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TaylorMade RSi 1 Irons Review Thread

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THP has a preview of the new RSi 1, RSi 2 and RSi TP irons coming up soon from TaylorMade Golf. On top of that, 2014 Morgan Cup TaylorMade Staff Members on THP have received a set and will be giving you their feedback in this thread.

Check out the details here.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/?p=23996

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A HUGE thank you to Taylormade for giving their 8 MC staffers this awesome opportunity. We were notified only a couple days prior to their arrival what they would be and a quick bit of info about them.

This fun little box came in the mail 3-pw, plus a handwritten note from Mr. Cordero himself.

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“The most visible difference you will notice in these irons are the FACE SLOTS. Face Slot Technology provides greater consistency across the face, giving players improved performance on mis-hits. Just like the Speed Pocket helps golfers improve on their mis-hits on the low part of the face, the Face Slots will improve mis-hits on the heel and toe.”

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Looks:

The look from address is very much like the Speedblades. Some users will like the chrome finish, some will not. As it’s very much a personal taste, it’s one that has never bothered me even when living in the bright Florida sun. The weight in hand feels sturdy solid and much like the iron it’s replacing. The topline is right on par with your typical distance based iron and is quickly forgotten once addressed to a ball.

Performance:

The RSI 1 doesn’t mess around when it comes to hitting a ball. While the lightweight shaft was a concern at first when coming from the more traditional 120-130 gram shafts, it held up just fine to faster, aggressive swings. A demo Speedblade 6i was available for use, which made it incredibly easy to compare the Speedblade to the RSI 1 heads up. The RSI1 with the same loft and length, launched the ball higher, flew further, and landed softer than its predecessor. Throughout the set, RSI 1 was noticeably longer than other irons despite minimal differences in lofts. While the extra distance was nice and albeit at times too long, the launch was the part that was enjoyed the most. Almost anyone can hit an iron far, especially when one catches the leading edge of the club into the center of the ball. The RSI 1’s gave the tester a flight that would be described as mid high to high. Distance was maximized by carry, and stopped quickly from most types of lies.


Summary:

After nearly two weeks with the RSI 1’s, there were very few complaints about them. At times though, they flat out went too far in the scoring irons. While that may sound amusing to some, the complaint for the time being was gapping issues. One can only swing so soft to make up for the gap in AW to PW, and perfecting the half chunked iron to assist in the reduction of distance is still a work in progress. One odd thought though in testing was that the longer irons (6 iron on up) felt more like hybrids than irons, and better results were achieved when treating them more like that. More testing will be needed to back that up, but it was interesting.

Overall though, these are a wonderful replacement to the Speedblades and are flat out a fun iron to hit. Like the other 7 testers, I’ll be around to answer any and all questions, thoughts, or concerns you may have about them!
 
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Wow! Awesome! Cool looking irons. Very awesome of TM to do that

The Morgan cup, the gift that keeps on giving :)
 
Mike, how do they compare to the SLDR irons both from feel and distance? I know you've said the SLDRs were pretty long too.
 
Very interesting. Taylormade seems to be in love with that speed pocket. Which I like. I think the tech works and I'm happy to see they are continuing to use it. Means there is something to the tech.
 
Wow crazy. One picture didn't work on tapa.

But these are interesting.
 
What's the last club with the speed holes?

Those are some pretty slick looking irons. A little chunky, but something that tends to bother me more in pictures than at address.

Really interested to hear thoughts from some of the other staffers on these irons.
 
Nebgolfer said:
Mike, how do they compare to the SLDR irons both from feel and distance? I know you've said the SLDRs were pretty long too.
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Personally, I like the SLDR irons a little bit more in terms of the sound off the face. Not that there was anything wrong with the way the RSI 1's sound, I just like the SLDR sound more.

They were longer than the SLDR's. Some irons were only a few yards, some were a lot more than a few yards. I don't particularly hit a really high ball with my SLDR irons, more a mid to low mid flight. These were mid high to high, so it allowed me to get the ball up there and in this case, get a nice jump in yardage.
 
