How does TaylorMade get away w/ this RocketBallz "great, amazing, wonderful golf club"?

[mbradley]

[quote name='moonshine' timestamp='1339642074' post='5088888']
[quote name='mbradley' timestamp='1339641092' post='5088724']
Its not a scam, just marketing. Taylormade stop being a technology company a long time ago. A lot of flash, a lot of promotion and a lot of sales. Ping or Adams(which they interestingly just bought) they are not. You seem to see thru Taylormade so just don't buy their stuff.
[/quote]
Not...they may have borrowed the slot, but first to market in many ways. You think other industries don't benchmark?
[/quote]

In terms of true innovation, taylormade is a joke. Thats ok they are not about innovation, just sales. I can't even begin to compare the Adams velocity slot ot he RBZ slot. Just a whole level of performance higher than RBZ.

[TheFlyingWASP]

Man, I'm afraid to post the results of my second trip out w/ the RocketBallz. You see how well it was received the first go around. Deliberately went out this morning early & walked 9 so that I could hit LOTS of balls and LOTS of hybrids. Fortunately, unfortunately, what ever, the results were very similar. My skin has gotten thicker because of this post, so bring on your "you suck" comments, but I still didn't care for the rocketballz hybrid. Sorry. I hit a G15, G10, Mashie, Razr X, and the RBZ. Same ball (Pro V1x). Yes, I hit 5 balls per hole, even playing the tips on all the par 3's to justify using hybrid. I alternated which club I used first. Honestly, I was surprised by the results. I game a G10, but I hit the ugly as all get out G15 the best, then the G10, Razr X, RBZ (see, not the worst), and last (I knew this going in) the Mashie. Mashie is just too much of a hook machine and I hit it WAY to high. The Sound off the G10 was still the best, followed by the Razr X, G15 being the worst. Distance wise, I didn't get any more out of the RBZ, but I choked down to the correct length for my swing, which did feel off. When I didn't choke down, I hit it on the heel, & left. Now, as far as looks, I like the RBZ best, Razr X second, G10, Mashie, & G15 last. So, even though the G15 was the worst looking & the worst sounding, I hit the ugly duckling the best, both in accuracy & length, so there you have it. RBZ are not for me. Nothing wrong w/ them, great looking stick, blah, blah, blah. It just is what it is.

[nbg352]

[quote name='m5power' timestamp='1339625166' post='5087058']
it is what it is. TM is a marketing machine and they have everyone eating off their hand. that being said, i wouldn't go as far as to say it's a scam. It's a combination of copied technology (adams) and super light/long shafts. For the record, I'm neither a fanboy nor a hater. I currently game R11 3 wood that i hit pretty damn straight. I've tried the RBZ and it's a great club, it's just that i play my 3 wood at 42" and there's no way I can get an RBZ to feel normal after cutting off 1 1/2"
[/quote]
R11 3 wood is approximately 1/4" shorter than the stock RBZ 3 wood.

[Smash Factors]

[quote name='Ping-man' timestamp='1339686141' post='5091642']
Man, I'm afraid to post the results of my second trip out w/ the RocketBallz. You see how well it was received the first go around. Deliberately went out this morning early & walked 9 so that I could hit LOTS of balls and LOTS of hybrids. Fortunately, unfortunately, what ever, the results were very similar. My skin has gotten thicker because of this post, so bring on your "you suck" comments, but I still didn't care for the rocketballz hybrid. Sorry. I hit a G15, G10, Mashie, Razr X, and the RBZ. Same ball (Pro V1x). Yes, I hit 5 balls per hole, even playing the tips on all the par 3's to justify using hybrid. I alternated which club I used first. Honestly, I was surprised by the results. I game a G10, but I hit the ugly as all get out G15 the best, then the G10, Razr X, RBZ (see, not the worst), and last (I knew this going in) the Mashie. Mashie is just too much of a hook machine and I hit it WAY to high. The Sound off the G10 was still the best, followed by the Razr X, G15 being the worst. Distance wise, I didn't get any more out of the RBZ, but I choked down to the correct length for my swing, which did feel off. When I didn't choke down, I hit it on the heel, & left. Now, as far as looks, I like the RBZ best, Razr X second, G10, Mashie, & G15 last. So, even though the G15 was the worst looking & the worst sounding, I hit the ugly duckling the best, both in accuracy & length, so there you have it. RBZ are not for me. Nothing wrong w/ them, great looking stick, blah, blah, blah. It just is what it is.
[/quote]

I'm feelin the same way about RBZ.

The first time I hit one, I was on the course. That day, I was HAMMERING my Callaway straight as an arrow 300+. The guys I got paired up with were pretty impressed. One of the guys was about 6'3" and huge. He was a little baffled because I'm only 5'11" 170 lbs and I was out driving him by 100 yards on some holes. He thought that brut strength is what makes a ball go far.

This same guy had a RBZ driver with a custom shaft. He asked me if I wanted to try it and said that I would probably hit it a mile. Unfortunately, it produced a very high trajectory slice out of bounds into someones front yard. It was pretty shocking coming from someone who was puring drives all day long into the short grass.

So, I went to a local golf shop and tested out the RBZ 3 metal. After hitting about 20 balls, only one of them was struck right. Usually, I have excellent contact when I hit a 3 metal, so again, this was pretty unusual.

I have not given up on the club though. I want to take another shot, but this time at Golf Galaxy. The facility and the mats are much nicer. Their shot tracking software is much better so I will be able to look at my swing numbers and try to figure out whats happening.

