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- #1,101
hah! edited..
TaylorMade RocketBladez - Review Thread
hah! edited..
mikedean441
6X HOF
he meant bladez, we hit some down in Myrtle with a few other THPERS
I took a few swings, didnt go too well, but by that point in the day I was exhausted and didnt have much left in the tank. Would like to try them out again though and see how it pans out.
I actually had a bit of the opposite reaction. After taking a few swings with OG's forged 8i I thought I could tell a difference. While the RocketBladez feel good, I thought OG's Srixon ZStars felt better...a little more 'silent' when hitting the ball. Not sure if that make sense...to use a baseball analogy, when you completely pure a ball it almost feels like the ball was never there. I thought the Srixon's were more squarely in that range than the Bladez.
So I finally got to play with my new irons (a little). One round this weekend due to the rain.
Just as a reminder I got the 5-LW with NS Pro950gh shafts Stiff (softstepped once) with Lamkin Perma Wrap 3Gen grips. (Old Irons 6-PW, Mizuno JPX-800HD w/TT Dynalite XP, Reg)
I hit the ball low and have for quite some time but I counldn't get used to the thick top line on the Mizuno's plus it still wasn't the ball flight I was looking for.
These Rocketbaldez look amazing. After playing the Mizuno's they almost look like a blade. Had no issues with ball striking sound although I still have a small sample set to go by.
First impression is that the ball flight is defintely higher (if I hit the little ball first that is!!) Had some inconsistent ball striking. My best excuse (in my head) was how muddy everything was from the rain!!! When I made solid contact the ball flight & distance were better than the Mizunos in the summertime. Need much more testing confirm this though. The irons feel very solid when struck well.
Looking forward to working with them again this week!! More to come...
Just as a reminder I got the 5-LW with NS Pro950gh shafts Stiff (softstepped once) with Lamkin Perma Wrap 3Gen grips. (Old Irons 6-PW, Mizuno JPX-800HD w/TT Dynalite XP, Reg)
I hit the ball low and have for quite some time but I counldn't get used to the thick top line on the Mizuno's plus it still wasn't the ball flight I was looking for.
These Rocketbaldez look amazing. After playing the Mizuno's they almost look like a blade. Had no issues with ball striking sound although I still have a small sample set to go by.
First impression is that the ball flight is defintely higher (if I hit the little ball first that is!!) Had some inconsistent ball striking. My best excuse (in my head) was how muddy everything was from the rain!!! When I made solid contact the ball flight & distance were better than the Mizunos in the summertime. Need much more testing confirm this though. The irons feel very solid when struck well.
Looking forward to working with them again this week!! More to come...
- Admin
- #1,105
Good info. Looking forward to following your thoughts as you get more time with them.
Proteacher
Golf Coach
My Rocketbladez came in today. I will be picking them up later in the afternoon. Yeah !!!!!
Proteacher
Golf Coach
YES, northern part of Indiana, it is supposed to be in the mid 40s by Wednesday so I will play then, can't wait !!!
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1,109
Good deal. I'm over in the Valpo area occasionally. Your weather is pretty similar to ours then. It's looking like we still have a couple weeks of golfable weather at the least.
Fbickley
New member
Just ordered my set! Hopefully I can get my wife to let me play them before Christmas! I went with Graphite because it seemed to be reducing my slice, so we will see how it goes. For a brand new golfer, I am pretty excited about long irons I can actually get of the ground. Lie may be an issue, but I'll adjust that later.
Thanks again to THP for all the info! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute one day when I can actually get a consistant swing.
Thanks again to THP for all the info! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute one day when I can actually get a consistant swing.
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1,111
Congrats on ordering them! Please do stop back. Feedback from every skill level is valuable here. There's a whole bunch of people just like you that are looking for real-world information.
Congrats on your order! From what I've seen so far from mine, you will be very satisfied with your purchase!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
REFERENCE LINKS
REFERENCE INFO:
· Driver Swing Speed: 95mph
· 7i Swing Speed: 83mph
· ScoringAvg: Low 90s, occasionally in the high 80’s
· Typical Miss: Off the heel / block right
Course / Conditions / Ball:
Chambers Bay (Tacoma, WA). The course was wet but extremely playable. The temps were in the low 40’s. It was overcast on the front 9 and a misty rain greeted us on the back 9. I played the Top Flight Gamer V2 today.
