TaylorMade Releases RocketBallz RBZ Driver & Tour Driver
This whole business of shortening the club and dealing with the change in swingweight is confusing as hell!
I'm thinking, get the club you want, at the length you want, and apply lead tape sparingly until you get the feel you want.
Here's an interesting comment I found on GolfReWound:
"After altering a few weights on my R7, for example, I decided to trim the shaft a bit more to get it down to 44-inches. Naturally, this threw off the swingweight and rather than get into a whole big thing with the head weights, I just whipped out the old lead tape and applied it to the back curve of the clubhead. When I was done, it was seamless and I'll bet that I could hand that club to anyone and have them look it over and at first glance they wouldn't even notice that there was any tape there at all."
I'm thinking, get the club you want, at the length you want, and apply lead tape sparingly until you get the feel you want.
Here's an interesting comment I found on GolfReWound:
"After altering a few weights on my R7, for example, I decided to trim the shaft a bit more to get it down to 44-inches. Naturally, this threw off the swingweight and rather than get into a whole big thing with the head weights, I just whipped out the old lead tape and applied it to the back curve of the clubhead. When I was done, it was seamless and I'll bet that I could hand that club to anyone and have them look it over and at first glance they wouldn't even notice that there was any tape there at all."
You could certainly cut it down and not readd the weight. If you are not sensitive to the swingweight change (which would be substantial), then no problem. Not every player I fit really senses swingweight. If you do not mind the cosmetics, adding lead tape is fine. You can do it gradually until you reach a point where you are having the best results - that might be at C9 or might be at D4 or you may not notice any difference.
One other note about cutting down a shaft that is not swingweight related. If you cut 2" off of your driver, you MIGHT see a lower launch angle. In some players I fit, we have to add loft to accomodate the shorter shaft due to the shorter swing arc. Please note that this does not apply to everyone. This is another reason why it is hard to buy a major OEM driver at sub 45" inches - you cannot demo them at that length.
Thanks asixa for your invaluable advice. C9 might be just right. That looks to be about 6 grams. My plan is to have Golfsmith cut down my G15 from 45.75" to 44". This way - at a small expense - I can see how I like the shorter length and experiment with lead tape.
Griff
Hey Man, Nice Shot
I hit the driver yesterday at GGalaxy. Hmm, not sure it was all that for me. The sound is a little annoying and I came away thinking the driver was decidedly unforgiving. Granted I'm off season, but I have been playing weekly. Maybe the K15 has me spoiled. I didn't see any numbers for comparison with my current driver. Liked the weight and feel.
Tmex
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Hit the RockBallz Tour Driver yesterday. I thought it was pretty good overall. Nice sound/feel at impact, more of a crushing sound/feel. The Tour Model was had the HD6 shaft in Stiff and 9* head. I hit some pretty good drives with it. Wasn't the most forgiving driver but it was decently long. Now I don't know if the RBZ tour Driver is part of this whole, 17 yards longer campaign but it wasn't the longest driver overall. The R11s for me got more out of good shots. I'd say if you took averages, it was second behind another driver and longer average than the R11s.
So I just got home from trying out the new RBZ tour 9* with the matrix ozik 60-s shaft in it.
Initial thoughts: Good looking driver, one of the better offerings I have seen from Taylormade, shaft felt a little whippy but overall a pretty solid feel.
warm up a bit with some easy half swings to get loose and then really start swinging at it and seeing what happens.
While it takes a bit to get used to the really light weight of the club, I am used to playing much heavier clubs (Callaway Octane, Edge) it didnt feel too light in my hands. didnt get a lot of weird shots or anything like that. On the miss hits which were usually off the heel they really went right, but for the most part dead straight. Now I was just on a simulator and it really doesnt pick up the ball very well and calculate distances very well, but some of the numbers I was seeing really surprised me. Getting upwards of high 150s and low 160s ball speed, about 13* of launch angle, said I was only going about 250 or so but there is no way that is right, I am thinking probably up by the 280-300 range. Very impressive since all of the old Taylormade's I have ever hit (r7, r9, etc.) I couldn't even imagine keeping it anywhere near the fairway. But this I was hitting long and straight.
I really liked the sound of this club, not to loud and pingy and also not dead either.
I really wanted to test the playability of this club and see how it did while trying to work the ball. Normally I have no problem hitting fades or draws or even sweeping hooks and slices if I want, but this just wouldn't do that. I could definitely fade the ball but there was no draw what so ever. didnt matter how hard I flipped my hands it just wouldnt turn over. I maybe got one to draw like 2 yards and that was it. 1 out of like 15 or so that I hit. So for me I wasnt really impressed with that aspect, especially since they claim it is a draw biased club.
Overall I thought it was a pretty solid club. Swing felt good, didnt feel like I was gonna put it in left field all day as I tend to feel with most Taylormade drivers. If I were in the market for a new driver (and I just might be) this is one I would definitively be keeping on my radar and would recommend to anyone to try out first. The price is really affordable for an adjustable driver and really a pretty solid club. I was surprisingly happy with the way it felt.
Initial thoughts: Good looking driver, one of the better offerings I have seen from Taylormade, shaft felt a little whippy but overall a pretty solid feel.
warm up a bit with some easy half swings to get loose and then really start swinging at it and seeing what happens.
