TaylorMade R1 Driver Review - Forum Testing Thread

[InHartWeTrust]

lol'd hard at the pop up protector, I love it. Great reviews in these last few pages by all, I can't remember all those who posted them, but they were all very entertaining reads.

ATL - I would agree with you that your LM was "off" and you'll be better off checking things outside. The numbers just didn't line up to me...although I am by no means a genius when it comes to analyzing LM data.

cookie - seeing places on the course you've never been to off the tee is a great feeling. Hell, once you tune that driver a little maybe you can continue to find new places. Good stuff so far.

Overall I am curious to see how things shake out going forward with the mis-hit distance and accuracy loss. This is a heavily weighted factor for me, so seeing you all's thoughts on it will be pivotal in my early impression of the driver.

 

[Ole Gray]

I'm definitely considering cutting this thing down to the 44.5 range for no other reason than that's what I'm used to seeing.

Do it Hawk! This driver certainly has all the bells and whistles. This question may have been asked so sorry for the skim ahead of time Has anyone noticed the button/dial on the bottom being scratched by a tee? Not that I hit a driver off the the deck however has anyone tried this yet and how did it interact with the turf?

 

[adwillingham]

Do it Hawk! This driver certainly has all the bells and whistles. This question may have been asked so sorry for the skim ahead of time Has anyone noticed the button/dial on the bottom being scratched by a tee?

I can say that the face adjustment sole plate will definitely scratch over time. I know it did with my R11, and I already picked up a small ding on it on the R1.

I haven't tried driver off the deck with this one yet, although I do attempt that shot periodically.

 

[ddec]

I can say that the face adjustment sole plate will definitely scratch over time. I know it did with my R11, and I already picked up a small ding on it on the R1.

I haven't tried driver off the deck with this one yet, although I do attempt that shot periodically.

yeah the ones on the bottom of the R11 looked like they had been through a battle after some time with them.

 

[Hawk]

I'll take a look at the dial tonight for any damage. I'm honestly not sure.

 

[adwillingham]

I'll take a look at the dial tonight for any damage. I'm honestly not sure.

They did something different this time in that they have a plastic covering on the bottom of the dial, where before the whole sole-plate was just metal. So the scratching may be a bit better than previous models, but even that plastic was less clear on mine after the range session than before it.

 

[#Cookie]

Do it Hawk! This driver certainly has all the bells and whistles. This question may have been asked so sorry for the skim ahead of time Has anyone noticed the button/dial on the bottom being scratched by a tee? Not that I hit a driver off the the deck however has anyone tried this yet and how did it interact with the turf?

After hitting 15-20 balls, I just checked and the sole plate is still clean on mine but I do agree with others that over time I expect that it will show wear.

 

[ATLGolfer]

Excellent write-up ATLGolfer! I look forward to your 'outside' numbers. With your regular driver, what are your numbers?

Thanks.

Typical distance for me is in the 280-290 range, with well struck shots going around 300. Carry is typically in the 270ish range.

I'm not an expert on launch settings by any means, but I think a 13-14* launch would be preferable to the 16-18* that I was seeing. I'll be interested to see how the flight looks when the R1 is dialed in.

 

[ATLGolfer]

Cookie and War -- very impressed with the contact that you're making with the R1. Lots of center and low strikes on the club face, which seems to be the optimum hitting area.

Are you guys teeing the ball lower than you're used to? I noticed a lot of issues with hitting the ball too high on the club face, and I'm wondering if I need to tee it low?

 

[#Cookie]

Cookie and War -- very impressed with the contact that you're making with the R1. Lots of center and low strikes on the club face, which seems to be the optimum hitting area.

Are you guys teeing the ball lower than you're used to? I noticed a lot of issues with hitting the ball too high on the club face, and I'm wondering if I need to tee it low?

I am a low tee ball kind of guy. I use the THP Epoch tees and made a point yesterday to use the same spot. I had the top line just equal to ground level - which probably puts the top of the ball maybe 1/4 inch about the crown line?

