Taylormade RBZ Irons Review

[Johnny]

Editor style.

Link to Zach's Burner 2.0 / RBZ Comparison
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/597409-rbz-vs-burner-20-iron-comparison-pics/page__pid__4361603#entry4361603


Some long iron shots 4 and 5 (did not order 3)





Cavity of 6 Iron (other are actual similar)






my favorites :




The AW..



EDITOR REVIEW : 2012 Rocketballz "RBZ" Irons Review (tested 4-AW)



FROM Taylormade:

Our Longer is Longer

Engineered for extreme distance and pinpoint accuracy. Inspired by metal-wood construction. Fast-flexing faces and innovative Toe-Bar technology for exceptional feel and sound.



PRO'S

· 6-AW are smaller then I expected

· 4-5 are very hybrid/driving iron like

· 9-AW really setup the sweetest on the set

· Sound and thus Feel where a pleasant surprise.


CONS

· Long irons have huge offset and very thick top line

· Thick but acceptable topline in other irons

· Was not as pleased with feel of 4-5 irons, rest of set felt better.

BOTTOM-LINE:

The new Rocketballz irons represent the latest technology in game improvement irons. They are designed to give the player maximum ballspeed and pinpoint accuracy. I think they are ideally suited for that mid to high handicapper that struggles to get the ball in the air and who also has difficulty hitting the longer irons.


EDITOR REVIEW :

I must state it has been years since I played a round with some serious game improvement irons. I'm coming from the background of playing forged irons and mostly blades the last dozen or so years plus. Having said that, yes visually the RBZ were quite an adjustment, but I will try to come from the GI iron perspective for the review. I've been working on this review for a few days now and I got a chance to reshaft a couple irons to see if there is any improvement in my initial opinions. So comments in () will be new based on reshafting the 4Iron with a DGS400 and the 7iron with a Aerotech Steelfiber i95.



LOOKS ( 4.0 stars)

I feel better if I break this up into different sets, starting with the 4 and 5 irons. They are rather big in appearance with lots of offset and a huge topline. Even by GI standards probably not the best looking heads, but I do realize a 2 piece metalwood construction can only look so good. I wish the 5 would have been the same design as the 6i and up.

Now on to the 6-7-8 irons. I would almost describe these are undercut/pocket type cavity irons. The Heel to toe dimension is shorter than most GI irons which I take as a big positive and make the head seem "compact" despite the semi-thick topline. Now the 9, PW and AW are not all that different from the 6-7-8, but maybe the added loft makes the topline appear thinner.

The believe Taylormade was very smart in giving this head a dark finish, not only do the irons look cool, but I think it make the irons look compact at address not to mention easy to frame the ball in the hitting area of the face.


PERFORMANCE/PLAYABILITY (4.25 stars)

The Turf: I didn't hit too many fairways with my first round and that might have been a good thing too. I was surprised how good these irons where from the intermediate and heavier rough. I actually had more success in the rough then I did when I was in the fairway. I tend to be a picker / sweeper of the ball in general, so I did try to take some heavier divots dropping a second ball in the fairway and it worked a little better with that motion. Knockdowns are very playable with these irons as well which is a bonus since I play in a very windy area.

Direction: The irons want to go straight. I did manage to fade them consistently, but could not turn the ball over to consistently get a high draw that was advertised. I might have been compensating a little in my swing knowing how much more offset these had then what I am used too. I like to work a fade most of the time into greens so that is fine by me. Overall very straight hitting irons, especially 7-AW which were extremely straight for me.

Forgiveness: Looking at where I was hitting the ball on the face, I think I was pretty much staying in the center, so I cannot comment on heel and toe hits. As for low and high the irons seemed very forgiving to me. I think this is the inverted cone technology coming into play. Sure hitting them a little thin gave me lower ballflight, but distance and direction were still good. ( Today for whatever reason is was slightly off to the heel side of the face, which is my common miss. I got the expected fade with that impact area, but a little less so then with my gamer forged irons.)

