Twist Face? Take a look back at more TaylorMade innovations
By James Savage
TaylorMade have been at the forefront of innovation in golf equipment technology for nearly 40 years.
And their big new technology story for 2018 is called ‘Twist Face’. Yes, the faces on their new M3 and M4 drivers for 2018 are twisted. Duh.
TayorMade told us that it’s something of a revolution and all their drivers from now on will have ‘Twist Face’.
Up until now all drivers have been designed with traditional ‘bulge and roll’ which means balls struck out of the heel and tow will ‘gear’ back towards centre.
But TaylorMade believe most golfers don’t strike it out of the heel and toe with a square face which puts extra spin on the ball resulting in fairways being missed right on heel strikes and left when hit out of the toe.
So the Twist Face actually has an open high toe and a closed lower heel area to help off-centre hits fly a bit straighter.
We think it makes sense. Does it work? Well, the jury is still out to a certain extent as we need to do some more on-course testing with the new technology.
Go behind the scenes to when we unveiled our most twisted driver innovation to the world’s best golfers. #TwistFace
Learn more: https://t.co/op2AxfQ7no pic.twitter.com/KFhWwLIENx
— TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) January 2, 2018
Either way, TaylorMade have come up with plenty of other revolutionary technology over the years.
Who remembers any of the clubs featured below?
1. TaylorMade KVD irons (1980)
The brand’s first iron the Ken Venturi Design. It was designed by PGA Tour player Ken Venturi. Obviously.
Anyone fancy giving the 2-iron a hit on a cold February morning? No, me either.
2. TaylorMade Pittsburgh Persimmon Driver (1981)
This was the original metalwood – such a stupid word when you think about it.
It was conceived in 1978 and was the brainchild of TaylorMade founder Gary Adams.
It marked the start of the move away from persimmon woods and changed the face of driver technology forever.
Bob Vokey once told me he initially just thought they were driving range clubs and would never replace the wooden heads…
3. TaylorMade Burner midsize irons (1993)
These featured a unique foam-filled club head – a bit like the new P790 – for added weight distribution around the perimeter.
TaylorMade said they were also able to enlarge the sweet spot for added forgiveness.
4. TaylorMade Burner Bubble driver shaft (1995)
[skylab_video id=”126362″]Burner bubble driver[/skylab_video]
Available in the Burner driver, this was one of the first examples of a company offering specific performance benefits from a shaft.
It featured a distinctive copper coloured area below the grip and helped smooth swingers generate a bit more speed.
5. TaylorMade 300 series (2000)
[skylab_video id=”126363″]TaylorMade 300 series[/skylab_video]
Both the woods and the irons featured three club head sizes for a variety of abilities and preferences.
Progressive center of gravity throughout the iron sets provided optimal ball flight and an impact pad behind the sweet spot helped increase ball speed.
6. TaylorMade R7 Quad driver (2004)
The first driver to feature moveable weights to help fine tune spin and ball flight.
Some people still see adjustability on drivers as a new thing. It’s not. The R7 Quad came out 13 years ago.
7. TaylorMade R11 driver (2011)
This was the first driver with a white crown went down a storm on tour. Darren Clarke won the Open with it in 2011.
[skylab_video id=”126376″]TaylorMade R11 driver[/skylab_video]
It actually prompted other manufacturers to create ‘non-white’ contracts for their players which basically meant they could use any driver they wanted as long as it didn’t have a visible white crown.
8. TaylorMade RocketBallz fairway woods (2011)
These were absolute rocket launchers. The first fairway woods to reach the maximum COR (trampoline effect/time the ball spends on the face).
They also featured a cavity behind the face for maximum ball speed and distance.
9. TaylorMade RocketBladez irons (2013)
Our first look at the revolutionary Speed Pocket which protects ball speed on shots struck low on the face and has featured in pretty much every iron that TaylorMade has created since.
Did you use any of the above? We’d love to hear from you. Post a comment below or you can tweet us @NCGMagazine.
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James Savage
Former equipment editor of NCG. Inconsistent ball-striker and tea-maker.