Session:
Long Irons (4, 5):
The round seemed to bring an awful lot of long shots into the green. In normal circumstances I would pull my 3h or 4h but I tried repeatedly with the 4i today to enable testing. Bad swings, bad results.
There were some instances where I didn’t get down through the ball with the 5i and hit it thin. It sounded noticeably bad (i.e., my playing partners made immediate comments like “that didn’t sound good”) but resulted in gentle fades that ended up in the fairway 175-185 yards out. As misses go, this is pretty darn solid (185 = my 5i distance on well struck balls with my prior clubs). Well struck balls did exactly what they should do – they produced a penetrating ball flight that carried a good distance.
Middle Irons (6, 7, 8):
The round just didn’t present many opportunities for 6 and 7 irons into the greens. I had a few opportunities to play recovery shots from deeper rough and weird lies where the ball was down in the mess. Normally I would use a higher lofted club but for whatever reason I went with 6i. Both times the ball came out nicely and the recovery was achieved. I think this is a good sign regarding the sole’s interaction with the turf.
In reviewing my notes, I see several positives with the 8i. 155 yards from the light rough to about 12 feet. 145 yards up hill to pin high left of the hole. 150 yards from the fairway to the front of the green. My one miss with this club was wide right of the green. I put the club down at my feet and discovered I hit it straight as an arrow, right where I was lined up. BTW, 155 yards would be my comfortable summer yardage with my old 7i; I didn’t step on it with any of these 8i’s, just normal swings.
Scoring Irons (9, PW, AW):
There were several highlights here…a ¾ 9 iron from 128 yards to about 10’ (for fun I hit a full PW here too and ended up pin high but about 20 – 25 feet left of the pin). Two times I hit the AW thin from @105. Both times the ball had a much lower trajectory than usual but still held the green. I didn’t deserve those results :bashful: During warm-ups I was able to open the AW’s face up and hit some baby flop shots, an early indication of the ATV technology being incorporated into these wedges. There was an AW from a fairway bunker/waste area, 105 to the pin. The ball came out clean, flew high and straight and landed gently on the front of the green. These clubs (and the 8i too) induce confidence. I really like them.
Summary:
The lowlight of the round was clearly the 4i. We are not getting along and it is my fault.
The highlight of the round was going 4 for 4 on GIR’s on the par 3s. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before in my life. The clubs clearly helped here (see description of low trajectory AW’s holding green, above).
- Background Info & Testing Thoughts: CLICK HERE
- Initial Impressions and First Range Session: CLICK HERE
- Fitting and Range Time: CLICK HERE
REFERENCE INFO:
· Driver Swing Speed: 95mph
· 7i Swing Speed: 83mph
· ScoringAvg: Low 90s, occasionally in the high 80’s
· Typical Miss: Off the heel / block right
Course / Conditions / Ball:
Chambers Bay (Tacoma, WA). The course was wet but extremely playable. The temps were in the low 40’s. It was overcast on the front 9 and a misty rain greeted us on the back 9. I played the Top Flight Gamer V2 today.
Session:
Long Irons (4, 5):
The round seemed to bring an awful lot of long shots into the green. In normal circumstances I would pull my 3h or 4h but I tried repeatedly with the 4i today to enable testing. Bad swings, bad results.
There were some instances where I didn’t get down through the ball with the 5i and hit it thin. It sounded noticeably bad (i.e., my playing partners made immediate comments like “that didn’t sound good”) but resulted in gentle fades that ended up in the fairway 175-185 yards out. As misses go, this is pretty darn solid (185 = my 5i distance on well struck balls with my prior clubs). Well struck balls did exactly what they should do – they produced a penetrating ball flight that carried a good distance.
Middle Irons (6, 7, 8):
The round just didn’t present many opportunities for 6 and 7 irons into the greens. I had a few opportunities to play recovery shots from deeper rough and weird lies where the ball was down in the mess. Normally I would use a higher lofted club but for whatever reason I went with 6i. Both times the ball came out nicely and the recovery was achieved. I think this is a good sign regarding the sole’s interaction with the turf.
