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TaylorMade R1 Driver Review - Forum Testing Thread

SuperStroke
War Eagle said:
This thread fell back a bit, time to bring it back to the front.

Need to get my latest update done, and will have it soon.

Random thought on this one; During my round on Saturday, I pulled the R1 on 11 holes, and hit 8 fairways. On the 3 misses, not one was met with a penalty stroke or an unplayable. All still gave me a second shot that was more than manageable. That says a lot to me and the comfort level that I have found with the R1.
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I am seeing it to be accurate when it comes to being repeatable. I will state that I think the shaft is soft to me which over does my fade but it is consistent unless I try standing on one which normally doesnt have a good ending. I really feel for any player this club with the right shaft could be a monster off the tee.
 
I had a chance to take the R1 out for a few holes at a local muni this afternoon. I do not get to hit driver very much on this course, but it was still great to get the R1 out for some testing. In total, I played 13 holes and hit driver five times. The course was still pretty wet from the downpour we had yesterday, and the wind was steadily blowing about 10-15 mph.

Here are my findings:


Accuracy:

I am pleased to report that I was four for five in fairways, with the one miss being in the rough by about a yard. Admittedly, the course is generous off of the tee, and the wet conditions made accuracy a little easier. However, I was generally able to pick a line and hold it all afternoon with the R1. The missed fairway was the result of a pull where I just tried to overswing.

The ball really tried to hold its line in the wind, even into cross winds. I was striking the ball very well with the R1, which I attributed to the recent adjustments that I had made. The ball has good height, but it still has more of a penetrating flight than ballooning. There was very little movement on drives hit into cross winds. I was generally hitting a slight fade, and only one ball moved a really noticeable amount for a shot hit into a left to right wind. (fortunately, a generous - and damp - fairway held my ball.).


Distance:

Distance was hard to gauge with the conditions. The wet course was not allowing for much roll. Drives were generally in the 270-280 range, which is a little short for me. But, today's session really isn't a fair barometer for the length of this club. In fact, I have still not been able to get the R1 onto the course during dry conditions. (the weather here has been pretty crazy the last few weeks.).

On one hole, I was able to hit a drive with the R1 and my 910 for comparison. Both seemed to be struck well. The R1's flight seemed a little higher, which I found interesting since both clubs are set to 9*. The R1 also traveled a little further (maybe five yards), with both drives having little roll out. While both drives were well struck, the R1 did seem to hold its line a little better. The 910 produced a little more pronounced fade.


Discussion:

Thinking back to when I first swung the R1 in a launch monitor, I am pretty surprised at how well I can hit it now. I was admittedly struggling with contact out of the gate, and I was prepared to add the R1 to the other R-series drivers that I had trouble hitting. After a few adjustment sessions, though, I am pleased to report that I found a setting that really seems to work for me. It is also an illustration of what I think someone should expect when they try out the R1. Many testers had difficult first sessions with the R1 until adjustments were made. I think that someone thinking about purchasing the R1 should consider a long-term demo session before making the commitment. Adjustments are likely needed, but the time spent will also be rewarded.

Regarding performance, the R1 is an incredibly accurate driver. I have found that well struck shots generally want to fly straight and tend to hold their line very well. I am not one to typically work the ball off of the tee. Instead, I tend to see what the driver is doing for me on a particular day and work that into the routine. The R1 lets me generally pick a target and stay with it. I'm not getting a lot of variance in the ball flight (presuming I make a good swing). It builds a lot of confidence when you can repeatedly do this off of the tee. At this point, I am probably more confident with the R1 than my FWs off of the tee. Statistically, I have been more accurate, too. (Although I admittedly use the FWs on shorter and narrower holes.)

Distance with the R1 is still to be determined. It seems very comparable with the 910, and I suspect that it could be longer. I eagerly await a chance to get the R1 and 910 onto a dry course to see h is they really compare.



I again want to thank THP and TaylorMade for the opportunity to participate in this testing.
 
First of all thanks to ATLGolfer, I set the face to 1* closed and I think I hit possibly my best drive ever yesterday.

Hole 7 on my course is a 414 yard dogleg left with out of bounds running all along the left. on the right side its all kind of forest.
Its the stroke index 2 hole, most people play 3 wood or 3 iron to the opening of the dogleg to see the green with their second shot.

I always try and smash my driver over the trees on the left to get somewhere close to the green, it's a risky shot which could go OB but if I manage to catch it right then it's quite a fun shot to play.
My best ever was about 2 years ago during dry season, I managed to get the ball to roll quite far into the bunker below the green.
That was with my SQ.

