Review: TM R11s & NIKE VR LE

[Puji]

I have had quite a few PM's asking about my driver adventures lately. People seem to be quite interested in either the VTS shafts or the VR LE head.

an R11s came into my hands today also. So I thought it would be a little bit of an exercise to play around with both clubs and video their ball flight.

The R11s and the VRLE basically come from opposite stables. The R11s is all about adjustability, new colors, patterns and designs. the VRLE on the other hand is traditional, glued, minimalist.

I headed to the range, with both drivers. Dedicated about 30 balls to each driver.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/peejayy/E14A09D1-7431-4D15-B394-ED1E5259DECD-7976-0000055231DB579F.jpg

NIKE VR PRO II LIMITED EDITION

Firstly, I need to clarify that I have gamed this driver for basically the last 2 weeks. Initially it took a lot for it to oust the 910D3/VTS6S combo out of my bag, but the 910D3 is all but a distant memory. This club just gives me confidence.

A UST VTS Silver 6X SPX TOUR is glued onto the head.

Performance

I honestly believe that all drivers are basically the same performance wise. If you hook them up to Iron Byron with the same shaft and ball - I believe they will perform very similarly. I am sure spin numbers may change a little.

The only thing worth mentioning about performance is 1) the compression channel and 2) left/right off centre hits.

The compression Channel is brilliant. My miss is low on the clubface - and if I am honest, I hit it lower more often than I do higher. This is the first club that I haven't even noticed distance loss because of a low hit. I have witnessed this on course, where I would expect a ball to be 15metres short of where it actually is. You can definitely feel and hear when that channel gets a work out.

Off centre hits across the clubface are penalised. There is no mistaking that this driver is designed for the more confident swingers. When I caught a ball out of the toe/heel of the club, I would lose 15metres of distance without a doubt. This is not the most forgiving club, nor does it pretend to be

Looks

This club sits and looks spectacular behind a golf ball. It screams traditional. If you didn't show a golfer the sole of the club, they would struggle to identify it as a Nike Club. It looks boring from address- no sight lines, funky shapes/ colors or patterns. I really loved how clean the club sat behind the ball.

The sole is quite busy with the logos, text and compression channel. If you care about that kinda stuff be warned. But its not seen from address so it doesn't bother me.

The last point about looks is that this club looks like it has been put together very nicely. There is a strange sense of quality that a lot of other clubs lack.

Sound

Amazing. Where you make contact is communicated clearly to you via the sound at impact. You can hear when the compression channel flexes - its a solid 'thwack'. When you hit it higher on the face there is a slight ping, and left/right on the face is dull.


TAYLORMADE R11s TP

I have only hit this club at the range today, so unfortunately no real world thoughts just yet.

Club is fitted with a TP Aldila 65g Phenom X.

Performance

This club is adjustable. Confusing, but adjustable. Titleist really hit a home run with it's adjustability matrix. Taylormade is a little more confusing to sort out as there are "three dimensions to distance". Once You understand FCT, ASP and MWT - you're in business.

The adjustability actually works out very well. Hopefully the video shows the difference in ball flight well. I was a sceptic of the R11 range ever since it was released. I particularly couldn't understand ASP. I ground my club at the start of address, then a waggle or 5, then hit the ball. So I thought ASP wouldn't help me. But it does. I can't explain why, but I love behing able to sit that face up to 3* open. Real confidence booster for me.

My bad shot is a ropey, low, hook. So seeing the face point to 2 O'clock guarantees me.

This club is also forgiving. This shouldn't be a surprise because it is a 460cc head.Lucky I had impact tape with me at the range, becasue without it, I would struggle to tell you where I hit it. THe only real feedback it gave me was shots low on the clubface.

The club just wants to cannon that ball straight. This is a fairway finder. A good golf swing is not required.

Looks

Its white. it polarises golfers. I used to cringe at the thought of bagging a white club - but I am more open to these things. The clubhead shape is wonderful and sits well behind the ball. the white crown/ black face works well to help with alignment.

The alignment aid reminds you that you are hitting an R11 every time. Completely unnecessary. There is also some kind of pattern/ text around the back edge of the crown. Why? Because they can.

