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TaylorMade Golf today introduced RocketBallz Max, a uniquely engineered iron for the player who wants every bit of distance and game-improvement help possible for higher, longer and straighter ball flights.
The combination of distance-enhancing and game-improvement technologies such as metalwood construction in every head, thin, unsupported faces, better grooves and tungsten weighting for easy-up ball flight, make the RBZ Max Irons the most advanced and longest TaylorMade iron to date.
“RocketBallz Max irons are like a beautiful sports car that you would see in a showroom,” said Bret Wahl, TaylorMade senior director of iron, wedge and putter research and development. “We applied a ‘maximum technology’ approach in the engineering process and left no stone unturned in the engineering process. The design, the progressive set-make-up and the incredible performance puts RocketBallz Max into a unique class. This is certainly the best performing super game-improvement iron we’ve ever created.”
Every RocketBallz Max head employs metalwood construction, with the face created separately from the hollow body. That allows the face to be unsupported (lacking braces or crosspieces behind it that could inhibit flex) and exceptionally thin, making it very fast in how it flexes and reflexes at impact. The face of every RocketBallz Max iron is so fast that the COR measures up to the maximum limit allowed by the Rules of Golf.
TaylorMade’s leadership and experience in the development of fast-faced irons has helped make RocketBallz Max not only longer, but also more accurate. “We’ve learned that the way a fast-face flexes can direct the shot off-line,” added Wahl. “To solve the problem, we strategically stiffened the area of the clubface near the toe to make the asymmetric shape of the face behave symmetrically. Although this is a new technology, we’ve already become extremely precise with it, enough to create a draw bias to the left with RocketBallz Max irons, which will help the multitude of players who regularly lose the ball to the right of their target.”
Individually Engineered, Improved CG Location and Latest Groove
Each RocketBallz Max clubhead is individually engineered to position the CG exceptionally low and deep-back in the head, and in precise alignment with the center of the face. Tungsten weighting is located in strategic areas of the sole, mainly at the toe and heel ends, to lower the CG and increase MOI. TaylorMade’s newest and highest performing groove is machined into every clubface to promote maximum spin – it’s the same high-spin design used in our R11 and RocketBallz irons.
RBX Max Engineered for Higher Handicap Players
RocketBallz Max short-irons are designed with the needs of higher handicap players in mind. We’ve studied thousands of swings using our high-tech custom-fitting and research tool, MAT-T (Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade) and discovered that, among the numerous fundamental differences between highly skilled players and high handicappers, one is that skilled players make a consistently descending blow with their short-irons usually at an angle of four to eight degrees. High handicappers, in contrast, swing every club, including the short-irons on a shallower approach path of about one degree. This presents the club head to the ball with a higher loft promoting a too-high trajectory, too little spin, and a significant loss of ball speed. To counter the problem, TaylorMade engineers strengthened RocketBallz Max short-iron lofts. That, combined with mass properties made possible by the hollow head, promotes a more aggressive flight when launched with a shallow downswing angle.
RBZ Max Wedges
The large, hollow heads of RocketBallz Max wedges incorporate an extremely broad, rounded sole to easily bounce through sand and glide through rough. Players who typically enter greenside bunkers with trepidation should gain massive confidence in their ability to get the ball safely out of the sand with RocketBallz Max wedges.
Graphite Shafts in RBZ Max Long Irons for Better Performance
RocketBallz Max long-irons (4-,5-) are automatically equipped with graphite shafts because our graphite shaft design makes a long-iron significantly easier to launch. Graphite is lighter weight to promote increased swing speed, and it promotes about ½ degree more launch angle and an additional 300 RPM (than steel), which together promote longer carry and distance. (Sets are available in all graphite or graphite in the long-irons and steel in the mid- and short-irons.)
Vibration Dampening Technology for Better Feel
Because RocketBallz Max irons are hollow, sound management was vital to the design process. We strategically positioned a new viscoelastic material called Hybrar™, created in Japan, into the upper chamber, behind the upper portion of the clubface. The combination of Hybrar’s material properties and where it’s positioned in the head allow it dampen unwanted vibration and sound without slowing the speed of the face – a critical concern.
The ultra-strong, 455 steel used in RocketBallz Max irons presented a problem when bending prototypes to change the loft and lie. We solved that problem by adding an internal extension of the chamber in the heel at the point of the hosel-to-face transition that makes bending significantly easier, allowing us to offer RBZ Max irons in 4 degrees upright through 4 degrees flat, and plus-or-minus 2 degrees in loft.
Shaft Specs
Stock shafts include steel KBS 90 Satin shafts with a beautiful new brush finish and Matrix’s new graphite Ozik Program HD model (55-gram men’s, 45-gram ladies’) that’s the first lightweight iron shaft to feature Matrix’s patented HD (16-sided internal structure) technology. The 16-sided design features a higher MOI than any traditional “round” shaft, promoting more forgiveness and enhanced feel.
Price and Availability
RocketBallz Max irons are available in 4-iron through LW, right-handed and left-handed (no left-handed LW). Sets of eight clubs are being sold at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1,299 with graphite-shafted long-irons, steel-shafted mid- and short-irons, $1,399 with graphite shafts throughout the set. Ladies’ RocketBallz Max irons are available in 5-iron through SW, at an MSRP of $1,399. Availability at retail starts on February 3, 2012.
The combination of distance-enhancing and game-improvement technologies such as metalwood construction in every head, thin, unsupported faces, better grooves and tungsten weighting for easy-up ball flight, make the RBZ Max Irons the most advanced and longest TaylorMade iron to date.
“RocketBallz Max irons are like a beautiful sports car that you would see in a showroom,” said Bret Wahl, TaylorMade senior director of iron, wedge and putter research and development. “We applied a ‘maximum technology’ approach in the engineering process and left no stone unturned in the engineering process. The design, the progressive set-make-up and the incredible performance puts RocketBallz Max into a unique class. This is certainly the best performing super game-improvement iron we’ve ever created.”
Every RocketBallz Max head employs metalwood construction, with the face created separately from the hollow body. That allows the face to be unsupported (lacking braces or crosspieces behind it that could inhibit flex) and exceptionally thin, making it very fast in how it flexes and reflexes at impact. The face of every RocketBallz Max iron is so fast that the COR measures up to the maximum limit allowed by the Rules of Golf.
TaylorMade’s leadership and experience in the development of fast-faced irons has helped make RocketBallz Max not only longer, but also more accurate. “We’ve learned that the way a fast-face flexes can direct the shot off-line,” added Wahl. “To solve the problem, we strategically stiffened the area of the clubface near the toe to make the asymmetric shape of the face behave symmetrically. Although this is a new technology, we’ve already become extremely precise with it, enough to create a draw bias to the left with RocketBallz Max irons, which will help the multitude of players who regularly lose the ball to the right of their target.”
Individually Engineered, Improved CG Location and Latest Groove
Each RocketBallz Max clubhead is individually engineered to position the CG exceptionally low and deep-back in the head, and in precise alignment with the center of the face. Tungsten weighting is located in strategic areas of the sole, mainly at the toe and heel ends, to lower the CG and increase MOI. TaylorMade’s newest and highest performing groove is machined into every clubface to promote maximum spin – it’s the same high-spin design used in our R11 and RocketBallz irons.
RBX Max Engineered for Higher Handicap Players
RocketBallz Max short-irons are designed with the needs of higher handicap players in mind. We’ve studied thousands of swings using our high-tech custom-fitting and research tool, MAT-T (Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade) and discovered that, among the numerous fundamental differences between highly skilled players and high handicappers, one is that skilled players make a consistently descending blow with their short-irons usually at an angle of four to eight degrees. High handicappers, in contrast, swing every club, including the short-irons on a shallower approach path of about one degree. This presents the club head to the ball with a higher loft promoting a too-high trajectory, too little spin, and a significant loss of ball speed. To counter the problem, TaylorMade engineers strengthened RocketBallz Max short-iron lofts. That, combined with mass properties made possible by the hollow head, promotes a more aggressive flight when launched with a shallow downswing angle.
RBZ Max Wedges
The large, hollow heads of RocketBallz Max wedges incorporate an extremely broad, rounded sole to easily bounce through sand and glide through rough. Players who typically enter greenside bunkers with trepidation should gain massive confidence in their ability to get the ball safely out of the sand with RocketBallz Max wedges.
Graphite Shafts in RBZ Max Long Irons for Better Performance
RocketBallz Max long-irons (4-,5-) are automatically equipped with graphite shafts because our graphite shaft design makes a long-iron significantly easier to launch. Graphite is lighter weight to promote increased swing speed, and it promotes about ½ degree more launch angle and an additional 300 RPM (than steel), which together promote longer carry and distance. (Sets are available in all graphite or graphite in the long-irons and steel in the mid- and short-irons.)
Vibration Dampening Technology for Better Feel
Because RocketBallz Max irons are hollow, sound management was vital to the design process. We strategically positioned a new viscoelastic material called Hybrar™, created in Japan, into the upper chamber, behind the upper portion of the clubface. The combination of Hybrar’s material properties and where it’s positioned in the head allow it dampen unwanted vibration and sound without slowing the speed of the face – a critical concern.
The ultra-strong, 455 steel used in RocketBallz Max irons presented a problem when bending prototypes to change the loft and lie. We solved that problem by adding an internal extension of the chamber in the heel at the point of the hosel-to-face transition that makes bending significantly easier, allowing us to offer RBZ Max irons in 4 degrees upright through 4 degrees flat, and plus-or-minus 2 degrees in loft.
Shaft Specs
Stock shafts include steel KBS 90 Satin shafts with a beautiful new brush finish and Matrix’s new graphite Ozik Program HD model (55-gram men’s, 45-gram ladies’) that’s the first lightweight iron shaft to feature Matrix’s patented HD (16-sided internal structure) technology. The 16-sided design features a higher MOI than any traditional “round” shaft, promoting more forgiveness and enhanced feel.
Price and Availability
RocketBallz Max irons are available in 4-iron through LW, right-handed and left-handed (no left-handed LW). Sets of eight clubs are being sold at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1,299 with graphite-shafted long-irons, steel-shafted mid- and short-irons, $1,399 with graphite shafts throughout the set. Ladies’ RocketBallz Max irons are available in 5-iron through SW, at an MSRP of $1,399. Availability at retail starts on February 3, 2012.