So yesterday we get to the tee and I'm feeling pretty lucky, I know that I can get a high ball flight on this driver even though its 8*.
I line up with the clubhead set up in line with the toe of my left foot, has to be a real high shot to get over the eucalyptus trees.
I remember to keep my tempo, slow backswing works best with this club and I follow through with my usual speedy followthrough.
I look up and the ball is set on the perfect line, one of the players in my group(it was club night so 9 holes after work) who has never played with me before was quite startled, as was I tbh. I never seem to get the line right on this shot.lol
As it goes over the trees it has a beautiful draw and I really have high hopes for this ball, Pinnacle Gold obviously, best ball in golf!

I walk through the trees as my playing partners play and I get to my caddy standing near the green, he looks at me with a big smile and says, 'look at the green.'

524844_577637370811_1126740228_n.jpg


There was my ball, just short of the green.
Even more ridiculous, as we walk up to the ball he tells me that the ball flew the whole way.
He shows me the pitchmark which you can see in the pic just to the right of his shadow.

It was a massive drive, I know for a fact that it's the longest drive ever on that hole so yeah I was proud as hell!lol
Posted the pic straight on facebook.

This morning got me wondering how long exactly the shot was, the only way I could accurately record the distance was by checking google earth;

Hole7drive_zps9783de2a.jpg


thats 357 yards over the trees and no roll.
The black line is my ballflight and the yellow is the direct line measure.

After a shot like that there really isn't anything I can say, as you can imagine I feel like superman right now.:banana:
Undoubtedly it's the best shot I've ever hit with a driver, I cant wait for dry season to come and have a real crack at the green!
That would be 5 points for a 2!haha

After initially being disappointed, I'm now over the moon!
 
Hi all,

I apologise if this has already been asked (as I dont really have time to trawl through 62 pages) but i was wondering about a comparrison.

I currently game the TM Burner Superfast 2.0 10.5* driver, and love it. Obviously the R1 being an adjustable driver it will have a little more to offer, but if I was to set up the R1 much the same as the Burner, would there be much of an obvious difference in length, and accuracy (have a baby slice going on).

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Cheers!
 
Selasmit said:
Hi all,

I apologise if this has already been asked (as I dont really have time to trawl through 62 pages) but i was wondering about a comparrison.

I currently game the TM Burner Superfast 2.0 10.5* driver, and love it. Obviously the R1 being an adjustable driver it will have a little more to offer, but if I was to set up the R1 much the same as the Burner, would there be much of an obvious difference in length, and accuracy (have a baby slice going on).

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Cheers!
Click to expand...


I don't have enough experience with the Burner 2.0 to give you an apples to apples comparison to the R1. Adjustability is the biggest factor with the R1, and it certainly is possible that you would find a better fit with the R1 after making the proper adjustments. There's also the factor that the R1 is about three years newer than the Burner 2.0, and the technology is likely more advanced. Would that mean that you would hit the R1 further and straighter than the Burner 2.0 if you had the R1 set up similar to the Burner? I don't know. But, it is certainly worth trying out the R1 for yourself to see.

I will add that the R1 is possibly the most accurate driver that I have ever hit. Distance is still TBD (mostly because I've been playing in wet conditions), but the R1 really promotes a straight ball flight for me.
 
That's a monster drive, Faiz. Glad the R1 is working well for you.
 
Some great stuff going on the last few days! Faiz with an absolute bomb of a drive in competition and talks about the most forgiving & straightest driver played by some others.

I was able to get some good golfing in over this past weekend, 36 holes to be precise. Things are still chilly here in TX (50's) and the wind has been picking as of late.

Some numbers to get things started:

14/23 FW's overall for the weekend
Measurable drives ranged from 215-276
Into some nasty winds, still able to poke this out there 240

Generally speaking, this past weekend reaffirmed some thoughts that I have shared previously - I will bullet these for ease of reading:

- Drives catching the middle of the face feel effortless and just provide a dead straight missile that is long
- Drives hit off the toe are easily mistaken by my playing partners as "well struck drives". The ball flight looks similar to when you hit the middle of the face, but you can feel the toe hit at impact. The minimal distance loss also helps to cover the miss.
- Drives hit off the heel can be nasty. I hit a few that just turned into low screamers up the left hand side that did not hurt me and a few that just tailed up low, hard, and left going OB.
- My other miss besides the heel that hurts me is actually a swing flaw if I don't start the club inside on the way back, I get a little OTT move and see a high push right. Depending on the hole I may get away with it or I may find a pond (happened twice over the weekend with the pond)

I know, without a doubt, that this is consistently longer than any driver I have ever gamed. I can safely say that it is 10 yards longer than anything I have played. On average, the toe shots with the R1 leave me on holes where a well struck shot left me with other drivers. When I actually catch one in the middle of the face, it is an absolute bomber - had several lasered at 240 dead into a 20 MPH wind, that is long for me under the circumstances.

