That's what I was going to look into... Does the TM specs say its only effective on ball first strikes, or does it compress and have benefits on ground first strikes?
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TaylorMade RocketBladez - Review Thread
That's what I was going to look into... Does the TM specs say its only effective on ball first strikes, or does it compress and have benefits on ground first strikes?
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
rafdo
Active member
Its a great question JB, I don't think hitting the Rbladez fat has any more negative effect than other irons do. I think its because fat misses tend to strike the ball higher on the clubface thus negating most of the effect (negative or positive) of the slot. For me they're pretty darn effective since I'm a "picker" and my miss is thin. I rarely hit a fat shot, but tops & low line drives are a common occurrence
I would think hitting anything other than the ball first would take away from the effectiveness of the slot, but on normal strikes would hope that the sole would engage the ground, leaving the slot for the ball. It seems like the clubs would need something with the mass and density of a ball activate the slot, so im not sure theground would activate the slot, per se. And I agree with the others, when I hit it fat I tend to really get my money's worth and the clubs seem to behave about the same as other clubs I've played.
Testing report...
i played 27 holes today. The first 9 my ball striking was off but I had virtually all good misses, like a couple of yards left or short on approach shots. Scoring clubs were my friends again. This combined to let me shoot 43 ... with zero fairways hit and zero GIRs (yeah, I can really bring some game). Ball striking on the back 9 was actually much better. The 6, 7 and 8 irons in particular were delivering solid results. Highlights included a low running 6i around a tree as my 2nd shot on a par 5 which left me in the middle of the fairway 100 yards out, a 7i from the rough up hill to a semi blind green about pin high, and an 8i from 155 to 10 feet (made the birdie putt). Unfortunately the wheels fell off physically and mentally - this showed itself in the short game - and the back side was pretty painful. In total it was a day where my horrific driving (2 FWs hit all day and one of those was a ball i topped that went about 50 yards), cold weather, wind and playing a course for the first which happened to have a lot of blind shots all put a ton of pressure my iron and short game. Eventually it caught up to me.
Now the average golfer might lick his wounds and call it a day. Not this THPer. I headed over to the local executive course and committed myself to playing 9 only with the irons. I proceeded to stripe virtually every shot. A highlight included a threesome waiving me up on a 180 yard par 3. I hit 6i to about 10 feet and drained the putt, at which point they invited me to play through. I think i only missed 1 fairway. I even was back to nailing the 5i. A highlight here was hitting 5i off the tee on a short par 4, leaving myself 65 yards to the hole. I missed one par 3 about 15 yards short then realized I mistakenly pulled the wrong club. I finished 4 over for the 9 and that was not even close to representing the quality of shots played - I had a handful of putts lip out, roll over the edge and miss by about a ball. I easily could have played this 9 at even par.
In total, the clubs just continue to perform. Put a good swing on it and the ball soars. Put a mediocre swing on the ball and reap the benefits of the Bladez' forgiveness. I continue to love these clubs.
i played 27 holes today. The first 9 my ball striking was off but I had virtually all good misses, like a couple of yards left or short on approach shots. Scoring clubs were my friends again. This combined to let me shoot 43 ... with zero fairways hit and zero GIRs (yeah, I can really bring some game). Ball striking on the back 9 was actually much better. The 6, 7 and 8 irons in particular were delivering solid results. Highlights included a low running 6i around a tree as my 2nd shot on a par 5 which left me in the middle of the fairway 100 yards out, a 7i from the rough up hill to a semi blind green about pin high, and an 8i from 155 to 10 feet (made the birdie putt). Unfortunately the wheels fell off physically and mentally - this showed itself in the short game - and the back side was pretty painful. In total it was a day where my horrific driving (2 FWs hit all day and one of those was a ball i topped that went about 50 yards), cold weather, wind and playing a course for the first which happened to have a lot of blind shots all put a ton of pressure my iron and short game. Eventually it caught up to me.
Now the average golfer might lick his wounds and call it a day. Not this THPer. I headed over to the local executive course and committed myself to playing 9 only with the irons. I proceeded to stripe virtually every shot. A highlight included a threesome waiving me up on a 180 yard par 3. I hit 6i to about 10 feet and drained the putt, at which point they invited me to play through. I think i only missed 1 fairway. I even was back to nailing the 5i. A highlight here was hitting 5i off the tee on a short par 4, leaving myself 65 yards to the hole. I missed one par 3 about 15 yards short then realized I mistakenly pulled the wrong club. I finished 4 over for the 9 and that was not even close to representing the quality of shots played - I had a handful of putts lip out, roll over the edge and miss by about a ball. I easily could have played this 9 at even par.
