TaylorMade SpeedBlade Irons Review Thread

Great stuff Dan. There is nothing better than handing a good friend (relative in your case) a club and watching them light up after hitting a shot they didn't think was possible. It really sounds like these irons are something special.

Part 1: The Fitting

I don't currently have my set of Speedblades, but I thought I'd chime in on my fitting and some of the observations I had in the Saturday AM experience. Firstly, I want to again thank JB, Dave, and Bob for the attention and care throughout the event. They went above and beyond at every step and I'm endlessly grateful.

About Me

I'm a short guy with short T-Rex arms. I'm a mid ball flight player (~90 ft max height with a 6 iron) but with higher spin. My driver SS is around 92-95 mph and 6i is around 80. I'm in the middle of a swing change because I wasn't happy with my game and so I got a new swing coach. I currently game the Mizuno 825pros with Aerotech i95 shafts in R flex. I love my clubs so I came into the morning with no real expectations. I hit the rocketbladez well in my time with them, but really didn't like them. They launched lower and I had no feel with them. I simply couldn't tell the difference between good hits and bad solely based on contact. This was especially true in the speed pocket long irons.

First Impressions

Seeing them in person gave a completely different impression than seeing them in photos. Photos tend to accentuate things like the speed pocket, the badging, the colors, or the covering on the cavity. In hand, they simply look like irons. All the details don't distract from the fact that they simply look like a set of irons should at address. They've got a bit more sole than my 825 pros, but I wouldn't know that from holding them at address or swinging them.

After the first few swings, the feel difference between the speedblades and the rocketbladez was night and day. Bad shots felt horrible, good shots felt great, and ok shots still felt pretty good. In any case, I could tell from impact whether I hit the ball well or not - something I could not feel in the rocketbladez. The scoring irons were smooth and easy to hit. As I moved up the set to longer irons, the feel was still there and the sound was surprisingly familiar throughout. I started having trouble when I moved to the longer irons due to them being much too upright for me.

Turning to shaft length: the speedblades are .375" longer than stock mizuno 825 pros in the 6 iron, so the difference isn't too jarring at all. The difference gets a little larger towards the 4i and smaller towards the AW. As for the offset, in the 6 iron it's the difference between .177" (SB) and .156" (825p) and .22 vs. .175. Those numbers put the speedblades right between the 825 and 825 pros. I choked up a little bit since my gamers are cut down a little and didn't even notice the offset difference. I had to look it up. If you're worried that they'll look like gimmicky toy irons, don't.

The Fitting

Bob was a pleasure to deal with. How he appears in the videos is exactly how he is in person, a great guy who gives information simply and succinctly. I've been fighting my swing for a while now and awkwardly hit a few shots for the launch monitor with my 7 iron for a few baseline shots. I didn't hit horrible shots, but certainly not flush. I then moved to the speedblades. I didn't think about the shaft flex or the weight too much when I swung them. In fact, I can't say I really noticed the stiff flex. They certainly felt different than my Aerotechs, but it wasn't as if it was boardy or harsh. I hit 5 shots or so and Bob told me that I was averaging 2* higher launch and 15 yards further carry. The speedblade 7 iron I was using was brand new just out of the wrapper so I was able to see the impact marks. I was definitely just off the sweet spot towards the toe with 1 mark on the sweet spot. I choked up to the same length as my gamer so length wasn't a factor. To be fair, I put better swings on the ball with the speedblades than I did with my mizzies (possibly because I got into a better groove) and the differences in launch and distance are within the margin between a good swing and a so-so swing. While the swings were better, I didn't exactly flush the ball on my speedblades swings either. It said something about the forgiveness.

Final Thoughts

Are the lofts lower? Sure, but the ball flight was right where my 7 iron should be. If the shot produced the desired ball flight, it really doesn't matter what the loft or the number on the iron is. I must admit that the speedblades did just that.