I am just not comfortable teeing it way up, always feel like I will sky one and ruin the crown. Plus many times I tend to sweep the ground and sometimes hit it during my actual driver swing.

 

[ddec]

I am a low tee ball kind of guy. I use the THP Epoch tees and made a point yesterday to use the same spot. I had the top line just equal to ground level - which probably puts the top of the ball maybe 1/4 inch about the crown line?

I am just not comfortable teeing it way up, always feel like I will sky one and ruin the crown. Plus many times I tend to sweep the ground and sometimes hit it during my actual driver swing.

You and I are very similar when it comes to that. Just something I can't get comfortable with.

 

[EverythingGolf]

Thanks.

Typical distance for me is in the 280-290 range, with well struck shots going around 300. Carry is typically in the 270ish range.

I'm not an expert on launch settings by any means, but I think a 13-14* launch would be preferable to the 16-18* that I was seeing. I'll be interested to see how the flight looks when the R1 is dialed in.

Here is a few numbers.

Club head speed - 110 MPH
Velocity(Ball speed) - 161 MPH
Dynamic loft - 9.5
AoA - +3*
Launch angle - 11.5
Spin - 3000 RPM
Distance - 270 yards (Carry)
Max Height - 34 yards

 

[Franklin51]

I am a low tee ball kind of guy. I use the THP Epoch tees and made a point yesterday to use the same spot. I had the top line just equal to ground level - which probably puts the top of the ball maybe 1/4 inch about the crown line?

I am just not comfortable teeing it way up, always feel like I will sky one and ruin the crown. Plus many times I tend to sweep the ground and sometimes hit it during my actual driver swing.

I'm the same way but last night I was forced to hit off mats with rubber tees

 

[ArizonaGolfer]

every time i see the pictures i want it even more!!!!

 

[War Eagle]

Cookie and War -- very impressed with the contact that you're making with the R1. Lots of center and low strikes on the club face, which seems to be the optimum hitting area.

Are you guys teeing the ball lower than you're used to? I noticed a lot of issues with hitting the ball too high on the club face, and I'm wondering if I need to tee it low?

I found that I was having an issue with hitting too high on the face the other day. I may try teeing it a bit lower this weekend. I would say most of my shots were either center or just high of center of the face.

 

[ddec]

how is the heel/toe forgiveness on this thing? Most of my misses are out towards the toe.

 

[jlukes]

Posted this in the Stage 2 thread, but thought it could go hear as well:

Uh oh.

So I went to Golf Galaxy this morning to pickup my brother-in-law's clubs for him. While there, I thought I would partake in the R1 Challenge.

Warmed up and then hit some shots with my RBZ driver - some nice ropes that carried about 280-285.

Then I grabbed the R1. They fitted me after a few swings and after adjustments I was hitting some great shots that were carrying 288-293 - good enough for 8 Lethal balls.

Ok, time to go home ... ah hell, let me just try the RBZ Stage 2 for fun....

BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!

Average carry of... get this... 307 yards. Lasers. Absolute lasers.

My God.

The people watching me pleaded with me to buy it on the spot... and there were no employees watching me at this point.

I could trade in my old RBZ driver, r7 irons, and walk out with a Stage 2 Driver for $100 bucks.

I wasn't prepared to buy a new driver, so I left. All I can think about is those poor balls I hit and how they compressed to the point their brains almost squished out.

I LOVED this driver. I have until Sunday to decide (aka convince the wife) that this needs to happen....

 

[ddec]

Jlukes - did you get a chance to compare that to the AMP Cell. Because I remember watching you bash the heck out of that

 

[J4U]

how is the heel/toe forgiveness on this thing? Most of my misses are out towards the toe.

I've only hit it 3 or 4 times indoors, but I was seeing great forgiveness across the spectrum. The farther out or in one would go would be worse of course, but even swings I put on it that I just mumbled and looked up...surprised is a good term. Hated it...lol

 

[jlukes]

Jlukes - did you get a chance to compare that to the AMP Cell. Because I remember watching you bash the heck out of that

ddec - they were just taking those out as I was leaving, so I didn't get a chance to swing it. If I got back this weekend, I am absolutely going to hit it and will post my comparisons.

