TaylorMade R11 Driver & Fairway Wood Review Thread

[sjf25]

I got the same feeling. When I picked up my 3 wood the other day with the Marix Ozik HD 7 stiff shaft, it also felt whippy. Tried it in the sim and was smoking it 260 in the fairway so it worked but it did feel whippy when waggled though.

I think my driver and my 3 wood influence the thoughts on the shaft. Both my Driver and 3W are stiff stock shafts but when I waggle and just kind of whip the club back and forth you can really see the flex and feel it, when I do it with the 4w there is not as much whip in the shaft as my other two clubs. My Driver and 3w actually felt really whippy compared to this so I feel the blur is actually stiffer in my opinion.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

I felt that same way with my Cobra FW Dent. Do you have the Aldila NV shafts in yours? Im sure the weakness/whippyness in my Cobra was the reason my main miss with that club was a big hook.

 

[Dent]

I felt that same way with my Cobra FW Dent. Do you have the Aldila NV shafts in yours? Im sure the weakness/whippyness in my Cobra was the reason my main miss with that club was a big hook.

My driver has the stock Diamana and my 3W has a stock Speeder.

I've heard too whippy of a shaft causes a high ballooning slice like I had or like you said a hook, does it cause both? Why exactly does it cause a hook because ever since last year I have been fighting that badly.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

My driver has the stock Diamana and my 3W has a stock Speeder.

I've heard too whippy of a shaft causes a high ballooning slice like I had or like you said a hook, does it cause both? Why exactly does it cause a hook because ever since last year I have been fighting that badly.

Im not a big physics guy so Im not 100% sure but I think was causes the hook is the weaker shaft allowing the clubhead to release to early through impact. For instance if I try and hit a regular flex shaft I will hit hooks all day. But like I said dont quote me on that because Im not positive thats what causes it.

 

[Mercer85]

Well... I went out to hit the R11 like I intended. I was told I was not allowed.

Titleist and Ping.... I could hit any of those I wanted out of the cart.

The R11 though... fitting only! $50 for the fitting.

This is insane in my opinion. So I could have paid $50 and them fit me for the R11... If it wasn't the club for me the only options I would have had was the Titleist and Ping. Those don't work and I need a Cleveland, Callaway, Adams, or Nike.... well just paid $50 for nothing.

Am I wrong here?

Why not let someone hit the club and if they like the feel set up a fitting to get the right shaft and settings.

I did get to hit the RAZR Tour Irons which I've had my eye on, but I don't know where I will hit the R11 now outside in the Dayton area.

 

[sox1212]

That's what this place is, but I really doubt they let me take the wrench. I can fit myself so I really hope they let me, but i highly doubt it.

You can always try purchasing online, such as TGW.com, where they have a 30 day playability guarantee and you can return it at no charge (less shipping). You eventually have to buy something from them but if you try this and don't like it try a titelist or something. Between the two you should find one that works.

 

[sox1212]

Im not a big physics guy so Im not 100% sure but I think was causes the hook is the weaker shaft allowing the clubhead to release to early through impact. For instance if I try and hit a regular flex shaft I will hit hooks all day. But like I said dont quote me on that because Im not positive thats what causes it.

You are correct - a weaker shaft can cause a hook for some. If your a slicer and hit a regular you may want to try a stiff. Before everyone goes bananas I know there are other factors, I was just addressing this one.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

Well... I went out to hit the R11 like I intended. I was told I was not allowed.

Titleist and Ping.... I could hit any of those I wanted out of the cart.

The R11 though... fitting only! $50 for the fitting.

This is insane in my opinion. So I could have paid $50 and them fit me for the R11... If it wasn't the club for me the only options I would have had was the Titleist and Ping. Those don't work and I need a Cleveland, Callaway, Adams, or Nike.... well just paid $50 for nothing.

Am I wrong here?

Why not let someone hit the club and if they like the feel set up a fitting to get the right shaft and settings.

I did get to hit the RAZR Tour Irons which I've had my eye on, but I don't know where I will hit the R11 now outside in the Dayton area.

Wow I agree that is pretty ridiculous but then again I thought it was ridiculous that your course dosent just let you hit demo clubs on the range. Yeah I wouldnt waste $50 on those guys.

 

[sox1212]

Wasn't selected to do a review, but I recently got fitted for a driver and R11 came out the club. Purchased one (9 deg, stiff blur 60), and got in my first 18 with it on Saturday.

