EQUIPMENT
The
Wait is
Over
How would TaylorMade follow the enormous success it found with its white-headed metalwoods of recent years? With adjustability, a dash of colour, a variety of shaft options and new names, writes Charlie Schroeder. Welcome to the R1 and RocketBallz Stage 2
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bout a year and a half ago, I went to TaylorMade’s 2012 product launch at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. I’d been to the company’s previous six launches and knew what to expect: the unexpected. Over the years I’d seen them unveil a host of innovative clubs: wedges with removable faces, arachnid-shaped putters, stronger-lofted irons and, of course, the R11 driver which boasted an adjustable face and sole, moveable weights and, if that wasn’t enough, a white crown. Later it became a global bestseller. Before we settled in to watch the presentation, 50
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the company’s Global Product Line Manager of Metalwoods, Tom Kroll, asked us to join him on the veranda overlooking the golf course. It was there that he unfurled a long green carpet that resembled a thin strip of an American football field. It measured exactly 17 yards, and Kroll, a handsome man with slicked-back hair, asked us to walk it off. He wanted us to understand what 17 yards felt like, because he said, that’s how much farther we’d hit the company’s new RocketBallz 3-wood. Afterwards we adjourned to a conference room, where different department heads introduced their new products, many of which fell under the RocketBallz line. The guys at TaylorMade are HKGOLFER.COM
usually a confident, charismatic bunch, dressed sportily in 100 per cent Adidas (their parent company), but they were noticeably nervous. On more than one occasion a representative chuckled when he uttered the word, “RocketBallz.” To my surprise a couple people openly acknowledged that they were worried the silly name might backfire. Since introducing the groundbreaking moveable-weight R7 driver in 2004, the company had made very few missteps, a rarity in the golf equipment business. Business was good – really good. They’d not only survived the Great Recession, but thrived throughout it, slipping into the red only one year (2009, when sales were down two per cent). To their great satisfaction, they’d also been trouncing their rival, Callaway, who struggled under former Revlon CEO George Fellows. Despite all the good fortune however, I wondered if their luck had finally run out. Golf, after all, is a pretty conservative sport. How would people react to a club called RocketBallz? About five hours later, after testing the clubs on La Costa’s Champions Course and exclaiming “RocketBallz!” after virtually every shot, I had my answer. TaylorMade’s luck was not going to run out. In fact, they were on the cusp of even greater success and it would have nothing to do with hitting the ball 17 yards farther (a dubious claim anyway as only better players saw those kinds of gains). Their success would have everything to do with the funny name. In a year when rival manufacturers released clubs named MP-650, SF-511, and G20, “RocketBallz” was refreshingly different. Just like the R11’s white crown which stood out at Tour events on TV, RocketBallz dared to be different. Not everyone liked the name, but it got people talking. It was viral marketing at its finest. In the US last year, TaylorMade grabbed 47 per cent of every dollar spent on woods, a remarkable achievement. Judging by the number of players one sees at Kau Sai Chau who wield the brand’s clubs, that success has well and truly crossed the Pacific to Hong Kong too. Here’s a dirty little secret from somebody who has written about golf equipment for the last seven years: every major manufacturer produces excellent golf clubs. It’s just that TaylorMade does a better job of getting people to buy their clubs. In addition to designing technologically innovative gear, they’re marketing geniuses. They understand how to get people excited about using and buying their golf clubs, whether by putting a white-crowned driver in a long-driving Tour player’s hands, dreaming up a ridiculous name or creating an adjustable driver that promises to fix one’s slice without having to fix one’s swing. They know how to stand out from the crowd. This has been their modus operandi ever since HKGOLFER.COM
After testing the clubs and exclaiming “RocketBallz!” after virtually every shot, I had my answer. TaylorMade’s luck was not going to run out ... they were on the cusp of even greater success. HK Golfer・MAR 2013
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TaylorMade have accomplished the distance gains by improving on the original RocketBallz speed slot, a hollow strip behind the clubface, and by incorporating high-strength steel.
they released the R7 back in 2004 and they haven’t messed with it for this year’s offerings. As anyone who’s watched the PGA Tour this year can attest, TaylorMade’s marketing campaign is predictably aggressive and colourful. At last month’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, pros and celebrity amateurs sported yellow bucket hats as part of the company’s “One Bucket” marketing campaign. (The thought being that all you have to do is hit one bucket of balls with their new RocketBladez irons to make the switch to them.) TV advertisements have further emphasized distance gains and personalization in their innovative new products. In yet another bold move, the company has introduced a new white-crowned driver (albeit with additional red, black and gray racing stripe graphics) that comes in only one model. Why just one model? Well, aside from saving on manufacturing costs, TaylorMade claims that 80 per cent of all golfers play drivers with the wrong lofts. With the new R1 you can find the loft that’s right for you because you can adjust it from 8-12 degrees. With a little bit of fiddling, the thinking goes, you’ll have your perfect loft. Additionally you can adjust the weight in the heel or toe and the face angle. Now, that’s a lot to tweak, of course, and it’s likely that few people will bother with too much adjustment, but TaylorMade is betting that people will want a club that does it all for you. Also new for 2013 is the RocketBallz Stage 2 fairway woods, which TaylorMade claims goes an additional 10 yards farther than last year’s RocketBallz. If you consider their earlier 17-yard distance boost claim, that’s a 27-yard increase over other fairway woods (if you’re a better player of course). They accomplished this by improving on the original RocketBallz speed slot, a hollow strip behind the clubface, and by incorporating a high-strength steel typically used in aircraft landing gear. This steel, which they call RocketSteel, allowed their engineers to create a thinner, faster face and to move the club’s center of gravity low and forward, which helps project the ball higher with less spin. (The distance gain also comes from the fact that the club measures 43.5”, up to a half an inch longer than typical 3-woods). Do these clubs live up to the hype or are they just cleverly marketed? They certainly impressed the HK Golfer editorial team at a recent test event in Macau, but only you’ll be able to answer those questions because ultimately the “best” club is the one that’s right for your game. And, while it might be fun to tweak and mess around with a club’s settings – not to mention scream “RocketBallz!” after every shot – the only real way to find the one that’s right for you is to take the time to test them out.
SCORECARD R1 Driver Comes shipped in a 10° loft but has a range between 8° and 12°. 460cc clubhead volume and 45.5” length. Stock shaft is the Aldila Rip Phenom 55 and comes in four different flexes. Custom options available. TP version also available. HK$5,600
RocketBallz Stage 2 3-Wood 15°, 43.5”, 175cc clubhead volume. Stock shaft is a Matrix Rocketfuel 60 in five different flexes. Numerous custom shaft options available. HK$2,580
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