It has been a long time since I have given 460cc a go. But it does look good.

Sound

Club is LOUD. A lot louder than I would like to be honest. It sounds like a slap with a ping in there somewhere. Hard to describe, I just wish they turned the volume down a little more.

VIDEO:

I thought I would share a video of me having a few swings with both the R11s and the VRLE. I hope the adjustments to the R11s are obvious. I was super-consistent with the VRLE however.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDl9apHl3hM

[razaar]

I played 9-holes yesterday with a member who has broken the face of 16 TM R11 drivers within a two year period. We measured his longest driver on the day at 299 meters. On Saturday at the same hole he hit it 317 meters, flat hole no elevation.
On the following hole after he hit his R11 in X flex about 290 meters, I gave him my driver for a comparison. A Bridgy 460 J36 with a 70 gm Aldila NV in stiff flex. He hit it two metres shy of the R11. The second shot landed in the rough before it finished in the fairway and had better elevation.

[TheNuclearOne]

Sweet work mate!!

[Puji]

Razaar: ?

[aym]

Great review I recently Purchased an r11s and Ive hitting the Yarra bend tin roof house every time.. And btw its .net just incase you Didn't notice :)

[Puji]

Thanks mate.

I'm not claiming to be an authority on golf equipment, so I hope no-one takes it that way but I enjoy testing new golf gear out and thought it would be a semi interesting read.

I am really looking forward to hitting the R11s on Saturday. I have no idea what results I will get. I will miss the feel and look of the VRLE, but I feel like I just can't miss a fairway with the R11s. Most importantly; I feel like I won't hit my low ropey hook a.k.a OOB missile.

Will update this thread with a few more pics of each driver and my thoughts post Saturday.

D'oh! I only type ozgolf.net into my browser about 126 times a day.

[razaar]

Razaar: ?
My point is that a player who is very good hitting the driver, will hit most modern drivers equally well if the shaft is within his specs. In the case I mentioned, the TM driver was 1.5 inches longer in shaft length than the Bridgy. Both have the same COR rating but are different generations by several years.

Thought I would spice up your thread.

[Puji]

Haha, after reading it again I see your point. A point I very much agree with.

Also what I was touching on when I tried to explain that performance between most drivers these days are the same on a centre struck shot.

The shaft definitely plays a big role.

However what makes a driver for me are things which are quite personal and sometimes unquantifiable. Such as looks, sound, feel, the way it sits etc.

I also think drivers have come a long way in terms of forgiveness. I definitely don't put 13-15 good swings on a golf club per round.

[Iain]

I haven't watched the video yet as I'm on my mobile, but how do you know the r11s is so straight/fairway finder if you've only hit it at the range?

[TheTrueReview]

Enjoyed your review Puji. Kudos for going to the effort.

[Puji]

I haven't watched the video yet as I'm on my mobile, but how do you know the r11s is so straight/fairway finder if you've only hit it at the range?

Because I pick a spot to aim at on the range; and the ball gets there quite reliably?

Same as on the course?

TTR: glad you enjoyed it.

In quite impressed by the adjustability of this driver. Loft changes are very noticeable and the ASP seems to have an effect. I think it's pretty obvious in the videos!

[BayBum]

Im really suprised how low spin the LE head is ! Its right up there with my 9046LS. I was looking for abit more spin going up a degree in loft but it just aint there.

Any recommendations on a high launch,mid-high spin shaft ? SS is low 100's.

[Puji]

GD Tour AD-BB (5or6)
GD tour AD-DJ (7or8)

If you can afford them. They are a mid launch/ mid spin shaft according to GD, but on the launch monitor I was seeing mid/ high launch and mid/high spin.

I need low spin heads as I like getting the ball to launch quite high. I live the trajectory I got on the last video of me hitting that VRLE and the last of the R11s!

The RIP phenom TP X is very impressive. Lower launching than the VTS. But smooth. I don't know whether it's the real deal or not (most online forums say it is) but its impressive.

[Puji]

BayBum: where are you hitting the ball on the head also? On track man I found a difference of about 800 rpm between shots high on the face and shots low on the face.

Shots low of the face were spinning at about 3100rpm. High off the face I was getting 2300rpm. Interestingly enough: the difference in distance was negligible. As the higher spin kept the ball in thr air for longer.

