What do you think of TaylorMade Rocketballz and Rocket Bladez Irons? - Page 2

TM has always jacked up lofts and made shafts softer than advertised. When I started playing, I had a set of Supersteels that were long as snot. Probably a club and a half through the set.

 

In my late 50s, I dropped stiff shafts for regular (probably about four years too late). Played X20s for a season, and switched to X20 Tours with PX 5.0 shafts (about 115 grams).

 

I had driver and FW shafts in the 60-70 gr. range. The past summer, I went with RBZ 4W, 7W (45 gr.) and 4H (65 gr.) After making an otherwise positve breakthrough on my swing, I had a big problem with RBZ hook misses. Heavier driver still did OK.

 

I'm wondering if we get into tempo trouble if our iron shafts weigh a lot more than our FW and H shafts. (FW shaft = 45 gr. / iron shaft = 115 gr.)

 

This fall I went from standard to midsize grips on RBZ, and have a lot fewer hooks. But, it feels like I have to baby the RBZ shots to hit it square.

I have no problem with Taylormade using changing the loft on an iron to get more distance, unless, I lose loft of height from the club. My understanding is that Taylormade off sets the loss of loft with a bottom weighted club head that gets the loft back up so the club hits higher with less loft in the iron face. If that's true I like it, because it's a definite advantage to hit a higher shot further, to get over a tree or land a green that is tough to hold your ball on.

 

As for the Rocketbalz or however they spell it, distance, I go to the PGA tour stat page and look at how far they hit a driver for the last four years and see if it goes further with a new club You know what, it never does.

So after playing the Rocketbladez a bit more I can say these are the most accurate irons I have played. I will play these for some time to come. Accuracy and distance unbelievable! Coming from a doubter...

I have the new rocketbladez and I love them. Wife told me to get fitted for Xmas. I went to golfsmith and was a little skeptical myself when the launch monitor was showing that I was carrying distances my ball would usually end at. Took them out to play on a 40* day in pa and normally this time of year I'm hitting all my clubs about 10-15 yards shorter than summertime, with these clubs I was hitting everything about what I hit them on the hottest days in the summer. Guessing I've gained at least 10 yards with all of my clubs. I'm sure the proper flex is also contributing to this. But even my misfits off the toe are flying straighter and further. As to the comment smoke and mirrors that is something someone who really doesn't know would say. I bought my first set of taylormade rac's about 4 years ago? And never looked back played great with them but wanted to get fitted and liked the new slot technology which I can tell you with the fitting and new clubs I've been hitting my 4-iron from fairway about 190 carry. The look is appealing and when I started I played with blades not knowing any better, when you hit a blade on the sweet spot it feels awesome as do these, the ball seems to jump off the club face. It took me a couple rounds to adjust to the new clubs but I also had a 1/4" added to each shaft because that's what I was fitted for, def look into a fitting. I did with the driver last year and was hitting so well decided it was time to get the irons done. Good luck.

I attempted to do the rocketbladez challenge until I took the clubs in the back checked the length and loft. That was equivalent to my ap1 6 iron. So I hit the two and watched the hotter faced rocketbladez fall short of my ap1. Just a bunch of marketing bs.

You can call it marketing bs all you like, fact is, In my case anyway, I'm hitting my new irons straighter, further, and most importantly more consistently ( same distance and closer to the center of the green). I'm sure the fitting helped but I know when I hit the sweet spot with these clubs it's very similar to the feeling of a blade or forged type club.

Stuff like this is why it's hard for me to take TM serious.

 

 

 

I just switched from my R9 irons (S300 true temper, non-TP version) to these in the RF steel/stiff last weekend. I have had one full range session and two rounds of golf so far. I'm a 12 handicapper, here's my take.

Even though these have longer shafts & stronger lofts I found that on the range I lost a few yards, this was after hitting many side by side shots with both sets. I have to admit I was initially disappointed and thought that it was kind of strange with TM's marketing so I weighed each club of both sets. I found that in addition the the R9 shafts being heavier (100 grams), the heads are heavier as well. That's the only negative thing I can say.

The flight is noticably higher which is fine with me, I like soft landing shots. I definitely noticed the distances being more consistent, which made the loss of a few yards a much smaller issue in a hurry. Then, as I got my two rounds in, I starting hitting more greens more often. So, for whatever reason, they seem to be straighter as well. Another thing I noticed is they have a unique sound and feel that I was unsure of through my first 20 or 30 swings on the range. Since then they have quickly become very comfortable and I really like the sound/feel now. Looking forward to playing a bunch more with these but I'm already  100% happy with the switch.  

R9's were a little longer but way less consistant on the distance. On top of that, occasionally I would hit one on the sweet spot and the ball would fly a club longer that it should have. Not good for approach shots. I've heard some of my golfing buddies say the same about the Burner 1.0 & 2.0 irons also.

 

Looking forward to demo'ing the R1 & Stage 2 drivers soon.

