Taylor Made isn't handling its
marketing of
the Rocketbladez irons lightly. They're,
dare I
say, going the distance.
"The first distance iron to make it on tour."
"This little thing has changed the iron
forever."
With the interesting features and
benefits
the
iron provides, though, can you blame the
company?
The key to those benefits, of course,
is
TaylorMade's Speed Pocket --- 'the little
thing
that promotes radical increased speed
and
distance', according to the manufacturer.
All told, TaylorMade's new
Rocketbladez
irons
are incredibly fast and incredibly long
while
also promoting increased accuracy and
stopping power.
"The Rocketbladez come with a load of
performance both in distance and
consistant
distance," said Brian Bazzel, Product
Creation
Manager for TaylorMade. "But even above
that
is it gives you a higher trajectory and
improved
feel by the way we treat the pocket in the
back of the cavity."
With plenty of support from Dustin
Johnson,
Justin Rose and other PGA Tour stars, the
RocketBladez irons from TaylorMade have
made
a triumphant splash on the scene. Here's
a
deeper look at the Rocketbladez:
| TAYLORMADE
ROCKETBLADEZ » |
TECH AND SPECS
The key to the Rocketbladez is the Speed
Pocket. In the 3-7 irons, the Speed Pocket
and the club head's ultra-thin face work
together to promote consistently high ball
speed and distance. The distance behind
the
irons is also helped by TaylorMade's
unique
Inverted Cone shape design and a high
rate of
MOI (Moment of Inertia).
All told, the bulk of the head's weight is
located lower than other irons, meaning
the
sweet spot and launch angle are all
gearing
your swing on a much higher launch angle,
trajectory and peak. The Rocketbladez
feature
a much thinner face than the previous
RocketBallz irons and a six-percent lower
center of gravity that its predecessor.
All of the additions and designs, of course,
result in a COR (measurement of 'jump' off
the
clubface) numbers similar to that of a
driver.
Additionally, the stock sand and lob
wedges
take the sole design of last year's stellar
ATV
Wedges, completing the set with recent
and
new technology.
CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS
The Rocketbladez irons are available in a
number of shafts from TaylorMade.
Golfers may pair their new Rocketbladez
with
True
Temper's Dynamic Gold, Dynamic Gold SL
and
Dynamic Gold XP models and the
company's
ProjectX branded Royal Precision and
Royal
Precision Flighted models.
Additional shaft options include the KBS
Tour,
Nippon NS Pro 950 and Matrix Ozik HD
Program
95 shafts.
A host of grip models are available from
grip-
makers Lamkin, Winn, Golf Pride and
Iomic, in
addition to stock models made available
by
TaylorMade.
HOW DOES IT FEEL?
Much of the online chatter surrounding the
Rocketbladez has backed up what
TaylorMade
is marketing: higher trajectories,
increased
distances and improved accuracy and
control.
After a short but focused testing, I have to
agree.
The first thing I noticed was the
'jump' off of the club face.
I noticed the lower center of gravity quickly as
well-hit
5-irons were
launching like a 6-iron. I also took notice of
the irons'
forgiveness. Even on
bad swings, the ball launched and flew well.
The
technology and
design behind the irons seem to make it easy
to hit
a ball well.
During my testing, I tried to focus on and learn
the
benefits of the
SpeedPocket. On a good swing, you
can
feel the pocket working as a 'hinge'
of
sorts to help add launch and trajectory to
your
impact. On bad swings, I didn't see the
SpeedPocket
making a difference, despite what Golfweek's
James
Achenbach
mentioned
in his lengthy
review of the
Rocketbladez: "According to TaylorMade,
the
Speed
Pocket is
especially effective on impacts made low on
the face.
With long
irons and
mid irons, most mis-hits by amateurs occur
below the
center of the
face.
TaylorMade promises more ball speed and
distance on
those mis-
hits."
Others online questioned the
distance claims made by
TaylorMade, assuming lesser or 'stronger' lofts
on each
iron was the
main culprit for increased yardage.
GolfWRX forum member
'KC'
mentioned
that while Rocketbladez lofts may be
'stronger', it's
only
part of the
equation:"All reports are that balls fly
higher with
these irons,
mostly because of the lower cg, higher ball
speed and
increased
spin. If the lofts were not “strong” enough, the
ball
would balloon
too much. Plus, the point is to cover the
distance gaps
between
irons and feel comfortable hitting certain
distances,
especially with
long irons."The official Rocketbladez
review on
MyGolfSpy.com looks
at the
whole loft issue
through a different
lens, stating that, while the lofts are most
certainly
'jacked up',
TaylorMade isn't the only manufacturer to
employ such
a tactic given
the desired result (more distance).
MyGolfSpy's review went on to mention
that
TaylorMade has made a club that improves
distance,
thereby improving the player's confidence and
perhaps
ability.
Have you hit the new TaylorMade
Rocketbladez irons? Are they already in
your
bag? What did you think of them? We'd
love to
know. Add your thoughts to the discussion
below.