TaylorMade M4 Iron Review

For the past few years I have been playing the TaylorMade RSi2 irons. I really liked the clubs and felt that I was having some of my best seasons playing with them. Then in February 2018 I was convinced to get a real fitting.

Holy shit, that was the biggest game changing 45 minutes in my golf career. If you have never been to a real fitting (not a Golf Galaxy Golf fitting), then you need to drop everything and schedule one. Let me say this again, DO NOT buy clubs without getting fit.

For my fitting, I went to Prestonwood Country Club in Cary NC to see Tom Reem. Tom was referred to me by my blogging partner Matt who had used him a few month before. Tom is a real deal club fitter with a partly cloudy disposition, backed up with about 40 years of experience. He is in the no fucking around zone.

Remember, this is February and cold as balls, but fortunately we were hitting out of a covered bay. Tom first took readings from my 7 iron. I was hitting the ball well that day and the 7 iron was falling 135 yards out on a consistent basis. Ok, pipe down, I told you it was February and it was cold. Anyhow, once we had a baseline, we moved to the TaylorMade M4 which was high on my list of prospects. Boom, out of the gate I was hitting it 143 yards. Tom them tweaked the shaft length a bit to gain a few yards but the dispersion was worse. I was ready to sign on the dotted line, but wanted to take full advantage of my time with him, so I asked him to bring out the new Callaway clubs, a Mizuno and Titleist AP2 (God I want to play those clubs). 

After numerous well struck balls with each of those irons there was still never a contest as to what the best clubs were for me.  Simply put, the TaylorMade M4 was by far longer and more forgiving than any of the other clubs I hit. 

Fast forward to May 2018 and the temperature is in the high 80’s and my game is in the low 80’s. I am literally having to rethink my entire iron game. 143 yards, yea, I can step on a 9 iron. That my friend, was never an option with my RSi2’s or any other club I have ever hit. I am now hitting a 5 iron 185 yards when it used to be my 160 club. And that 7 iron that went 143 yards in February is now traveling 160 yards. 

So my message for this blog post is twofold. 1) I really do believe that the TaylorMade M4 is way longer than previous models (except the M2 which I also hit exactly the same yardage) and 2) you are a moron if you buy clubs without getting fitted.

My fitting cost $80 at a legit high end country club. For that I got a mini 45 minute lesson and clubs that are optimized for my swing. My session was so fulfilling that I am honestly pissed at myself for going so many years without a proper fitting. Sure, blogs like this are great to get ideas about what clubs might be best for your game, but until you hit balls with a Trackman you have no idea how they will really react to your specific swing. Why dick around changing your swing to match your club? Clearly it makes more sense to match your clubs to your swing. How many guys do you know who hit the ball too high or too low? Guess what, that can be fixed with a proper fitter. Shafts, don’t get me started. I defy anyone to really understand how they effect a golf swing. I call bullshit if you tell me you know what mid-kick means or if it is good for your swing. 

I have been playing TaylorMade irons for the better part of 20 years. In fact my first iron review was for the TaylorMade 2.0 which I still contend is an excellent club. In fact it was probably too good for TaylorMade as that model had sales legs far longer than they expected. From there, I played Rocketbladze, RSi2’s and now the M4. 

Prior to this latest purchase, I wanted to get the M2’s which are short release irons. However, they stopped taking orders for the custom version like 9 months after they released them, grrr. With that said, I absolutely love the M4. They are more forgiving than the M1 or M3 and just as long or even longer. For the record I hit using the M1 and the M3. As a 9 handicap, I have fairly good accuracy, but until I am getting paid to play golf, I just don’t see any reason to play a performance club (or god forbid a blade). Do I move the ball? Sometimes, but I am fine with a straight ball. The reality is that the M4 allows you to work the ball more than enough. Again, if you are a 2 handicap, go ahead and get the M3, but north of a 6 handicap, I don’t see the advantage of giving up forgiveness for workability. 

So back to my two main points. First, the TaylorMade M4 is long. Good lord, I am 1 or 2 clubs different compared to the Rsi2. I don’t care if they are jacked up. Hitting a 6 iron is way better than hitting a hybrid. I won’t bore you with the technical twist face technology, cause it’s all hocus pocus to me anyhow. What does not lie is Trackman which put me 12 yards longer in 42 degree weather. In 87 degrees, it’s like 18 yards longer.

Secondly, and more importantly, stop buying clubs because you like the way they look or you read they are the best in 2018. Go get your ass down to a real country club or fitting center. I promise you will not only get better clubs, but you will learn a ton. For example, you will learn that given your swing speed you can lose or gain yards based solely on your launch angle. To illustrate this, I hit my driver 220 yards. Tom then showed me the data. Swing speed, 96 mph, laugh angle 12 degrees. He then showed me a graph which told me that if I could launch at 18 degrees, the ball would go 240 yards. NOTE: I am writing this is two months later and the above data are not exact but very directional (my memory is not what it used to be). The point is, I may not be able to swing faster but I can increase my launch angle either through fitting or changing my swing a bit. 

The reality is, half of golf is physics. You know, Bryson DeChambeau witchcraft. While Bryson is clearly a nut job, along with anyone who plumb bobs, golf remains a game of numbers. Understanding how these numbers fit together and how they affect distance and accuracy can be a good start to improving your game.

Go out there and get fitted for Pete’s sake and make sure you put the TaylorMade M4 into the mix.