TaylorMade R1 Driver Review - Forum Testing Thread

[Jman]

Yup. I need to spend some time with one of these.

Excellent stuff in here gents, I'm ashamed to have not posted that feedback more than I have, that shall be remedied from now on in though.

 

[PaneraiMan]

these are gorgeous!! I like the white clubs and like the graphics, they look like a small race car!! hahaha. But shaft that is stock is made for and light, I wish they offered stock non-TP in 55, 65, 75 grams for people to chose from and then sell TP for 100 extra if folks want non-made for shafts, IMO

 

[T2GRN18]

This will be interesting to see if your distance will be improved without sacrificing dispersion. Any thoughts on what would work to get the feeling of the Club loading as well as you do with your Classic?

I think that will come after testing is complete by a shaft swap. I figuring on going to a Miyazaki shaft with the R1

 

[bhilton]

I took this out yesterday for another run. I played about 12 holes with it. That's all the time I had before it got dark. I started out hitting it on the range for a little while. My settings are Neutral Face, 9.5* Upright, and the 10g weight in the heel.

When I started hitting it on the range, I realized that this is probably going to be the setting I'm going to end up leaving it at. I may tinker around with a few other lofts and things, but I think this setting works best for me. I was hitting it with a good trajectory (not to high, but not too low either). The ball had a slight draw and I was getting really good distance off of it. As a matter of fact, I seem to gain more distance every time I hit this. I guess the more I get it tuned into my swing, the more distance I get.

The first couple of holes I played, I hit the ball really well with it. I hit a nice little draw on the first couple of holes that ended up right in the middle of the fairway. The drive on the second hole was probably the longest drive I've had in a while. I knew as soon as I hit it that it was going to be long, but I didn't know exactly how long. The second hole is a par 5. Normally during the winter months, I'm hitting my 2 hybrid into the green on my second shot. Yesterday, I was debating between a 5 or 6 iron. Took the 5 and put it on the green, but way past the hole. Should have hit 6.

The more I played with it, though, the worse I hit it. By the time I got to hole 7, I no longer knew where the ball was going. I'm not finding that this driver is as forgiving as others are. My mishits usually lose a lot of distance and don't even come close to hitting the fairway. I honestly find my Razr Fit is more forgiving than the R1. If I mishit the Razr Fit, I may lose distance, but I'm normally still in the fairway.

I'm going to try to get back out there and get in another round today, but if not, I'll definitely be back out tomorrow and probably Monday as well. Hopefully I continue to improve with this driver. With the distance I'm getting off of it now, if I can get a little more accuracy with it, I think I would love the driver.

 

[TMAdidas]

Great thoughts bhilton, thanks for the honest truth. So this is aimed at the better/more consistent player then?

 

[#Cookie]

Nice thoughts bhilton!

Bit surprised about the forgiveness as I think it's the most forgiving driver I've ever played, but I have not played the RAZR Fit either.

Where are your misses on the face?

 

[War Eagle]

Nice thoughts bhilton!

Bit surprised about the forgiveness as I think it's the most forgiving driver I've ever played, but I have not played the RAZR Fit either.

Where are your misses on the face?

I have similar feeling as you, Cookie. I find it to be quite forgiving, especially with my shots out off the toe.

 

[Jman]

Ugh, the more I read, the more I want to hit this thing.

Excellent work continues in here, thank you ALL for that.

 

[War Eagle]

Ugh, the more I read, the more I want to hit this thing.

Excellent work continues in here, thank you ALL for that.

You should head down next weekend, Launch Monitor testing, ya know?

 

[Jman]

You should head down next weekend, Launch Monitor testing, ya know?

The site profanity censor wouldn't allow me to tell you what the Doc said to that little idea.

 

[War Eagle]

The site profanity censor wouldn't allow me to tell you what the Doc said to that little idea.

"Hey Doc, I'm running to the grocery store real quick, be back in a few days..."

 

[Jman]

"Hey Doc, I'm running to the grocery store real quick, be back in a few days..."

And then RUN LIKE HELL. Hehe

I've been keeping an eye out on course to see when these will start popping up, problem is with where I play since its so close to Ricky State University they all have a tase for the more colourful (there you go Canadaniel!). I just know someone I know will take the plunge and let me take some swings with it. I really just want to judge the sound from the hitters perspective.

 

[Pkielwa]

I took this out yesterday for another run. I played about 12 holes with it. That's all the time I had before it got dark. I started out hitting it on the range for a little while. My settings are Neutral Face, 9.5* Upright, and the 10g weight in the heel.

When I started hitting it on the range, I realized that this is probably going to be the setting I'm going to end up leaving it at. I may tinker around with a few other lofts and things, but I think this setting works best for me. I was hitting it with a good trajectory (not to high, but not too low either). The ball had a slight draw and I was getting really good distance off of it. As a matter of fact, I seem to gain more distance every time I hit this. I guess the more I get it tuned into my swing, the more distance I get.

The first couple of holes I played, I hit the ball really well with it. I hit a nice little draw on the first couple of holes that ended up right in the middle of the fairway. The drive on the second hole was probably the longest drive I've had in a while. I knew as soon as I hit it that it was going to be long, but I didn't know exactly how long. The second hole is a par 5. Normally during the winter months, I'm hitting my 2 hybrid into the green on my second shot. Yesterday, I was debating between a 5 or 6 iron. Took the 5 and put it on the green, but way past the hole. Should have hit 6.

