TaylorMade RocketBladez - Review Thread
Had a range session this morning with my Bladez. Weather was 40* with a strong wind predominantly blowing left to right but at times dead at me consistently in the 25-35mph range with a few gusts up to 50. Perfect conditions to try and flight it lower into the wind and to see if I could hold the range rocks against a stiff breeze.
I was pleased with the flight of the higher irons (4-6) when played back and hit down. I saw a consistent laser that stayed just off the deck, and raised ever so slightly enough to get over the raised angle green at 150yds out (second mound on the right in the pic below) and ran for quite a while when it hit turf. I can't say the exact run out because of the stubby grass patches at the range:
The lower irons played to a lower flight than usual when asked politely and when hit normal were easily predictable into the strong left-right wind.
I hit a few balls into the wind to see if they would balloon and hold up well short of the target, and while they didn't balloon they were held back about a full club with normal ball flight. Good to know that I can comfortably club up in that situation and have confidence that the ball will hold the line and perform as expected.
I'm going to try and hit the range again tomorrow before the Patriots beat the Ravens and will report back.
Have a nice weekend!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
I was pleased with the flight of the higher irons (4-6) when played back and hit down. I saw a consistent laser that stayed just off the deck, and raised ever so slightly enough to get over the raised angle green at 150yds out (second mound on the right in the pic below) and ran for quite a while when it hit turf. I can't say the exact run out because of the stubby grass patches at the range:
The lower irons played to a lower flight than usual when asked politely and when hit normal were easily predictable into the strong left-right wind.
I hit a few balls into the wind to see if they would balloon and hold up well short of the target, and while they didn't balloon they were held back about a full club with normal ball flight. Good to know that I can comfortably club up in that situation and have confidence that the ball will hold the line and perform as expected.
I'm going to try and hit the range again tomorrow before the Patriots beat the Ravens and will report back.
Have a nice weekend!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
Wonton
Sphincter says what?
I guarantee he has a Mizuno tattoo somewhere on his lower back
Yeah I know that he's a big Mizuno lover so I didn't know what to think after watching this video.
Specs are interesting though.
But the thing is, the pocket must give a bigger sweet spot than normal irons. When I decided to buy these clubs (haven't yet, come on tax return!), it was more about the feel and the playability and the sweet spots more so than the specs.
I don't care if the Rocketbladez 7 iron gives me only 160 yards. I love the way it sounds, feels and looks.
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Truthfully, the distance hasn't been any longer for me on similar strikes compared to my 588 CB's (they are bent strong). In fact, launch monitor testing showed that the 7 irons were almost identical when I hit them pure. The biggest difference has been performance on off center strikes and my ability to hit the long irons. Both have been a big plus for me so far.
Wonton
Sphincter says what?
Exactly! I've tried the Bladez yesterday and I purposely hit a few shots "THIN" (that's my biggest problem) and IT FELT AMAZING! didn't lose yardage, didn't hurt my hands and didn't lose confidence. THAT was the seller point for me.
Now I can crank up my J38s to the specs that bladez have but it won't be the same.
That's an interesting concept.
Making the club equal in length and loft and then make the comparison.
Takes away the discussion about the differences in specs.
I think he is one of the first to come up with the idea and try it out.
Nice result, which probably only adds more confusion to the discussion
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- #2,107
It's actually been a nice experience for me. The 588's do have a little give due to the cavity, but it's not really on the same level as these, especially low on the face. I do love a pure strike with the 588's, but I like them with these as well. For the time being, they'll be in the bag. I just don't see a good reason to switch it up at this point.
Today's practice round was a good one for me and I left extremely satisfied from 6-PW. After my lesson this week, I've appeared to get rid of my scooping in the short irons, which eliminated the high/short/right miss I saw here and there. The last two shots I took were 9 irons that ended up 6 feet from each other and carried the distance I was hoping, and that's really good for me to see.
The 6-8 performance was excellent. One shot in particular will be something I remember for a while. A 6 iron into a 19mph wind that had to carry a big old oak and I put the ball inside 20 something feet of my target. Ball flight on that one got WAY up there due to the wind, but I picked the right club and it got the yardage I was looking for. 5 iron was good when I didn't dive at it, but it wasn't as good as the rest. I think I'll just practice with it all week until I can erase the dive from my memory. That's the club I notice the change in sound the most for whatever reason. 6 iron doesn't really do the same thing to my ear for whatever reason.
I guarantee he has a Mizuno tattoo somewhere on his lower back
He does have a mizuno staff bag in the background ...
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Wonton
Sphincter says what?
Another great review Hawk!
What I'm most excited about is the 4-6 irons. I was hitting the 4 iron at 230! Came out soft, high enough to carry. I can't even hit my hybrid that far!