While it takes a bit to get used to the really light weight of the club, I am used to playing much heavier clubs (Callaway Octane, Edge) it didnt feel too light in my hands. didnt get a lot of weird shots or anything like that. On the miss hits which were usually off the heel they really went right, but for the most part dead straight. Now I was just on a simulator and it really doesnt pick up the ball very well and calculate distances very well, but some of the numbers I was seeing really surprised me. Getting upwards of high 150s and low 160s ball speed, about 13* of launch angle, said I was only going about 250 or so but there is no way that is right, I am thinking probably up by the 280-300 range. Very impressive since all of the old Taylormade's I have ever hit (r7, r9, etc.) I couldn't even imagine keeping it anywhere near the fairway. But this I was hitting long and straight.
I really liked the sound of this club, not to loud and pingy and also not dead either.
I really wanted to test the playability of this club and see how it did while trying to work the ball. Normally I have no problem hitting fades or draws or even sweeping hooks and slices if I want, but this just wouldn't do that. I could definitely fade the ball but there was no draw what so ever. didnt matter how hard I flipped my hands it just wouldnt turn over. I maybe got one to draw like 2 yards and that was it. 1 out of like 15 or so that I hit. So for me I wasnt really impressed with that aspect, especially since they claim it is a draw biased club.
Overall I thought it was a pretty solid club. Swing felt good, didnt feel like I was gonna put it in left field all day as I tend to feel with most Taylormade drivers. If I were in the market for a new driver (and I just might be) this is one I would definitively be keeping on my radar and would recommend to anyone to try out first. The price is really affordable for an adjustable driver and really a pretty solid club. I was surprisingly happy with the way it felt.
zakery97
its in the cup
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im going to head out to GS today and give these a hit
Tbox
...By Height.
Leave the wallet at home. That is, unless you want to but a new driver.
Last night I actually didnt hit this one. I really didnt care for it the first time I hit it so Ive stayed away. Id like to revisit this one but outside in gale force FL winds.
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now that sounds like plan right there!
Nothing like some killer FL winds to blow my RBZ back into my face LOL
Actually the tour RBZ is neutral/open and the regular RBZ is the draw biased model.
imscottr
I Like Show Tunes!
Is that the only difference between the two? (Other than the shaft.) I'm wondering if one has a smaller sweet spot and is less forgiving.
Yeah. The tour has a slightly smaller head but a slightly bigger face than the regular. Just what I see. Not sure on the actual numbers
TipTappin'
DrMWP
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I went to GG at lunch and hit the Tour model in 9* stiff. Holy Cow! At the base settings (neutral 9*) I was hitting slight fades in the 230 - 240 range, 15 - 18* launch (I tend to flip my hands, lessons are helping :act-up
It really wasn't any longer than my current Callaway Diablo Octane. The sales guy then adjusted it to the first closed setting (8.5*) BOOM! 11 - 15 degree launch and yardages in the 245 - 260 range. Dispersion was pretty good. Mostly 5 - 10 yd draws with a couple mis-hit 15 yd fades (still 230!) I have, on occasion hit a 260 yarder with the Callaway, but I came out of my shoes on those. Today I was swinging in control and making good contact.
I actually like the sound of this! Well struck shots have a nice "tink" to them.
It really wasn't any longer than my current Callaway Diablo Octane. The sales guy then adjusted it to the first closed setting (8.5*) BOOM! 11 - 15 degree launch and yardages in the 245 - 260 range. Dispersion was pretty good. Mostly 5 - 10 yd draws with a couple mis-hit 15 yd fades (still 230!) I have, on occasion hit a 260 yarder with the Callaway, but I came out of my shoes on those. Today I was swinging in control and making good contact. I actually like the sound of this! Well struck shots have a nice "tink" to them.
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Danilo
Master Blaster!!
I had a chance to hit this today, same set-up as my Nike, 9.5* with S shaft... it just did not work out well at all for me. The shots felt great, but the distance was just not there at all. I would like to get a hold of the S stock shaft (matrix) and stick it on my Nike!
Tigerfansince72
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Hit this yesterday...didn't like the feel....liked the R11s MUCH more....better feel to the face when it made contact with ball like it sat on the face for a split second...gives much more feel of the ball than the RBZ. RBZ felt like the Superfast Burner with adjustability.
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Not to be a smart A, but I'm pretty sure that might be because that's what this club is probably supposed to be. Just a progression of the Burner line with adjustability.
Siri does my posting for me using Tapatalk.
Tigerfansince72
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Completely Understand... I thought it was going to be an improvement over the SF 2.0 with less spin but it wasn't. The ball ballooned off the face. R11 has a penetrating flight. I hit the RBZ against my old R9 460 and liked my old driver much better.
DrMWP
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OK, so I went back yesterday (different store) and hit the R11s 9.5* and the RBZ tour 9* both with s shaft. I went through a quick fitting with these two clubs and I could not get the R11s to work for me, nice feel, I like the sound but I just didn't meld with it. The RBZ was awesome! I suspect the launch monitor was very generous with its yardage measurements, but it showed an average SS of around 105 (up 8 mph from the R11s and my current Diablo Octane) with total yardages of, and this is the suspect part of the session, 290 - 315. I've never hit it longer than 260, well there was that one 300 yd drive, but that had a whole lot more to do with the gale force wind at my back than my ability. Launch angle was in the 14* range and spin was around 3000.
Dubiousness aside, I'm buying the RBZ and we'll see what the "real world" numbers are.
Dubiousness aside, I'm buying the RBZ and we'll see what the "real world" numbers are.
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