Trojans73
New member
OK HERE IS THE RESULT FROM THE 1st DAY OF THE TAYLORMADE TP MBs (for me).
Went to Strawberry Farms Golf Course (driving range is grass on Friday-Sunday). I got their largest bag of balls $15!!! Unfortunately, it is the closest driving range with grass I can use (other than Pelican Hill, which you can only use if you play).
The guy next to me, was a PGA teacher....oh great! So, I take out my 6 iron and warm up, after some stretching and chatting I go to swing...I aimed at the flag that was 165 yards away and proceeded to 'blade it' so it went only about 15 feet in the air. Oh yeah, I'm not playing CBs anymore...I really have to move this back in my stance and hit DOWN on it. 8 of my next 10 shots actually flew the landing green, but all were within 3 yards (left or right) of the pin. I did have 1 not so good shot and one blade again. I was hitting the 6 iron consistently between 170-180 (normally hit it 165-175). VERY LITTLE SPRAY!
A few more balls later and I hit the 8 iron. PERFECT control. I normally hit my irons very straight. I noticed just a hair of a draw (A "draw" is a flight path of the ball in which the ball curves gently right-to-left for a right-handed player). In fact, after I became more comfortable I practiced actually forcing a draw and was able to get a draw of about 10 yards right to left. Sweet! I did have a very hard time making it fade, but that's not a shot I am good at.
Next up. The wedge. I landed within 3 feet of the pin on 3 of 10 shots. I didn't 'miss' one shot. The absolute best thing about these irons is the lack of spray. Even if you miss hit it a little you won't go left/right too much.
I did have a hard time hitting the 4 iron consistently. In fact, the 5 iron was maybe 5 yards longer than the 6 iron and the 4 iron was about 5 yards longer than the 5 iron...so, I really need to work on that.
The amount of divots I took out was staggering...I normally take a few good divots here and there...but this was great. The amount of 'bounce' was about 1/2...which, I guess I should expect. Also, because I focused on hitting down on the ball more I 'forced' more divots. You HAVE to remember this club is called MUSCLE BACK...and I know TM has their own reasons for calling it a MB, but for me, I found out you need to muscle at the right time. I was actually able to hit the ball farther than my normal clubs with a little less effort (even though these have 1 degree more loft per club than my CBs). Ok, for the 'muscle' part. I absolutely would NOT recommend these clubs unless you can swing a driver over 105mph.. Why? Because you actually do need to muscle it at impact. A weak swing with how these clubs were designed will just not work.
I had some amazing shots and definite control on draws. I've never hit a club that I actually knew exactly where it would go. With my last 40 balls or so I decided to place electrical tape on the club face. This is the poor man's face tape. Electrical tape leaves an imprint where you hit the ball on the face. My 6-PW I hit consistently in the center of the face (approximately, the center of the ball was 4 grooves up - there are 13 grooves -7 full grooves). My 4 iron I was hitting slightly towards the toe and about 2 grooves up (this would be 'okay' for a CB). My 5 iron was in between... So, IMO, I need to line up just a hair closer to the ball and put the club in a slightly more upright position (this eliminates hitting off the toe - for me).
My typical positioning for a 4 iron is off my front heel, with the MB's it was dead center. Everything then moved back, and in fact, my PW was almost (not quite) off my back right heel (approximately 2 inches farther back than I am used to hitting). SO REMEMBER, if you hit MBs you have to put the ball BACK in your stance (this also causes you to hit down on it - You can not hit these on the upswing or on the bottom of your swing).
I am going ahead and taking them to Roger Dunn tomorrow morning to get them bent 1 upright. I'm not 100% sure if I need it, but that's what my club fitting said, so here goes (it's $25).
Now, when you hit these good (and you can) it is the most amazing shot you'll ever take (actually, I got the same feeling as I do when I crush a drive over 300 yards, I've had a few that have run over 350 - wind and/or hill aided). When you hit them 90% accurate it is still forgiving. These are the easiest clubs I've hit with to know you did something wrong and know what you did wrong. There is no sting, not really much vibration on bad hits (just more of a thud), but oh man, the good hits are perfect.
As far as trajectory I thought it was about the same as my now old clubs, the wedge I could hit lower or even higher than my current wedge. Unfortunately, the 'greens' I hit to were basically 'fairway grass' so I could not tell much backspin, but they definitely did not run.
Overall, I'm very excited to play my first round tomorrow. Also, interested to see how bending the clubs upright 1 will effect the flight path...oh, the flight path...that was something else...my old clubs were more of a 'rainbow' shape. The flight path here was definitely straighter and more of a zing...then, at the end just a nice fall off...hopefully this stops balls from skipping, hopping, etc. on the green.
I'll post more later this weekend. Playing Saturday and Sunday.
In my bag
Driver: Superfast 2.0 (10.5°)/ Matrix Ozick XCon-4.8 Flex S
Fairway Metals: R11 5 Wood / Blur by Fujikura Flex S
Irons: TP MB 4-PW
Gap Wedge: TM TP xFT C-C Wedge Gap, Nippon N.S. Pro 1050 GH 50° Extra Stiff/Strong
Sand Wedge: Dunlop Recover Wedge, 64° - Old and needs to be replaced.