The forgiveness is there for MY typical miss off of the toe. Heel strikes are very penal for me but luckily that miss doesn't happen too often, I think a switch of the weights could really help the heel miss if I did it often.

Seems as if several of the testers are seeing similar results to me, but I am really looking forward to Sunday where I am meeting up with 10 other THP'ers and they can get some range time with this one. We have some long knockers and I really want to see their experience with it. Hopefully they will even share some thoughts in here for us.

As always, if anyone wants to see/hear/get feedback on anything in particular - please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Cookie- Now that you have had more time with the R1, here's a few questions for you;

1. If you werent testing this driver, do you think you would be gaming it

2. If you werent in the Morgan Cup, would this be your gamer this year?
 
War Eagle said:
Cookie- Now that you have had more time with the R1, here's a few questions for you;

1. If you werent testing this driver, do you think you would be gaming it

2. If you werent in the Morgan Cup, would this be your gamer this year?
Click to expand...

1) Probably not and only because they NEVER go on sale until way later and I won't spend that on a driver. If I saw what I saw now and could snag it for $250, yes.
2) Yes, it would. Have already pondered in my head what will happen post Morgan Cup. For me, the R1 keeps me in play more than ever and is long. Classic has some work to do!
 
I'm INCREDIBLY excited to get to hit this one this weekend in Dallas. I haven't said that about a TM driver in years.
 
mcook77 said:
1) Probably not and only because they NEVER go on sale until way later and I won't spend that on a driver. If I saw what I saw now and could snag it for $250, yes.
2) Yes, it would. Have already pondered in my head what will happen post Morgan Cup. For me, the R1 keeps me in play more than ever and is long. Classic has some work to do!
Click to expand...

Thanks, dude.

These are two questions I was thinking about earlier, so I will answer myself here too...

1. No, I probably would not have tried it, basically because of past results with the R11 and R11s. Eyes have been opened, though.

2. Without a doubt, this would be my gamer. The results are there, and I have become a huge fan of the R1.
 
You two are driving me batty. BIG praise right there saying it would be the gamer, speaks volumes on the R1 IMHO.
 
War Eagle said:
Thanks, dude.

These are two questions I was thinking about earlier, so I will answer myself here too...

1. No, I probably would not have tried it, basically because of past results with the R11 and R11s. Eyes have been opened, though.

2. Without a doubt, this would be my gamer. The results are there, and I have become a huge fan of the R1.
Click to expand...

I had good limited success with the R11s and was considering one awhile back. Having never gamed a TM driver in the past, this has definitely opened my eyes!
 
War Eagle said:
1. If you werent testing this driver, do you think you would be gaming it

2. Will this be your gamer this year?
Click to expand...

Because I think they are good questions for any of the testers, I edited the second one slightly for the rest of us.

1. Honestly due to my strong initial response to the crown graphics, I probably wouldn't have given it a serious chance. I probably would have given it a few swings in one setting, probably not the right one, and said I gave it a chance (when that would have been as far from the truth as possible). The $400 price point is a tough one for me for drivers as well. I will occasionally stretch myself for a $299 retail club, but I can't pull the trigger on the $399 one.
2. It probably will. I have offed the head of my Razr Fit, and there are a couple others I would like to try, but I wouldn't have any qualms about playing the R1, and will be starting the season with it for sure.
 
War Eagle said:
Thanks, dude.

These are two questions I was thinking about earlier, so I will answer myself here too...

1. No, I probably would not have tried it, basically because of past results with the R11 and R11s. Eyes have been opened, though.

2. Without a doubt, this would be my gamer. The results are there, and I have become a huge fan of the R1.
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WE.....how do you feel the R1 is head to head with the SuperTri? and.......if you're using the stock shaft, what are your thoughts on that as well?
 
War Eagle said:
1. If you werent testing this driver, do you think you would be gaming it

2. Will this be your gamer this year?
Click to expand...


I agree that these are probably appropriate questions for all testers.


1. I would definitely not be gaming the R1 if I was not testing it. This is for two reasons. First, there's no chance that I'm paying $400 for a driver. I just can't justify it. At best, I would wait towards the end of the season when I could maybe find one for around $200.

Second, I did not have very good experiences with the R11 and R11s, which would have likely kept me from actively searching for the R1. I likely would have tried it at the Outing, but that would have been about it. Moreover, if I had only tried it at the Outing (likely in the stock setting without making adjustments), I would have probably given a negative review of the driver. The testing has shown me that it takes time to have the R1 properly set before it really performs for you. It is too easy to give up on it after a lousy initial testing session.

