Elyte Max TD vs. Smoke Max TD

[Bigjim1022]

Anybody that’s played both seen any appreciable uograde from the Smoke Max TD to the Elyte TD? 

[getitdaily]

You won't see much difference. 

[BYK]

Performsnce no difference in my hands with the exact same setup. 

[stratgolf]

13 hours ago, Bigjim1022 said:

Anybody that’s played both seen any appreciable uograde from the Smoke Max TD to the Elyte TD? 

 

TD Max to TD Max or just reg TD?

[Carwash123]

I was in an AI smoke max td with a denali black 65s shaft. My driver swing speed is up about 12 mph since doing the stack (112 to 115 mph) so I got refitted and ended up in elyte td with the 65 tensi black xs,  tried all of the big brands. I think I could have had similar results with a shaft upgrade in my ai smoke. I've played about 6 rounds since making the change and am definitely driving the ball noticeably better, but again think a lot is attributed to the shaft being easier for me to time up.  I really do like the elyte at address, the glossy black top looks high end. 

[Bigjim1022]

4 hours ago, stratgolf said:

 

TD Max to TD Max or just reg TD?

TD max to TD max 

[Bigjim1022]

3 hours ago, Carwash123 said:

I was in an AI smoke max td with a denali black 65s shaft. My driver swing speed is up about 12 mph since doing the stack (112 to 115 mph) so I got refitted and ended up in elyte td with the 65 tensi black xs,  tried all of the big brands. I think I could have had similar results with a shaft upgrade in my ai smoke. I've played about 6 rounds since making the change and am definitely driving the ball noticeably better, but again think a lot is attributed to the shaft being easier for me to time up.  I really do like the elyte at address, the glossy black top looks high end. 

I’ve been doing the stack too and have been struggling with my driver.  I’ve been all over the place.  Had been using the AI TD max with a VF 6 shaft.  On a whim I put a Ventus blue + 6 in the head this weekend to try, I can feel the head again and my driving was much better.  
 

Overall I’m really happy with the Smoke TD max but the 2x trade in has me thinking…again 😂

[BYK]

11 minutes ago, Bigjim1022 said:

I’ve been doing the stack too and have been struggling with my driver.  I’ve been all over the place.  Had been using the AI TD max with a VF 6 shaft.  On a whim I put a Ventus blue + 6 in the head this weekend to try, I can feel the head again and my driving was much better.  
 

Overall I’m really happy with the Smoke TD max but the 2x trade in has me thinking…again 😂

Resist lol 

im tryin to at least 

Edited July 13 by BYK

[txbadger]

for me there was more spin in the Elyte TD max than the AIS TD max.   Imo the AIS version is better.   Having said that the Elyte TD (not max) is a better head than the AIS TD.    YMMV. 

[Bigjim1022]

5 minutes ago, txbadger said:

for me there was more spin in the Elyte TD max than the AIS TD max.   Imo the AIS version is better.   Having said that the Elyte TD (not max) is a better head than the AIS TD.    YMMV. 

Same difference in the Elyte TD vs the max?  Smaller head etc?

[txbadger]

1 minute ago, Bigjim1022 said:

Same difference in the Elyte TD vs the max?  Smaller head etc?

not sure I follow.... If you are asking what the difference between the Elyte TD max vs the Elyte TD,.. I liked the spin window of the Elyte TD better and dispersion wise it was even a touch better.   Having said that my misses are toe side.. rarely heel so maybe that miss would produce a different "winner".  

[Bigjim1022]

57 minutes ago, txbadger said:

not sure I follow.... If you are asking what the difference between the Elyte TD max vs the Elyte TD,.. I liked the spin window of the Elyte TD better and dispersion wise it was even a touch better.   Having said that my misses are toe side.. rarely heel so maybe that miss would produce a different "winner".  

Yeah sorry that wasn’t very clear, was wondering the differences between Elyte TD and Elyte TD Max.    I checked out their website though for the basic differences 

[bruinmw]

Very similar performance for me. Same shaft in both ais tdmax and elyte tdmax. Maybe slightly better dispersion with the elyte tdmax, maybe a few yards longer, but couldn’t justify keeping the elyte tdmax for the price tag, so back it went to Roger Dunn. 

[Phebus]

Does anyone know of any retailers in the Southern California area that are participating in the Callaway 2X trade in deal? Or do the trade ins have to be done directly through Callaway? 

[underwater]

They both site 3° open for a better players block into the right woods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14 by underwater

[AU_Matt]

Just now, Phebus said:

Does anyone know of any retailers in the Southern California area that are participating in the Callaway 2X trade in deal? Or do the trade ins have to be done directly through Callaway? 

