What Callaway driver is comparable to the SIM2 Max?

[The stare]

I just attended a demo day for TaylorMade at my club.  The Callaway demo day isn't for another 3 weeks.  My best results so far are with a SIM2 Max.  While I am demoing Callaway clubs in anticipation of its demo day, I am curious which of the new Callaway drivers is closest to the SIM2 Max.  Thanks.

[ejgaudette]

Callaway will probably tell you the Epic Max is the most similar in profile but I would make sure you keep an open mind before you test the Callaway equipment as you never know what might work for you.

[RickyBobby_PR]

4 minutes ago, ejgaudette said:

Callaway will probably tell you the Epic Max is the most similar in profile but I would make sure you keep an open mind before you test the Callaway equipment as you never know what might work for you.

Yup could be the epic Max or either of the non ls mavrik drivers.

What type of driver that works in one brand may not work in another 

 

[Kenny B]

Well, I just went through demo/fitting and between the SIM2 Max and the Epic Max, it was not even close; Epic Max much better.  YMMV

[Headhammer]

9 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Well, I just went through demo/fitting and between the SIM2 Max and the Epic Max, it was not even close; Epic Max much better.  YMMV

What made it much better? Longer, straighter? Did you test them both under similar conditions? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Kenny B]

2 minutes ago, Headhammer said:

What made it much better? Longer, straighter? Did you test them both under similar conditions? Inquiring minds want to know!

I tried the Callaway Epic Max, TM SIM2 Max, Ping G425, and Titleist TSi2.  I really wanted the Titleist to be the club; I hit it locally but they don't have a launch monitor, and it was difficult to see whether it was any longer than my 6-year old Bridgestone.  The store here in town didn't have any Ping drivers... none!!

I also tried the Cobra King Radspeed at home but it didn't feel as good as the TSi2,  I hadn't tried the SIM2 Max.  

I've been to the golf shop in Beaverton, OR many times and the people there are very nice.  They have 4 stations with Trackman hitting out to the driving range.  Of the 4 drivers I tried, sadly the TSi2 was the shortest followed closely by the SIM2 Max.  I don't have a problem with straight; just distance challenged.    The Epic Max was consistently the longest; the G425 was a very close second, but felt heavier.  The best drive with my Bridgestone was about the average drive with the Epic Max.  My Bridgestone has a 64g shaft and it is 3/4 inch shorter; it is a great fairway finder, but I need more distance.  The Epic Max has a Project X 5.0 R 50gram shaft.  Ball speed was up to 6 mph faster.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

7 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I tried the Callaway Epic Max, TM SIM2 Max, Ping G425, and Titleist TSi2.  I really wanted the Titleist to be the club; I hit it locally but they don't have a launch monitor, and it was difficult to see whether it was any longer than my 6-year old Bridgestone.  The store here in town didn't have any Ping drivers... none!!

I also tried the Cobra King Radspeed at home but it didn't feel as good as the TSi2,  I hadn't tried the SIM2 Max.  

I've been to the golf shop in Beaverton, OR many times and the people there are very nice.  They have 4 stations with Trackman hitting out to the driving range.  Of the 4 drivers I tried, sadly the TSi2 was the shortest followed closely by the SIM2 Max.  I don't have a problem with straight; just distance challenged.    The Epic Max was consistently the longest; the G425 was a very close second, but felt heavier.  The best drive with my Bridgestone was about the average drive with the Epic Max.  My Bridgestone has a 64g shaft and it is 3/4 inch shorter; it is a great fairway finder, but I need more distance.  The Epic Max has a Project X 5.0 R 50gram shaft.  Ball speed was up to 6 mph faster.

After seeing you in action with it, definitely on my list for my fitting next week

[Kenny B]

4 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

After seeing you in action with it, definitely on my list for my fitting next week

I think the key will be getting the correct shaft for you.  I think you have more options with your swing speed; not much off the rack for slow swingers.

I didn't hit the ball that well when we played on Thursday; mostly low on the club face which I tend to do a lot anyway.  I can get away with it at home with firm dry fairways, but not on wet fairways in Portland!!  On the Trackman my attack angle was around 4º up, and I tend to miss the sweet spot low.  I did hit a few drives that were good; the best one toward the end of the round (can't remember which hole) where you hit the tree on your second shot.  

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

11 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I think the key will be getting the correct shaft for you.  I think you have more options with your swing speed; not much off the rack for slow swingers.

I didn't hit the ball that well when we played on Thursday; mostly low on the club face which I tend to do a lot anyway.  I can get away with it at home with firm dry fairways, but not on wet fairways in Portland!!  On the Trackman my attack angle was around 4º up, and I tend to miss the sweet spot low.  I did hit a few drives that were good; the best one toward the end of the round (can't remember which hole) where you hit the tree on your second shot.  

Haha. 17. You out drove me since I topped my drive. 

[Kenny B]

9 hours ago, rbsiedsc said:

Haha. 17. You out drove me since I topped my drive. 

Haha.  THEN you hit a tree and bounced sideways into the fairway.  

[Thibide1]

I did a fitting last year and at least for 2020 SIM Max and Mavrik were considered similar SIM Max OS was more like the Mavrik Max cause of draw bias. My numbers aligned with Mavrik but my friend getting fitted in bay next door had his align w SIM it’s very personal (but also all very close usually)

[warbirdlover]

 

I have a Sim Max and bought a Srixon ZX5 with the same shaft.  I'm back using the Sim Max.  My 2 cents.

[Shank Aaron]

The shaft will play more into your performance than the head choice regardless of which head you go with. Last year when I landed a G425 LST I put it against a new TSi2 and built a pair of Atmos TS Black shafts so my head-to-head testing would be on a level playing field. To my surprise, the TSi2 outperformed the G425 in a Trackman. I got curious and built a pair of Motore X F1 shafts (my 2020 gamer in a Mavrik) and the results were the opposite with the G425 coming out on top in all categories. Shaft choice is of equal, if not greater importance IMO, but as with all things....YMMV. 

[juspoole]

I still have a lot to try out, but thus far Epic Max LS and TS3 are the front runners and closest to my gamer MavRik SZ.  I tried the SIM2 and SIM2 Max and they were not anywhere near the others.  I like the look, but just could not seem to get the spin down and other launch conditions right with it.  

Cobra is very high on my list when I can get to the golf store next.  Ping has never quite done it for me. Similar to Taylormade, just doesn't gel with me for some reason.

2 hours ago, Shank Aaron said:

Shaft choice is of equal, if not greater importance IMO

Agree with you that it's close to equal.  I can have a 20 yard descrepency just due to how I'm delivering the club.  I think head does play a vital role based on headweight and technology. The drivers are just so good now that if properly fitted, there likely will not be a gigantic difference.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I have a demo day next Saturday at my club. I love my driver but who can't resist the desire to swing something new. Going to try out the latest Titleist, Callaway and Cobra drivers. Going to spend some time on the Cobra irons too ( just in case I am selected for the Cobra Connect Challenge... Hint Hint).  I rather hit outdoors to see the actual flight characteristics. They will have Trackman there for data.

[The stare]

Thanks for all of the replies.  At the TaylorMade fitting, they recommended the SIM2 Max, but didn't send me the numbers from the trackman.  I am going to attend the Callaway demo day at my club in two weeks.  Any suggestions on how best to compare two clubs that I hit three weeks apart and that I don't have data to compare?  How would you judge which club is best?  Thanks.

[RickyBobby_PR]

51 minutes ago, The stare said:

Thanks for all of the replies.  At the TaylorMade fitting, they recommended the SIM2 Max, but didn't send me the numbers from the trackman.  I am going to attend the Callaway demo day at my club in two weeks.  Any suggestions on how best to compare two clubs that I hit three weeks apart and that I don't have data to compare?  How would you judge which club is best?  Thanks.

Since you are doing it at your club you have reference points of what the ball flight looked like during your TaylorMade fitting and where the ball was landing.

Compare what you see with the Callaway driver(s) to what you saw with the sim2 Max. Also compare how the club itself looks how the sound compares and how the overall feeling of the club is in the swing.

 

[Shank Aaron]

On 5/5/2021 at 12:17 PM, The stare said:

Thanks for all of the replies.  At the TaylorMade fitting, they recommended the SIM2 Max, but didn't send me the numbers from the trackman.  I am going to attend the Callaway demo day at my club in two weeks.  Any suggestions on how best to compare two clubs that I hit three weeks apart and that I don't have data to compare?  How would you judge which club is best?  Thanks.

