RocketBallz Technology Marks First Revolution in Fairway Woods Since 1987 and Promotes 17 Yards of Added Distance
CARLSBAD, Calif. (December 13, 2011) – TaylorMade Golf today is unveiling the longest, most innovative high performance fairway woods and Rescues we’ve ever created with the introduction of RocketBallz. The new RocketBallz metalwoods are years in the making, a byproduct of extensive research and development to find breakthrough performance in fairway woods and Rescues, most specifically increased ball speed.
“The RocketBallz fairway woods and Rescues represent a game-changing breakthrough in performance comparable to few products in the history of our industry,” said Sean Toulon, Executive Vice President of TaylorMade. “To hold a RocketBallz metalwood in your hands is to possess confidence, power, speed and distance potential that will regularly and quite literally redefine the long game for golfers.”
Construction of RocketBallz Technology
Major challenges had to be surmounted to develop RocketBallz technology, including the need to create a durable yet flexible sole/face structure with a deep sole pocket. Additionally, we needed a deeper face design and low CG to maintain excellent playability off turf. Lastly, the products needed a front-low CG without sacrificing playability and control.
To achieve these qualities, the RocketBallz fairway woods and Rescues were developed with a high-strength 455 steel face plate welded to a cast body. They incorporate improved sole geometry and a “Speed Pocket” to improve overall head and face flexibility and a.slightly deeper face with a further-forward CG location than traditional designs.
RocketBallz Fairway Woods Promote up to 17 Additional Yards. Really.
RocketBallz fairway woods combine RocketBallz technology with increased face size, low CG location, advanced playability features and a lightweight shaft and grip. The combination of these elements promotes a remarkable increase in distance – better players will gain up to 17 yards.*
RocketBallz fairway heads are shaped more traditionally (compared to Burner Superfast fairways) yet are still extremely forgiving. We lowered the CG and pulled it forward to promote a higher launch angle and lower spin-rate – launch conditions that promote greater distance.
Compared to our previous fairway woods, RocketBallz fairways have a larger, deeper face and a large appearance at address. Combining an exceptionally deep face with an exceptionally low CG was a challenge we met thanks to our Ultra-Thin Wall casting process and our Thick-Thin Crown construction.
The incorporation of deeper face, low-and-forward CG and RocketBallz technology has allowed us to create the first steel fairway that reaches USGA/R&A speed limits. In addition, employing Pull-Face construction, and a high-strength 455 alloy steel face allowed us to combine high MOI with an exceptionally large face/hitting area, and more area for mis-hits above the center of the face.
The flat white crown color and black PVD face provides optimum contrast to make it easy to align the face accurately at address. The white crown color also eliminates the glare and “hot spots” that are a common issue with gloss-finish metalwoods.
RocketBallz Tour Fairway Woods
We’re also offering the RocketBallz Tour fairway wood with a similar shape and face size but a slightly smaller address profile, a more open face angle, and toe weighted center of gravity and come equipped with a tour-grade shaft that’s heavier and stiffer compared to the stock shaft in the standard RocketBallz fairways.
RocketBallz Rescues
Much like in the fairway wood category, hybrids have yet to benefit from a technology that adds significant speed to the face — until now.
Two models of RocketBallz Rescue are being offered, standard and Tour. The standard model incorporates a lightweight shaft and lightweight grip to promote increased swing speed. The clubface is large and deep, yet the CG is located low and forward, a combination that’s desirable yet difficult to achieve, made possible employing both our Ultra-Thin Wall casting process and our Thick-Thin crown design. The resulting combination of the afore-mentioned attributes promotes faster ball speed, a higher launch angle and lower spin-rates for significantly greater distance.
The RocketBallz Tour Rescue has a comparatively smaller address appearance, a slightly open face angle, a toe-weighted CG, and is equipped with a heavier, stiffer, tour-grade shaft.
The overall weight of the standard RocketBallz Rescue is less than 350 grams, making it exceptionally light. As with the RocketBallz fairway woods, we’ve rebalanced the Rescues to a highly higher swingweight to help players generate more swing speed, and we redesigned the head’s mass properties and the shaft to promote playability.
This length, combined with the lightweight shaft and grip and the effect of RocketBallz technology on the COR, makes it one of the longest hybrids in company history.
Both the standard RocketBallz Rescue and the Tour version will feature a flat white crown color and black PVD face provides optimum contrast to make it easy to align the face accurately at address. The white crown color also eliminates the glare and “hot spots” that are a common issue with gloss-finish metalwoods.
Pricing and Availability
The RocketBallz fairways’ lightweight shaft and grip are critical to the overall weight of just 315 grams. The RocketBallz fairway woods come standard with a Matrix Ozik XCon 5 50-gram graphite shaft in four flexes (S, R, M, L). It will be offered in three lofts for right-handed golfers (Lofts: RH: 3-15°, 3HL-17°, 5-19°, 7-21°, 9-24°) and three for left-handed golfers (LH: 3-15°, 5-18°, 7-21°).
The RocketBallz Tour fairway woods come standard with a Matrix Ozik RUL 70 75-gram graphite shaft in three flexes (X, S, R). It will be offered in three lofts for right-handed golfers only (Lofts: RH: 13°, 14.5°, 18°). Additionally, a selection of 25 custom TP shafts will be available for upgrade.
The RocketBallz Rescues come standard with a 65-gram graphite shaft in four flexes (S, R, M, L). It will be offered in four lofts for right-handed golfers only (Lofts: 3-19°, 4-21°, 5-24°, 6-27°).
The RocketBallz Tour Rescues come standard with an 85-gram graphite shaft in three flexes (X, S, R). It will be offered in four lofts for right-handed golfers only (Lofts: 2-16.5°, 3-18.5°, 4-21.5°). Additionally, a selection of 5 custom TP shafts will be available for purchase.
All of the RocketBallz fairway woods and RocketBallz Rescues are available on February 3, 2012 with the individual product pricing listed below.
RocketBallz Fairway Woods: $229
RocketBallz Tour Fairway Woods: $229
RocketBallz Fairways with TP shaft upgrade: $329
RocketBallz Rescues: $179
RocketBallz Tour Rescues: $179
RocketBallz Rescues with TP shaft upgrade: $229
* better player claim against Burner 11 Fairway, robot testing at 150 mph ball speed, total distance.