In total, the clubs just continue to perform. Put a good swing on it and the ball soars. Put a mediocre swing on the ball and reap the benefits of the Bladez' forgiveness. I continue to love these clubs.
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Great stuff Tequila! I'm looking forward to getting out on the links tomorrow, it's been way to long
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Pkielwa
New member
Man, these clubs have me counting the days until the big demo day in Shreveport. I guess what keeps getting me each time I look at them are the many rounds I shot in the 70's with the R7's I had. I really enjoy the feel of my DPCs but I'm not all that consistent with them and, right now, I could use a few more yards. Sunday, in the wind and cooler temps, I hit a LOT of 6 irons into holes. I only hit two greens as a result. Anyway, I wish someone around here had a demo I could hit outside at the range...
Pkielwa
New member
I'm praying that the 13th doesn't get rained out. Otherwise, I'll be doing a post Friday round run to a golf store or range in Dallas to hit these at the Invitational.
El Bandito
Active member
now that must have felt good!
Thanks. Actually it made me chuckle because only I was aware of the ugliness that was occurring just 45 minutes earlier on a different course
Another one in this same category happened on the hole that I mistakenly pulled the wrong club. When I mentioned the mistake to the guy I was paired with he asked me if I meant to hit (insert club number, I don't remember). I told him I hit PW and his jaw dropped at the distance with that club. I told him it was the clubs and he said something that I can't exactly repeat on this family friendly site to the effect of "yeah, right". I told him I was serious and it was true, but he didn't believe me.
El Bandito
Active member
I know what you mean. A guy I play with always needed half a club more than me, now he needs one and a half, sometimes two. He is in serious ponder mode!
To start with what Tequila and Bandito are saying, the guys I played with today have stopped asking me what club I'm hitting because we are so far off.
I played my first full round of 2013 today in 38* weather with a light breeze, ideal conditions really for March. It took me quite a while to warm up as my course doesn't really have much of a practice facility and I started off dead cold. Highlight from the front 9 include a punch shot on the 2nd with the 4i from about 125 out under a tree to 15ft on the green. A brilliant shot with the AW from 110 on 7 that I was able to put past the hole and pull the string on to being back 10ft down the hill under the hole. And the tee **** on the 9th where I smoked a 4i farther than they hit 2 drives and a solid 3w dead center. The sound on the drive made one of them say "oh wow, got all of that one" ...felt good!
The back was ok until I outed a 7i off the tee into the wind in the par 3 7th hole to put it pin high with a decent chance for bird (missed the putt because the greens are long and ran over some chatter). I smoked my drive on 15, out an 8i to inside 15 ft and made par. Hit a nice drive on 16, put together 2 really nice 8i to hit GIR on the par 5 and make par. Then on the final hole I smoked another 4i off the tee and again out-drove everyone.
The winners today were the 4i off the tee, and the 8i from the fairway. When I had a good rhythm and a smith transition, the Rbldz performed like a dream. I noticed that if I rush it or get aggressive, the stock RocketFuel shaft punishes me with a solid duck hook. Overall I was really impressed with the sticks today for the first cold round of the year and I can see the potential there for rounds to come.
On my iPhone T.. T.. Tapatalking away!
I played my first full round of 2013 today in 38* weather with a light breeze, ideal conditions really for March. It took me quite a while to warm up as my course doesn't really have much of a practice facility and I started off dead cold. Highlight from the front 9 include a punch shot on the 2nd with the 4i from about 125 out under a tree to 15ft on the green. A brilliant shot with the AW from 110 on 7 that I was able to put past the hole and pull the string on to being back 10ft down the hill under the hole. And the tee **** on the 9th where I smoked a 4i farther than they hit 2 drives and a solid 3w dead center. The sound on the drive made one of them say "oh wow, got all of that one" ...felt good!
The back was ok until I outed a 7i off the tee into the wind in the par 3 7th hole to put it pin high with a decent chance for bird (missed the putt because the greens are long and ran over some chatter). I smoked my drive on 15, out an 8i to inside 15 ft and made par. Hit a nice drive on 16, put together 2 really nice 8i to hit GIR on the par 5 and make par. Then on the final hole I smoked another 4i off the tee and again out-drove everyone.