Higher, longer, and softer landing than Speedblades is quite impressive.
 
Cool stuff. I'm a big fan of the SpeedBlades, so hearing that these are able to perform better than those has my attention
 
Awesome initial review Michael. I had some pics ready, but can't match those that you put up. They are really awesome looking irons with some break through new tech. I think they'll be a game changer for some.
 
Paladin said:
What's the last club with the speed holes?

Those are some pretty slick looking irons. A little chunky, but something that tends to bother me more in pictures than at address.

Really interested to hear thoughts from some of the other staffers on these irons.
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That would be the 8i. The 9i and PW don't have a single slot on them. The 8i has face, no sole slot. 7i down, both face and sole.
 
Wardy- are the lofts stringer with these vs the SLDR irons? If so by how much & are he lifts more in line with what the speedblades were.

Thanks for the review and tons of great info.
 
Pretty cool by TaylorMade to put these in the hand of their Morgan Cuppers. I'll be following this one closely.
 
These look interesting for sure. Any shots from address? I'm a little worried how they'll look. Sometimes I feel like the face is a bit small as it is, this might mentally make it worse.

Definitely want to hit these though.
 
mikeg_74 said:
Wardy- are the lofts stringer with these vs the SLDR irons? If so by how much & are he lifts more in line with what the speedblades were.

Thanks for the review and tons of great info.
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Stronger, but not by much than the SLDR's. 2 degrees PW and 9, 1.5 the rest.

SB comparisons loft wise are weird. PW is a degree stronger in the RSI. 9i is half a degree stronger. 8i on down are identical.

Edit: I didn't take any at address for some reason, but I guarantee you 7 other people did.
 
GolferMahn said:
These look interesting for sure. Any shots from address? I'm a little worried how they'll look. Sometimes I feel like the face is a bit small as it is, this might mentally make it worse.

Definitely want to hit these though.
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Funny, I was thinking that the slots on the face would provide more framing of the ball at address. "Put the ball through the gate" made by the slots might help a player visualize where the club face should impact the ball.
 
Does the whole line have the face slots or just the 1?
 
J4U said:
Does the whole line have the face slots or just the 1?
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3-8 have lines in the face. 9 & PW do not. 3-7 have the speed slot in the bottom. 8-pw do not.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Cool stuff. I'm a big fan of the SpeedBlades, so hearing that these are able to perform better than those has my attention
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The RSi1 is actually the replacement for the SpeedBlades. I didn't game those, but these should be a little more forgiving and maybe a tad longer than the SpeedBlades. They are certainly that compared to the SLDR irons for me. RSi2 will be the next generation of the SLDR irons. We were sent a set of the RSi1 irons.
 
I will have to give these a try and the others in the line
 
Mward said:
3-8 have lines in the face. 9 & PW do not. 3-7 have the speed slot in the bottom. 8-pw do not.
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I was referring to the 3 lines...1-2-TP.

I had seen your description in your first review and apologise for being unclear in my question. Just wondered if all had the face slot within the irons in the other sets as well.
 
J4U said:
I was referring to the 3 lines...1-2-TM.

I had seen your description in your first review and apologise for being unclear in my question. Just wondered if all had the face slot within the irons in the other sets as well.
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OH! I'm not 100% positive since I've not seen the other two lines yet. I'm sure we'll see soon though
 
Wow,that is an awesome gesture of TM. The speed slot on the face is quite interesting,nice inital review. Looks and sounds like a winner so far.
 
Paladin said:
What's the last club with the speed holes?

Those are some pretty slick looking irons. A little chunky, but something that tends to bother me more in pictures than at address.

Really interested to hear thoughts from some of the other staffers on these irons.
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FWIW these, in hand, do not look all that chunky, Steven. The top line is not overly thick. They really did appear to me at address similar to the SLDR and the Tour Preferred CBs, which are not chunky. But, YMMV.
 
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