Look: Love the club, definitely the attention grabber when you step up to the first tee. Really enjoy the black/white contrast as it gives a perfect picture of face angle at address. The black face is great to look at after a drive to see where you made contact on the face.

Feel/Sound: This is my first driver since the R5, so a lot has chanced in technology. The R11 feels much lighter in my hand, however I feel like I have a better awareness of where the head of the club is during my entire swing. The sound produced from a solid hit is a bit muted, but it is a solid sound. Not the metallic sound of previous generaition drivers - more of a profound THWACK! You can tell when you get a hold of one, it just feels absolutely amazing. When you hit one off-center, you do feel some feedback, but not in a bad way. Every hit still feels solid.

Launch: Boom! My average swing speed is about 112MPH, and i produce around a 12.5deg launch with around 2800 RPMS. The numbers I put on the launch monitor are the main reason I got this club. The ball simply explodes off the club face and I get some of the most penetrating ball flight I have ever gotten.

Accuracy: My main draw to the club. My normal swing produces around a 2-5 yard fade, but with the R11 I get an absolute straight ball flight (with all adjustable settings in their "stock" setting). Even on my misses, I was hitting fairways.

Distance: Hard to judge how much longer I was hitting the R11 due to course conditions (wet and windy), but I was sure happy with the results. For the most part, I was hitting drives about 280-285. Into a 20MPH, I was still sitting around 265. With the wind at my back, I put a few over 300. Very rewarding.

Overall: It's only been one full round, but I am very happy with my purchase. It might not give me the best distance, but this club does everything well and I highly recommend everybody give one a shot if you have the opportunity for a demo.

Small world Jukes - I play Mercer all the time. Was a resident for a few years and just moved back to Monmouth Cty.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

Got another round with the R11 in yesterday and man oh man I was yet gain happy with it.

Hole #1- Par 4- 325 yards. Its all up hill and if you dont hit it hard enough the ball will literally roll back to the bottom, hi tthe R11 and was 55 yards out.

Hole #5 416 yard par 4, hit a drive and was 100 ards out. it was one of my best drives of the day as far as ball flight and dirsction.

Hole #7 is a par5 545 yards- was 250 out and decided to lay up from there. Again, great straight ball flight with a very slight fade, got the ball a little higher than I would have liked but I was happy with it.

#8 is a shorter par 4- 335, again up hill the hole way with the green surrounded by bunkers. I was in the bunker that is just short of the green. Managed a par

#9 par 4- 350 yards...all down hill with a creek just before the green. Hit my drive perfect, on the right line and never could find my ball, I dont think it was in the creek but just passed it and plugged where I couldnt find it. It was kind of disppointing after such a greta drive.

My driving continued like this throughout the round. I was very happy with the R11. I love the weight of the club, for some reason it sets up perfect for me and right now I finally have my confidence back with my driver.

Wow, great playing with the R11!!! Between you and TC you could launch an ad campaign and sell MILLIONS of these things!

 

[Staples]

R11 T3 FW

I played a few holes tonight and tried a few different shots with the T3. I still have the FCT set on Neutral, but have set the ASP to "open". I didn't hit any tee shots tonight with the T3 so I could focus on hitting it from the turf. I received a tip this weekend to move the ball a little farther ahead in my stance to try and get a little more launch. I hit 3 shots from 250 yards out on a straight par 5. It rained this morning, so everything was soft and soggy. The first shot was a little thin, but ended up a few yards from the front of the green. The second shot I struck well and carried to the bunker on the front left, which was roughly a 235 yard carry. The ball had a higher trajectory than the first shot and would have held the green had it carried the bunker. The third shot I ended up pushing it into the woods along the cart path.

The next scenario, I threw a ball out in the fairway of another par 5 that played 237 yards to the pin. I would normally lay up on this hole if I had this shot due to the creek in front of the green. The hole looks like this...

I hit the first shot and pushed it a little over the trees on the right. It clipped the top and kicked pin high, just off of the green. The second shot I struck pure, and it carried just short and left of the pin and rolled roughly 10 feet.

You can see the ball mark at the bottom of the picture.

Final result.

I really like the T3 and find myself getting better each time I use it from the fairway. I used to be very tentative when pulling a 3 wood for a turf shot and would usually just lay up. My confidence from the fairway is growing and laying up won't be happening in the near future. I plan to put in a range session and experiment with different settings whenever it dries up. Hopefully by the end of the week I can hit a few bags of balls and not have mud flying up in my face. Until next time....

