Taylormade SIM Max Irons Review
The Taylormade SIM Max Irons emerged onto the scene in 2020 and these clubs sounded so good, that even the pros at team Taylormade couldn’t tell the difference.
We love the amount of distance and forgiveness that we notice when playing these clubs and think that any player, good or bad, could benefit by picking up a set of a SIM Max Irons. We hope this review helps you decide if these clubs are a good fit for your game.
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OVERALL 4.6/5- Excellent
How we See It: The Taylormade SIM Max Irons are excellent clubs for even better-than bogey golfers. WIth high marks for looks & performance, no one can go wrong playing these clubs for the next several years.
Looks 4.5/5- Excellent
Feel 4/5 – Very Good
Performance 5/5 – Outstanding
Value 4/5 – Very Good
How Do the SIM Max Irons Look?
In The Bag
The Taylormade SIM Max Irons look like a very modern set of irons. They have cavity backs which makes them easier to hit, but the focus on detail of design makes them look anything but a starter set of clubs. These clubs look fast with crisscrossing lines on the back of the face and sharp lines throughout the design of the club head.
The iron set matches the top of the SIM driver (check out our review of that here) with a metallic, snake-skin like feel in the cavity and also has bright blue accents that really look sharp sitting in a golf bag. The SIM branding is on the toe side and the Max lettering is slightly smaller and beneath it. A little discreteness never hurt anyone.
The sole of the club looks thick and wide which gives us the feeling they won’t dig into the turf quite so much as a blade would. The numbering and lettering on the clubhead identifying which iron is which is relatively standard and plenty big enough to see while you’re standing over your golf bag deciding how heavy that wind is coming in at.
Over The Ball
When we take a look at the SIM Max irons at address we definitely notice the thickness of the clubs that we saw when taking a look at the sole. However, these are game-improvement irons and that extra girth gives us confidence when we’re standing over the ball.
We had no issue with the speed bridge on the back of the irons distracting us when we approached the ball to hit. If anything we felt like it almost helped keep our focus towards the ball and not at the club head itself.
The corners of the club look soft and not overly sharp and the grooves of the club look plenty big for the golfers out there that plan to hit some spinners. The sweetspot of the even the long-irons look plenty big in this model and it really helps to inspire confidence when you’re getting ready to hit.
Grips & Shafts
We chose steel shafts for our set of SIM Max irons and these look like pretty standard shafts to us. The point at which the shaft connects to the clubhead, the hosel, does look kind of big and has a touch of detail on it, but we trust that the folks at Taylormade know what they’re doing there.
As with most Taylormade clubs, these irons come standard with Golf Pride grips which is a classic looking grip that does everything you’d want out of this part of the golf club.
Overall, really sharp looks from the Sim Max Irons across the board. 4.5/5 stars for Look.
How Do The Clubs Feel?
From The Grip
All the clubs in the SIM series come with Golf Pride grips which feel really nice and should last a long time depending on how often you play. Doing a little waggle we noticed that they do feel kind of heavy overhaul, but not so much so that you don’t feel like you can swing the club through the hitting zone with speed.
The one downside at this point is how long the clubs feel, especially the long irons. We’re not winning any height competitions at Bogey Buddy, but we did have the sensation that these clubs felt longer than others we had played with.
During the Swing
Similar to just when holding the club in your hands, you can also feel the weight of club when you swing. The larger clubheads do feel heavy in the backswing, but we don’t think this is limiting to clubhead speed. The steel shafts that we used on these irons feel plenty flexible and these clubs also come with other more flexible for golfers with slower swing speeds.
At Impact
Impact is the most important position in golf and boy do the SIM Max irons deliver here. Solid hits feel effortless with no reverberation back into your hands or the shaft of the club. The sound is reminiscent of a tour player striping balls on the range and definitely set the tuning fork off in our loins.
Despite some issues with length, we like the way these clubs feel in our hands, during the swing, and most importantly, how they feel when making contact with the ball. Well done Taylormade. 4/5 stars for Feel.
How Do The Taylormade SIM Max Irons Perform?
Distance
The number one thing that any golfer would thinks about when talking about their clubs is what distance they get from them. We found the Taylormade SIM irons to definitely increase the distance we got on our irons throughout the bag.
