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TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Fairway Review Thread

SuperStroke
This crazy typing was swift key auto filling while I was on the course. Hell, I can't understand it.
My first shot for the day was from 220 out from the right hand rough. It was a nice draw back into the wind. It landed just to the right, between the green and the bunker, ctr green high. I loved the look of this shot. If it had bounced in the direction of the ball flight, I would have been in close for birdie. But it bounded backwards and into the bunker.
Sorry for the fantastic on course typing.
afwcardinal said:
On the course now, working with the Stage 2 from the tee and fairway shots. First but from the deck sad from 220. Caught the rough just right of the green and end din the bucket. The shot was into the wind coming across left to right slightly. Very impressed with this ball flight.
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Jeff, I actually used this as my driver and 3W today. I am more accurate with the Stage 2 than my driver. It has the wrong shaft in it and I know that. As for distance, I do hit my driver farther, but I am not as accurate as with the stage 2. Today, I really didn't need it since we were playing the forward tees today. I do really like this for my 3W and I can honestly say that I have hit this a few times off the deck and am get accustom to it. Starting to really like that shot. I will spend somemore time with this stage 2, but I think this club will ride in my bag for some time. What I wish I had right now was the stage 2 hybrid. That is the club I really need to hit right now. If it hits anything like the FW, then I need to get this club.
This club is actually quite easy for me to hit. I am amazed at how solid this club feels when you put a good swing on it and I love that feeling. I seem to be producing more and more very solid shots with it.

Jeff Spicoli said:
Nice review, afw. I'm impressed with the distance you are seeing. I know you said you really like your R9 3 wood. Has the Stage 2 taken its place in the bag? And how does the Stage 2 compare with your driver distance?

Official Review 2/24/13

On the course testing
Temps: Low-Mid 60s
Wind: 15 MPH

This was my second on the course testing and unfortunately the course and tees I was playing from were not conducive to hitting the Stage 2--it was either driver or an iron off the tee.

The first hole--an uphill par 4 dogleg left into the wind and hit the Stage 2 right on target and in the middle of the fairway. No complaints there.

My second time using the Stage 2 was on #11. I shouldn't have hit the Stage 2 as I was worried it would go through the fairway and into the hazard but I just wanted to hit the Stage 2--I think I'm really starting to like this thing. I took a very easy swing and didn't commit to it and hit it in the right rough but short of the hazard and into an area I was trying to avoid as it blocked the green on my second shot. User error as I should have been hitting an iron off the tee.

The last time I hit the Stage 2 was on #16. Absolutely smoked it. Got some oohs and aahhs from my playing partners. Right down the middle with a high draw.

Wish I had more to update as I didn't have many opportunities to hit the Stage 2, but I'm growing in confidence and comfort with the Stage 2. Good results today.
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RBZ Stage 2 3W Testing - 2/22/13 & 2/23/13
Thoughts from the range and from my rounds


Had the RBZ in the bag for the weekend rounds and range time. Having had it for a few weeks now, I have had some highs and lows, and this weekend was more of that for me. I will start this update off with this; it's the Indian not the arrow. From spending time with this both Friday and Saturday, I realized that I need to get some more time in with this one and really work my swing with it to dial it in.

After digesting my rounds and my time on the range, I have self diagnosed my problems, and will go through them here, along with the way I am looking to improve upon my results...

There are a few differences from my previous 3W that I do believe are causing me some struggles;
  • Overall length of the club
  • Size/depth of the head
  • Weight of the club
  • Shaft

Obviously when changing clubs, these attributes are something that will be different. But, I am on opposing ends of the spectrum here with my two clubs. What this tells me is that I need to dial this bad boy in and let 'em fly.

Length; The RBZ is a bit longer than my previous 3W. Obviously, the easy fix here is to slightly choke down on the shaft. Yeah, I need to remember that tip. My issue with the length is that I a grabbing a bit too much turf with my shots, and just not making solid contact. Missing high on the face, etc. So, what I have found here is that with the length being a bit longer, I am trying to adjust my swing rather than my grip to counter it, and, you got it, all kinds of misses come in to play. Im pondering cutting the shaft down a bit to see if that will help any, but for the mean time, I am going to focus on choking down a bit on the grip and seeing how that works out for me.

Size; Larger club head, smaller face than what I have been gaming for the past year. Dept of the face is where I am struggling here. I have found that when hitting off the tee, I really need to focus on my tee height to make sure I am getting the contact I need. Missing too high on the face where I am teeing it now, so I am going to focus on teeing it just about the ground in hopes to bring the contact down to the center of the face. Again, another easy fix.