Putter: 2Ball SRT White Hot XG - Belly Putter
Ball: Nike One Vapor Speed
Went to Strawberry Farms Golf Course (driving range is grass on Friday-Sunday). I got their largest bag of balls $15!!! Unfortunately, it is the closest driving range with grass I can use (other than Pelican Hill, which you can only use if you play).
The guy next to me, was a PGA teacher....oh great! So, I take out my 6 iron and warm up, after some stretching and chatting I go to swing...I aimed at the flag that was 165 yards away and proceeded to 'blade it' so it went only about 15 feet in the air. Oh yeah, I'm not playing CBs anymore...I really have to move this back in my stance and hit DOWN on it. 8 of my next 10 shots actually flew the landing green, but all were within 3 yards (left or right) of the pin. I did have 1 not so good shot and one blade again. I was hitting the 6 iron consistently between 170-180 (normally hit it 165-175). VERY LITTLE SPRAY!
A few more balls later and I hit the 8 iron. PERFECT control. I normally hit my irons very straight. I noticed just a hair of a draw (A "draw" is a flight path of the ball in which the ball curves gently right-to-left for a right-handed player). In fact, after I became more comfortable I practiced actually forcing a draw and was able to get a draw of about 10 yards right to left. Sweet! I did have a very hard time making it fade, but that's not a shot I am good at.
Next up. The wedge. I landed within 3 feet of the pin on 3 of 10 shots. I didn't 'miss' one shot. The absolute best thing about these irons is the lack of spray. Even if you miss hit it a little you won't go left/right too much.
I did have a hard time hitting the 4 iron consistently. In fact, the 5 iron was maybe 5 yards longer than the 6 iron and the 4 iron was about 5 yards longer than the 5 iron...so, I really need to work on that.
The amount of divots I took out was staggering...I normally take a few good divots here and there...but this was great. The amount of 'bounce' was about 1/2...which, I guess I should expect. Also, because I focused on hitting down on the ball more I 'forced' more divots. You HAVE to remember this club is called MUSCLE BACK...and I know TM has their own reasons for calling it a MB, but for me, I found out you need to muscle at the right time. I was actually able to hit the ball farther than my normal clubs with a little less effort (even though these have 1 degree more loft per club than my CBs). Ok, for the 'muscle' part. I absolutely would NOT recommend these clubs unless you can swing a driver over 105mph.. Why? Because you actually do need to muscle it at impact. A weak swing with how these clubs were designed will just not work.
I had some amazing shots and definite control on draws. I've never hit a club that I actually knew exactly where it would go. With my last 40 balls or so I decided to place electrical tape on the club face. This is the poor man's face tape. Electrical tape leaves an imprint where you hit the ball on the face. My 6-PW I hit consistently in the center of the face (approximately, the center of the ball was 4 grooves up - there are 13 grooves -7 full grooves). My 4 iron I was hitting slightly towards the toe and about 2 grooves up (this would be 'okay' for a CB). My 5 iron was in between... So, IMO, I need to line up just a hair closer to the ball and put the club in a slightly more upright position (this eliminates hitting off the toe - for me).
My typical positioning for a 4 iron is off my front heel, with the MB's it was dead center. Everything then moved back, and in fact, my PW was almost (not quite) off my back right heel (approximately 2 inches farther back than I am used to hitting). SO REMEMBER, if you hit MBs you have to put the ball BACK in your stance (this also causes you to hit down on it - You can not hit these on the upswing or on the bottom of your swing).
I am going ahead and taking them to Roger Dunn tomorrow morning to get them bent 1 upright. I'm not 100% sure if I need it, but that's what my club fitting said, so here goes (it's $25).
Now, when you hit these good (and you can) it is the most amazing shot you'll ever take (actually, I got the same feeling as I do when I crush a drive over 300 yards, I've had a few that have run over 350 - wind and/or hill aided). When you hit them 90% accurate it is still forgiving. These are the easiest clubs I've hit with to know you did something wrong and know what you did wrong. There is no sting, not really much vibration on bad hits (just more of a thud), but oh man, the good hits are perfect.
As far as trajectory I thought it was about the same as my now old clubs, the wedge I could hit lower or even higher than my current wedge. Unfortunately, the 'greens' I hit to were basically 'fairway grass' so I could not tell much backspin, but they definitely did not run.
Overall, I'm very excited to play my first round tomorrow. Also, interested to see how bending the clubs upright 1 will effect the flight path...oh, the flight path...that was something else...my old clubs were more of a 'rainbow' shape. The flight path here was definitely straighter and more of a zing...then, at the end just a nice fall off...hopefully this stops balls from skipping, hopping, etc. on the green.
I'll post more later this weekend. Playing Saturday and Sunday.
In my bag
Driver: Superfast 2.0 (10.5°)/ Matrix Ozick XCon-4.8 Flex S
Fairway Metals: R11 5 Wood / Blur by Fujikura Flex S
Irons: TP MB 4-PW
Gap Wedge: TM TP xFT C-C Wedge Gap, Nippon N.S. Pro 1050 GH 50° Extra Stiff/Strong
Sand Wedge: Dunlop Recover Wedge, 64° - Old and needs to be replaced.
Putter: 2Ball SRT White Hot XG - Belly Putter
Ball: Nike One Vapor Speed
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