I realized on the ride back that I completely neglected to ask Bob about shaft options. That's something I will have to tinker with when I get my speedblades back. I'd love to put some Aerotechs in them but I will give a long look at the stock shafts first. I'm not sure how I will feel about the long irons. I game a lot of hybrids and I'm curious to see how they compare. You may be wondering why don't I have my speedblades with me for review? Because after the fitting, JB and Dave offered to have my irons bent and cut down to my specs and sent back to me. I wasn't expecting that but it was certainly most appreciated. All in all, it was an incredible weekend and an amazing experience.

Canadan said:

... It's interesting hitting these against smaller profile irons. The more I do though, the more I see the value in both. I like to think of the more forgiving iron of the SpeedBlade style as 'swinging on cruise control' quite a bit. The most effective situations with them are when they are smoothly struck, attempting to go straight. They are often flush and distance gapping seems to be improved not only on pure strikes but also on less than perfect strikes. I hope to prove or burst that notion soon, and see whether it causes my personal swing to get lazy, which is something I notice about my game after swinging more forgiving irons over an extended period of time.

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I hit my irons about the same from what you described (4 iron goes about 195). Don't have the same handicap though LOL. Anyway, I think for the courses that I play and the white tees I tee off from I don't really feel like I need to add distance to my iron game, other than on those 200+ yard par 3's but those are a whole nother story. That said, other than the forgiveness factor, is there anything else that would make you want to switch to these irons? I think the pro's have alot of fun hitting these cuz they go so far, but not too many are bagging these because they don't really need it. I don't work the ball unless I have to cuz I can't trust it as much as my regular shot.

Anyway, my question if you may is really are these irons more accurate for you than your J40s? Both in terms of left/right misses and distance control?

GolferJack said:

I hit my irons about the same from what you described (4 iron goes about 195). Don't have the same handicap though LOL. Anyway, I think for the courses that I play and the white tees I tee off from I don't really feel like I need to add distance to my iron game, other than on those 200+ yard par 3's but those are a whole nother story. That said, other than the forgiveness factor, is there anything else that would make you want to switch to these irons? I think the pro's have alot of fun hitting these cuz they go so far, but not too many are bagging these because they don't really need it. I don't work the ball unless I have to cuz I can't trust it as much as my regular shot.

Anyway, my question if you may is really are these irons more accurate for you than your J40s? Both in terms of left/right misses and distance control?

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Thanks for the question GolferJack!

I don't find these to be a traditional 'distance' iron at all. I gamed the Burner 2.0's for the better part of a season and struggled with distance consistency and accuracy between straight shots and a draw, despite what I believed to be a very similar swing. I don't have nearly as much issue with these in terms of straight vs left, and most times the most common flighting for me is a small draw.

When I talk about hitting a 4 iron 230+ it has a lot to do with the conditions. On the tee, and as mentioned, a solid bounce or two. If I am playing into a par 3 that is just over 200 yards, I would expect the same 4 iron to land relatively close to the hole in distance and stop hard, not unlike what I have seen before.

I can flight these a bit if I want to, and I can work the ball a bit left and right. I still maintain the best strikes come from trying to hit the ball straight with a natural swing, but I suppose that's something I'd lean towards with most sets. I have always found the less forgiving sets to be more receptive on misses and something I get comfortable playing to, but I think from my experiences the SpeedBlades are quite receptive on most swings. In terms of comparing to my gamers, that's a really tough call, and something I don't want to jump to a conclusion on. Stick around and we'll see if that's what happens!

Canadan said:

I got a little range session in with a couple SpeedBlade irons tonight, along with taking the 4 iron off the tee on a bunch of different occasions around the front nine of my home course. I'm still pretty beat from the great weekend hosted by THP and TaylorMade, leaving my hip rotation with lots to be desired, and causing the irons to turn pretty solid left more often than not. I'll take credit for that for the time being.

That said, two swings really stood out to me. First, a heavy 4 iron from about 210 that nearly covered the 200 mark, something I would expect to be more in the 185-190 range with a smaller profile, less forgiving head.

