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It's hard. There's no other way to put it. Just stinks.
For me, I just loved my irons and didn't want to play anything else. I fully expected to be entering into 2013 with them in the bag.
TaylorMade RocketBladez - Review Thread
It's hard. There's no other way to put it. Just stinks.
For me, I just loved my irons and didn't want to play anything else. I fully expected to be entering into 2013 with them in the bag.
If I remember correctly this is the 2nd report of this happening. Why not call TM? They might want to actually know this is happening so they can fix the problem going forward. And maybe you would get a replacement stick?
TM customer service is top notch. They will likely send you a new 7-iron all together.
My guess is that it was caused from condensation forming on the club, and then freezing overnight. Freezing = expanding and thus the plastic just seemed to pop off. Similar to how potholes form on roads.
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That was something I wondered about. I sometimes just leave them in my garage for days.
rafdo
Active member
Played 18 on Saturday, business as usual for the Rbladez- iron play was the most consistent part of my game. On the tee its another story, I'm a mess with the driver right now- sticking to 3 wood until I can work things out 
Played 9 hole executive course on Sunday with some Mizuno MP-59's to mix things up. I hit them pretty decent, but boy did I miss the Rbladez forgiveness on miss-hits low on the face. At some point I'd like to try out the Rbladez Tour version, they may be the best of both worlds combining forgiveness on shots low on the face + thinner soles.
Played 9 hole executive course on Sunday with some Mizuno MP-59's to mix things up. I hit them pretty decent, but boy did I miss the Rbladez forgiveness on miss-hits low on the face. At some point I'd like to try out the Rbladez Tour version, they may be the best of both worlds combining forgiveness on shots low on the face + thinner soles.
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Just the thought of change more than anything, money is always a concern when you aren't working but it's not the main road block. I really like so many different clubs right now it's not even funny. For irons I've narrowed it down to the Xforged, MP69's, and the Rbladz tour version. Xforged are beautiful and add a little distance to what I have, MP69's are similar to my current clubs and there's a big comfortability factor there (that's important to me) and then These, I hit the regular version and killed them on the launch monitors, I hit the 4 iron as far as I hit my 2 iron with a higher launch, but getting used to those kind of distances will hurt for a couple months. Just nitpicking at this point I guess, I've never been a big fan of Tmade until I hit the R1 and these really. Eye opening.
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Played 18 on Saturday, business as usual for the Rbladez- iron play was the most consistent part of my game. On the tee its another story, I'm a mess with the driver right now- sticking to 3 wood until I can work things out
Played 9 hole executive course on Sunday with some Mizuno MP-59's to mix things up. I hit them pretty decent, but boy did I miss the Rbladez forgiveness on miss-hits low on the face. At some point I'd like to try out the Rbladez Tour version, they may be the best of both worlds combining forgiveness on shots low on the face + thinner soles.
Interesting dude.
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While I'd played and enjoyed some TaylorMade gear in the past, I hadn't ever really found an iron set of theirs that did much for me prior to these. As for distance changes, I agree that could be a tough one to deal with if you're comfortable with how far you hit the ball. I know that is probably the most difficult adjustment for me when reviewing irons.
Slightly jealous... it's 56 here today too (if I double the temperature).
I am just waiting for this to happen to some of mine, as I have cleaned them and then left them in the car in 20* temps, but everything is holding up really well so far.
berty1027
New member
First off I want to say what a great job all of the testers are doing in this thread. I have followed along - and have a lot of the same obvservations. For those that aren't aware - I was the lucky winner of a set during THP's Holiday Contest (a huge thank you again to THP and TaylorMade). I wanted to chime in sooner - but work and a vacation has gotten in the way. I hope you all don't mind my 2 cents.
I want to start by saying this - I absolutely love my Callaways. I was custom fit for them at the beginning of last year. My iron game towards the end of 2012 has never been better. I love the look, the feel... basically everything about them. There was no way I was in the market to replace them this year, as I saw myself playing them for years. Having won the RocketBladez, I felt torn to be honest. I was happy with my current irons - but there was no way that I wasn't going to give these a shot based on all the advertisements and reviews. So here goes...
