Definitely more offset in the Rbladez than my J40s
TaylorMade RocketBladez - Review Thread
About time you posted your thoughts! Seems like you only cracked the surface on what a lot of us are seeing. The more I game them, the more I'm impressed with the forgiveness on mishits.
Looking forward to you getting more swings in!
Looking forward to you getting more swings in!
Yeah I did. I enjoyed calling my shots and relying on spin to bring the ball back. Definitely was reliable for me. I have thought more than once about the tour 90s in these.
Unfortunately, my time with these was only for the weekend.
Damaikis
Fairway Finder
Interesting when you talk about those misses War. I've never heard of anything like that before.
Oregon Golfer
#XBomb
The increased offset was the biggest issue I had when trying these out. I couldn't put my "normal" swing on them without hitting a hook. After adjusting I was ok though but it gave me more to think about than I wanted.
Yep, those slight mosses are annoying. Nothing like feeling like you hit a shot perfectly, having it straight on line, and ending up 20 yards left or right of your target.
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War Eagle - would love to see what you think of these with the Tour 90's in them. I really am not a shaft snob (I swear 
), but the difference I saw the other day between the 2.0/stock shaft and the RBladez/Tour 90 was huge for me. I think it's a comfort thing in all honesty. I've had a KBS shaft in my irons for all but 2-3 months of the last 18 months and I've sort of built my swing with them.
), but the difference I saw the other day between the 2.0/stock shaft and the RBladez/Tour 90 was huge for me. I think it's a comfort thing in all honesty. I've had a KBS shaft in my irons for all but 2-3 months of the last 18 months and I've sort of built my swing with them.
I think the Tour 90s in them would give me the launch and ball flight that I really like, and what I see out of my current set.War Eagle - would love to see what you think of these with the Tour 90's in them. I really am not a shaft snob (I swear
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I want to go hit them right now.
They sure are fun to hit, I will say that. A much better offering than the Rocketballz from last year.
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I've enjoyed them for sure. Not totally sure what will transpire next year, but I have no reason to take them from the bag at this point. They've been pretty good to me. Hell, I have a 5 iron in my bag. That says a lot right there lol.
mikedean441
6X HOF
I didn't hit both too extensively, but based on what I have seen, I defintely agree with you. Didn't love the 7i I was hitting, felt kinda harsh, but I did love the gap wedge I was hitting at the range.
I didnt spend a ton of time with the long irons, but did hit the 5 and 6 a few times. I also pulled the 4 iron a time or two just to appease Mward.
I went to these from the Rocketballz, and tend to agree with you so far. I enjoyed playing the RBZ's, but these I like better. I'll be putting the PX graphite shafts in the Rocketbladez and I'll be all set.
stevie-a
Yeah boyeeeee!
War Eagle - would love to see what you think of these with the Tour 90's in them. I really am not a shaft snob (I swear
Don't mean to jump in on your convo, but I have the Tour 90's in mine and I love them. War Eagle mentioned the spin he was getting out of them and I'm seeing the same thing...very consistent, so it's easy to account for in shot/club selection.
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Sorry I missed this. Please do jump in!
My spin numbers are actually a lot lower than I saw last year, but I also wonder if that's in part to the continuation of swing changes. My spin was really high for awhile there and surely a swing issue.
I just feel comfortable with them in hand and it seems like I'm able to get center of the club on the ball with more success than I saw with the 2.0.
Mav281
Mr Inconsistent
Right, I am doing the same as many other and stealing the posting format, to give some feedback on my first round out with the Rocketbladez,
Reference Info: Early thirties golfer, good day mid 80s, bad day high 90's
Typical Miss: A slice and what I like to call a worm burner
Ball: Bridgestone E6.
Winter Carry Distances with previous clubs: (Adams A7OS) 7 iron - 150, PW - 115
Conditions and course: Overcast, wet course. Raining on off during round. VERY Windy. 8 or 9*c.
Aim: Get a round of golf in before I go back to work on Wednesday plain and simple! I didn't want to go back to work having not been able to get out on the course with my Christmas prezzie and I was obviously keen to get the Rocketbladez out on the course and see how they played out.
Mid Irons - 5, 6 and 7
I am going to start with the mid irons as these got the vast majority of the usage today.