Second to that was a tee shot with the 4 iron that landed and bounced hard, rolling out to a GPSed 241. That's just crazy long for me, and a great option off the tee when the ground is firm around here. On both occasions the sound of the speed pocket really jumped out at me. It's very unique while being wholly unremarkable, and I just really like the way it came out.

Not only did I hit the SpeedBlades, but I had my dad hit them as well. He is currently gaming a five year old TaylorMade iron set, and refuses to change because he can't find anything with improved numbers. I got a chance to talk to him about the concepts around these, and had him hit a few of them while we were on course. The most entertaining part of that came on the 7th hole, standing about 150 yards from the green. He pulled my SpeedBlade 7 iron and proceeded to hit an imperfect shot that not only stayed on line, but carried the 150 hole and landed probably in the realm of the 160 mark. It hit a hard spot and continued to roll forward, but the sheer elation and excitement on his face was really, really fun to watch. I haven't seen him that fired up about a club in a long time, and I hope it continues. Pretty sure he called it 'magical' at one point, and that should not be taken lightly.

To see yet another person with a unique swing be impressed by these irons is great. The versatility is there, I think it's just a matter of finding the perfect shaft and running with it. Not only that, the looks both in the bag and at address are solid. The use of matted grey and black is just really, really solid.

It's interesting hitting these against smaller profile irons. The more I do though, the more I see the value in both. I like to think of the more forgiving iron of the SpeedBlade style as 'swinging on cruise control' quite a bit. The most effective situations with them are when they are smoothly struck, attempting to go straight. They are often flush and distance gapping seems to be improved not only on pure strikes but also on less than perfect strikes. I hope to prove or burst that notion soon, and see whether it causes my personal swing to get lazy, which is something I notice about my game after swinging more forgiving irons over an extended period of time.

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Great thoughts, Dan. One thing I am interested in is what you called a lazy swing. On 17 and 18 this past weekend, I definitely had a lazy swing, and led to back to back double bogeys. It was hot, and I was exhausted. Hole #17 was a 190 yard Par 3, dead in to the wind. Usually that's a 5i for me, and typically I am right there on the green. Instead, I had a tired swing, came up short and in the bunker. Walked away with a double bogey. If the Speedblades can offer forgiveness for that type of swing, then TM has a winner.

War Eagle said:

Great thoughts, Dan. One thing I am interested in is what you called a lazy swing. On 17 and 18 this past weekend, I definitely had a lazy swing, and led to back to back double bogeys. It was hot, and I was exhausted. Hole #17 was a 190 yard Par 3, dead in to the wind. Usually that's a 5i for me, and typically I am right there on the green. Instead, I had a tired swing, came up short and in the bunker. Walked away with a double bogey. If the Speedblades can offer forgiveness for that type of swing, then TM has a winner.

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I really think it would. By design it seems like they promote launch when struck fat or thin, and I think that plays a lot into more consistency with an inconsistent swing (if that makes sense).

When i talk about a swing getting lazy, I think 'complacent' might be a better word. More often than not with a smaller profile iron, the more aggressive and consistent I am on the ball, the better the result is for me. I think it has a lot to do with solid contact and keeping my body flowing but with some aggression to allow the ball to get moving off the club face. With the SpeedBlades (and this could very well be a shaft thing), the more aggressive I get, I feel like the less consistency I see. Harder turns to the left, especially when teed up. There were actually a number of times this weekend where I stood over the ball on a par five thinking "smooth smooth smooth" as I hit a layup shot, and they really might have been some of the best strikes I had out there.

This is another thing I'd really rather be patient about determining because it's only been about four sessions with them, and it may take a reshafting into something I am a bit more familiar with to see if that plays a role as well. Certainly moving from a 125-130 gram shaft to an 85 gram shaft would have some variations as well.

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

OhioMatt said:

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

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I haven' hit these, and I look forward to seeing their answer.

