SIM forever. Aaron Rai still plays an M6. The differences year to year are getting smaller.

 

I think contractually Rory and Scotty are probably required to play current drivers or at least within a few months of launch. TM would do whatever they had to do to make that happen, including the dot head rumors if absolutely needed.

 

Enjoy your Sim2 Max Nate! Still tons of love for this head.

 

 

For sure Serge, agreed!

 

We’ll see how the Qi35 will stack up in terms of durability out in the wild.

 

I agree with you though that Rory and Scottie probably have a totally different Quality evaluation criteria, or one step further the Qi10 “dot” Drivers actually have titanium faces.

 

Obviously the story about Rory paying an Uber driver 1,000’s of dollars to bring him his Qi10 Driver and 3W in the middle of a tournament to kick the Qi35 out of the bag ASAP doesn’t help TaylorMade marketing whatsoever, Lol.

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, Ben B said:

Coming from the OG SIM, the Qi10 core is by far and away better on mishits off of the toe. With the SIM, mishits off of the toe were diabolical. The spin dropped way too low and they went hard left. If it was for that, I'd still be gaming the SIM....when centered, there is nothing that beats it. 

 

Yeah, and to be 100% fair Ben, I’m pretty sure the Qi10 Max that I had was defective/compromised in some way, so not really a fair evaluation.

 

I would also say though that I found the SIM2 to be much more forgiving and playable than the OG SIM though.

 

In terms of the SIM2 Max vs the Qi10 Max though, not sure how much of a forgiveness and performance difference there is there.

[Shanks2424]

On 5/3/2025 at 11:30 AM, BallerNate said:

So I might have done this yesterday too, Lol.

 

Like I said, when an addict relapses it can get ugly fast! 😬🤣 

LOVE THE PROBLEM YOU HAVE. I JUST PUT NEW SHAFTS IN MY DRIVER AND 3 WOOD HAHA

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, Shanks2424 said:

LOVE THE PROBLEM YOU HAVE. I JUST PUT NEW SHAFTS IN MY DRIVER AND 3 WOOD HAHA

Haha, yeah it’s definitely a sickness my man!

 

I always have the best intentions though! 😉🤣

[BallerNate]

Good morning Everyone…TGIF!!!!

 

Did some more testing on the course yesterday, and the SIM2 Max with the Hzrdus Black Smoke 6.0 shaft is definitely the clear Winner for me!

 

Here’s the reasons why:

 

1) Sound/Feel- SIM2 Max is the clear Winner here. Really didn’t like the sound of the G430 Max, and the sound/feel of the Qi10 Max isn’t anywhere close.

 

2) Adjustability- TM Drivers are much better for me than PING because of the Upright setting options. No Upright settings for PING, just Standard or Flat.

 

3) Distance & Dispersion- SIM2 Max was the Winner for me over G430 Max and Qi10 Max. Again though, I think my Qi10 Max has a defective face, so there’s an asterisk there.

 

So here’s my gamer starting off the season…we’ll see if anything can knock it out! 😎🚀 

[MuniPukeLife]

SIM2 MAX is one of those drivers that has held up very well since its release. Talking to my Dad who has had everything released since then has basically told me to hold on to my SIM2 and play it until it breaks. 

 

Hope all is well @BallerNate

[BallerNate]

7 hours ago, MuniPukeLife said:

SIM2 MAX is one of those drivers that has held up very well since its release. Talking to my Dad who has had everything released since then has basically told me to hold on to my SIM2 and play it until it breaks. 

 

Hope all is well @BallerNate

100%.
 

I wasn’t planning on going back to a SIM2 Max, but I’ve tried every TM and Callaway Driver since then, and tested others as well (Titleist & PING), and the SIM2 Max is arguably the best out of all of them.

 

A lot of it is also finding your best Fit too though. There could be other Drivers that are better for other Golfers, but it’s all about finding what’s best for your individual game!

[rsballer10]

1 hour ago, BallerNate said:

100%.
 

I wasn’t planning on going back to a SIM2 Max, but I’ve tried every TM and Callaway Driver since then, and tested others as well (Titleist & PING), and the SIM2 Max is arguably the best out of all of them.

 

A lot of it is also finding your best Fit too though. There could be other Drivers that are better for other Golfers, but it’s all about finding what’s best for your individual game!

Had a SIM2 max in the past, and it's an extremely forgiving driver. It had a reputation of spinning a lot, but what I found was that it needed to play 1-1.5 degrees less loft than other drivers. Once you get the loft right, the spin is no longer an issue.

Edited May 13 by rsballer10

[BallerNate]

12 hours ago, rsballer10 said:

Had a SIM2 max in the past, and it's an extremely forgiving driver. It had a reputation of spinning a lot, but what I found was that it needed to play 1-1.5 degrees less loft than other drivers. Once you get the loft right, the spin is no longer an issue.

Agreed, extremely forgiving for sure.

 

The first time I had a SIM2 Max, I thought it was pretty spinny too. But this time around I have a Hzrdus Smoke Black 6.0 shaft in it which is pretty low spin. My last round I lofted it down from 11* to 10.5* and definitely got better results in terms of distance and ball flight as well.

 

We’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks, but it’s been a really good first couple of weeks!!

[BallerNate]

Been on a PING kick lately…I guess didn’t want to discriminate, Lol.

 

Clearly my goal of not buying anything until I get to a single digit Handicap is out of the window, but the way I’m looking at it, I’ll get there eventually this season and hopefully new equipment will help me get there, Lol.

