TL;DR: When buying TaylorMade fairway woods, consider your skill level, clubhead size, material, and loft angle. TaylorMade offers unique technologies like Twist Face, Speed Pocket, and V Steel Sole design for improved performance. Prices vary from entry-level to high-end models, reflecting different features and materials.

My name is Ryan Graybar, and before joining Curated as a Golf Expert in 2021, I was a college golfer and caddie at a private club for players of all skill levels. I am now a certified product and fitting specialist for many of the top manufacturers in the world. I also just love playing and talking about golf! Now, I help match players with clubs that work best for their game all day.

In this article, we’ll cover everything you’ll need to know about choosing the best TaylorMade fairway wood for your game!

Why TaylorMade?

TaylorMade is a renowned American golf equipment manufacturer founded in 1979. The company, headquartered in Carlsbad, California, is celebrated for introducing metal woods into the game. Their top innovations, including the first adjustable driver, continue to challenge what is possible in golf technology. The choice to buy TaylorMade's fairway woods is easy with their reputation for superior quality, innovative technology, and commitment to offering top performance on the course for both professionals and amateurs alike.

What to Consider When Buying a TaylorMade Fairway Wood

1. What's Your Skill Level?

As a golfer, your skill level directly impacts the type of club you should play. Beginners benefit from clubs with larger sweet spots and more forgiveness, while advanced players might prefer clubs that offer more control and precision. TaylorMade produces a range of fairway woods suitable for varying skill levels.

2. What Loft Do You Need on Your Fairway Wood?

The loft angle of your fairway wood affects the trajectory and distance of your shots. A higher, or weaker, loft provides more launch and shorter distance, while a lower, or stronger, loft gives less height and a longer total distance. TaylorMade fairway woods come in various lofts to suit your needs throughout the bag.

3. What’s the Cost of the Club? How Much Should a TaylorMade Fairway Wood Cost?

Prices for TaylorMade fairway woods vary depending on the model and its features. Entry-level woods may cost around $200, offering decent performance for beginners. Most mid-to-high-end options range from $250 to $400, providing additional features like adjustable lofts or weighting. High-end models and custom shafts can exceed $400, offering premium materials, advanced technologies, and the highest levels of performance and customization.

Knowing the features you need in a fairway wood can help narrow in on what your budget should be. Your long-term goals are what should ultimately guide your fairway wood selection. If you aim to improve your game significantly or play competitively, investing in a higher-end model makes sense. If you're playing casually, a more basic, less costly model would suffice.

4. Are You Looking for New or Used Clubs?

While new clubs offer the latest technology, used and older models can offer good performance at a lower price. Depending on your budget, used options could be worth looking into.

Features to Look for When Buying a TaylorMade Fairway Wood

TaylorMade is known for its ground-breaking technologies that have revolutionized golf equipment. Here are some key features you should consider:

• Twist Face Technology: Traditional golf clubs have a consistent face curvature, but TaylorMade's Twist Face tech adjusts this curve to correct off-center hits. The result? Less side spin and straighter shots, even when you don't hit the ball dead-center.
• Speed Pocket Technology: This is a small slot in the sole of the club that flexes at impact, resulting in increased ball speed across the entire face of the club. Speed Pocket tech ensures that even shots struck low on the face still have plenty of speed and launch angle.
• V Steel Sole Design: With the V Steel Sole, TaylorMade has redistributed weight to improve the center of gravity, resulting in enhanced forgiveness and better turf interaction. Whether you're hitting from a perfect lie or out of a divot, you'll appreciate the consistent contact this design offers.
• Multi-Material Construction: TaylorMade utilizes a blend of materials like carbon, titanium, and steel in their clubheads. This allows them to optimize weight distribution for an ideal balance of power, accuracy, and feel. It's one of the reasons why their clubs are loved by tour pros and weekend warriors alike.
• Adjustable Loft Sleeve: This is a feature I've found incredibly useful in fine-tuning my game. It’s not seen in all models—normally just heads geared towards low handicap players offer this extra adjustability. The Adjustable Loft Sleeve lets you change the loft, lie, and face angle of the club, helping you dial in to the exact trajectory and shot shape you want.

All of these technologies make TaylorMade a contender for the best woods on the market, and a lot of these features are even seen in combination with each other, to offer the best performance. Based on your skill level, style of play, and a few other factors, we can find the perfect blend of features to improve your score.

What Are the Different Types of Fairway Woods?

Fairway woods are normally numbered from 3 to 11, with lower numbers corresponding to lower lofts and longer distances. Picking the correct loft for your game is a very important consideration. You must also consider the right style clubhead for your game. Some are more compact and workable for players that need the most control, while others want a larger and more forgiving club that’s easier to play.

Here are some of the more recent fairway wood lines that TaylorMade offers:

1. M Series

The TaylorMade M series features the first-ever multi-material carbon crown, allowing engineers to create more speed, forgiveness, and consistency in the woods. M1 was the first generation, released to the public in late 2015. Twist Face Technology was used first in the M3 and M4 models, and improvements were made on the M series up to the M6’s release in 2019.