We had been playing Taylormade Burners for years (why fix it if its not broken?), and our 7 iron typically went about 145-150. With the SIM Max irons, we’re now playing 160 yard shots with the 7 iron. That’s a pretty big jump. If you’re playing older irons, you should definitely expect to get increased distance from the SIM Max.
Accuracy
While accuracy is better improved by taking a lesson than buying new clubs, we do find that this model from Taylormade made it a little bit easier to keep the ball straight or even hit draws. We’ve struggled with a fade-slide bias for most of our golf career at Bogey Buddy, but do find ourselves having a draw bias with these clubs.
Interestingly enough, Taylormade setup the SIM Max and SIM Max-D irons with “Progressive Inverted Core Technology” which exists to counteract the right miss that most average players have. We certainly found ourselves hitting the ball more right-to-left with SIM Max so maybe they were onto something with that.
Forgiveness
Despite strong marks for distance and accuracy, forgiveness is where these golf clubs really shine. The wide sole of the club definitely helped us from taking deep chunks out of the turf like we would with blade irons. If you tend to hit behind the ball, you could benefit from the wide sole design of these clubs.
Beyond just the size of the sole, the size of the face area of these clubs also helps with forgiveness in a big way. Shots that get hit slightly off to the toe tend to stay straight and long. Similarly, shots that hit near the heel of the club also only seem to lose minor yardage. Overall these clubs get excellent marks for distance, accuracy & forgiveness. 5/5 stars for performance.
Are the SIM Max Irons a good value?
Taylormade manufactures some of the best golf clubs money can buy and you can rest assured that you are going to be purchasing a quality club if you’re buying Taylormade. Year in and year out, Taylormade innovates and while it might be tempting to buy new clubs every year, we think the SIM Max irons are clubs that you can purchase and keep playing for the next decade.
Unfortunately, with quality comes cost and the Taylormade SIM Max irons are definitely not cheap. However, you can save $100 off of the original price of a new set of irons just by purchasing through the Taylormade website here. At a discounted price we’re happy to pay this price and would recommend going the new club route. 4/5 stars for Value.
What Does Taylormade Say About The SIM Max Irons?
Taylormade touts the Speed Bridge and ECHO Damping System a lot in talking about the SIM Max irons because, usually, game improvement irons built for distance don’t sound quite as good as the type of clubs the pro’s use. There is nothing like the sound of a well-struck golf shot and we think these clubs do deliver a great sound.
Second, the Taylormade team likes to talk about the forgiving shape of the heads of these irons both in the size of the face and the width of the sole. We found the face to be plenty big and forgiving and the width did help us from digging into the turf.
Last, something called Progressive Inverted Core Technology is always on Taylormade’s lips as it relates to these clubs. This is the bit of tech that lives in these clubs that helps avoid, or lessen, misses to the right. We did find a a draw bias on these clubs so we’re fans of the fancy name.
Final Thoughts on the Taylormade SIM Max Irons:
Overall, we highly recommend the Taylormade SIM Max Irons. We gave this weapon an overall score of 93/100 – which is a solid “A”. We’ve been playing SIM Max Irons in our own bag after testing these clubs a few years back and see no real reason to change.
Between the known quality of a Taylormade club, the sharp looks and the performance of the irons even on mishits, we don’t think you can go wrong by purchasing yourself a set of SIM Max Irons if you’re in the market for a new or used set.
Other FAQs
What Handicap Are SIM Max Irons for?
SIM Max irons are considered “Game Improvement” irons which would be for players that have a handicap of +15-20. However, we wouldn’t discourage better players from using these clubs.
What is the difference between SIM & SIM Max Irons?
SIM stands for “shape in motion” according to Taylormade. The asymmetric sole design and the Inertia Generator on the driver creates a unique, gemoetric engineered you see on the Taylormade SIM driver. This subbrand then extends to the rest of the clubs in released that year.
Are Taylormade SIM Max Irons forgiving?
The Taylmormade SIM Irons are very forgiving and Taylormade touts their forgiveness as one of their best qualities. These irons are designed for distance and have a large face which increases golfer’s ability to hit the sweet spot. The wide sole also helps decrease the amount of chunks making these clubs a very forgiving choice.
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