To this day, I have played 4 rounds with these irons, and 2 other range sessions. I have the RocketFuel Stiff shafts in them. The first round I played in CT on Dec 19th, a pretty windy 40 degree day - barely climbing to 50. The last 3 rounds were played in Florida in beautiful 70 degree weather (1 windy day) on Jan 23, 24, and 25. Both courses were familiar to me and my Callys - so I felt it was perfect to get a nice comparison.
I have been extremely, EXTREMELY impressed by these irons. Now - I want to stress that I am not going to speak to the distances as much as these are typically 1 club stronger than my cally's. Please see chart at the end of the post that I threw together real quick. You can easily see that in order to compare distance, I would need to pair up the cally 6i vs tm 7i (etc). Seeing as I didn't have both sets of irons, I couldn't do a side by side comparison correctly for distance. But I absolutely noticed I was at least a club longer - just based off my familiarity with the courses and what I used to hit from certain yardages / tee boxes.
The most important characteristic to me is accuracy. I also love a good high draw. Let me tell you that so far (and granted it is early) these irons shine brightly. The mishits are longer and straighter. The ball flight is very high - at least very high to me as I typically play it a lot closer to the ground. The number of well struck high draws that these irons produced over 4 rounds had to be at least double of what I normally see. I am very impressed with the ball flight - I can not stress that enough. During this small sample of rounds - I have seen a big improvement in my iron game. I can't remember a round recently where I had more than a handful of birdie looks inside 15 feet. During the first round in Florida, I had 4 - on the front nine alone. Had my SeeMore co-operated (was it the putter or the Putter?) - I could have been looking at a low round.
Off the tee - the 4i is money. All the long irons fly high and far. I am able to consistently hit the FW with them. Mid irons were just as impressive. One shot in particular (of course there always is one!) with a 6i really proved to me that these irons flat out PERFORM. Par 3 lasered 165 to the flag. There was a good bit of breeze straight into - so I decided to hit 6i (without the wind, would have probably tried to hit a hard 7 to the front portion of the green. Green sits on a right to left slant from front to back, with a bunker guarding short/middle left and another guarding middle/back right. Pin was all the way tucked in the back. Just hit a fantastic high, maybe 5 yard-ish draw to inside 15 feet. Of course I missed the putt, but I have had a hard time hitting that green in the past, and this shot was just top notch. One that I def have been thinking about over and over. Not being familiar with the lofts prior to my trip, I nuked a few short irons over greens early on which left a sour taste in my mouth - but once I am able to dial in the new distances, I am confident these clubs will supplant my Callys as the 2013 iron of choice. (that was honestly a bit hard to admit too)
Of course there have to be some negatives, right? I have 2 issues so far with the irons. First - I, by far, prefer the look of my Callys. Not to say these aren't pretty, but I love the Callys. Will obviously take whichever irons perform better though - I'd hit shovels if I could consistently score in the 70s. Secondly - I think I need to upgrade the shaft. I tended to hit better shots when I dialed back my swing a bit. When I went after one - I noticed a straight flight, but consistently 10 yards right of my target line. I would be interested in putting in a shaft like the KBS TOUR 120s that I have currently in my Callys. But then again - there is nothing wrong with dialing back the swing and still getting solid distance.
All in all - color me impressed. I know its only been 4 rounds, but I am really looking forward to hitting these again - especially side by side comparisons with my Callys. That's the only way I will know for sure.
Thanks for bearing with me during this long post - and for letting me share my thoughts on these sticks. Keep up the great work testers! I look forward to reading more of your reviews, and posting some more of my thoughts.
I want to start by saying this - I absolutely love my Callaways. I was custom fit for them at the beginning of last year. My iron game towards the end of 2012 has never been better. I love the look, the feel... basically everything about them. There was no way I was in the market to replace them this year, as I saw myself playing them for years. Having won the RocketBladez, I felt torn to be honest. I was happy with my current irons - but there was no way that I wasn't going to give these a shot based on all the advertisements and reviews. So here goes...
To this day, I have played 4 rounds with these irons, and 2 other range sessions. I have the RocketFuel Stiff shafts in them. The first round I played in CT on Dec 19th, a pretty windy 40 degree day - barely climbing to 50. The last 3 rounds were played in Florida in beautiful 70 degree weather (1 windy day) on Jan 23, 24, and 25. Both courses were familiar to me and my Callys - so I felt it was perfect to get a nice comparison.