Not sure on Southern California specific, but it seems to be any Callaway dealer. Traded in a pile of spare clubs on an Elyte TD Max Friday and they were matching the trade values from callaways site and sending everything straight to them.

[3puttking14]

I didn’t have either so I opted for Elyte but I did test out the smoke and didn’t notice much of a difference so unless you just like the change in color of the driver I’d stay stick with smoke.

[Phebus]

1 hour ago, AU_Matt said:

Not sure on Southern California specific, but it seems to be any Callaway dealer. Traded in a pile of spare clubs on an Elyte TD Max Friday and they were matching the trade values from callaways site and sending everything straight to them.

Wow, if Worldwide Golf (Roger Dunn) or PGA Superstore honor the 2X trade in, I’ll get a new driver tomorrow. I’m going to have to make some calls. 

[hawkeye13]

Gonna snag an Elyte blind with the 2x trade in bonus, YOLO. Cant decide between regular head and TD. Had regular Mavrik before and nuked it but sprayed it a bit. Now on g430 LST, lost distance and hitting cuts but more accurate. 117 SS. Any recs? Also trying for a shaft similar to kai'li white but change it up. Thinking Diamana WB or tensei. 

[Sean124]

16 hours ago, hawkeye13 said:

Gonna snag an Elyte blind with the 2x trade in bonus, YOLO. Cant decide between regular head and TD. Had regular Mavrik before and nuked it but sprayed it a bit. Now on g430 LST, lost distance and hitting cuts but more accurate. 117 SS. Any recs? Also trying for a shaft similar to kai'li white but change it up. Thinking Diamana WB or tensei. 

I found the 440 LST to be less fade biased and probably a bit longer than the 430 LST

[phizzy30]

Very subtle difference between both from the testing I've done.  Elyte TD MAX spun like 200 rpm more.  It also feels a touch softer/muted at impact.  

Edited July 15 by phizzy30

[phizzy30]

7 hours ago, Sean124 said:

I found the 440 LST to be less fade biased and probably a bit longer than the 430 LST

440 LST is GOAT among Ping drivers, IMO.  Didn't you have a GT2 or 3 before?  

[phizzy30]

On 7/13/2025 at 8:17 PM, hawkeye13 said:

Gonna snag an Elyte blind with the 2x trade in bonus, YOLO. Cant decide between regular head and TD. Had regular Mavrik before and nuked it but sprayed it a bit. Now on g430 LST, lost distance and hitting cuts but more accurate. 117 SS. Any recs? Also trying for a shaft similar to kai'li white but change it up. Thinking Diamana WB or tensei. 

I've tested both and the Elyte launched a degree higher, spun 200-400 rpm more and is neutral bias whereas the TD is slightly fade bias.  Driver of the year is 440 LST, IMO.  It was longer, higher ball speed especially high toe side compared to 430 LST and can be tweaked through the hosel settings to play neutral to slightly fade biased.  FYI, I'm not a fan of Ping drivers in general but 440 LST is crazy good.  As far as shafts.  Diamana WB is pretty much opposite EI profile of Kai'li white in that it starts off softer in the tip and gets stiff in the mid all the way up to the handle.  Kai'li white is mid and tip stiff with a softer handle.  Kai'li white has subtle kick under the handle while WB has a subtle kick in the lower mid.  WB also feels smoother, IMO.  Which Tensei are you thinking of?  1K pro white/orange?  I've had both plus 1k pro blue and tested the red.  I'm pretty much the same ss as you so ask away, hehe.        

Edited July 15 by phizzy30

[Sean124]

31 minutes ago, phizzy30 said:

440 LST is GOAT among Ping drivers, IMO.  Didn't you have a GT2 or 3 before?  

Yeah both, and neither of them lasted long. My TSR2 kept ending up back in the bag until the 440. 

[dmeeksDC]

I like the standard Elyte more than the TD Max. Went to a US Open qualifier in Florida to watch a buddy play and on the range we saw a lot of standard Elytes in bags. Saw more GT2s than GT3s. Saw several Pings too, not always the newest head, but a number of guys had the G440 LST. Our buddy is still rocking a TaylorMade M1!
 

Talked to one pro on the Callaway staff who said drivers are so close now it’s all about how you set them up, but he felt the standard Elyte head gave him the best overall performance and consistency. 
 

Owned the G440 LST and it’s good but I had not played a Ping in some time and could not get used to the look of it. I do not see the point of the turbulators. If they offered the same head without them I wonder how many players would want them? In any case I think the Elyte and Qi35 are just as forgiving and I got a little more distance out of both. 