Very pleased in general. The combination of the Rocketbladez with the KBS Tour 90 shaft gives a lovely penetrating ball flight and I found myself filled with confidence with any shot in and around the 150 yard marker. One thing in particular I noticed today on at least two occasions was the ball seemed to be pulling up quicker on the green. On the tight par 4 13th (385 yards), I hit a 3 rescue of the tee and left myself around 165 yards out with water at the back of the green. I opted for the 6 iron and promptly dropped the ball on the green 10 feet from the flag, but more importantly the ball was infront of the divot on the green. That's not something I am used to at all even with conditions the way they are at the moment. The same thing happened on two or three other shots with 7 irons and I can only assume ball flight is what's causing that as I've been using E6's for sometime now.
Best shot of the day for me came using the 6 iron off the tee on the 167 yard par 3 6th, which is played across water to a green which has water all round the front of it and then a brook running along the back of the green about 15 foot off the back of the green itself. My playing partner tee'd off first (lucky chip in on the 5th to win the hole I might add) and he was aiming WELL right of the green, around 15 yards or so he recons. Despite that the wind got hold of the ball almost instantly and it just kept turing left and splashed down in the drink off to the left of the green. Not overly suprising as he does draw the ball quite a bit. To be honest it often looks more like a hook to me, although in fairness he does do it very consistantly but this hole was always going to be a nightmare for him today.
Anyway - I tee'd my ball up and as soon I struck the ball I got the "connection click" noise we all fondly love with the Rocketbladez and the ball shot skywards like a scalded rat. The ball flight cut through the wind like nothing I have seen before and my playing partner happened to comment on that as well. The ball checked on the fringe of the green to the right hand side about 16 or 17 feet from the flag, but trust me in today's conditions it was just one of those shots where you were happy to have made dry land let alone hit the green.
My playing partner asked how far out I had aimed, and I smugly said "oh just to the right side of the green, but then I can hit the ball straight" Suffice to say he made me pay for that comment
Short Irons - 8 and 9
Nice selection of these today but very difficult to guage any sort of distances compared to previous or any other clubs used due to the wind conditions, but nothing came up short which was the important thing.
Again as noted by some the turf interaction with the RBladez is good and the 8 iron and 9 iron seem to get the ball up in the air very quickly indeed. Again the KBS Tour90 shafts probably have something to do with that but much like the 6 and 7 irons which pulled up very quickly the 8 and 9 irons were stopping literally on a 50p (quarter to most of you). Wet conditions no doubt play a part in that as well, but I am used to seeing my irons bounce on at least a foot or two even in sopping wet conditions - very rarly am I able to get a ball to stop that quickly.
Wedges - PW, SW
Believe it or not I didn't hit either the PW or SW today so little to comment on. Perhaps the Mid irons and short irons were doing their jobs better today who knows......
Guess we will have to wait and see on that one
Conclusion
Overall very pleased with today's outing. The Rocketbladez were everything I hoped they would be and put in a strong performance in some very difficult weather conditions.
One of the biggest factors I have seen today, is a strong penatrating ball flight which does seem to cut through wind and rain quite well indeed. Don't get me wrong it's not taking wind out of the equation but where I would have taken two clubs extra clubs previously to compenstate for a strong wind, I am finding I only need one extra club to get through it especially when I am in and around the 160ish yard range and down. I have a strong feeling the KBS Tour90 shafts may jhave something to do with this as well as the RBladez, but it's definatly a combination which seems to work particuarly well for me.
The other thing I wanted to comment on as many others have is the sound that the mid irons or slotted irons (5, 6 and 7) make on impact. It definatly becomes more pronounced the longer the club is, but my playing partner today commented two or three times on the click when I hit sweet 7 irons so it's obviously there in all the mid irons. I've been reffering to the click on the course today as a "connection click", as it seems to me that every time you get that perhaps slightly odd click you know you have caught the ball well enough to get it to launch into the air and get target bound. On the odd one or two occasions where I didn't catch the ball quite so well, I knew instantly that was the case because I didn't get that click. On the positive side, off center toe shots didn't seem to be too severly punished which is always a positive from my point of view.
So far so good then. Looking forward to getting them out again next Saturday and getting back on the course!
Reference Info: Early thirties golfer, good day mid 80s, bad day high 90's
Typical Miss: A slice and what I like to call a worm burner
Ball: Bridgestone E6.
Winter Carry Distances with previous clubs: (Adams A7OS) 7 iron - 150, PW - 115
Conditions and course: Overcast, wet course. Raining on off during round. VERY Windy. 8 or 9*c.
Aim: Get a round of golf in before I go back to work on Wednesday plain and simple! I didn't want to go back to work having not been able to get out on the course with my Christmas prezzie and I was obviously keen to get the Rocketbladez out on the course and see how they played out.
Mid Irons - 5, 6 and 7
I am going to start with the mid irons as these got the vast majority of the usage today.
Very pleased in general. The combination of the Rocketbladez with the KBS Tour 90 shaft gives a lovely penetrating ball flight and I found myself filled with confidence with any shot in and around the 150 yard marker. One thing in particular I noticed today on at least two occasions was the ball seemed to be pulling up quicker on the green. On the tight par 4 13th (385 yards), I hit a 3 rescue of the tee and left myself around 165 yards out with water at the back of the green. I opted for the 6 iron and promptly dropped the ball on the green 10 feet from the flag, but more importantly the ball was infront of the divot on the green. That's not something I am used to at all even with conditions the way they are at the moment. The same thing happened on two or three other shots with 7 irons and I can only assume ball flight is what's causing that as I've been using E6's for sometime now.
Best shot of the day for me came using the 6 iron off the tee on the 167 yard par 3 6th, which is played across water to a green which has water all round the front of it and then a brook running along the back of the green about 15 foot off the back of the green itself. My playing partner tee'd off first (lucky chip in on the 5th to win the hole I might add) and he was aiming WELL right of the green, around 15 yards or so he recons. Despite that the wind got hold of the ball almost instantly and it just kept turing left and splashed down in the drink off to the left of the green. Not overly suprising as he does draw the ball quite a bit. To be honest it often looks more like a hook to me, although in fairness he does do it very consistantly but this hole was always going to be a nightmare for him today.
Anyway - I tee'd my ball up and as soon I struck the ball I got the "connection click" noise we all fondly love with the Rocketbladez and the ball shot skywards like a scalded rat. The ball flight cut through the wind like nothing I have seen before and my playing partner happened to comment on that as well. The ball checked on the fringe of the green to the right hand side about 16 or 17 feet from the flag, but trust me in today's conditions it was just one of those shots where you were happy to have made dry land let alone hit the green.
My playing partner asked how far out I had aimed, and I smugly said "oh just to the right side of the green, but then I can hit the ball straight"
Suffice to say he made me pay for that comment Short Irons - 8 and 9
Nice selection of these today but very difficult to guage any sort of distances compared to previous or any other clubs used due to the wind conditions, but nothing came up short which was the important thing.
Again as noted by some the turf interaction with the RBladez is good and the 8 iron and 9 iron seem to get the ball up in the air very quickly indeed. Again the KBS Tour90 shafts probably have something to do with that but much like the 6 and 7 irons which pulled up very quickly the 8 and 9 irons were stopping literally on a 50p (quarter to most of you
). Wet conditions no doubt play a part in that as well, but I am used to seeing my irons bounce on at least a foot or two even in sopping wet conditions - very rarly am I able to get a ball to stop that quickly.Wedges - PW, SW
Believe it or not I didn't hit either the PW or SW today so little to comment on. Perhaps the Mid irons and short irons were doing their jobs better today who knows......
Guess we will have to wait and see on that one
Conclusion
Overall very pleased with today's outing. The Rocketbladez were everything I hoped they would be and put in a strong performance in some very difficult weather conditions.
One of the biggest factors I have seen today, is a strong penatrating ball flight which does seem to cut through wind and rain quite well indeed. Don't get me wrong it's not taking wind out of the equation but where I would have taken two clubs extra clubs previously to compenstate for a strong wind, I am finding I only need one extra club to get through it especially when I am in and around the 160ish yard range and down. I have a strong feeling the KBS Tour90 shafts may jhave something to do with this as well as the RBladez, but it's definatly a combination which seems to work particuarly well for me.
The other thing I wanted to comment on as many others have is the sound that the mid irons or slotted irons (5, 6 and 7) make on impact. It definatly becomes more pronounced the longer the club is, but my playing partner today commented two or three times on the click when I hit sweet 7 irons so it's obviously there in all the mid irons. I've been reffering to the click on the course today as a "connection click", as it seems to me that every time you get that perhaps slightly odd click you know you have caught the ball well enough to get it to launch into the air and get target bound. On the odd one or two occasions where I didn't catch the ball quite so well, I knew instantly that was the case because I didn't get that click. On the positive side, off center toe shots didn't seem to be too severly punished which is always a positive from my point of view.
So far so good then. Looking forward to getting them out again next Saturday and getting back on the course!
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I liked this-
Sounds like a great day for you! Almost all of my golf with the RocketBladez has been played in some sort of wind to this point and I've felt that they really hold their own with it as well.
Sounds like a great day for you! Almost all of my golf with the RocketBladez has been played in some sort of wind to this point and I've felt that they really hold their own with it as well.
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- #1,721
You got the sound situation wrapped up quite nicely there IMO. I agree entirely with all of that.
Excellent write up! Thank you for that!
I selfishly love this. I'm heading to Bandon in 2 weeks for a weekend of competitive golf on a guys trip. I'm expecting to play in a decent amount of weather and am excited by the possibility of having a little technology advantage over the others
I don't think we should minimize this. The e6 is a great ball but it isn't always a big performer coming into greens. I think we have to recognize the flight characteristics of the typical Bladez approach shot are probably contributing to this result at least as much as the weather. Again, a probable indicator of how technology which produces extra distance and extra trajectory can really work to the average Hacker's enjoyment of the game (this time by getting better than average results with a distance/straight ball into a green).
Seems to me it is pretty phenomenal when a guy who shoots 90 +/- 5 strokes on average can make it through an entire round without hitting a wedge. I score similarly. I am really impressed by this.
Maybe I'm just slipping into TM Homer-ism but sometimes I feel like the unpleasant sound should be in the OK category since it is feedback on improperly struck balls. Conversely, the clubs do give us that distinctive good sound on well struck balls. I am guilty of this too, but sometimes I think we get caught up on the negative sound, but it should be a good thing if we get auditory feedback which tells us bout the quality of the strike.
Excellent! And great writeup too, thanks for sharing your experience.
Mav281
Mr Inconsistent
Cheers fella.
To be fair there were obviously a number of shorter chip shots but I play those with my 50* AW. My AW in todays weather and at this time of the year is my 100 yard and inwards club, which makes my PW useful for anything between 100 and 120yards - just didn't get anything in that gap today.
I had the opportunity once to use the SW from a greenside bunker but opted to take my 60* LW as it was very much an up and down job that was required.
Mav, love the "scalded rat" reference! Sounds like you had a good round in not so good conditions.
It sounds like most everyone is impressed with the piercing ball flight on the mid irons, I'm guessing this is due to the lower spin numbers that we are seeing? Overall, with the conditions I have been playing in as of late, I couldn't be happier with the results I'm seeing. I would love to swing the KBS at some point to see what all the fuss is about!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
It sounds like most everyone is impressed with the piercing ball flight on the mid irons, I'm guessing this is due to the lower spin numbers that we are seeing? Overall, with the conditions I have been playing in as of late, I couldn't be happier with the results I'm seeing. I would love to swing the KBS at some point to see what all the fuss is about!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
rafdo
Active member
Played 18 today, had a good day all around with the Rbladez. I found myself getting better strikes when swinging smooth, controlled, and a bit slower. Surprisingly there was not much distance loss if any, actually I would say some shots went further than when I was swinging harder in past rounds. I'm really getting dialed in with all types of shots with the Rbladez now, full swings, low punches under trees, pitches, chips, etc... The one thing I think I will eventually revert to is dropping the 4 iron for my 20* Boccieri hybrid. I was alternating today and definitely saw better results with the hybrid, I just feel so confident with it that better shots are almost inevitable. All-in-all I'm really liking the Rbladez, it will be a shootout between them and my J38's once the testing period is over.