Weight; The 3W I had in the bag for the past year was one that was significantly lighter than the RBZ Stage 2. The RBZ plays a bit heavier, and I have noticed it in my swing. My transition at the top of my swing feels a bit more forced, rather than keeping a nice even tempo that I had with my Mashie. A bit of that extra length on the club comes in to play here, and with a forced move at the top, I am getting too quick with my swing, snappy if you will, and bringing in all sorts of issues when I am trying to create a move with my swing.

Shaft; Without a doubt, the shaft in the Mashie was one of my favorite fairway wood shafts I have ever gamed. Switching to a heavier Rocketfuel shaft has been interesting. It definitely plays a bit stiffer for me than the C Kua in the Mashie, and like I said above about the weight, it is causing me to try and force a solid swing rather than keep an even tempo and allow the club to do the work. My plan here is to hit the range, and just swing with a smooth, even tempo. Allow the club to do the work, and see what the results tell me.

With having broken that down, let's move on to this...

What has impressed me? Like I said, I have had my highs and lows with the RBZ Stage 2 so far. I have had some great shots, I have had some less than great shots. But, one shot from this weekend has me wanting to get to work with this club to see what I can get out of it.

The shot; Shorter Par 4, too long gets you in to the fairway bunker at the slight dogleg left turn, 3W is definitely the play. RBZ gets pulled, and I take a line down the left of the fairway. I hit the ball, and know that the miss is high on the face at impact, expecting miserable results. High ball flight, but the ball just never comes down. Even with a miss high on the face, the distance that I saw was without a doubt the longest I have ever been on this hole before. After I hit the shot, I immediately started to think. With a miss on the face, I am still sitting further than I typically am. Yeah, that impressed me.

What I learned from this weekend was this; I need more time with the Stage 2. I have had some good shots, and I have had some bad shots, but what I know is that I need to work on getting this dialed in. The performance is there in the equipment, now it's just time to find my comfort zone with it. Time to build confidence with the club, and let it do the work.
 
afwcardinal said:
Jeff, I actually used this as my driver and 3W today. I am more accurate with the Stage 2 than my driver. It has the wrong shaft in it and I know that. As for distance, I do hit my driver farther, but I am not as accurate as with the stage 2. Today, I really didn't need it since we were playing the forward tees today. I do really like this for my 3W and I can honestly say that I have hit this a few times off the deck and am get accustom to it. Starting to really like that shot. I will spend somemore time with this stage 2, but I think this club will ride in my bag for some time. What I wish I had right now was the stage 2 hybrid. That is the club I really need to hit right now. If it hits anything like the FW, then I need to get this club.
This club is actually quite easy for me to hit. I am amazed at how solid this club feels when you put a good swing on it and I love that feeling. I seem to be producing more and more very solid shots with it.
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Thanks for the response, dude. Sounds like the Stage 2 is turning out to be a real winner for you. I like how it has you in ponder mode for the hybrid.

I'm liking the ease of hitting this thing from the fairway.

Keep up the good work!
 
Very Very nice review War. I have to totally agrre with you about hitting it high on the face. I never really saw that until yesterday when I was showing capt.dru the club. I hit 4 balls and they were all high. The results were still good, but I could tell something was was wrong. Today, I made sure to tee the ball low, like I did with the R9. Great results all day. And I believe that the best results from the Stage 2 are produced with an easy tempo swing. When I do that the results are quite impressive.
I too look to get back on the range and get more work in with this club. I would like to use it at the Texas outting and I expect good results from it. Plan on getting it in a few THPers hands this next weekend and see what they all think.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
Thanks for the response, dude. Sounds like the Stage 2 is turning out to be a real winner for you. I like how it has you in ponder mode for the hybrid.

I'm liking the ease of hitting this thing from the fairway.

Keep up the good work!
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I really want to give the hybrid a shot. I tryed capt.dru's burner hybrid yesterday and can see how bad mine is for my game.
 
afwcardinal said:
Very Very nice review War. I have to totally agrre with you about hitting it high on the face. I never really saw that until yesterday when I was showing capt.dru the club. I hit 4 balls and they were all high. The results were still good, but I could tell something was was wrong. Today, I made sure to tee the ball low, like I did with the R9. Great results all day. And I believe that the best results from the Stage 2 are produced with an easy tempo swing. When I do that the results are quite impressive.
I too look to get back on the range and get more work in with this club. I would like to use it at the Texas outting and I expect good results from it. Plan on getting it in a few THPers hands this next weekend and see what they all think.
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Thanks dude. A few of my struggles on my misses can be adjusted easily with my grip and tee height. Just need to quit trying to step on it and hammer one and just remain within myself and put a good swing on it.
 