I have been extremely, EXTREMELY impressed by these irons. Now - I want to stress that I am not going to speak to the distances as much as these are typically 1 club stronger than my cally's. Please see chart at the end of the post that I threw together real quick. You can easily see that in order to compare distance, I would need to pair up the cally 6i vs tm 7i (etc). Seeing as I didn't have both sets of irons, I couldn't do a side by side comparison correctly for distance. But I absolutely noticed I was at least a club longer - just based off my familiarity with the courses and what I used to hit from certain yardages / tee boxes.
The most important characteristic to me is accuracy. I also love a good high draw. Let me tell you that so far (and granted it is early) these irons shine brightly. The mishits are longer and straighter. The ball flight is very high - at least very high to me as I typically play it a lot closer to the ground. The number of well struck high draws that these irons produced over 4 rounds had to be at least double of what I normally see. I am very impressed with the ball flight - I can not stress that enough. During this small sample of rounds - I have seen a big improvement in my iron game. I can't remember a round recently where I had more than a handful of birdie looks inside 15 feet. During the first round in Florida, I had 4 - on the front nine alone. Had my SeeMore co-operated (was it the putter or the Putter?) - I could have been looking at a low round.
Off the tee - the 4i is money. All the long irons fly high and far. I am able to consistently hit the FW with them. Mid irons were just as impressive. One shot in particular (of course there always is one!) with a 6i really proved to me that these irons flat out PERFORM. Par 3 lasered 165 to the flag. There was a good bit of breeze straight into - so I decided to hit 6i (without the wind, would have probably tried to hit a hard 7 to the front portion of the green. Green sits on a right to left slant from front to back, with a bunker guarding short/middle left and another guarding middle/back right. Pin was all the way tucked in the back. Just hit a fantastic high, maybe 5 yard-ish draw to inside 15 feet. Of course I missed the putt, but I have had a hard time hitting that green in the past, and this shot was just top notch. One that I def have been thinking about over and over. Not being familiar with the lofts prior to my trip, I nuked a few short irons over greens early on which left a sour taste in my mouth - but once I am able to dial in the new distances, I am confident these clubs will supplant my Callys as the 2013 iron of choice. (that was honestly a bit hard to admit too)
Of course there have to be some negatives, right? I have 2 issues so far with the irons. First - I, by far, prefer the look of my Callys. Not to say these aren't pretty, but I love the Callys. Will obviously take whichever irons perform better though - I'd hit shovels if I could consistently score in the 70s. Secondly - I think I need to upgrade the shaft. I tended to hit better shots when I dialed back my swing a bit. When I went after one - I noticed a straight flight, but consistently 10 yards right of my target line. I would be interested in putting in a shaft like the KBS TOUR 120s that I have currently in my Callys. But then again - there is nothing wrong with dialing back the swing and still getting solid distance.
All in all - color me impressed. I know its only been 4 rounds, but I am really looking forward to hitting these again - especially side by side comparisons with my Callys. That's the only way I will know for sure.
Thanks for bearing with me during this long post - and for letting me share my thoughts on these sticks. Keep up the great work testers! I look forward to reading more of your reviews, and posting some more of my thoughts.
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Great writeup, berty!
Remember, launch is what determines the number on the club. So if 7i's (for example) have the same trajectory then it is fair to assess distance differences on those clubs regardless of the lofts.
Dang I want to get out and hit these...like right now.
Remember, launch is what determines the number on the club. So if 7i's (for example) have the same trajectory then it is fair to assess distance differences on those clubs regardless of the lofts.
Dang I want to get out and hit these...like right now.
Oregon Golfer
#XBomb
In just getting caught up in this thread after a crazy busy past week or so. Lots of good reviews and educated thoughts about the testing, good job guys.
Hawk, I really appreciated the Vector testing with the impact tape pics. It's one thing to hear someone say "I hit it out towards the toe and it went about 180" but to see the LM results and the exact impact spot is awesome. I am really impressed with the forgiveness towards the toe. That's great as that is where I commonly miss with longer irons.
