What is Speed Injected Twist Face?
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Speed Injected Twist Face is the latest technology from TaylorMade which will ensure each of the new faces in their M5 and M6 drivers are as close to the legal limit as possible
In 2018 TaylorMade made headlines with their new ‘Twist Face’ technology in the M3 and M4 drivers. This year, they’ve improved upon that technology in their newest M5 and M6 models by coming up with a way to make every driver face they produce on the legal limit of COR (coefficient of restitution).
➤ TaylorMade introduce new M5 and M6 range
➤ TaylorMade M5 Driver Review
➤ TaylorMade M6 Driver Review
TaylorMade are achieving this by revolutionising the process, producing the thinnest and hottest face to start above the legal limit, before dialing it back by injecting a specific amount of resin in to two ‘tuning’ slots on the driver face to get to within 2-3% of the legal limit.
According to the brand, this process will ensure every driver is on the limit thanks to a proprietary algorithm which calculates exactly the right amount of resin to use in order to dial the speed in to each driver face.
But why will all of this make a difference?
Well, until now, it hasn’t been possible to create drivers that hit the limit consistently, so club engineers and the factories that produce our drivers work within tolerances, and have to dial back face flex so all drivers produced are within the rules, which are very tight. It means no ‘hot’ drivers creep onto the illegal side, but also means many regular golfers end up playing with drivers not optimised to the full extent of the rules – TaylorMade reckon 70% of retail drivers fall outside the ‘hot range’ usually reserved for the pros.
➤ Does Twist Face actually work?
When the limit was originally introduced, it was seen as the way to keep a lid on how far golfers hit a ball. Ever since though, golfers have bought drivers thinking they were sat on the limit of the rules, with a face spring of 0.830 COR (coefficient of restitution). That simply hasn’t been the case. Until the M5 and M6 drivers, say TaylorMade.
They reckon across the board production methods have made picking the hottest driver for club golfers a lottery. But now, by using their latest technology they are removing the lottery of picking the hottest driver and creating a level playing field by positioning every single driver face on the edge (within 2-3%) of the limit. For the regular golfer, it means a guarantee of getting a driver with a hot face.
We asked Brian Bazzel, Vice President of Product Creation at TaylorMade, to explain more about the latest technology
What does speed injecting tech actually do?
By creating a face that’s faster than the legal limit, we’re able to dial back every single head (using some very complex algorithms) with speed injected resin so each is right at the limit of the rules. The resin stiffens specific areas of the face. Essentially the technology allows us to control face flex vary accurately, like nothing we’ve done before, it means every face can be taken closer to the limit of the rules.
How much more ball speed will speed injecting deliver?
If a driver’s hit from the centre of the face golfers can gain 2mph of ball speed. Because of how the face is designed it also means there’s a larger area that’s hotter (over 0.800 COR) which means a 66% larger sweet spot too. So more speed prevention on, off centre hits.
Will faster swing speed players (tour players) get more from the new speed injecting tech than average club golfers?
No. Our tour players have used our spiciest drivers already, so this new speed injecting process will benefit golfers who haven’t accessed our tour heads before. Realistically that’s most of the market.
What other changes are there over the previous M3 and M4 drivers?
With speed injecting, strengthening the face in strategic areas we’ve been able to break all the rules relating to how thick we thought a driver face should be. A 20% reduction in face thickness over and above all the other technologies removes more mass, it along with a 10% bigger carbon crown fees up more weight to improve forgiveness.
Does Twist Face remain unchanged?
We’ve softened Twist Face a little, which was at the request of Tiger Woods. Where M3 and M4 needed a 2° open face angle to look square, M5 and M6 are much more like 1 – 1.5°, we’ve also tweaked the top edge so it looks a little straighter too.