Great review, War. I love the in-depth thoughts about how the different length/weight shaft is affecting you. I am having the opposite problem--going from a heavier shaft to the lighter 60g Rocketfuel--while you feel like you have to swing harder, I feel like I have to take it easy, which I think is helping me control the Stage 2 better.

As far as your thoughts on the depth of the face and its depth, it's actually smaller than last year's RBZ, which I struggled with, so I am really liking it the changes they made in that respect. I think it makes it easier to hit from the deck. It is still bigger than my Ping, but I'm not seeing issues from the deck or tee.

I had one of those 'wow' moments yesterday with the Stage 2 when I thought I had mishit it and it was right on target with no distance loss.
 
War Eagle said:
Thanks dude. A few of my struggles on my misses can be adjusted easily with my grip and tee height. Just need to quit trying to step on it and hammer one and just remain within myself and put a good swing on it.
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Every time I try to get that little extra, I hook the crap out of it. I have yet to loose one left though, but I hate seeing that hook shot.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
Great review, War. I love the in-depth thoughts about how the different length/weight shaft is affecting you. I am having the opposite problem--going from a heavier shaft to the lighter 60g Rocketfuel--while you feel like you have to swing harder, I feel like I have to take it easy, which I think is helping me control the Stage 2 better.

As far as your thoughts on the depth of the face and its depth, it's actually smaller than last year's RBZ, which I struggled with, so I am really liking it the changes they made in that respect. I think it makes it easier to hit from the deck. It is still bigger than my Ping, but I'm not seeing issues from the deck or tee.

I had one of those 'wow' moments yesterday with the Stage 2 when I thought I had mishit it and it was right on target with no distance loss.
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Interesting how shafts can prompt us to try and promote a different swing, isnt it? I have always found that interesting about different clubs and the weight of them.

The wow moment was interesting, for sure. I was expecting a significant loss in distance, but was greeted with some pretty impressive results.
 
afwcardinal said:
Every time I try to get that little extra, I hook the crap out of it. I have yet to loose one left though, but I hate seeing that hook shot.
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Same thing with me. When I go after it, it goes left--waaaay left.
 
War Eagle said:
Interesting how shafts can prompt us to try and promote a different swing, isnt it? I have always found that interesting about different clubs and the weight of them.

The wow moment was interesting, for sure. I was expecting a significant loss in distance, but was greeted with some pretty impressive results.
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If I put the same swing on every club, I would probably have less problems but that's golf.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
If I put the same swing on every club, I would probably have less problems but that's golf.
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Haha, same thoughts here, dude. If I keep a smooth swing and an even tempo, the results are there. Instead, I try to hammer down and crush it.
 
Great thoughts in here today, fellas. It sounds like War and I are experienced the same thing in regards to the shaft/length of the Stage 2 and having a little bit of an issue adjusting coming over from the Mashie and the C. Kua. The controlled, "easy" swings I put on the Stage 2, I saw good results. But its a struggle to alter your natural swing for one club and stay consistent with it. I had to lay off more with this club, than I would have to with my Mashie.
 
Great weekend write ups guys, thanks.

Have just done the school drop offs and come home frozen, temps barely above freezing. But it is dry with little wind. I think I will need to move my calendar around and free up a couple of hours to hit the local 9 hole. There is a par 5 so I can hit one off the deck (actually a couple as I will play two balls) and I will be able to take it off most tees, although I also want to get my 3H back in the groove ready for two matches I have coming up in a fortnight.
 
Sibbers said:
Great weekend write ups guys, thanks.

Have just done the school drop offs and come home frozen, temps barely above freezing. But it is dry with little wind. I think I will need to move my calendar around and free up a couple of hours to hit the local 9 hole. There is a par 5 so I can hit one off the deck (actually a couple as I will play two balls) and I will be able to take it off most tees, although I also want to get my 3H back in the groove ready for two matches I have coming up in a fortnight.
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Guess you guys must all be sleeping LOL.