But something I've noticed with playing in a lot of wind down here, a high ball flight isn't very bad with wind, what causes problem is high spin. With these being high launch low spin, I would imagine alot of the wind problems would be negated. That is just my idea, I look forward to seeing what they say about it.

OhioMatt said:

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

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Wake said:

I haven' hit these, and I look forward to seeing their answer.

But something I've noticed with playing in a lot of wind down here, a high ball flight isn't very bad with wind, what causes problem is high spin. With these being high launch low spin, I would imagine alot of the wind problems would be negated. That is just my idea, I look forward to seeing what they say about it.

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I had increased spin and increased loft in my gamer 7 iron when comparing during the fitting. Adversely, I had increased launch angle yet reduced spin (by a good 1000RPMs) with the SpeedBlade 7 iron.

Leaves me thinking that Wake is right. Launch isn't always a killer in wind, it's the spin that really ruins the flight, and I am confident that most switching to these will find success in windier conditions with the right shaft pairing.

Canadan said:

I had increased spin and increased loft in my gamer 7 iron when comparing during the fitting. Adversely, I had increased launch angle yet reduced spin (by a good 1000RPMs) with the SpeedBlade 7 iron.

Leaves me thinking that Wake is right. Launch isn't always a killer in wind, it's the spin that really ruins the flight, and I am confident that most switching to these will find success in windier conditions with the right shaft pairing.

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This is really really good news. I'm intrigued.

Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:

This is really really good news. I'm intrigued.

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In my opinion, it's baffling. How do you reduce loft AND spin, yet increase launch?!

Every once in a while a set of irons comes along that just shatters the logic around club design, and I think this is one of them. It is just flat out hard to comprehend, but it's such a good thing.

OhioMatt said:

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

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I play in stupid wind most of the year and the last year finally got it through my head that it is NOT the launch that hurts the flight in the wind, its the spin. Its why with the right shaft I've really come to embrace a "higher" ball flight a ton, and that increase LA is why I've gained distance with my irons in the past year too.

Canadan said:

In my opinion, it's baffling. How do you reduce loft AND spin, yet increase launch?!

Every once in a while a set of irons comes along that just shatters the logic around club design, and I think this is one of them. It is just flat out hard to comprehend, but it's such a good thing.

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Love love love reading this.

OhioMatt said:

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

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I hit the ball quite high already and before I hit the speedblades Bob said I probably wouldn't see any more height than my old irons, just more distance. He was right, the numbers for launch angle were the same but spin was reduced a lot with the speedblades.

Awesome responses. It's great to hear everyone had good results.

Jman said:

I play in stupid wind most of the year and the last year finally got it through my head that it is NOT the launch that hurts the flight in the wind, its the spin. Its why with the right shaft I've really come to embrace a "higher" ball flight a ton, and that increase LA is why I've gained distance with my irons in the past year too.

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That makes perfect sense. These irons should be awesome if someone can get more heighth and distance with reduced spin.

OhioMatt said:

Did any of the testers see too high of ball flight? Something that wouldn't be managable in windy conditions.

Click to expand...

Jman said:

I play in stupid wind most of the year and the last year finally got it through my head that it is NOT the launch that hurts the flight in the wind, its the spin. Its why with the right shaft I've really come to embrace a "higher" ball flight a ton, and that increase LA is why I've gained distance with my irons in the past year too.

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Jman nailed it.

I will be playing in some considerable wind (no doubt) in the coming weeks. I'll be sure to pay close attention to how it affects ball flight. Any other answer from me, at this point in the testing, would be moot.

OhioMatt said:

That makes perfect sense. These irons should be awesome if someone can get more heighth and distance with reduced spin.

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Put me in this camp. I see more height, more distance and less spin. And it's by looking at the loft, not club number. For instance, the PW is still a higher loft than my current 9i, but I still hit it further than that particular loft.

These guys nailed it, higher launch with less spin, meaning the ball simply stops on the green without releasing afterwards. And it's not ballooning; it's almost a piercing high flight, if that makes any sense.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I LOVE these irons. Did I say that I LOVE these irons? Just to make it clear, I LOVE THESE IRONS.

Went and played my first round with them this afternoon since getting back home. It was very windy today. I don't know what the wind speed was, but it was blowing pretty good. At times hard enough, it affected the line of the putt. The ball flight was incredible. It was high, and up in the wind, and held it's line and I got the distance I was expecting to get. The ball did not get knocked down to the ground like some shots I've seen where it literally looks like it hit a wall in the sky. Now granted, it wasn't blowing a gale force wind, but I bet we were gusting up into the 20's this afternoon.

One of the best things for me about these irons is the sound. You guys have heard us talk about the sound, but I just can't get over it. Canadan calls it a Thwack, I call it more of a Thwock. The closest thing that I can think of is when you put your finger in your mouth and flick the your finger out of the corner of your mouth and it makes a popping sound, or like uncorking a wine bottle, but more muted and maybe a little more dull. In any case, when you hear that Thwock sound, you know you have made good contact with the ball.

Did I tell you about the landing zone for my ball flight yet? Every shot that I put on the green or on the fringe whether it was with a 4 iron, a 6 iron, an 8 iron, or the AW the ball was within 1' of the divot. Every single one. It didn't matter if it was a long iron or a scoring iron. Within 1 foot. Without exception. Usually back about a foot, but I did have a couple go sideways and one bounced forward. Ironically, the one that went forward was with a 9 iron.

I just about shot a personal best, and had it not been for a couple of holes I would have shattered my personal best. I shot a 87 today and had 3 birdies. I've never had 3 birdies in a round. I'll describe the round in another thread, but knowing the sound that these clubs make when you hit it well, it just makes you want to hear that sound when you strike the ball. It's like immediate feedback before you even see the ball flight. You know you hit the ball well. And then that ball flight just confirms it.

You need to take these clubs to the range as soon as they are on the shelves and hit them. Hitting them in a shop in front of a trackman or flightscope will not do it. You'll get the sound, and you can collect the data, but you need to get them on the range and hit them so that you can see the flight of the ball when you get that sound. It is completely addicting.

Texasbrons said:

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I LOVE these irons. Did I say that I LOVE these irons? Just to make it clear, I LOVE THESE IRONS.

Went and played my first round with them this afternoon since getting back home. It was very windy today. I don't know what the wind speed was, but it was blowing pretty good. At times hard enough, it affected the line of the putt. The ball flight was incredible. It was high, and up in the wind, and held it's line and I got the distance I was expecting to get. The ball did not get knocked down to the ground like some shots I've seen where it literally looks like it hit a wall in the sky. Now granted, it wasn't blowing a gale force wind, but I bet we were gusting up into the 20's this afternoon.

One of the best things for me about these irons is the sound. You guys have heard us talk about the sound, but I just can't get over it. Canadan calls it a Thwack, I call it more of a Thwock. The closest thing that I can think of is when you put your finger in your mouth and flick the your finger out of the corner of your mouth and it makes a popping sound, or like uncorking a wine bottle, but more muted and maybe a little more dull. In any case, when you hear that Thwock sound, you know you have made good contact with the ball.

Did I tell you about the landing zone for my ball flight yet? Every shot that I put on the green or on the fringe whether it was with a 4 iron, a 6 iron, an 8 iron, or the AW the ball was within 1' of the divot. Every single one. It didn't matter if it was a long iron or a scoring iron. Within 1 foot. Without exception. Usually back about a foot, but I did have a couple go sideways and one bounced forward. Ironically, the one that went forward was with a 9 iron.

I just about shot a personal best, and had it not been for a couple of holes I would have shattered my personal best. I shot a 87 today and had 3 birdies. I've never had 3 birdies in a round. I'll describe the round in another thread, but knowing the sound that these clubs make when you hit it well, it just makes you want to hear that sound when you strike the ball. It's like immediate feedback before you even see the ball flight. You know you hit the ball well. And then that ball flight just confirms it.