Ball flight/Distance : If you are looking for low ballflight, look elsewhere. Despite the strong lofts I hit these irons fairly high which is kind of what I expected to do with the added offset on the heads compared to my gamers. Now my gamers are shafted with KBS C-Tapers and I noticed probably about ½ club distance gain over my older S400 shafted irons. These RBZ's are right there distance wise with my gamers, so I can safely say they are ½ club longer then irons I had been using last year. As Taylormade says "Our longer is longer" might be a little something to that. ( Ballflight with my DGS400 shafted 4I really improved, lower and penetrating vs the original shaft. Distance was still very comparable to my gamers which is good. With the Steelfiber in the 7iron, ballflight was only slightly higher then my gamer 7I with C-taper and distance was equal. I was hitting into a 15mph headwind and there was no sign of ballooning. )


FEEL ( 3.75 stars )

Honestly for a cast game improvement iron these are really not that bad, specifically speaking about the 6-AW wedge. Maybe there is something to this Taylormade "sound system" where both and acoustic polymer and constrained layer improve the feel and sound of the irons. Now I have also played the R9 TP "B" prototypes which I have regarded as the best feeling cast heads around. Now they don't quite feel that good, but they are not too far off either.

The long irons on the other hand do not feel as solid of the rest of the set. Knowing the design behind them, I figured they would feel a little different and they did. Not terrible but definitely a little less feedback on where I was striking the ball on the face. ( After trying the 4I with S400 my opinion of it improved a little, but it definitely still has a different feel and sound from the rest of the set . I almost want to say it's like a mini fairway wood in sound and feel. )


OVERALL (4.0 stars)

Again I have to remind everyone reading this that I am a forged iron player, but if I was not I would definitely give these irons a whirl. I actually really enjoy playing the 6-AW and the AW has really grown on me and was a good to club for a variety of shots because of its playability. I tried these with a high end graphite shaft because honestly I am not getting any younger but still have a 6I swingspeed in the 90s when I need it. I have not talked about the shaft until now, because I feel they were not a great fit me and we be swapping a few with something I'm more used to and maybe my opinion will adjust some. However I didn't want to make this about the shafts and I still feel the iron heads are exceptionally well designed.

As I stated earlier I think these RBZ's are geared towards the mid to high handicapper that struggles with ball flight and distance and direction. If you fit into this category these RBZ's are a must try. Taylor made currently has a promotion giving away the 5i, so sign up and give it a go.

[Dscvrr St Louis]

Nice objective review. Obviously these aren't something, in general, you would be drawn to playing, but apparently they worked well enough for you during your testing. People need to give the new stuff a chance and hit it before making 'banner statements'. I have access to a TM fitting cart and for fun stuck a CTaper X 130 in the 6 iron and proceeded to hit it straight and about 10 yards past my gamers. Felt great, flew great(although higher than I like, even with the Ctaper), and the look is not huge by any means and would prefer less offset...but a really solid feeling club.

Again, great review.

[WpgMike]

It's very personal, but these are the ugliest irons I've ever seen.

[Sakman]

Nice review Johnny! Similar to the Burner 2.0's, I found the RBZ's def 'fun' to play with. Struggled with them on tigher lies, but overall found them to be forgiving and longer than what I'm used to.

Again, nice work!

[MrParr1Noid]

Ditto that Johnny, good review. At least you have the pleasure of decent weather to do a review in. Heck, it's snowing here.

 

The short irons seem a bit more compact than do the 2011 Burner 2.0s but those long RBZ irons, if they're more rescue / hybrid'ish, that may cause me difficulties, cause I'm not much of a rescue club fan.

 

Once again Johnny, cool write up and pics. (New Camera and Lens?)

[Johnny]

Nice objective review. Obviously these aren't something, in general, you would be drawn to playing, but apparently they worked well enough for you during your testing. People need to give the new stuff a chance and hit it before making 'banner statements'. I have access to a TM fitting cart and for fun stuck a CTaper X 130 in the 6 iron and proceeded to hit it straight and about 10 yards past my gamers. Felt great, flew great(although higher than I like, even with the Ctaper), and the look is not huge by any means and would prefer less offset...but a really solid feeling club.

 

Again, great review.

 

:drinks:

 

thanks.. I try to be objective about it

 

 

It's very personal, but these are the ugliest irons I've ever seen.

 

 

 

I've seen worse :)

 

 

Nice review Johnny! Similar to the Burner 2.0's, I found the RBZ's def 'fun' to play with. Struggled with them on tigher lies, but overall found them to be forgiving and longer than what I'm used to.

 

Again, nice work!

 

I too had to adjust to the fairway and tight lies..