Benefits:

• Speed Pocket Technology optimizes ball speed and enhances forgiveness
• Multi-material construction provides a nice blend of performance characteristics
• Twist Face Technology generates better shots on off-center strikes
• A good range of options for different skill levels

Keep in Mind:

• Less focused on aerodynamics compared to the SIM series
• Doesn’t perform as well as newer models

2. SIM Series

The SIM Series picked up a lot of the same technology as the M series, but with a redesigned clubhead for better aerodynamics and more resulting speed. It also includes a Speed Pocket, Multi-Material construction, a Speed Injected Twist Face, and the re-invented V-Steel Sole. Benefits:

• Weight redistribution promotes a high launch angle and better forgiveness
• Twist Face Technology helps correct off-center strikes
• Revolutionary asymmetric sole shape to reduce drag and improve aerodynamics
• Re-invented V-Steel Sole for better turf interaction and versatility from different lies.
• Titanium and an adjustable loft sleeve in the Sim and Sim2 (not max).

Keep in Mind:

• The Max version offers higher launch and more forgiveness, while the other heads offer more control and shot-shaping

3. Stealth Series

Featuring a 3D carbon crown, the Stealth woods continue the move into the carbon era. These woods feature a new laser alignment system offering easier setup without being an eye-sore, and the V Steel Sole has been further optimized here. The Stealth was initially released in 2022, and the Stealth 2 offered improvements in 2023. The main piece of technology the Stealth 2 has that the original Stealth doesn’t is the newly-optimized Inverted Cone Technology, making the face thinnest at the center and around the edges, offering more speed where you need it.

Benefits:

• Top-of-the-line TaylorMade performance
• Aerodynamic clubhead designs
• Low center of gravity for high launch
• Twist Face Technology
• Inverted Cone Technology on the Stealth 2
• Titanium in the Plus model head

Keep in Mind:

• The most expensive TaylorMade woods on the market

Overall, each of these series offers unique benefits, so think about what you need to improve your game and what your budget is, and let those factors help guide your choice.

How to Choose the Right TaylorMade Fairway Wood for You

Tom

A newer player who struggles with a slice and needs maximum forgiveness.

Needs: More forgiveness, higher launch, and a slice-killing design

Features to look for: Speed pocket allows for more speed, higher launch, and better feel. A low CG design promotes higher launch in clubs. Draw biased weighting promotes more closing of the club through impact, resulting in less slice.

Products to consider:

• SIM 2 Max Draw: Featuring a lot of the same technology and improved aerodynamics as the very forgiving SIM 2 Max, this wood takes it a step further with draw biased weighting. For players that slice, this wood will help straighten that out.
• Stealth 2 HD: With an oversized 200 cc wood head, this fairway wood offers the ultimate performance in forgiveness and slice correction. This is the highest forgiveness, and highest launch in the Stealth 2 line.

Tyler

A mid-handicap player who’s seeking great forgiveness and distance.

Needs: Forgiving design, large sweet spots, and improved aerodynamics

Features to look for: Twist face technology helps with off-center strikes, inverted cone technology helps keep the ball speed high, speed pocket further increases speed, and a multi-material construction allows for the best blend of high end materials for more performance.

Products to consider:

• M4: The M4 is the most budget-friendly entry in the TaylorMade wood line, and it continues to be readily available, unlike the other M series lines.
• SIM 2 Max: Introduced in 2021, with improved aerodynamics over the previous line, this wood is built for forgiveness and distance. It features an 80 gram V steel sole for better feel and higher launch.
• Stealth: An improvement on the SIM 2 Max, this wood offers even more forgiveness and distance for players. A new, lightweight 3D carbon crown allows for the increased performance.
• Stealth 2: The newest and best offering in the Stealth line, this wood adds inverted cone technology to provide more ball speed across the face than the original Stealth.

Matt

A low-handicap player who’s looking for more shot shaping and control.

Needs: Low spin, adjustability, trajectory control, and compact head

Features to look for: A more compact head size gives a more traditional look and allows for more shot-shaping and control. An adjustable hosel allows players to fine tune ball flight. A neutral flight bias allows for more shot-shaping, and adjustable weights allow for more ball flight and spin adjustability.

Products to consider:

• SIM 2 Titanium: A 2021 player’s wood, the ZATECH titanium in this model allows for more explosive distance. It has a 170 cc head size, compared to the 190 cc of the SIM 2 Max 3-wood size., which allows for a more classic, compact look, plus more control.
• Stealth Plus: A 2022 player’s design that also has the ZATECH titanium twist face, with more carbon DNA than ever before. It also features a 175 cc head size.
• Stealth 2 Plus: This model reintroduces inverted cone technology and a sliding weight into the head, which offers more ball speed and adjustability than ever before: move the 50 g weight towards the back for higher launch and spin, leave it in the center for neutral flight, or move it forward for low launch and spin.

Next Steps for Choosing Your TaylorMade Fairway Wood

TaylorMade, a company that started with a revolutionary metal wood, has grown into one of the very best manufacturers in the world. TaylorMade continues to improve performance and release innovative products year after year that offer the best performance for casual players and professionals alike. Chat with me or one of my fellow Curated Golf Experts for help finding the perfect new TaylorMade wood for your game!