 

[Dent]

Thanks for the writeup DD, I'm really looking forward to your review on how it is off the tee.

 

[Staples]

Thanks for the writeup DD, I'm really looking forward to your review on how it is off the tee.

Thanks Dent. Check some of the earlier posts I made on the T3 for some tee perfomance. I will say it's a monster off of the tee! I have outdriven my driver with the T3 and it stays in the fairway.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

Nice write up dude. Awwwh I hate erated greens (yeah I have no idea how to spell that).

 

[royalwulff]

Nice write up dirtydawg! Great pics also.

 

[Staples]

Nice write up dude. Awwwh I hate erated greens (yeah I have no idea how to spell that).

Haha, close enough. They do suck and I didn't even bother putting today. I had some on friday that looked more like I was playing plinko than putting.

 

[Staples]

Nice write up dirtydawg! Great pics also.

Thanks royal! I am slowly catching up on everyone's testing posts from the weekend/today.

 

[9-Iron Man]

I'm sure it's just me here, but in the pic at address, the club head looks huge! Really deep too. I'm sure it's just the picture though. It's good to here this club is good off the deck. That's primarily where I would use mine because I'm not long off the tee, and my driver was always better at getting it out there than my 3 wood. I'm currently mulling over some options for a new fairway wood vs 2 or 3 hybrid and these definitely seem like good contenders.

Great job being done by all the testers!

 

[Staples]

I'm sure it's just me here, but in the pic at address, the club head looks huge! Really deep too. I'm sure it's just the picture though. It's good to here this club is good off the deck. That's primarily where I would use mine because I'm not long off the tee, and my driver was always better at getting it out there than my 3 wood. I'm currently mulling over some options for a new fairway wood vs 2 or 3 hybrid and these definitely seem like good contenders.

Great job being done by all the testers!

The head isn't really huge at all. The face is about the same heighth as my R9 3 wood. I have hit one other strong 3 wood before (I think it was the 08 Burner) and the face was definitely bigger. It might as well had been a mini driver and was next to impossible (for me) to hit off the deck. I am not having any difficulty hitting the R11 T3 from the deck when I pay attention and focus on my swing. I will try and get a pic of the face depth compared to a ball next time I am on the course, though.

 

[One-T]

Wow, great playing with the R11!!! Between you and TC you could launch an ad campaign and sell MILLIONS of these things!

hahaha...thanks buddy. I am loving this club so far. 2 rounds, and 2 great driving rounds. I hope it keeps up

 

[Hawk]

I'm sure it's just me here, but in the pic at address, the club head looks huge! Really deep too. I'm sure it's just the picture though. It's good to here this club is good off the deck. That's primarily where I would use mine because I'm not long off the tee, and my driver was always better at getting it out there than my 3 wood. I'm currently mulling over some options for a new fairway wood vs 2 or 3 hybrid and these definitely seem like good contenders.

Great job being done by all the testers!

When I had the chance to check these out in person, I thought they seemed very large, even though they aren't. Weird how that works.

 

[Mercer85]

I think I may have to go into work after I get done subbing today and hit the R11 in multiple positions and look at my launch angle, spin, etc.... Still very unhappy about the range that I go to all the time won't let someone hit an R11 without spending $50 for a fitting. You hit and you don't like it...you go home with $50 less to put toward the right Driver.

 

[Mardin]

You are correct - a weaker shaft can cause a hook for some. If your a slicer and hit a regular you may want to try a stiff. Before everyone goes bananas I know there are other factors, I was just addressing this one.

You may not always need to jump from a regular to a stiff flex if you are slicing the ball. You may just need a smidge heavier shaft. With the R11 many of those slice problems can be fixed with the settings. Because every setting has the oppurtunity to fix the slice (weight in heel, close face, lower loft to bring down spin rate). I thought I had to jump to a stiff flex at my fitting. But after working with the fitter he let the R11 do its job and the rest is history.

 

[Mercer85]

What is the difference between the TP and regular model? Is it just that the TP comes with shaft options?

 

[CharlieMoy]

You may not always need to jump from a regular to a stiff flex if you are slicing the ball. You may just need a smidge heavier shaft. With the R11 many of those slice problems can be fixed with the settings. Because every setting has the oppurtunity to fix the slice (weight in heel, close face, lower loft to bring down spin rate). I thought I had to jump to a stiff flex at my fitting. But after working with the fitter he let the R11 do its job and the rest is history.

I know people that can hit a straight ball regardless of the shaft. Sometimes it isnt the equipment guys.