Well managed to head sraight out after posting that, went via a gold shop first to change a couple of items of clothing I have purchased recently then to the 9 hole.
Temp 1*c, I was wrong about wind though, it was up to 10-15mph.
Got an 11:05 tee time, got to the tee to find a two ball on the tee and a two ball on the green. Guys on the tee saw I was alone so told me to play through, very kind. So I only hit one ball and played an iron for safety, played the first hole quickly to get out of their way. MISTAKE! Got to 2nd tee and the pair are still on it, no group in front for 2 holes. I waited 15 mins, it is a 250 to front of green, yard par 4, straight with little trouble in front of the green or left, but right is trees.

Took the stage 2 3w, nice easy swing.......dead straight 15 yards short of green. next group hadnt appeared so I hit another, easy swing and same result although 5 yards further forward! perfect start. Saw the group behind as I walked off, told them I wa splaying 2 balls but would pick one up if group in front got a move on!
Next hole, par 3, so no 3w. Long wait again!
Finished that, and yet again the guys were still teeing off, one of them pulled his drive into the trees. I decided to cut across to teh 7th as there was no one on the 6th and a group were on the 7th green.
270 yards par 4, straight into the wind. Lo and behold, 2 perfect drives that did not deviate at all. Left little chips onto the green (put both chips to about 15 foot).
Got to 8th tee (par 3 - 150 yards), group in front were still walking to the green, and only 1 all visible, so I skipped over to 9 which is a par 5. 480 yards.
Took my driver off the tee, first time for a while....BOOM! Wind was across and slightly against. Left me 225.
Took the 3w off the deck, aimed slightly right (aiming at the tree that guards the green, about 20 yards out from it so around the 200 yard mark for me).
Contact was so sweet. Ball flew straight where aimed, sadly it did what the stage 2 seems to do, it ignored the wind!! Caught the very top of the tree and dropped straight down! Without the tree i think I may have been back of green, maybe even just over, I put another ball down and hit it, this was a bit heavy but ended up 10 yards short and right on target.


In summary I hit 4 tee shots and found the fairway with each, all around 230 - 240 or so.
two off the deck, both beautiful strikes.
The only thing I did was to slow the swing down. It seems to me a common thread developing here, swing smoothly and let the club do the work, you do not need to rip it.

However due to the frustrating slow play I then walked in.....have logged on again to work, have a conf call in 45 minutes................and then hope to get out to anothet 9 hole course where I will hit it off the tee but will have no fairway opportunities.
 
Well I managed to get out to the other 9 hole course and played 2 balls per hole.
1st hole - took the stage 2 off the tee with both balls. One was a 200 yd, slight draw but heavy strike. Safe on fairway.
Other was a duck hook, 20 yds forward into the sodden rough!
Didnt take it for next few holes due to nature of the holes meaning they were either par 3s or hazard in my range!

6th hole. Again two poor shots, one pushed into the right hand rough (funny thing is I put my approach 6 ft away and made birdie) and the other was no more than 100 yd topped!

9th hole - Nasty dog leg right, 402 yds, you need to be between 230 and 275 to get a shot to the green, took the stage 2 and middled both of them. I adjusted my alignment before hitting the first, realised i was open at address. Both were perfect and ended up 5 yards apart with 160 to go to green.

So a disappointing afternoon, although the slight tweak on the last hole helped. Cant wait to get out again.
in fairness it is not helping that the weather is just above freezing, there is a steady wind, and there was even a little drizzle today!
 
IceyShanks said:
That's good to know as that's my typical miss with typical swing!!!
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I should maybe qualify my statement by saying I have yet to find a club I can't hook. My miss left with the Stage 2 isn't actually as bad as with my Ping or first RBZ so it's an improvement in that regard.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
I should maybe qualify my statement by saying I have yet to find a club I can't hook. My miss left with the Stage 2 isn't actually as bad as with my Ping or first RBZ so it's an improvement in that regard.
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Same here, but that's good info to have!
 
After some computer problems, I'm finally able to post a hitting session. I'm reviewing the Stage 2 3HL 17* FW. As I posted earlier, I'm comparing the Stage 2 to my R11 15.5* 3W and my R11s 19* 5W. Just to preface, I had a lousy session. I couldn't hit the center of the club face to save my life.

Looks: The white crowns are so common place that it's no longer
'different' from so many other clubs. The designs on the Stage 2 FWs do not detract at all, and actually do help with alignment. The shaft on my 3W is a Rocket Fuel by Matrix in Regular flex at 60 grams. My R11 3W has a Fujikura blur in Stiff flex at 70 grams, and my R11s 5W has a Rip phenom in Stiff flex also at 70 grams.

