TaylorMade R9 TP Irons

[hocko]

Anyone used these much? Are they a lower launch?
I have read that they have very high COG of .888 which "should" equate to a lower launch.

[simmsy]

ZB's too high??

[hocko]

I did a whole lot of research and soul searching :x on the weekend and according to the Ralph Maltby book the R9's have one of the highest COG's for 2011.
The R9's have 0.888 and the ZB's are 0.764 so i think this is a good indication that ball flight "should" be lower.
I have also started to press the hands forward now but it feels terrible so i will be at the range if anyone needs me!

[Daggs]

Gaming these the last month with kbs tour stiff (120s) in them shafts felt harsh to start with but not now, got used to them .
Ball flight is actually a little higher with these than the rac lts dg s300s i was gaming . quite a few mates have commented on it .
I honestly thought they would be to much for me alls good now sweet bat. and im a hacker :(.

For some reason ive started pressing forward as well , but seem to get much better compression.

FWIW I changed the stock TM tour velvet grips for midsize Pure grips ( definitely favourite ) which are about 8-10 grams heavier so probably dropped swing weight a point or to and they feel sooooo much better all round. I suppose they are softer and take some shock out well?

[hocko]

Thanks Daggs,
Compression isn't an issue for me just ball flight, i am looking at DG X100's or PX 6.5's however i have found that PX's tend to be higher than DG's.
For me any flighted shaft tends to be higher launch.

[Daggs]

I doubt id even get the pill of the ground with x100s LOL

[hocko]

I have a high swing speed and high impact.
It comes from having long arms!

[simmsy]

Think of Jerry's - Fusilli Jerry, but with spaghetti limbs.

[hocko]

Who needs friends eh'? :wink:

[simmsy]

I get by without any. ;)

[Golfnut]

It comes from having long arms! ....and a bit of extra agro.....or is that extra mongrel?!?

[TourFit]

hocko...you are right in that the R9 TP is listed as having a higher VCOG than either the ZB Forged (0.764), AP2 (0.771), or the 710 MB (0.793).

However, they are all tied in together to make up the overall playability of the iron. So the R9 TP is actually WAAAYYY lower than others in overall playability, in particular due primarily to the much higher VCOG. Even though it has a higher MOI than the others, the rearward COG is actually lower than the ZB's AND the 710 MB's (which is a little strange!). That also affects the overall playability...

What Ralph is saying is that even though the R9 TP's LOOK more like a traditional cavity back, they are in fact harder to hit and LESS forgiving than the blades that you already have!

If it is a lower trajectory that you are after, then try the ZB's or 710 MB's with lower lofts first (as they are forged and it is a simple fix), with a shaft that you like (like the DG X100's - which you KNOW had a lower trajectory, even in AP2's!!!), and if that all fails then possibly look at the R9 TP alternative down the road.

I think that to take the VCOG numbers, used as a series of tests to rate OVERALL playability, and isolate them in order to tell how 'high' you'll hit an iron is guesswork. (REAL testing won't be!) I mean, you've given me the info that AP2's/DG X100 was pretty good...and seeing as the 'biggest' factor on influencing trajectory and ballflight is LOFT we can surmise and extrapolate from that that stronger lofted AP2's would go lower, std lofted ZB's would be similar and stronger would be lower again...and then the 710 MB's at standard lofts would likely be the lowest of all those tested. So IMO, the 710 MB with DG X100 (at potentially 1* or 2* strong) would be more playable than the R9 TP's because the MPF rating is higher. Seeing as you are not playing as much (or quite as seriously) as you used to in your younger days, then I would have thought that MORE playability would be a better number to aim for.

The R9 TP's are VERY hard to bend, BTW. So if you test a overall 'harder' to hit iron head and they still go too high then you have less ability to change the results, so you are left with tinkering with changing shafts to affect trajectory & flight.