You need to take these clubs to the range as soon as they are on the shelves and hit them. Hitting them in a shop in front of a trackman or flightscope will not do it. You'll get the sound, and you can collect the data, but you need to get them on the range and hit them so that you can see the flight of the ball when you get that sound. It is completely addicting.

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Wow, Glenn! You're killing it!


Taps away

Texasbrons said:

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I LOVE these irons. Did I say that I LOVE these irons? Just to make it clear, I LOVE THESE IRONS.

Went and played my first round with them this afternoon since getting back home. It was very windy today. I don't know what the wind speed was, but it was blowing pretty good. At times hard enough, it affected the line of the putt. The ball flight was incredible. It was high, and up in the wind, and held it's line and I got the distance I was expecting to get. The ball did not get knocked down to the ground like some shots I've seen where it literally looks like it hit a wall in the sky. Now granted, it wasn't blowing a gale force wind, but I bet we were gusting up into the 20's this afternoon.

One of the best things for me about these irons is the sound. You guys have heard us talk about the sound, but I just can't get over it. Canadan calls it a Thwack, I call it more of a Thwock. The closest thing that I can think of is when you put your finger in your mouth and flick the your finger out of the corner of your mouth and it makes a popping sound, or like uncorking a wine bottle, but more muted and maybe a little more dull. In any case, when you hear that Thwock sound, you know you have made good contact with the ball.

Did I tell you about the landing zone for my ball flight yet? Every shot that I put on the green or on the fringe whether it was with a 4 iron, a 6 iron, an 8 iron, or the AW the ball was within 1' of the divot. Every single one. It didn't matter if it was a long iron or a scoring iron. Within 1 foot. Without exception. Usually back about a foot, but I did have a couple go sideways and one bounced forward. Ironically, the one that went forward was with a 9 iron.

I just about shot a personal best, and had it not been for a couple of holes I would have shattered my personal best. I shot a 87 today and had 3 birdies. I've never had 3 birdies in a round. I'll describe the round in another thread, but knowing the sound that these clubs make when you hit it well, it just makes you want to hear that sound when you strike the ball. It's like immediate feedback before you even see the ball flight. You know you hit the ball well. And then that ball flight just confirms it.

You need to take these clubs to the range as soon as they are on the shelves and hit them. Hitting them in a shop in front of a trackman or flightscope will not do it. You'll get the sound, and you can collect the data, but you need to get them on the range and hit them so that you can see the flight of the ball when you get that sound. It is completely addicting.

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Glen, that is awesome!!! Great round!

One of the thing that keeps going through my mind comes from the Fitting with Canadan. When Bob was talking about how the design element of these heads with engineering has come so far that shaft weight and flexes can be lowered and still achieve optimal ball flight characteristics. I didn't expect him to say that the KBS C-taper lite would be a suitable option for someone bringing a 7 iron through at over 100mph.... Impressively crazy in itself!

T2GRN18 said:

One of the thing that keeps going through my mind comes from the Fitting with Canadan. When Bob was talking about how the design element of these heads with engineering has come so far that shaft weight and flexes can be lowered and still achieve optimal ball flight characteristics. I didn't expect him to say that the KBS C-taper lite would be a suitable option for someone bringing a 7 iron through at over 100mph.... Impressively crazy in itself!

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I still think that was a mistake buddy. I think he meant 91. It falls closer in line with my average swing speed and the ball speed numbers he provided match something around 91.

Canadan said:

I still think that was a mistake buddy. I think he meant 91. It falls closer in line with my average swing speed and the ball speed numbers he provided match something around 91.

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Ahh ok. It will be interesting to see if you upgrade shafts in these which way you go.

Not to mention a drop of 1k in spin. As it was stated in this thread, it seems like the higher launch angles and decent angles kind of help holding the greens with lower spin numbers. But I'd be interested to see how this translates to the finesse swings where your looking for a larger spin value to get the stopping power, or backing up quality. Will this mean that people will be forced to look at the balls that are more susceptible to spin.