In reviewing my notes, I see several positives with the 8i. 155 yards from the light rough to about 12 feet. 145 yards up hill to pin high left of the hole. 150 yards from the fairway to the front of the green. My one miss with this club was wide right of the green. I put the club down at my feet and discovered I hit it straight as an arrow, right where I was lined up. BTW, 155 yards would be my comfortable summer yardage with my old 7i; I didn’t step on it with any of these 8i’s, just normal swings.
Scoring Irons (9, PW, AW):
There were several highlights here…a ¾ 9 iron from 128 yards to about 10’ (for fun I hit a full PW here too and ended up pin high but about 20 – 25 feet left of the pin). Two times I hit the AW thin from @105. Both times the ball had a much lower trajectory than usual but still held the green. I didn’t deserve those results :bashful: During warm-ups I was able to open the AW’s face up and hit some baby flop shots, an early indication of the ATV technology being incorporated into these wedges. There was an AW from a fairway bunker/waste area, 105 to the pin. The ball came out clean, flew high and straight and landed gently on the front of the green. These clubs (and the 8i too) induce confidence. I really like them.
Summary:
The lowlight of the round was clearly the 4i. We are not getting along and it is my fault.
The highlight of the round was going 4 for 4 on GIR’s on the par 3s. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before in my life. The clubs clearly helped here (see description of low trajectory AW’s holding green, above).
Oregon Golfer
#XBomb
Good write up Tequila. I think that's a great recap of what I saw yesterday.
Chipped via Tapatalk, never chutted.
Chipped via Tapatalk, never chutted.
Thanks OG.
It was really fun getting out yesterday with you and JConn. Thanks for making the drive up and back - heavy lifting for a single THP round.
BTW, my back is still killing me, I'm happy for a few days off...
Proteacher
Golf Coach
Got my Rocketbladez this afternoon. It was snowing outside so I couldn't play them. I did, however, hit the 7 iron into a net at Dick's for about 30 shots. Observations: I thought the ball flight was higher than my Burner 7 iron. I also thought that well struck shots were hot off of the clubface. I know I can't tell much from a mat hitting into a net but I was pleased with what I could tell. I hope to play on the course mid-week for 3 or 4 days. I'll know a lot more by this weekend.
Oregon Jack
Let's real 'er back in.
well. i went in to golf galaxy today on my way home from best buy to look at these. not what i expected at all. not much offset, but a considerably large top line. not a thick head. weird lookin.
Sweetness! I look forward to reading about your time with the Bladez' on the course later this week.
What's crazy is I struck the ball better (better accuracy and distance consistency) in my first round with my Rocketbladez than I have in the past 5 years with my r7 TPs. I can't imagine how happy I'll be with a few more rounds under my belt.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2
Very nice. Were you getting that with all the clubs equally or did you see any variance throughout the set?
It was pretty darn consistent from club to club. Just really felt confidence standing over the ball. Knowing that ball struck off center wasn't going to kill me really helped me relax over each shot and not worry about making the absolute perfect swing.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2
Well put, I felt the same thing when I played on Sunday. I knew that if I put a decent swing on it that the club would do the rest and not penalize me (too bad) for being off. I'm excited to get some more time on them today or tomorrow at the range to practice.
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1,124
tequila - congrats on what sounds like it was a pretty good round for you. Couple things sort of stood out for me there - first of all, you were able to hit 4/4 par three greens - I know that has a HUGE effect on my score when I play. If I can play the par 3's well, I'm almost always looking at a lower score. Second, you mention a few times where you didn't give your best swing, but were given a decent result - I've seen the same and it's come in handy more than a few times.
Also sounds like you and I are similar with the 4 iron. I just have trouble putting a good swing on it consistently. When I do, the results are good, but I still feel like I can hit a hybrid better. I do wonder how much of it is mental.
Also sounds like you and I are similar with the 4 iron. I just have trouble putting a good swing on it consistently. When I do, the results are good, but I still feel like I can hit a hybrid better. I do wonder how much of it is mental.
Oregon Golfer
#XBomb
I think it was mentioned before but how much longer is the 4 iron shaft than industry standard? For those of you struggling with it I wonder if it would be of any benefit to shorten the shaft.
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