I played taylor made r7 cgb irons for many years after playing callaway irons exclusively  for many years before and ping eye 2 irons before that.I liked callaway but  I really liked the feel and distance of the r7 irons. I am an average golfer usually shoot from 85-95 have shot several 80 rounds but never broke 80.   Last year i went to rocketballz and they were ok but they were very big and bulky and distracted me at address and never had confidence in clubs at setup. I dont play hybrids and prefer to hit a 4 iron and use a 7 wood in place of a 3 iron.  The 4 and 5 iron were so thick on rocketballz that i used my 4 and 5 iron r7 irons instead. This year I went to demo clubs at my local store where they let you hit outside and indoors on launch monitor .  I went with the thought to buy ping g25 irons .  I decided to try the rocketbladez irons also.  The pings were ok and I hit them ok but shots seemed to balloon and clubs were very thick and clunky looking at setup.  I was hitting the rocketbladez very well and while not a blade they are much more pleasing at setup than the rocketballz and ping g25 irons. They are more similar to my taylor made r7 irons.  I decided to go indoors to launch monitor.  I usually hit a 6 iron 170-175 yards.  I was consistantly hitting the rocketbladez  6 iron 184-186 yards on launch monitor ( and that is carry yards)  the ping was different i hit it from 165 - 180 but wasnt consistant . I kept going between the 2 clubs and i consistantly hit the rocketbladez 6 iron 184-186 it never varied as much as the ping ( hitting 25-30 shots with each club)  I really went with the intention of buying the pings but I really liked the feel look and performance of the rocketbladez .  I tried the 4 iron in each club which i usuallly hit around 195-205 at best.  Again ping was erratic going from 190 up to 210 and club very thick sole and top line.  The rocketbladez was consistant at 215-218.  I ended up buying the rocketbladez.  They were very easy to hit, and long and look nice at setup.  I usually have a lower trajectory but these get up in air easily but do not balloon.  I am sure some people would disagree but this was the experience for me.  I really was going in with mindset to go with something other than taylor made since I was a little disappointed with the rocketballz irons . But, I tried all different irons and couldn't come close to the distance and more notably consistancy of these irons. The salesman said that several of the salesman in the store ( most of which are scratch golfers) have bought the rocketbladez tour irons instead of their normal bladed irons because they can get extra distance and more consistant distances  ( they arent on commision and dont care which iron you buy so no reason to think he is lying especially since I know several of them personally) .  I hope this helps you in your decision.

IMHO I see them as over marketed techno clubs with super juiced lofts.  With that being said I should point out that this opinion should have no sway on your decision to buy/play them or not.  How do they feel to you?  Do they inspire confidence?  Do they calm you? Do they please your eye?  Club selection and purchase is such a personal thing I'm not sure how much honestly helpful data you're going to get asking the question here.  I would say this though, if you are in any way unsure then don't do it.  That is a lot of money to spend on something you're not positive of. 

 

 

 

P.S. don't trust the monitors

Just did some more range work with my new Rocketbadez irons with graphite shafts.  Only took the PW, 7i and 5 hybrid, the new Stage 2 model that came with the set.  Scoped out three pins on the practice range with the Bushnell laser:  short flag = 105; middle flag = 148; long = 193.

 

These were perfect distances for the three clubs I brought.  My standard numbers with my old clubs were PW 110, 7i 145; 5 hybrid 170-175.

 

With the Rocketbladez PW, I was hitting the 105 flag on green with regularity.  Those that were flushed were off the back of the green.  Tremendous height with the PW ... much more than my old irons.  The 7i was reaching the 148 pin perfectly.  Again, very high and very straight shots for the most part.  Even my misses might have been short, but right on line with the pin.  My pull-draws went long, probably in the 155 range.

 

What impressed me most was the first swing with the Stage 2 #5 hybrid that rolled up to the front edge of the green where the flag was laser marked at 193.  Probably hit that shot 185.  Looked at clubface ... right on the button.  Anything I hit well with the 5-hybrid was around 180 yards.  Even the bad misses still went 160.  My misses are weak, toe shots that end up left of target but with the Stage 2 RBZ hybrid, only about 10 yards left. 

 

So far, I'm impressed with the height on the shots and the straight ball flight.  Typically, everything I hit goes left and I'm prone to pull-draws on bad swings.  It's really nice to line up, put a good swing on the ball and it actually goes STRAIGHT and stays online with the target.  As far as contact goes, the irons are smooth as silk.  No massive 'click' or 'thwhack' at impact ... just a nice compressed sound of a solid strike.  Even though the temperature was only approaching 50 degrees and the balls were likely cold, the irons still hit smoothly, IMO.

 

Can't wait for some warmer weather.  First official league date is April 4.  PRAYING for warmer weather!

 

dave

for all those complaining about TM jacking up their lofts for longer distances, so what other manufactors are doing the same thing.  In fact Callaway's X Hot Irons have stronger lofts that TM Rocketbladze.

 

http://www.callawaygolf.com/global/en-us/golf-equipment/golf-clubs/irons/x-hot-irons/specs.html

+1, Mizuno is doing it too, I think they are all doing it.

 

 

As is the case with every brand from Ping to Mizuno, to Miura and back.

 

And the RocketBlades do not feel springy.