IMHO, how far you can hit any driver is irrelevant if you cant hit your second shot from the fairway. Long ball hitters.....the woods are full of them. 

[THEZIPR23]

19 minutes ago, Shank Aaron said:

IMHO, how far you can hit any driver is irrelevant if you cant hit your second shot from the fairway. Long ball hitters.....the woods are full of them. 

 

5 fairways and best ball striking day in over 2 years. IMO there is not a more overrated thing than fairways. 

[Shank Aaron]

24 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

 

5 fairways and best ball striking day in over 2 years. IMO there is not a more overrated thing than fairways. 

LOL, you're using Rors as the baseline to dispel the notion "not hitting from the woods will improve your scores"? Love the "Get off my lawn" guys. If the "fairway" portion of my comment is what you're hung up on, I'm happy to change it to "anywhere other than the woods, shrubbery, or Karen's backyard.". 

[THEZIPR23]

1 minute ago, Shank Aaron said:

LOL, you're using Rors as the baseline to dispel the notion "not hitting from the woods will improve your scores"? Love the "Get off my lawn" guys. If the "fairway" portion of my comment is what you're hung up on, I'm happy to change it to "anywhere other than the woods, shrubbery, or Karen's backyard.". 

How many examples would you like me to give you? What you said has been proven multiple times to be categorically false. You can continue to believe it, however calling me a Karen or a get off my lawn guy is comical.  

[Shank Aaron]

1 minute ago, THEZIPR23 said:

How many examples would you like me to give you? What you said has been proven multiple times to be categorically false. You can continue to believe it, however calling me a Karen or a get off my lawn guy is comical.  

Wait, hitting your second shot from the woods improves your scores? So I've been doing it right all of these years? 

[PMookie]

On 5/5/2021 at 11:17 AM, The stare said:

Thanks for all of the replies.  At the TaylorMade fitting, they recommended the SIM2 Max, but didn't send me the numbers from the trackman.  I am going to attend the Callaway demo day at my club in two weeks.  Any suggestions on how best to compare two clubs that I hit three weeks apart and that I don't have data to compare?  How would you judge which club is best?  Thanks.

Get the rep’s name from where you did the fitting and ask him to send your numbers. If they created a man entry in the Trackman with your specific name, it should still be in there. I’ve called reps and got the numbers this way before.

[pouetvl]

From everything I've seen / read /tested this year the Sim 2 seems to be bottomline in all the testing vs other brand out there. Last year it was a beast but this year it became the runt of the pack. In every fitting i've Assisted, watched or read, the fitter always come up with something else WAY better than what sim2 can offer.

Ping G425 seems to do well in testing/fitting despite his position in the most wanted driver test. Their shaft choice seems to help a lot for specific player.

Callaway is the king this year I think but I'm surprised on how well titleist seems to be doing. They are a very close 2nd I think.

Cobra as usual always do well AND always cost less.

 

[revkev]

On 5/5/2021 at 12:17 PM, The stare said:

Thanks for all of the replies.  At the TaylorMade fitting, they recommended the SIM2 Max, but didn't send me the numbers from the trackman.  I am going to attend the Callaway demo day at my club in two weeks.  Any suggestions on how best to compare two clubs that I hit three weeks apart and that I don't have data to compare?  How would you judge which club is best?  Thanks.

That’s odd, I had a TMag fitting on Weds and the next morning had all of my numbers plus the fitters recommendation. Very helpful. 

 

Back to Kenny’s comments when you tried the Sim2 which shaft did you have in it? It was meh for me at first and then it popped with the Ventus in and was complete money in the bank once he opened the face a click. 

[tony@CIC]

9 hours ago, revkev said:

That’s odd, I had a TMag fitting on Weds and the next morning had all of my numbers plus the fitters recommendation. Very helpful. 

 

Back to Kenny’s comments when you tried the Sim2 which shaft did you have in it? It was meh for me at first and then it popped with the Ventus in and was complete money in the bank once he opened the face a click. 

The Sim2 Max D was almost on the numbers with my 410 when I did a fitting at CC, of course it wasn't a stock shaft (best one was a 50g Oban Devotion). I might do a abbreviated fitting with the SIM this summer at my Indie and see what stock shaft works. I really liked the look, feel and sound of the SIM.