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.
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