The more I played with it, though, the worse I hit it. By the time I got to hole 7, I know longer knew where the ball was going. I'm not finding that this driver is as forgiving as others are. My mishits usually lose a lot of distance and don't even come close to hitting the fairway. I honestly find my Razr Fit is more forgiving than the R1. If I mishit the Razr Fit, I may lose distance, but I'm normally still in the fairway.

I'm going to try to get back out there and get in another round today, but if not, I'll definitely be back out tomorrow and probably Monday as well. Hopefully I continue to improve with this driver. With the distance I'm getting off of it now, if I can get a little more accuracy with it, I think I would love the driver.

Im wondering if the TP wouldn't be a better fit, although I know it wasn't an option for testing. I've hit the R1 at Dicks and the shaft just isn't a good fit. I think yours is an example of proper fitting needed.

 

[bhilton]

Im wondering if the TP wouldn't be a better fit, although I know it wasn't an option for testing. I've hit the R1 at Dicks and the shaft just isn't a good fit. I think yours is an example of proper fitting needed.

You may be right. I may see if they have the TP in a demo at Squire tomorrow to see if I hit it any better.

Cookie, most of my misses are either slightly towards the toe or towards the bottom of the club face. Most of them resulted in big hooks that left me in awful positions. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

 

[Pkielwa]

There's also an extra 1/2 inch in the non-TP shaft. That amount, less, on the TP had me hitting dead center where with the regular I was inside heel, toe, etc.

 

[bhilton]

There's also an extra 1/2 inch in the non-TP shaft. That amount, less, on the TP had me hitting dead center where with the regular I was inside heel, toe, etc.

This is another great point. My Razr Fit that I'm using for comparisons is cut down a little from standard. I would be interested to see what would happen if I cut down the shaft on the R1 I have.

 

[Jman]

This is another great point. My Razr Fit that I'm using for comparisons is cut down a little from standard. I would be interested to see what would happen if I cut down the shaft on the R1 I have.

Maybe just go with the easier thing and just choke down a bit and see? Couldn't hurt.

 

[ATLGolfer]

I have similar feeling as you, Cookie. I find it to be quite forgiving, especially with my shots out off the toe.

I'll echo you both. I've put some pretty crappy swings on the R1, and it still wants to fly pretty straight and find a fairway. It takes a lot of effort to get a terrible result with this driver.

My only issue is that mishits towards the heel really kill distance. My miss is typically towards the heel, so it doesn't help. I'm also still trying to get a feel for the proper loft. I think I may be over-thinking it at this point. 9.5* seems to be the proper setting (with heavy weight in the heel and 2* open). But, I would love to find a dry golf course to see what the roll out looks like at this setting. I suspect the total distance will be really solid.

 

[rmccartyjr]

I think you could right about the tp being a better fit.I hit the tp version a lot better than the reg.My miss is towards the toe and I still hit the fairways with min distance lost.The fitter was dead on with saying lower spin will help you on your miss hits. He was also correct(as taylormade also said) high launch low spin 14 degree 1800 spin will get u better distance.It was all love first 14 holes then I hooked my 7 iron 60 yard left and u guessed it snap hook my driver I think I might have hooked my putt! The tp shaft is def for me a better fit plus I ordered it at d4 44 3/4 length .

 

[#Cookie]

Maybe just go with the easier thing and just choke down a bit and see? Couldn't hurt.

This is my thought and I do it religiously out of habit. Definitely think it helps with control/accuracy for me.

 

[bhilton]

Maybe just go with the easier thing and just choke down a bit and see? Couldn't hurt.

Why try to simplify things, lol. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. I'll try that when I take it out tomorrow.

 

[Jman]

Why try to simplify things, lol. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. I'll try that when I take it out tomorrow.

Ha! Simplest is always best, good luck, look forward to reading how it goes.

 

[StanTheCaddy]

Figured this thread could use a bump, no reason it should be on the 3rd page.

I was wondering if any of you were going to put a different shaft into the R1? I noticed JB said TaylorMade was OK with this and I know some of you were a little uncertain about the stock shaft. I know if I do get this driver I'll be putting in my own shaft and I'd be curious to see the results with a shaft you know works for your swing.

 

[War Eagle]

Figured this thread could use a bump, no reason it should be on the 3rd page.

I was wondering if any of you were going to put a different shaft into the R1? I noticed JB said TaylorMade was OK with this and I know some of you were a little uncertain about the stock shaft. I know if I do get this driver I'll be putting in my own shaft and I'd be curious to see the results with a shaft you know works for your swing.

Im going to keep rolling with the stock shaft, for now.

Also, played 18 today, and while I had some great results with the R1, one thing I noticed from my round is that I really need to spend some time on the range working on my tee height. I often tend to tee the ball lower than needed, and it is causing me to lose a bit of height on my shots. I think with some adjustments there, I could achieve the optimal launch that I want for maximum carry.

 

[T2GRN18]

I will be swapping shafts in this after the testing is complete. I'm figuring on going with a Miyazaki B. Asha, or the Kusala 61s at the point. But I need to get more playing rounds in before I make the final call.