Retro Review:
Joe Ferguson gets his hands on the iconic TaylorMade RBZ fairway wood from 2012, which launched with bold claims of an additional 17 yards! So we wanted to put this to the test to see how it performed today against the more recently-launched TaylorMade Stealth model. Joe puts them both to the test on the range, launch monitor and golf course to fully get to grips with the performance on offer and see if the RBZ can still hold its own on the market today.
Joe Ferguson gets his hands on the iconic TaylorMade RBZ fairway wood from 2012, which launched with bold claims of an additional 17 yards! So we wanted to put this to the test to see how it performed today against the more recently-launched TaylorMade Stealth model. Joe puts them both to the test on the range, launch monitor and golf course to fully get to grips with the performance on offer and see if the RBZ can still hold its own on the market today.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Okay welcome back to another retro review from Golf Monthly and today we've
00:03got an absolute humdinger and it is the TaylorMade Rocketballs fairway wood.
00:09Now this is a particularly favourite one for me. This was in my bag for probably over
00:12five years so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it stacks up against its
00:15modern-day equivalent. We've partnered up with Golf Club for Cash, one of the
00:19leading retailers of pre-loved equipment and they've supplied us with some
00:22absolute gems to test. So if you want to check those guys out look in the
00:26description below. Let's get to it.
00:36Okay so the TaylorMade Rocketballs 3 wood. Now this came out in 2012 to a lot
00:40of fanfare and a lot of marketing from TaylorMade with claims of 17 extra yards
00:45and it was a really clever marketing ploy and the other marketing ploy that
00:49was great was the white head. You could see it from miles away on the golf
00:52course. Anyone you saw on TV you knew they were playing the TaylorMade
00:55Rocketballs head. Now the tech story behind the extra speed was what they
00:59called their speed slot which is this little carved out piece on the sole
01:02which increased the COR and had massive jumps in ball speed which is what
01:07people noticed. So let's get to the range test it out and see how it goes.
01:10Okay so come down to the driving range now at the Oxfordshire Golf Club and it's
01:13probably a good time to introduce what I'm going to be comparing the
01:16Rocketballs to. So the modern-day equivalent we're using is the TaylorMade
01:19Stealth. When you put them down beside one another, surprisingly similar in
01:23terms of dimensions. The overall footprint's very similar, face depth very
01:28very similar. There's not a lot of change in terms of its overall profile which is
01:32really interesting so I'm going to I'm going to hit a couple away and just see
01:34what I can tell in terms of difference wise from the feel and the sound.
01:38So I'm going to go with the Rocketballs first. It sits nicely behind the ball, very square.
01:47Oh that's a lovely strike, it's right out the middle, nice strong flight. Feels hot,
01:54feels very quick off the face. Let me go again there.
02:04Yeah it's quite a high-pitched noise and it feels, harsh wouldn't be the right
02:10word but it's you can certainly feel the speed there, that's really interesting.
02:13Yeah very strong penetrating ball flight. Let's have a go with the Stealth. Again like I said
02:19really similar look down by the ball in terms of its overall size and footprint.
02:26Nice strong hit again. It's popped up a little bit more than the RBZ and felt
02:31probably again less high-pitched, a little bit deeper in terms of strikes.
02:35So different sensations. I wouldn't say I preferred one over the other but
02:39noticeably different in ball flights. It's probably a good time to introduce
02:42some of the data that we've taken here and as you'll see from the Rocketballs,
02:46the data I got there, a fair bit less spin than with the Stealth. It's quite a
02:52hotter flight so it reached less of a peak height, much more penetrating ball
02:56flight. Ball speed numbers were very comparable and overall distance was very
03:00comparable. They achieved it in two very different ways. More launch from the
03:04Stealth, a bit more spin, stayed in the air for longer, whereas the Rocketballs
03:08had a really penetrating strong flight which again depending on the conditions
03:12you're going to be playing in could be really beneficial. Okay so you've come
03:16out on the course to see how it performs in a real-life situation. I'm on the 17th,
03:20the beautiful 17th at the Oxfordshire Golf Club. It's a tough par 5. I've got
03:24about 240 over water into a bit of wind so it's a good test for it. So I'm going
03:28to hit 3 away with the Rocketballs, 3 with the Stealth and see where we end up.
03:39Okay, a little bit out the neck, going in the middle of the green, left of the pin.
03:45Interesting to see if it's made the carry. Joel will tell us that shortly. Let's go
03:50again.
03:57Similar line, that's come off very flat with no spin. Very, very similar in terms
04:04of line. Let's see if we can get this one holding up against that wind a little bit
04:09more. Touch heavy, it's going to make the carry. It's about 220 over it. I think I've
04:23got away with it and just about got that on the green. All a touch left of the pin
04:27which might be explained by the wind. Let's have a little look at Stealth.
04:35A nice lie again. A little straighter, a little higher than the RBZ. It's got a
04:47touch more spin. Maybe just carried a little bit further that one. It was very
04:54well struck.
05:05That one could be really good. That started on it, holding against it with a
05:09fade. Last one. Let's go and see where they end up.
05:15Just left of the pin, cutting back 10 or 15 feet left of it. Okay, let's go and
05:26take a look and see where they've gone. Okay, so we're up by the green now. Let
05:30me just show you where those balls have ended up and then I'll give you my
05:32thoughts on maybe how and why they got there. So, first of all, the one we've got
05:36just here. This was from the Stealth. The other two Stealths that I hit have sat
05:40pretty on the green there. The furthest one, the closest to the hole and the one
05:44on the right here. With the Rocketballs, one on the green, which is great, and
05:48another two in the bunker here, which is probably eight to ten yards past pin
05:52high and about 20 yards, 15-20 yards left of where I was aiming. I noticed that in
05:58the fairway. I felt when I put the Rocketballs down, face angles slightly
06:02toed in, so I was probably expecting a bit more left than I was in Stealth and
06:06that's what I saw. But what I also saw was a lot more penetrating ball flight
06:10from Rocketballs. It probably had 10 to 12 feet less peak height and certainly
06:16less spin. It kept penetrating a little bit further. That could be attributed to
06:19the fact the Stealth I'm trying has a slightly softer shaft which tends to add
06:23spin as well, but it was really noticeable that the Rocketballs did
06:27have that much more penetrating ball flight, so that was interesting. Okay, so
06:31the key differences there that I noticed were there was a little bit more left in
06:35Rocketballs, but the main thing I noticed was the ball flight. Ball flight was a lot
06:39stronger with Rocketballs, a lot less peak height and less spin. On a day like
06:43today when it's really, really soft, not a huge problem. They both carried very
06:47similar distances, but that land angle would change significantly between the
06:50two. Stealth coming in a little bit higher gave me that bit more stopping
06:54power and maybe control there on the green, but the Rocketballs would have its
06:58advantage in windy conditions, particularly into the wind with that
07:00flight. Okay, that concludes the test for the Rocketballs and if you like what you
07:04saw and you want to grab yourself a bargain, head across to Golf Clubs for
07:07cash. Links in the description below and you'll grab yourself some really good
07:11bargains there. So that's it from me at the Oxfordshire, we'll see you next time
07:15on Retro Reviews.