[JADO75]

Im really suprised how low spin the LE head is ! Its right up there with my 9046LS. I was looking for abit more spin going up a degree in loft but it just aint there.

Any recommendations on a high launch,mid-high spin shaft ? SS is low 100's.

Matrix radix

[Captain Nemo]

UST Axivcore Black

[BayBum]

9046 ? O.o lol.

Thanks for the suggestions guys ! The axivcore black has been calling me for a while & when i missed out on your one,Titty,i packed a sad haha.

Puji,i have been missing alot high on the face with the LE which might explain the spin,given your monitor numbers.Caught one half on/half off the heel & it went dead straight with only a few metres loss in distance.That was impressive,obviously the swing wasnt...

[spanner039]

Great Stuff Puji !!! you captured the trajectory really well.

Give me a buzz next time you go would love to compare them with the G20.

and i thought you were after the R11 for a "mate"

[Puji]

Some more pictures of the R11s. For those interested this driver was describe as "very good" condition. Looks to be almost like new to me.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/peejayy/76ECCC41-7E48-472B-9075-AC227508D5FA-8688-00000641FC158354.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/peejayy/89108501-7465-4D57-B554-B44DC5C0F9A3-8688-00000641F8E2D386.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/peejayy/E19B5ACD-62AE-4A85-8541-1C81978D133C-8688-00000641EEACEA19.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/peejayy/7AA52C07-61A3-4F26-BB47-2979283B1F1D-8688-0000064201584ABA.jpg

[TheNuclearOne]

GD Tour AD-BB (5or6)
GD tour AD-DJ (7or8)

If you can afford them. They are a mid launch/ mid spin shaft according to GD, but on the launch monitor I was seeing mid/ high launch and mid/high spin.


The DJ is mid/high launch and mid spin, the BB is low/mid launch, low/mid spin. If i was BayBum i'd keep well away from the BB. I'd class it as low spin personally.

They are making some top notch shafts, GD.

[Puji]

Interesting. Not what the LM told me
About the shafts.

This chart tends to agree with me also. It obviously depends on the weight of the shaft.

[JADO75]

I thought the bb was supposed to be low/ low too but I find it more mid/ high with low spin, definitely lower flight than the ad di though.

[Puji]

http://www.gdintl.com/technology/fit-guide

Forgot the link

[RobNewy]

Nice review puji.

[CanuckDownUnder]

The BB is mid. With a Nike 10.5*. 44" . 299m my farthest this year. But mishits punish you badly

[CanuckDownUnder]

The BB is mid. With a Nike 10.5*. 44" . 299m my farthest this year.

[Puji]

Cheers Rob. I haven't seen you at Keysy lately? You still playing there?

CDU: 299m with a 44" driver? You must be getting ball speeds up in the 175mph+ range. Impressive!!!

[TheNuclearOne]

This chart tends to agree with me also. It obviously depends on the weight of the shaft.

That's the exact description via GD i posted. I'm finding the BB quite low spin. I'll slap it in another head down the track for another angle.

What weight Blue Bullet did you hit in what head? I'm hitting a 7 in an R9 460 so far. Previous shafts i've hit in it were the Fuji Motore Speeder 7.1, Fubuki K70 and Attas T2 7.

[JADO75]

460m? You gorilla!

[TheNuclearOne]

460m? You gorilla!

Surely it must have been yards!!!! ;)

[RobNewy]

Cheers Rob. I haven't seen you at Keysy lately? You still playing there?

CDU: 299m with a 44" driver? You must be getting ball speeds up in the 175mph+ range. Impressive!!!


Up in the air at the moment mate, but Im 99% certain I will be at Eastwood from next week.
Playing Yering tomorrow to see how that is, but will probly hand the coin over to Eastwood on Wednesday night at the induction

[CanuckDownUnder]

Cheers Rob. I haven't seen you at Keysy lately? You still playing there?CDU: 299m with a 44" driver? You must be getting ball speeds up in the 175mph+ range. Impressive!!!Gc was there at Lakelands to witness. Bombed the f outta it. Never hit a draw, but this had a slight one at the tail end.

