For the beginner player Maximum forgiveness game improvement clubsthe most common and feared loss is often right.
But has anyone ever thought that the physics of the golf club they are using is making things worse? Because of the geometry of the game-enhancing irons, TaylorMade says competitive products naturally deliver cut spin to the ball.
New by TaylorMade Qi Max and Qi Max HL handcuffs aim to solve that problem through stiffer faces that aim to reduce shear spin and allow for straight distance.
“We have a patented technology that allows us to control the stiffness gradient from heel to toe … so they turn them at the same time, which effectively gives you more neutral ball flight,” TaylorMade Product Category Director for Wedges and Irons. Matt Boveesaid about GOLF.
“We designed both the Qi Max and Qi Max HL irons to be the most complete game-improving irons we’ve ever made. From individual face optimization to revolutionary internal structures, the Qi Max and Qi Max HL irons check all the boxes in the game-improving category.”
The new irons also feature a new Echo damping system aimed at improving sound and feel, something many players despise about game-enhancing irons.
Continue reading below for more on the TaylorMade Qi Max and Qi Max HL irons, including my take on the release.
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What’s really new with the TaylorMade Qi Max and Qi Max HL irons — and why you should care
Creating the right distance
Because game improvement irons use an asymmetric design where the toe is much larger than the heel, the toe material is softer and flexes more during impact. This flex allows the club to open up more, which gives the ball the cut spin, magnifying the player’s worst loss for game improvement.
What TaylorMade has done with the Qi Max irons is to uniquely optimize each face to make the toe side stronger and the heel a little softer, preventing it from flexing.
Bovee was careful to point out that this doesn’t create a lopsided package for the draw, but simply removes any fade bias created by bending the face.
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Taylor Made
Better sound = better feel
After being able to hit the ball long and straight, the next thing the game improvement player looks for in his irons is the same feel and sound created by a counterfeit product. This is very difficult when creating super fast and forgiving cuffs using a casting process. Usually, there is a sharp “click” sensation at impact that puts many players off.
That feeling is almost always associated with sound, says Bovee.
“About 80 percent of what you feel as a player is the sound you hear on the shot,” he said. “So if you’re going to improve the feel, you have to improve the sound.”
TaylorMade found that most of those unwanted sounds come from the top of the face and the top of the club.
Now the sound of the club consists of three things: frequency, which is the pitch of the sound you hear; energy, how loud it is; and duration, how long you listen to it.
To tune the sound, TaylorMade expanded the Echo Dampening System on the top of the face to target where those unwanted sounds are coming from and reinforced the sound stabilization bar on the back of the club.
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Taylor Made
“You strive for a certain frequency and then follow a low energy with a short duration because that’s what gives you a fuller or stronger feeling,” Bovee said. “We extracted 49 percent of the sound energy from the impact … and shortened the duration of the vibrations by 28 percent.
“You can feel the energy in the iron, but it stops very quickly. It feels strong at the same time. So it’s like this beautiful combination.”
Qi Max HL: Same name, different game
While the Qi Max HL may have the same name and look the same as its smaller brother, it’s actually a very different iron.
The HL stands both taller and lighter, as the HL iron features a leaner loft package and lighter swing weights to help golfers generate more speed and launch.
The chassis size has also been increased on the HL with more offset, longer blade lengths, higher face heights and thicker top lines and soles to give the golfer the most forgiveness possible.
“The response we got was that if we’re going to offer a high-release option, the shape needs to reflect that type of player, more confidence-inspiring and more forgiving,” Bovee said. “That’s why the HL head is bigger.”
The lineup of TaylorMade Qi Max irons
Qi Max
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Jack Hirsh/GOLF
What is: of Qi Max will go have been weakened by the previous generation and styled to look much more like the P Series irons with a monochrome finish. Also derived from the P Series, the Qi Max irons feature FLTD CG, lowering the CG on the long irons to promote launch and raising it on the short irons to prevent ball hits.
Who is it for: A player who needs levels of forgiveness to improve his game but doesn’t want to play a big iron. Also great for players who struggle with a proper bug.
Qi Max HL
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Taylor Made
What is: Qi Max HL are supercharged and lighter versions of the Qi Max irons with a larger shape and 3˚ slacker loft to give this player all the help they can get.
Who is it for: Golfers looking to maximize distance and swing speed from a lighter package.
My take: Some of the best game improvement feels
For a game improvement iron, it’s usually a win if I want to keep hitting it after one swing.
Five years ago, TaylorMade began focusing on making better-sounding game-enhancing irons with the first Echo Dampening system in the SIM Max irons and in fact tricked their staff professionals into thinking it was a fake club