The winners today were the 4i off the tee, and the 8i from the fairway. When I had a good rhythm and a smith transition, the Rbldz performed like a dream. I noticed that if I rush it or get aggressive, the stock RocketFuel shaft punishes me with a solid duck hook. Overall I was really impressed with the sticks today for the first cold round of the year and I can see the potential there for rounds to come.
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Great write up TUT, glad to see you had a good outing, especially considering the layoff and weather. Good Jo.
I read a lot of this thread before today. I was dead set on the Xhot irons but I just hit these a smidgen better, but I think the thing that made the final decision today was the AW. It looks like a wedge! That may seem dumb but that's what sold these clubs to me, I told the TaylorMade rep that to.
So excited!
4-AW 2 degrees upright with KBS x stiff shafts I think the 135 gram shafts.
Now I wait.
~Joseph~
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So excited!
4-AW 2 degrees upright with KBS x stiff shafts I think the 135 gram shafts.
Now I wait.
~Joseph~
via Tapatalk
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Klee
Let they
I noticed today the Rocketbladez medallion on the back of my 5i was missing. TM was have a demo day the my driving range - I showed it to the TM representative, he said they had some problems with the early run of these irons. This was the fourth iron he has seen the medallion has come off. He advised to return the club to the place of purchase & TM would replace the club.
You may want to keep an eye out on your clubs
You may want to keep an eye out on your clubs
Congrats on the purchase!
Testing has been fun but also a decent amount of work, so I really appreciate the times where we see how the thread helps people make decisions. Thanks for sharing and I hope you hit them straight!
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A couple of us have experienced that issue. I was lucky enough to find mine so it could be glued back on.
Still a fan of the irons. Big fan. They have been a big part of what I think is a good change for my game. I feel like irons are now a strength, where they were one of the weaker parts of my game in the past.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Hawk, any thoughts on giving the tours a run? I hit them today with a few different shafts and came away really liking them...again
Yes reading this thread really opened up my mind on them a bit.
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Honestly, none at all. I just don't see a reason to go there dude. I don't doubt I'd like them, but it would be hard for me to expect much more than what I have going on with the non-Tours.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Totally understand, no point in messing with what is working for u
Roadrunner7431
New member
I had the opportunity to hit these irons in all three versions, regular, tour and Max at a Taylormade Demo at a course 45 minute drive from my home. My ball striking is probably about average for the average bogey golfer. I hit a lot of toe shots and a fair number near the bottom of the club face. I hit the 7 irons of all three versions like the were on a rope but the impact tape showed that they were all over the grooved surface. Even the young pros who were the fitters jaws dropped when I tried the 4 irons and hit 80% of those on a rope and long with 190 carry and 5 to ten yards or roll. The 4 iron in this set could almost replace my 3 wood!
The Taylormade rep was a bit puzzled that I asked for the tour head in the Rocketfuel 65 regular graphite shaft as that is not yet available. In fact the only tour heads were in KBS tour stiff shaft which is a bit much for this 58 year old with 75-80 mph swing speed. The only Max heads were in Matrix Program 55 senior flex graphite and felt a bit wobbly to me especially in the 4 iron. I was amazed also to see that the Max head has the speed slot throughout the entire set.....8,9,PW, AW and even SW! When they start promoting the Rocketbladez Max I predict a huge outcry. "This little thing" will either completely revolutionize iron play or be seen as Taylormade's De Lorean or Edsel. lol.
The Taylormade rep was a bit puzzled that I asked for the tour head in the Rocketfuel 65 regular graphite shaft as that is not yet available. In fact the only tour heads were in KBS tour stiff shaft which is a bit much for this 58 year old with 75-80 mph swing speed. The only Max heads were in Matrix Program 55 senior flex graphite and felt a bit wobbly to me especially in the 4 iron. I was amazed also to see that the Max head has the speed slot throughout the entire set.....8,9,PW, AW and even SW! When they start promoting the Rocketbladez Max I predict a huge outcry. "This little thing" will either completely revolutionize iron play or be seen as Taylormade's De Lorean or Edsel. lol.
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It would be hard to give up what I feel I've gained in yardage and forgiveness for sure. For my game, they fit just fine. I'd always love something a little more sexy, but when I've gone back to a smaller head I just haven't been as impressed. I'm a hack though
Thanks for the thoughts, Roadrunner. Sounds like you were seeing the same forgiveness that we've seen.
Oh, in case anyone was wondering I asked what kind of material filled the slot, and the TaylorMade guy said 3m makes it and it's supposed to have something to deal with feel and sound.
~Joseph~
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~Joseph~
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