Chipped via Tapatalk, never chutted.
Hawk, I really appreciated the Vector testing with the impact tape pics. It's one thing to hear someone say "I hit it out towards the toe and it went about 180" but to see the LM results and the exact impact spot is awesome. I am really impressed with the forgiveness towards the toe. That's great as that is where I commonly miss with longer irons.
Chipped via Tapatalk, never chutted.
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My pleasure. I was hoping it would be useful. It's something I've been really curious about lately because I think forgiveness is a term that gets used subjectively quite often.
Sounds like you're having fun so far with these Berty! I am also jealous that you had the opportunity to hit these in warm weather, but have had similar observations during my testing with the RocketFuel shafts: less=more when talking about going after the ball with these shafts. I hope you continue to enjoy them and look forward to your future updates.
cmossotti
New member
im in quite the dilemma here guys. Ive made up my mind that the rocketbladez are for sure the head i want. Im having a real difficult time picking out shafts. Ive hit both the KBS tours and the KBS tour 90's. I really like the feel of the 90's even though there not the shaft that has been suggested to me by KBS and a fitter at GG. They both suggested the tours. Another fitter told me i would be fine playing the 90's.
my main goal to acheive from these shafts is a higher ball flight. basically the fitter that told me to play the 90's said putting the tours in these heads wouldnt really make sense if i was looking for that higher ball flight. so as you can see im getting conflicting reports.
the other issue for me is price. basically ive been talking to a few sellers on ebay with very high feeback and many auctions under there belt. they can be had for $600. the issue im running into with the two sellers ive been in contact with is there telling me that the KBS tour 90 isnt a shaft option from taylormade. There saying the KBS 90 is tho. My understanding is that last years KBS 90 shaft is the same as this years KBS tour 90 shaft. they just added tour in there. Ive told this to one of the sellers and he is sure thats not the case. He sounds very knowledgeable and sent me a lengthy email explaining why. heres one of the auctions ive been interested in. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TaylorMade-...70748830733?pt=Golf_Clubs&hash=item56525a340d
my other option for purchase is buy them at my local golf dome. (turning stone casino verona NY) they have an exceptional staff on hand. There price is 799 but it includes a free fitting from a pga professional and a complimentary round on atunyote club. $225 greens fee a few pga tour events on this track etc.
my gut is telling me to suck it up and pay the full 799 and be done with it, but wanted to here what you guys had to say first
my main goal to acheive from these shafts is a higher ball flight. basically the fitter that told me to play the 90's said putting the tours in these heads wouldnt really make sense if i was looking for that higher ball flight. so as you can see im getting conflicting reports.
the other issue for me is price. basically ive been talking to a few sellers on ebay with very high feeback and many auctions under there belt. they can be had for $600. the issue im running into with the two sellers ive been in contact with is there telling me that the KBS tour 90 isnt a shaft option from taylormade. There saying the KBS 90 is tho. My understanding is that last years KBS 90 shaft is the same as this years KBS tour 90 shaft. they just added tour in there. Ive told this to one of the sellers and he is sure thats not the case. He sounds very knowledgeable and sent me a lengthy email explaining why. heres one of the auctions ive been interested in. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TaylorMade-...70748830733?pt=Golf_Clubs&hash=item56525a340d
my other option for purchase is buy them at my local golf dome. (turning stone casino verona NY) they have an exceptional staff on hand. There price is 799 but it includes a free fitting from a pga professional and a complimentary round on atunyote club. $225 greens fee a few pga tour events on this track etc.
my gut is telling me to suck it up and pay the full 799 and be done with it, but wanted to here what you guys had to say first
Great feedback notwithstanding, I am just suspicious of anyone that claims they can sell the clubs for @ 70% of retail when the clubs have only been on the market for about 2 months. This is just me, but if I am going to spend this much money on new clubs I want as close to 100% assurance that everything is going to be perfect. That would drive me toward going with a B&M shop where pricing doesn't raise questions and toward the place where I could be personally fit to the correct shafts (btw, if trajectory is your main driver, the stock shafts are flighted and get the ball up consistently and easily. I realize they aren't KBS. Just sayin).
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