 

New Irons on the way too…I’m still not 100% sold on the V-Soles being the best fit for my game. 

[Shanks2424]

2 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Been on a PING kick lately…I guess didn’t want to discriminate, Lol.

 

Clearly my goal of not buying anything until I get to a single digit Handicap is out of the window, but the way I’m looking at it, I’ll get there eventually this season and hopefully new equipment will help me get there, Lol.

 

New Irons on the way too…I’m still not 100% sold on the V-Soles being the best fit for my game. 

THAT IS A GREAT PUTTER I AM JUST NOT A FAN OF THE COMPOSITE SHAFT I PERFER THE STEEL KBS CT TOUR PUTTER SHAFT.

[BallerNate]

5 hours ago, Shanks2424 said:

THAT IS A GREAT PUTTER I AM JUST NOT A FAN OF THE COMPOSITE SHAFT I PERFER THE STEEL KBS CT TOUR PUTTER SHAFT.

We’ll see my man…time will tell.

 

Was out yesterday with @Finaus_Umbrella and got to try his PING Tyne PLD, and that sealed the deal for me. Slightly different, but rolled the ball pure and true, and loved the sound and feel!

 

Having a fellow WRX’r as a Golfing buddy can be a dangerous thing, Lol!

[MikeW2]

On 5/9/2025 at 7:37 AM, BallerNate said:

Good morning Everyone…TGIF!!!!

 

Did some more testing on the course yesterday, and the SIM2 Max with the Hzrdus Black Smoke 6.0 shaft is definitely the clear Winner for me!

 

Here’s the reasons why:

 

1) Sound/Feel- SIM2 Max is the clear Winner here. Really didn’t like the sound of the G430 Max, and the sound/feel of the Qi10 Max isn’t anywhere close.

 

2) Adjustability- TM Drivers are much better for me than PING because of the Upright setting options. No Upright settings for PING, just Standard or Flat.

 

3) Distance & Dispersion- SIM2 Max was the Winner for me over G430 Max and Qi10 Max. Again though, I think my Qi10 Max has a defective face, so there’s an asterisk there.

 

So here’s my gamer starting off the season…we’ll see if anything can knock it out! 😎🚀 

I had a buddy, a club junkie that would make even you blush, sell me his Sim2 max over the winter. He bought it brand new when it first came out and said he hit it a few times in a practice session but didn’t like and put it away. Told me he’d forgotten all about it and asked me if I wanted it before he listed it knowing that I can’t resist a good deal on a club. So I bought it and it’s literally brand new. Now I know I’m still in the honeymoon phase since I only hit it today for the first time but I’m really liking it. For some reason the sound at impact makes or breaks a driver for me, this club has the sound I have been chasing. Hit it FANTASTIC today too with no range time, just right in the bag and go play. Six of six fairways hit when I used it and that happens for me as often as Haley’s Comet comes by.

[BallerNate]

46 minutes ago, MikeW2 said:

I had a buddy, a club junkie that would make even you blush, sell me his Sim2 max over the winter. He bought it brand new when it first came out and said he hit it a few times in a practice session but didn’t like and put it away. Told me he’d forgotten all about it and asked me if I wanted it before he listed it knowing that I can’t resist a good deal on a club. So I bought it and it’s literally brand new. Now I know I’m still in the honeymoon phase since I only hit it today for the first time but I’m really liking it. For some reason the sound at impact makes or breaks a driver for me, this club has the sound I have been chasing. Hit it FANTASTIC today too with no range time, just right in the bag and go play. Six of six fairways hit when I used it and that happens for me as often as Haley’s Comet comes by.

Yeah Mike, I approve of this message 100%, Lol!

 

The SIM2 Max is very forgiving, long, and I think the sound is definitely what sets it appart from any Driver I’ve ever hit.

 

The bass off the face (sounds like a 90’s hit song) is just absolutely spectacular!

 

TM had some magic sauce in that SIM2 Max for sure, it seems like it was the peak of evolution for TM Drivers after making some fantastic ones in the M1, M2, M5, and OG SIM/SIM Max.

[MikeW2]

I hadn’t hit a Taylor Made club in like 20 years, really glad I gave this one a chance.

[BallerNate]

9 hours ago, MikeW2 said:

I hadn’t hit a Taylor Made club in like 20 years, really glad I gave this one a chance.

Yeah, TaylorMade makes fantastic equipment.

 

If I had to do a full bag of one OEM’s equipment, it would probably be TM.

 

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with this whole Carbon face experiment though…after 4 cycles of it, it doesn’t seem like the performance and durability is at the same level as their Drivers were prior, so at what point do they pull the plug…

[MikeW2]

My guess is that they have already been working on either fixing the issue or considering new avenues. Big companies like TM are for the most part pro-active.

[BallerNate]

6 hours ago, MikeW2 said:

My guess is that they have already been working on either fixing the issue or considering new avenues. Big companies like TM are for the most part pro-active.

Agreed! 💯🎯

[rsballer10]

23 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Yeah, TaylorMade makes fantastic equipment.

 

If I had to do a full bag of one OEM’s equipment, it would probably be TM.

 

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with this whole Carbon face experiment though…after 4 cycles of it, it doesn’t seem like the performance and durability is at the same level as their Drivers were prior, so at what point do they pull the plug…

I actually think they are going to keep making them. There's just too much weight savings to go back. The 1st gen carbon crowns had a high failure rate as well. My guess is they just improve the failure rate and then the other OEM's will be forced to copy them. JMO of course.