I think that if I work on my technique I will be able to hit the club well. Maybe not....we'll see.

[Dscvrr St Louis]

[quote name='dlygrisse' timestamp='1339635478' post='5088122']
To me the RBZ 3 wood has a very deep face, almost looks like a driver from a few years ago......something tells me I could hit one about as far as my driver, how easy is it to hit them off the deck? When you are all saying they are a lot longer is that carry off the deck or tee?
[/quote]

Yesterday, standard head 15*, uphill par 5, 260 to green, hit a bomb of a tight lie with a nice fade that was about 45-50ft off the ground. 10 yards short of green. NO issue getting these airborne...for what it is worth..42.5 inches and straighter and longer than my 43.5" SFTP 2.0 from last year and easier to hit off the turf and FOR sure off the tee. Just sayin

[tbowers2]

[quote name='baseballfrk8998' timestamp='1339624261' post='5086952']
I cut down my RBZ 3 wood and it's still the longest I've hit. It's the indian, not the arrow.
[/quote]

I cut down my RBZ Tour 3 wood also, and it still giving me a longer carry yardage than my Titleist 910 3w.

[Flyers99]

I think the claims of 17 yards may be exaggerated for the most part. I have 2 friends who played TM 3 woods (prior models) and one had an Aldila shaft and the other had a Fujikura shaft. They each tested their current 3 woods and then transferred their shafts to the RBZ 3 woods and there was not much difference.

One guy concluded he gained about a few yards and the other stated he was a few yards shorter to breaking even.

I think as with any club, individual results will vary. All companies now are marketing claims of gained yards which is ridiculous to a point. If I gained a conservative 5-10 yards every year as each new driver claims more distance, I should be hitting it about 50 yards further than I did a few years ago. Same with balls, each newer version claims more distance than the prior. I have gained about 10 yards off the tee in since 2005 which may be some driver and/or ball technology.

Just take the marketing BS with a grain of salt and play what fits your game and do not expect miracles.

[TheDominator273]

[quote name='Flyersby99' timestamp='1339707592' post='5094408']
I think the claims of 17 yards may be exaggerated for the most part. I have 2 friends who played TM 3 woods (prior models) and one had an Aldila shaft and the other had a Fujikura shaft. They each tested their current 3 woods and then transferred their shafts to the RBZ 3 woods and there was not much difference.

One guy concluded he gained about a few yards and the other stated he was a few yards shorter to breaking even.

I think as with any club, individual results will vary. All companies now are marketing claims of gained yards which is ridiculous to a point. If I gained a conservative 5-10 yards every year as each new driver claims more distance, I should be hitting it about 50 yards further than I did a few years ago. Same with balls, each newer version claims more distance than the prior. I have gained about 10 yards off the tee in since 2005 which may be some driver and/or ball technology.

Just take the marketing BS with a grain of salt and play what fits your game and do not expect miracles.
[/quote]
the ads state that the 17 yards claim for better players, and the original ad said at the bottom that it was based off a near perfect smash factor.

[Myherobobhope]

I'm just looking forward to next years club that is 17% more accurate... which is just a three wood with a 42 inch shaft.

We are at zero sum game with wood technology... adding distance will take away accuracy.

[lukesmurf59]

I will say that the RBZ was certainly not my favorite. I actually hit it shorter than my 3w and had dispersion worse than my driver. (and I drive the ball like Mickelson) I will say it was decently long on pure hits but for me it was not anything special. Between the extra half inch and about 30-40g lighter weight, I could not hit it consistently for the life of me. I suppose if I spec'd it up like my 3w it might be the same or a little longer but I just don't think it is that special. I will add that the slot absolutely adds yards though. They were smart to jump on the Nike/Adams bandwagon with the slots. They definitely work. My nike 3w is very long (although far more controllable and has better workability) and I used to have one of the nike drivers with the slot on the sole. The adams F11 was nearly in my bag and the XTD is also stupid long. (longer than the RBZ for me)
All in all I think the stock model was a bad set up for my swing plus the massive head (which appears even bigger in the matte white) even on the tour model was something I was uncomfortable with. Are they long? yes. Are they terribly innacurate? yes. Do I think they are really worth it to purchase? no. They do the same thing as the adams and nike ones, just worse and look uglier. but that is for me. I know many who are very happy with them.

[bub72ck]

I picked up the RBZ and hit it much longer with the stock shaft. I didn't want the extra length so I made a shaft change to hit a higher softer shot that would carry as far as I hit my previous 3 wood. I made the shaft very stiff (285 cpm) to help keep it straight and so far its worked very well. If you don't need the extra distance there are other ways of taking advantage of the club. My 3 wood is standard length and I hit it better than anything else out there. Not much marketing hype or scamming to me.

[Smash Factors]

I went down to Dicks Sporting Goods tonight and hit both the RBZ 3 metal and the Callaway Razr X Black 3 metal. Both had same length, loft and stiff shafts. (The RBZ was actually about 1-2 cm longer but I do not consider that relevant.)

The RBZ clearly out performed the Callaway.

I hit about 10 shots with the RBZ.

I miss hit a few, but the others were in the 260 range. I did hit one 270 and another one 280.

I then hit about 10 shots with the Callaway.

All of those shots were in the 250 range and a couple of miss hits. Nothing over 260.

So....there is definitely something going on here with the RBZ.

[Love2Slice]

I cut an inch off my RBZ and it's still longer than other fairways.. Hmm..

[sheppy335]

if you don't like them don't bash then just don't play them. They don't hide the idea that it is a longer shaft!