2. Still to be determined, but likely yes. I want to get a better feel for distance with the R1, but I am thoroughly impressed with its accuracy. I am just ridiculously confident on the tee with this club in my hand, and that's an invaluable asset to have during the round. Unless the distance numbers are simply terrible (and I actually expect them to be very good), the R1 will likely replace the 910 as my regular gamer.
 
I'm seeing a lot of R1s on eBay for a good price but I just can't trust any of them. Would you?
 
1. If you werent testing this driver, do you think you would be gaming it.
I would not be gaming this driver. The price point is one of the reasons for sure. The other is that I've enjoyed the light weight shaft technology of Miyazaki in conjunction with the Cleveland head. For me personally these two just seem to work exceptionally well for my game. It took me a long time to find a driver that just make me feel confident over the ball. So the chances of me deviating from that combination at this point would be slim.

2. Will this be your gamer this year?
That's where it get tricky, at this point I would say not likely. However as I continue to tweak this driver, and explore a shaft change this still stands a chance to be my gamer. It's way to early to give up on R1. It's very forgiving, and seems like the face is extremely hot. I like the adaptability with 168 possible combinations this driver has. Just not sure the shaft is going to take me to where I want to be. So time will tell.
 
Wonton said:
I'm seeing a lot of R1s on eBay for a good price but I just can't trust any of them. Would you?
Click to expand...


If I couldn't trust the seller, there's little chance I'm buying anything on eBay.

I'm certain that a good deal can be had on eBay for the R1. Many clubs usually are shortly after they are released. But, I would of course be cautious of a deal that looked too good to be true.
 
ive contacted the sellers on ebay to guarantee authenticity, this gives me a semi peace of mind.
 
Cookie and WE, those are some strong endorsements! I really am tempted to trade in my R11S for the R1. The only concern I have is my miss is usually towards the heel.

Has anyone with the R1 with a typical miss off the heel try putting the heavier weights in the heel? Wondering like Cookie if this would help. Thanks guys and keep up the great work.
 
I have sold a dozen r1s on eBay this month. Mine are 100% legit. If I hit a certain numbers with TM I get free shipping. I don't mind selling some early for a few bucks. Anyone want one send me a pm.
 
Selasmit said:
Hi all,

I apologise if this has already been asked (as I dont really have time to trawl through 62 pages) but i was wondering about a comparrison.

I currently game the TM Burner Superfast 2.0 10.5* driver, and love it. Obviously the R1 being an adjustable driver it will have a little more to offer, but if I was to set up the R1 much the same as the Burner, would there be much of an obvious difference in length, and accuracy (have a baby slice going on).

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I have played the Superfast 2.0 10.5 for the last 2 years. I picked up my new R1 on Tues and didn't get to hit it (other than the fitting) until today. It is set up at 10 deg withe everything else neutral. The shaft is a 55g senior. At the range we have a green out at 200 yards. I am not a big hitter, around 190 carry in the summer, I was hitting the green (43 deg temp, range balls) on the fly about 40% of the time today. Except for a few real bad swings, the others were in the ballpark. I find the R1 to be much more accurate than the 2.0. I suggest you take your 2.0 to a shop with a simulator and hit both. The only way to really tell is to hit them both. I was very impressed with the accuracy.
Good luck.

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Jackf said:
I have played the Superfast 2.0 10.5 for the last 2 years. I picked up my new R1 on Tues and didn't get to hit it (other than the fitting) until today. It is set up at 10 deg withe everything else neutral. The shaft is a 55g senior. At the range we have a green out at 200 yards. I am not a big hitter, around 190 carry in the summer, I was hitting the green (43 deg temp, range balls) on the fly about 40% of the time today. Except for a few real bad swings, the others were in the ballpark. I find the R1 to be much more accurate than the 2.0. I suggest you take your 2.0 to a shop with a simulator and hit both. The only way to really tell is to hit them both. I was very impressed with the accuracy.
Good luck.

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply.

I was pondering going for a drive to the local golf shop this weekend with the Burner in hand to compare them, and it's cetainally pricked my ears up with everyone commenting on how long and accurate they find the club.

As one who still has the odd shot with a baby slice, would you say that the R1 would help iron that out at all?
 
This is the year for a new driver in the bag.
My old Ping Rapture (10.5, regular) has been with me for a while. Before Ping it has been TaylorMade or Titleist in my bag, but after Ping Rapture none driver has produced the same distance/accuracy. The Ping shaft is 1 inch shorter than standard (after extensive tesing) which leads to my question.

Has the R1 a longer than 'normal' shaft length?
Has anyone tried a shorter shaft length? Reason and feedback?
 
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