As for R1 vs Stage 2. R1 was noticeably heavier. Swing speed with the R1 was around 110 while the swing speed with the Stage 2 was around 118-119. Didn't like the sound of the R1 compared to the Stage 2 either. R1 sounded a bit to muffled for my liking.

 

[War Eagle]

how is the heel/toe forgiveness on this thing? Most of my misses are out towards the toe.

I miss out on the toe a good bit as well, Dean. I only recall a few of them on the range, loss of distance and pushed out to the right.

 

[HandyManny]

Hey R1 testers. I hope your all enjoying the testing process & getting some valuable feedback with it. I bet it must be so awesome to be able to test the brand new R1. Hope you guys are enjoying it.
-Manuel M.

 

[jlukes]

how is the heel/toe forgiveness on this thing? Most of my misses are out towards the toe.

My misses are high and off the toe, and I definitely had a few of them today with the R1 There was some distance loss, but it was very forgiving in terms of horizontal dispersion. Not a fan of the sound it made of the sweet spot or off the toe, but there were noticeable differences in sound.

 

[Golf Ghost]

Love hearing everyone's thoughts so far. Great to see everyone picking up a few extra yards and playing around with the adjustability.

 

[#Cookie]

1/31/2013
Grand Oaks Golf Club, Grand Prairie, TX
66*, wind about 5-8 MPH helping
9 balls - 3 different lofts

So, since I hit the course first instead of the range, before leaving I had already decided that on the 9th hole (wide open par 5) that I would hit 9 balls at different lofts and laser them for total distance. Brand new Q-Stars were used for this testing.

Plan:

hit 3 balls at 8*, sole plate on neutral
hit 3 balls at 10*, sole plate on neutral
hit 3 balls at 12*, sole plate on neutral

After striping my tee shot on 9, I grabbed the balls which were marked accordingly using the numbers on them to know which shot/loft they were. Upon taking my first swing I was reminded of how much I hate the range because I lose focus just hitting ball after ball but I went through with it anyways even as I started to see some mishits on the toe. Other issue I ran into is that a cart path runs along the right side of the FW and I accidentally took a trip down it with two of my shots. Alas, here are the raw numbers - TOTAL yardage

8*
1 - 263
2 - 253
3 - 340 (cart path aided)

10*
1 - 233
2 - 257
3 - 290

12*
1 - 240
2 - 252
3 - 275 (cart path aided)

My take on the above shots? The 290 with the 10* was hit just as well as the 252 with the 12*. Both were just BLISTERED as well as I can hit a ball. I saw a much higher ball flight with the 12* but not ballooning, a true penetrating rise of a shot. My summary on this is that I now have the ability to adjust loft for the conditions that day and am comfortable doing so. Right now, the course is bone dry and fairways are flat and firm. That 10* mid line drive launch just lands and runs. The 12* high launch would be perfect on a wet day. I think the 10* was ideal for yesterday as I had some shots into the wind which stayed down then ran on the dry stuff.

I mentioned above about hating driving ranges because of the groove you can get into and then the lack of focus. Some of the above shots while the yardage looks really good (to me anyways) were NOT good swings yet the worst results were one just off the left side of the FW, two off the right side but all completely playable.

Now back to my bad swings, I started missing on the toe which is my normal miss. As soon as I made contact, I mentioned to my uncle there's another one off the toe...I could feel the twist of the club at impact yet all except for one of these shots were going up the right side of the FW instead of duck hooking left. As Nate can attest to after seeing me do it so much recently, I can miss hard low left or way high right. Simply said, the forgiveness so far low middle and mid right is blowing me away.

I am still going to tinker with the loft as I would still like to see something a tad higher than what the 10* is giving me but lower than the 12*. Maybe an upright setting? I need to go play with the app and see if I can figure out some stuff but I would take the results I am seeing at 10* all day long. I have not cleaned the face since I first swung it yesterday, roughly 16-18 shots. Here is a photo: