Great review Nate. I can tell by the scuff marks on your nine iron you were hitting it pretty sweet.
TaylorMade RBZ Irons Review - Forum Testing
10YardDraw
Ex Club Ho
Great job testers you guys are really doing a fantastic job, making me want to hit these.
Divebell
Par is never bad...
Great review Nate. Thank you for the picture comparison. That is something I was looking forward to see; a comparison to the TP irons.
Great reviews my fellow testers! Yesterday was nasty and raining all day so I made the best of it and lengthened my RBZ's 3/8" and put some new PURE grips on them built up a bit. They're ready to go and it's 42* and drizzling today......means I'll have the course to myself. I'm going out in a couple hours and I'll report back later. Hopefully I get back in time to give some thoughts before the Superbowl.
texasgolfer
In The Hole!
42* and drizzling in Austin! Terrible!
Hit 'em well.......I did forget to mention the grips. I am not a fan. They seem very slick to me and I like something a bit more tacky and with a bit more cord. If this was summer golf, here in Texas, these grips would of already been ripped off the club and replaced. I will be changing them out once the testing is done or if I notice them slipping any during the swing. The great thing about getting custom fit or ordering any TM club is you can usually upgrade your grip to something you already play with or a better grip. FYI.
bahester
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Sigh, still raining today. And pretty windy. May have to hold off on the range for another day.
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- #333
It seems all the reviewers aren't a fan of the grips. They don't seem to bother me in the least. I play with New Decade Multi-Compound grips and while they're my #1 for the time being (heavy pondering those Pure grips) I don't mind the OEM Tour Velvet's. It might be because they're still brand new and haven't gotten worn down yet though; they still have that fresh tacky feeling to them.
Wicked Cool Bearded Man
4thegolf+4thefriends
Wonderful info so far testers. I finally got caught up through all the posts. Great job.
FrankA
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I have no problems with the grips. They will stay on for now. Glad to see that the low cappers are enjoying these clubs as well. Weather not cooperative today for me, but I do see a couple of range sessions and some weekend play in my future for this week coming.
Ole Gray
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Nate -- Buddy I am with you on the Gap/AW and PW with the love :in-love:! These puppies put a ton of spin/check on the ball :blob:. I am loving them more every time out and that sweet little attack, gap or whatever you want to call it is money. The wedges look good, check good, and do everything you could possibly want and more. I just got in from 27 holes in 73 degrees weather on a beautiful sunny day and enjoying me some RBZ time.
The long irons today were very good to me. I am really looking hard at the hook factor of these irons. The only way I actually over cook or duck hook these irons is with a sloppy yank type swing. You put a good move on these puppies and the long irons for me, produce baby draws with great roll out.
The two things I was focusing most on today was how the wedges work around the greens and they got a solid A on the report card. The other thing was the long irons off the tee on short par 4 holes and both the 4 & 5 iron got a solid A. These irons are easier to hit than a hybrid IMO and I am the hybrid guru
.
The long irons today were very good to me. I am really looking hard at the hook factor of these irons. The only way I actually over cook or duck hook these irons is with a sloppy yank type swing. You put a good move on these puppies and the long irons for me, produce baby draws with great roll out.
The two things I was focusing most on today was how the wedges work around the greens and they got a solid A on the report card. The other thing was the long irons off the tee on short par 4 holes and both the 4 & 5 iron got a solid A. These irons are easier to hit than a hybrid IMO and I am the hybrid guru
.
bahester
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These grips just feel too slick to me, they are pretty hard and it hurts my hands. I'm gonna play with em as long as I can though to see how they feel worn down.
Ole Gray
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Ditto on the grips hurting my hands. I ordered me some mid size tour wraps last night.
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- #340
Nate -- Buddy I am with you on the Gap/AW and PW with the love :in-love:! These puppies put a ton of spin/check on the ball :blob:. I am loving them more every time out and that sweet little attack, gap or whatever you want to call it is money. The wedges look good, check good, and do everything you could possibly want and more. I just got in from 27 holes in 73 degrees weather on a beautiful sunny day and enjoying me some RBZ time.
The long irons today were very good to me. I am really looking hard at the hook factor of these irons. The only way I actually over cook or duck hook these irons is with a sloppy yank type swing. You put a good move on these puppies and the long irons for me, produce baby draws with great roll out.
The two things I was focusing most on today was how the wedges work around the greens and they got a solid A on the report card. The other thing was the long irons off the tee on short par 4 holes and both the 4 & 5 iron got a solid A. These irons are easier to hit than a hybrid IMO and I am the hybrid guru
OG or Nate, have you used the AW around the green yet for pitching? Chipping these are really nice and get the ball rolling really quickly. Pitching the ball on the other hand, I was having some issues. The course gave me some pretty bare lies which may have been a factor, but I found it a bit difficult to hit the ball with a high soft pitch. A driving low shot wasn't a problem, but if you asked me to give you a mid-high pitch that would roll out only a few feet.. Not really happening too easily. Again, it may have been just the bare lies I had. I just want a second opinion before I have a chance to mess around with it again.
Ole Gray
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I had a couple shots today where I was 40 yds from the green. I just punched down on the ball and it hit the green and sit down very quickly with spin. Now this was not the high lob type shot so we need to put more testing on this to see consistent results. Personally I think the tight bare lies may have been an issue and when the summer grass comes in, you will see a different result.
Ole Gray
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We did not get the ATV sole did we guys? :bulgy-eyes: It must come on the RBZ Max irons.
bahester
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I believe the AW has the ATV sole.
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- #345
That's kind of what I think as well but wanted to see if someone else had any kind of luck or had to try that shot yet.
According to TM's website, "A radically advanced sole design eliminates the need to choose multiple bounce angles. Various grinds provide the necessary bounce depending on the type of shot you're playing." They also give a picture that helps describe how it works?
While that's nice and fancy in their terms, I haven't had enough messing around with the AW to give a full opinion of how the sole interacts with shorter shots quite yet. I usually go to either a 58 degree vokey with 8 degrees of bounce for shorter shots, or a 52 degree racTP wedge with 12 degrees of bounce with longer shots. Mid shots, I'm usually going to hit the 58 harder because I'm an idiot who takes the more aggressive route instead of trying to take something off a wedge and chance on hitting it heavy. Your mileage may vary.
The ATV sole is something I'm really going to put to testing in the next couple weeks just so I can figure that out for myself. I stated a few posts ago that I'd only hit some low punch shots with it and hadn't really messed with the high route yet, so I'll be trying a lot of high pitch shots, bunker shots, flops, etc to test this out and see if it bounces too much. My hypothesis right off the bat is I think it's going to for my swing, but I'll do my best to see what I can find out.
bahester
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No sir, don't believe so.
Ole Gray
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That's kind of what I think as well but wanted to see if someone else had any kind of luck or had to try that shot yet.
According to TM's website, "A radically advanced sole design eliminates the need to choose multiple bounce angles. Various grinds provide the necessary bounce depending on the type of shot you're playing." They also give a picture that helps describe how it works?
While that's nice and fancy in their terms, I haven't had enough messing around with the AW to give a full opinion of how the sole interacts with shorter shots quite yet. I usually go to either a 58 degree vokey with 8 degrees of bounce for shorter shots, or a 52 degree racTP wedge with 12 degrees of bounce with longer shots. Mid shots, I'm usually going to hit the 58 harder because I'm an idiot who takes the more aggressive route instead of trying to take something off a wedge and chance on hitting it heavy. Your mileage may vary.
The ATV sole is something I'm really going to put to testing in the next couple weeks just so I can figure that out for myself. I stated a few posts ago that I'd only hit some low punch shots with it and hadn't really messed with the high route yet, so I'll be trying a lot of high pitch shots, bunker shots, flops, etc to test this out and see if it bounces too much. My hypothesis right off the bat is I think it's going to for my swing, but I'll do my best to see what I can find out.
Ok so (ATV) is why I am hitting this AW with such interesting and awesome results! I love this thing and it keeps me looking forward to shots I can hit with it.
Ole Gray
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Good job IceMan!