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- #2,110
That's great distance. I wish I was a 4 iron guy. Maybe I'll get there one day, but for now it seems like 5 iron is the limit. That's cool though. With the 588's I didn't even carry a 5 iron and the 6 was on/off for me.
"He does have a mizuno staff bag in the background ..."
Not sure why that matters, swing speed was similar in both tests suggesting he was not more 'aggressive' with the mizunos. Interesting results, my biggest concern after hitting both on the range is the inconsistency in distances, many fliers that left me scratching my head.
Not sure why that matters, swing speed was similar in both tests suggesting he was not more 'aggressive' with the mizunos. Interesting results, my biggest concern after hitting both on the range is the inconsistency in distances, many fliers that left me scratching my head.
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- #2,112
It's really not the place to discuss it, but Mr Crossfield is quite the Mizuno lover. Regardless, as I said earlier, on-center strikes were very similar in distance to my previous set of irons when I put them on a launch monitor.
The forgiveness and consistency are really what stick out for me with these irons. I haven't experienced the level of forgiveness in anything else I've tried yet. I would have to say that, so far, Taylormade has backed up their marketing claims.
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
Not exactly. He picked three shots from each club. Notice how two of the swings from Mizuno are the fastest swings. Also, I question that approach, think it is more accurate to average all shots because user variability can't really be negated...part of the assessment should be how frequently you hit it well or bad, which only gets accounted for with averaging. Lastly he didn't include launch numbers. We've all acknowledged that other clubs may be as long, the more complete question is length and launch. Maybe the Mizunos win on those measurements too, they are fine clubs in their own right after all. Just seemed liked like this guy went straight to lofts and lengths, ignoring the third key factor.
I am so with you on this one. We know these clubs perform, I just can't hit'em. Oh we'll, at least I love my hybrids so I am covered.
3 swings with each, did not pick 3 for the sake of data. I think he just pointing out that marketing hype is not always to be trusted. Agree that other numbers would have been useful.
We were both a bit wrong. I re-listened to it. He hit multiple sets of three and picked a set of three for each club that was most comparable.
Brianbigoats
Active member
The one thing you never see is launch angle or dispersion in the clip i wonder why
Why did he just not hit 10 with each alternating and then take the avg?
He never talks about the shafts either
Why did he just not hit 10 with each alternating and then take the avg?
He never talks about the shafts either
Yup. I love his videos, but this one reminds me of the book "how to live with statistics". He proved what he set out to prove. Distance of his coveted mizzys was equal if not better than rocketbladez . But what about launch angle? Distance on mis hits? Dispersion? Those are the areas where the rocketbladez truly shine.
In all of his rocketbladez videos he talks about the speed slot increasing distance, but never even touches on the fact that taylormade calls out the increased sweet spot and added forgiveness that the slot allows for and that almost all of us on this thread have seen.
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I went to the range today and I feel like we had the same exact session. I'll post my details tomorrow, but the biggest thing I came up with today was the consistency into the wind. Once I dialed in the distances, I was good to go. I didn't have to worry about some shots ballooning when others didn't.
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Bingo. He never even touched launch angle or dispersion or mentioned the other effects of the speed slot.
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I played a quick 9 this afternoon. While I am a bit frustrated with my play (c- / d+ ball striking day), the takeaway for this thread is that I had 1 one putt and one GIRs, but because my iron misses were not punitive I played bogey golf. I basically did nothing today except miss greens (my fault), pitch or chip on and two putt. I am starting to get to the point where that is my bad round. Some of that is improved short game play but an awful lot of it is never being dead from a fairway either. The Bladez are such solid GI clubs. In other news the wedges continue to shine. Solid turf interaction from different lies and conditions, and a lot of versatility. I like them.
I'm not a forum tester but at my GolfTEC fitting yesterday I tested a Rocketbladez 6 iron (and two other clubs) against my current irons on a launch monitor.
For the Rocketbladez, the launch monitor showed a lower launch angle (about 3* lower), ~3MPH higher ball speed, a lot less backspin and a strong tendency toward (left) sidespin. This translated to about 14 yards more carry (avg) and shots drifting off to the left. Also, distance control wasn't there compared to the other two clubs I tested against. I ruled it out as a contender to replace my current irons.
For the Rocketbladez, the launch monitor showed a lower launch angle (about 3* lower), ~3MPH higher ball speed, a lot less backspin and a strong tendency toward (left) sidespin. This translated to about 14 yards more carry (avg) and shots drifting off to the left. Also, distance control wasn't there compared to the other two clubs I tested against. I ruled it out as a contender to replace my current irons.