TaylorMade SIM2 and SIM2 Max Rescue Hybrids Review

Name: TaylorMade SIM2 and SIM2 Max Rescue Hybrids Review
Brand: Taylormade
Price: 229 GBP

Last updated: 31 January 2024

TaylorMade SIM2 and SIM2 Max Rescue clubs.

At a glance
TG Rating 5 out of 5
Owner Rating Not yet rated

What we say...

The TaylorMade SIM2 and SIM2 Max Rescues are designed to offer everyone from tour players to high handicappers a perfect hybrid solution.

2020 was a breakthrough year for TaylorMade Rescues. Yes, the brand invented the whole hybrid market as we know it today, when back in 2002 they launched the game’s first hybrid. But 2020 was different. Different because it was the year rescue clubs finally found their way into the bags of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa – three of the best players on the planet.

Any new TaylorMade model has very big shoes to fill. And even though the previous SIM Max Rescue was taken to heart by both the game’s very best players and club golfers alike, TaylorMade insist there’s room for two new SIM2 Rescue’s in 2021.

Here’s why and how to identify which suits you.

RELATED: Best Hybrids

TaylorMade SIM2 Max Rescue review

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Max-Rescue

RRP: £229

Lofts: 3 – 19° / 4 – 22° / 5 – 25° / 6 – 28° / 7 – 31°

Stock shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 75

Stock grip: Lamkin Crossline

Adjustable hosel: No

The SIM2 Max rescue, just like the preceding M4, M6 and SIM Max, is all about distance. A wider body gives a powerful but forgiving high-launching, mid-spin ball flight, so expect a towering trajectory and soft landing. And because the head naturally has a neutral bias shots don’t automatically fly left of the target for decent players.

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Max-Rescue

TaylorMade say a new updated V-Steel sole design, with a depressed heel and less toe area redistributes mass to nudge up the MOI and forgiveness whilst also improving turf-interaction. Just like the previous SIM Max, SIM2 Max also has a strong flexible alloy face with Twist Face technology, so mishits fly straighter, and a Thru-Slot Speed Pocket to ensure maximum speed and distance from every shot.

Verdict: TaylorMade SIM2 Max Rescue Hybrid

The SIM 2 Max has massive shoes to fill as both Rory and DJ were huge fans of its predecessor, the SIM Max Rescue. TaylorMade Rescues have taken top spot for distance in our hybrid tests for a few years now, so it’s no surprise to see this one bubbling away at the top of our 2021 Hybrid Test charts again.

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Max-Hybrid

Like its older sibling, this is a looker. The head sits very square, and we love the chalk top edge and black crown, which marries beautifully with TaylorMade’s drivers and fairways.

Our data has the SIM 2 Max just a yard back on this years longest hybrid, which is nothing. If you need help choosing between this and the new SIM 2 Rescue, TaylorMade say the Max is a more distance-focused model (we saw 10 yards of carry distance difference), whereas SIM 2 is a ‘players’ hybrid, with a flatter, more iron-like face and a narrower body.

Specs: TaylorMade SIM2 Max Rescue Hybrid

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Max-Rescue

Got a question about the TaylorMade SIM2 Max Rescue? Ask us on Twitter.

TaylorMade SIM2 Rescue review

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Rescue

RRP: £259

Lofts: 2 – 17° / 3 – 19.5° / 4 – 22°

Stock shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue HY

Stock grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/- 2°)

In the modern game hybrids have become very personal pieces of equipment. And the change pretty much boils down to how wide, mid and narrow heads are all now widely available.

So, while the wider SIM2 Max Rescue will primarily be used by golfers who sweep hybrid shots off the turf like a fairway wood, the SIM2 is designed for golfers who hit down on hybrids much more like irons, and engage the turf at impact, which tends to be better players.

TaylorMade-SIM-2-Rescue

The SIM2 has a flatter face more like an iron, and a narrower more compact players’ head shape. TaylorMade say golfers can expect to hit shots with mid-launch, mid-spin and shots are likely to fly on a little flatter trajectory as well as being more workable.

A new asymmetric Thru-Slot Speed Pocket is also really good at preserving ball speed and distance on low face strikes. An adjustable loft sleeve also means golfers can dial in specific yardage gaps within their own game, which just isn’t possible with the more distance orientated Max model.

If there was a drawback on tour with the SIM Max Rescue, it was how difficult it was to swingweight for different lengths and shaft options due to to having no weight port. The new SIM2 Rescue’s sole weight means this is no longer an issue with the new model.

Verdict: TaylorMade SIM2 Rescue Hybrid

We hear designers talk a lot about how above-average golfers complain about losing hybrids left. Models like the SIM 2 are a direct reaction to those types of comments.

Where the SIM 2 Max targets raw distance, the SIM2 is much more about giving decent golfers the ball flight and workability of an iron. Decent players will like the more compact head shape and the heavier Mitsubishi Tensei Blue shaft.