[hawkeye13]

13 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

I've tested both and the Elyte launched a degree higher, spun 200-400 rpm more and is neutral bias whereas the TD is slightly fade bias.  Driver of the year is 440 LST, IMO.  It was longer, higher ball speed especially high toe side compared to 430 LST and can be tweaked through the hosel settings to play neutral to slightly fade biased.  FYI, I'm not a fan of Ping drivers in general but 440 LST is crazy good.  As far as shafts.  Diamana WB is pretty much opposite EI profile of Kai'li white in that it starts off softer in the tip and gets stiff in the mid all the way up to the handle.  Kai'li white is mid and tip stiff with a softer handle.  Kai'li white has subtle kick under the handle while WB has a subtle kick in the lower mid.  WB also feels smoother, IMO.  Which Tensei are you thinking of?  1K pro white/orange?  I've had both plus 1k pro blue and tested the red.  I'm pretty much the same ss as you so ask away, hehe.        

Was looking at stock tensei 1k black or the pro orange. Up charge on diamana WB and pro orange. The kai'li dark waves white has no upcharge either. I liked the diamana back in the day but haven't hit one in years. 
 

Have you hit the kai'li dark waves?? Is it any different or just a new model? I may stick with that in the white model since I like my g430 setup. Can't get my g430 to draw but I used to suffer from hooks so I don't mind playing the cut. But I just found out about the triple diamond tour draw with the internal weight in the heel, that one has caught my eye now, too. 
 

of course I was smoking the g430 yesterday so I'm also considering just keeping it lol. But man I can trade that in plus a few old clubs I have laying around and get the Elyte for under 50 bucks. 
 

 

edit to add: thanks for the intel on diamana vs kai'li. I need to read up more on shafts.  Just know I like the 70g ballpark for weight and need a low launch/ low spin option. Used to have a px evenflow riptide 6.5 in a Mavrik that I hit pretty well, ton of distance smash 1.49 but 2 way miss. The g430 lst with kaili white 60x has completely eliminated the left miss besides occasional pull. Smash down around 1.45

Edited July 15 by hawkeye13
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[phizzy30]

53 minutes ago, hawkeye13 said:

Was looking at stock tensei 1k black or the pro orange. Up charge on diamana WB and pro orange. The kai'li dark waves white has no upcharge either. I liked the diamana back in the day but haven't hit one in years. 
 

Have you hit the kai'li dark waves?? Is it any different or just a new model? I may stick with that in the white model since I like my g430 setup. Can't get my g430 to draw but I used to suffer from hooks so I don't mind playing the cut. But I just found out about the triple diamond tour draw with the internal weight in the heel, that one has caught my eye now, too. 
 

of course I was smoking the g430 yesterday so I'm also considering just keeping it lol. But man I can trade that in plus a few old clubs I have laying around and get the Elyte for under 50 bucks. 
 

 

edit to add: thanks for the intel on diamana vs kai'li. I need to read up more on shafts.  Just know I like the 70g ballpark for weight and need a low launch/ low spin option. Used to have a px evenflow riptide 6.5 in a Mavrik that I hit pretty well, ton of distance smash 1.49 but 2 way miss. The g430 lst with kaili white 60x has completely eliminated the left miss besides occasional pull. Smash down around 1.45

I would recommend the 1k orange as it's EI profile is very similar to Kai'li white, however, it feels smoother, IMO.  Only thing is that it's counterbalanced, but it's only 2 swing weight points.  Easily remedied by adding weight to the head by lead tape, hot melt or heavier adjustable weight.  I've had the Kai'li dark waves blue and it's linear but softer across the board.  It's med from tip to grip.  It does have more kick than any of the other shafts you mentioned and easier to turnover.  Can turn you into a hook machine if you get too aggressive with it.  We share more than one thing in common as I also fight the hook and my current setup allows me to play the fade which has been great.    

[Phebus]

On 7/13/2025 at 7:30 PM, Phebus said:

Wow, if Worldwide Golf (Roger Dunn) or PGA Superstore honor the 2X trade in, I’ll get a new driver tomorrow. I’m going to have to make some calls. 

Well, both Roger Dunn and the PGASS honor the Callaway 2X trade deal, but their trade in values are much lower then what Callaway offers. So, I ordered a Elyte X Night Edition through the website and processed my trade ins through them. Anxious to get it, spoke to a customer service agent and he stated that although it is only available through pre order, that some are shipping now. 

[9thGreenAt9]

Just got my Elyte TD max as part of the 2X trade deal and the head is 3-4 grams lighter than my AI Smoke TD max. Both were purchased at standard length. Strange 

[bruinmw]

2 minutes ago, 9thGreenAt9 said:

Just got my Elyte TD max as part of the 2X trade deal and the head is 3-4 grams lighter than my AI Smoke TD max. Both were purchased at standard length. Strange 

The elyte TDMax I bought to test and returned was also about 5g lighter than my ais tdmax. Had to purchase some weights from billy bobs to bring the swingweight up.