Feel: At first, I thought that the difference in weight might be noticeable. But after a few swings with all three the difference was negligible. The stage 2 did feel a little lighter while I was hitting it, but not by much. My 3W and 5W were a little heavier to swing.

Stats:

Stage 2 3W: SS: 87.1 to 91.4
Ball speed: 118.5-126.4
Launch: 11.9-14.4
Carry: 179-194
Total Distance: 189.9-214.7

Interesting that the longest carry and total distance was with the lowest Launch angle. I didn't particularly like the 20 roll out, but I'm sure that it was because of the launch angle. For a second shot into a par 5, I would like less roll out if I hit the green.


R11 3W: SS: 86.3-90.3
Ball speed 118.5-128.3
Lost the launch angles.
Carry: 169-181 ugh!
Total Distance: 190.7-198

I had a horrible day with my R11 3W. I was coming over the top, I had bad swing planes, just awful.

R11 5W: SS: 87.0-91.2
Ball Speed: 117.5-126.3
Best launch angle: 15.7
Carry: 178-193.2
Total Distance: 185-195.3

All in all, not a bad day for the Stage 2 3W. I had the longest distance with it with inconsistent hitting with all clubs. At first, I thought that comparing it to my R11 3W at 15.5* as opposed to the Stage 2 17 would not be a fair comparison. Not today! Good results with a bad day of hitting. I'll be using tape to see if I can get ALL my hits centered. I will do another test with the same settings on my 3W & 5W. In the future, I plan to adjust my 3W up to the max from 15.5* to 17*, and lower my 5W from 19* to 17.5* to get a more fair comparison. I think that I would consider the Stage two 3W more of a 4W. But my thinking will probably change in the weeks and months to come with the testing.
 
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Canio- Glad to see you got your computer up and running. The 17* has me very intrigued. I like my RBZ 3 wood 15* but have been pondering switching to 17* for a while. I'll be interested to follow your results.
 
I wanted to get some of my thoughts from yesterdays round up before they left me forever. :act-up:

I played my home course yesterday and had some chances to swing the RBZ off the deck which was my first attempt at this so far in the testing.

Afternoon tee time
lows 50s and sunny, 10-20 MPH wind gusts ( this was quite sporadic and wasn't noticeable on some holes and very apparent on others)

I just wanted to preface this small testing by saying that I didn't have many chances to hit the club.

Hole 1
Up hill dog leg right hole that is quite challenging it was playing about 390 from the tees were using. My second shot I had a chance to use the RBZ and the ball was slightly above my feet and I was about 202 out from the center of the green. I actually felt that I struck the ball well but the result was less than ideal I only hit it about 180 and missed the green to the right.

Hole 2
Par five after a complete miss aimed driver, I was in the fairway with my provisional ball, my next shot was about 260 downhill out so I used the RBZ and the ball was slightly below my feet. I struck the ball but again missed the green about 20 yards short to the right. I felt good about this shot with the RBZ and started to feel my confidence getting better.

Hole 7
In the fairway after a really nice drive and took aim at the green with about 250 yards out, pretty flat lie and I tried to kill this ball. You guessed it totally duffed it and it went about 80 yards. Ugh I was feeling like my confidence was improving but I didn't feel so great after this shot.

Hole 18
Again left side of the fairway about 260 out to the green but tree right in my line but I figured I would the RBZ a chance( what did I have to lose at this point). I also choked up just a bit and man did I catch this one!! But alas I hit the tree in front of me. I felt this was my best struck shot off the deck with this club but cant not speak to the results unfortunately.

Overall I need more time and practice with this club, for this round I took out my Nike gamer and just went with the RBZ.

Just some quick thoughts.
 
I apologize for not being able to have any on course thoughts or range time the last week. We are just getting absolutely obliterated with snow in Missouri right now and I honestly didn't see this happening when I signed up to participate. So, apologies to my fellow testers and everyone else for that matter. This week isn't looking great either (matter of fact, it's looking downright grim). But I will do my best to answer any Stage 2 questions that might come up and give some thoughts from my limited time out thus far. The Stage 2 will be the only three wood making the trip to Dallas, so if that is my next time being able to hit a ball, so be it. You will have a full review and thoughts upon the completion of my rounds and range time.

Again, apologies, but I am working with the insanity Mother Nature is throwing at me right now.
 
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