 

 

Ditto that Johnny, good review. At least you have the pleasure of decent weather to do a review in. Heck, it's snowing here.

 

The short irons seem a bit more compact than do the 2011 Burner 2.0s but those long RBZ irons, if they're more rescue / hybrid'ish, that may cause me difficulties, cause I'm not much of a rescue club fan.

 

Once again Johnny, cool write up and pics. (New Camera and Lens?)

 

old point and shoot Canon S95, I did set the Fstop to 2.0.. didn't feel like lugging out the 400 F2.8 this time for club pics :)

[Sean2]

Nice review Johnny. I was able to hit these and didn't care for the feel. I was also able to hit the RBZ Max...for some reason they felt a lot better.

[Chief Illiniwek]

Looking at those clubs is like looking at a fat chick demolish a big mac.

[Lobber]

I am currently an 8.8 . Driver is my best club. I have struggled with irons. Have 5 rounds with the RBZ and am in love. I agree the 4/5 look like a hybrid/driving iron but when I connect and the 4 irons goes 210 I get past the clunkiness. The rest of the set is not that clunky at all IMO. Distance and forgiveness are excellent. Feel is very good for a cast club. Blade like? Forged feel? No. Excellent game improvement clubs? Absolutely

[paleman27]

[color="#333333"][color="#000000"][size="3"]I bought these last week at my local Golf Shop. RBZ Irons 4-AW Steel Regular Flex.[/size][/color][/color]

[color="#333333"][color="#000000"][size="3"]Ok, so... yes , as any golf club, if you hit it in the sweet spot the ball is gonna come out screaming. On each, the shaft is a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch longer than a "standard" club, so of course, its gonna carry more, plus the lofts are a degree stronger. What I like about th[size="3"]ese[/size] club is the rewarding "feedback" when you hit it in the middle of the face; you feel like you just destroyed the ball...[/size][/color][/color]

[color="#333333"][color="#000000"][size="3"]It has a nice look and it's not bulky for a "SGI" club. The 5 and 4 have a slim "insert" on the back cavity (as contrary to the hollow cavity of AW-6i) wich makes [size="3"]them[/size] a "stealth hybrid". I'm saying "stealth hybrid" because the 5i and 4i do not look like a hybrid at all and I'm not talking about the RBZ hybrids, which can be bought with the set or separatly. These (the 5i and the 4i) are "true irons" with something inserted in the back cavity.[/size][/color][/color]

[color="#333333"][color="#000000"][size="3"]RBZ, I would have give you five stars, but my later clubs (Cobra S9) were more forgiving on fat shots. Your sole is not as wide as the S9 or Ping's G20. So you do grab some turf if you do not hit the ball first, contrary to my later clubs which slide under the ball if you hit it a few mm's behind it. The only thing I don’t agree 100% ( or even 60%) is that they are, as Golf Digest categorized them, SGI (Super Game Improvement or Max Game Improvement) Clubs. I’m not saying they are “hard to hit”, but for a High Handicaper, there are easier to hit and more forgiving clubs out there. [/size][/color][/color]

[Willie Malay]

If you are going to do a professional-looking review, please please please learn the difference between then and than. . For me, looking down at the RBZ irons was disturbing to say the least but that is just me. But if you hit them well, that is all that counts.

[Willie Malay]

[quote name='Chief Illiniwek' timestamp='1330135310' post='4370913']
Looking at those clubs is like looking at a fat chick demolish a big mac.
[/quote]

Quote of the year.

[KrazyTrain18]

When I hit these back in July, I had to say that 1. Ugliest irons ever, 2.Just didn't have a good feel for ME, but might feel great for others.....But I did notice a bit more distance but only by 5-7 yards.

[BirdShooter]

I think it looks pretty asthetic looking. I notice they really push the whole green color as part of branding that product line.

After reading your detailed review I am think of purchasing these irons. I was able to hold and swing a few and it felt right for me.

I also read the overview for the DBZ irons in this article which makes me want it get it more:
http://deviceraters.com/taylormade-rocketballz-rbz-irons-overview/

[LouLogsdon]

I am roughly a 7 handicap and these irons are my gamers. They are very long and always seem to fly straight. Its easier to work them right to left (I'm right handed) but i find it difficult to work them left to right. I want to switch to forged irons but I hit these so well i can justify doing so.