Kiven J. Molina Blogs: A More Forgiving M1 Driver? Here's How

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

A More Forgiving M1 Driver? Here's How

Golfers who bought TaylorMade's M1 driver before M2 may have experienced a bit of buyers remorse.

Don't misunderstand. M1 is a terrific driver. It's highly configurable. It offers a robust platform for fitters, and plenty of movable parts for DIYers and those of us who like to tinker. The only real knock on the M1 driver is that it's not as forgiving as some of its competitors, and its not nearly as forgiving as the TaylorMade M2, which was released several months after the M1.

If you're one of those guys who loves his M1, but wishes it was more forgiving, we've got good news? Your M1 absolutely can be more forgiving. Better news still, it won't cost you a dime. The driver ships with everything you'll need to boost MOI and increase forgiveness.

Here's what you need to do.

Step 1

First, remove both the front and and back weights from their respective tracks. For maximum forgiveness, both weights have to come out.

To remove the Rear Track weight:

Remove the red weight cap, and slide the weight to the LOW position
Hold the head directly in front of you such that LOW and HIGH appear upside down and the hosel is pointing directly away from you
Slowly flip the head such that the hosel is moving towards you and the sole towards the ground
The weight should fall out on its own (give it a jiggle if necessary)

The process is the same for the front weights. Note the exit position is closest to DRAW and text should be right side up prior to flipping.

Note that the both the weights and weight covers are labeled. FT for Front Track and BT for Back Track. The front weight (15 grams) is 5 grams heavier than the rear weight (which basic math tells us must be 10 grams).

We want that heavier weight all the way back.

Step 2

Starting with 15 gram weight from the front track, place both weights into the back channel. Slide them all the way to the rear of the club, and secure by screwing the black and red caps back on.

While we used the more compact and workable M1 430 for our example, for the M1 460 this should bring MOI closer to that of M2.

Bonus Tip - a Lower & More Forward CG M1

Some golfers may elect to trade MOI for the greater efficiency that comes from a lower and more forward Center of Gravity. This can be an especially effective setup for higher swing speed golfers with negative angles of attack (guys who hit down on the driver). Generally speaking, these are the type of players who may benefit from the M1 430.

To configure your M1 for low forward CG simply place both weights into the front track. Order is less important here as you can position the weight to achieve the desired draw or fade bias. Note that if the weights are centered, bias will ever-so-slightly favor the side with the 15 gram weight.

Own an M1?

Keep in mind, these tips apply to both the M1 460 and the M1 430 (on a relative basis) Give the alternative configurations shown above a try and let us know how it goes.