[Puji]

CDU: I don't doubt you for a second. That is monster like!

Looking forward to summer firming up these fairways.

The temporary bag did quite well. Will update later.

[Puji]

I took the R11s out on Saturday for its first competition round. Was played from the back markers. There was rain overnight, fairways were damp.

After my range session, I decided on having the head set at 9.75*, Open 1.5*, Neutral weight (10g in heel). The balls I used were the 2012 Taylormade Burners (which came free with the driver). 2-piece economy ball. was impressive actually.

My most feared shot is the low, ropey hook that always ends in trouble, cannons off the fairway deep to places where elephants die. When this occurs its usually the loss of a hole and sometimes the ball itself.

That fear did not even enter my head with this club.

Results:

I hit 10 of 14 fairways - 71%. which is a fairway or two more than usual. the four missed fairways were to the right surprisingly. a dead straight push out wide. They almost made it back to the fairway with a drawing tail. I logged co-ordinates for where the tees were and where all my balls ended up. I have made a quick GPS app for the iPhone which notes longs and lats for positions around the course and have updated these onto a live google map which I will update as I test drivers.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=217024773963053614309.0004c9dd8935a731a5f2e

Distance was as good as every other driver out there. The sound makes me feel like I hit it further, but the ball ended up in the usual places given the tees. A 460cc head is a very nice change. I haven't hit a 460cc'er for a long time (910D3, RAZR HAWK TOUR, VRLE). forgiveness on off centre hits is very obvious - trajectory and distance wise.

The white is growing on me. before the RBZ rescue made it to my bag i despised it. Now it just bothers me slightly. I want to dislike it, but hard to argue with performance. Given the chance, I would still love to paint it black. I don't care much for the claims of reduced glare - its never bothered me off the tee. the black face/white crown alignment feature is a stupid point in my opinion as drivers had silver faces/black crowns for decades - same contrast, same effect.

I am a big fan of the ASP dial on the bottom of the club - as I tend to rest the club on the ground at address and line up the ball towards the toe of the club to compensate. I had it set to open, and it just let me take a relaxed grip, not scared of that dreaded low ropey hook. seeing the clubhead that open also gives me confidence that I can really release my hands through impact letting me hit that high draw.

Overall I was impressed. Playing partners want me to keep it in the bag, but I think that is just because of the sound this club makes. Loud and flattering.

It will get another run this weekend, I want to take some more aggressive lines. It will take me a few rounds to get used to not hitting it left. My usual alignment is along the right hand side of the fairway, to allow for an overcooked draw, but with the R11s I have had to realign myself which proved to be harder than it sounds. It just feels scary lining up middle of the fairway/left side of the fairway. I can open my stance, but I think i still send the club through towards the right side. Swing guru's can tell me what the result is when you combine an open stance (hips and shoulders) with a swing path that is towards the right.

It will get another go, I will need to work on my set-up/stance/ Alignment to account for a straighter ball flight.

the VRLE is by no means out of the bag. the 910D3 definitely is though. having now moved over to X flex shafts, I can defintiely appreciate the consistency over the S flex.

[BayBum]

The X flex shaft should aid you in not going left so much.Something to take into account.

[Puji]

I thought that, but I still manage to hook the VRLE - it's a swing fault, grip related.

I find that it depends on the sole of the driver and how it sits on the ground.

Drivers which feel comfortable to me and sit completely on the ground give me confidence. When I start to rest the bottom of the clubface only on the ground my grip becomes super strong and bad things follow.

[Puji]

Time for an update.

I have gamed the R11s w/ TP RIP Phenom X for 6 or 7 rounds now, so it will be good to jot down my thoughts and compare them with the initial review.

Lately the results have been confusing with the R11s. Confusing because I have been putting some pretty lazy swings on with the R11s. Therefore I am not sure whether this would be best put in my swing thread.

Both days this weekend I was pushing the ball right considerably. The balls were consistently starting right immediately from the face - Makes me thing I am coming from inside with an open clubface.

The ball would barely move off its line, with an almost straight trajectory. Often it would find the right treeline. Distance still good, very forgiving, but has the effect of sending golf balls where balls have never been before.

In an effort to combat this, I tried closing the ASP setting a little to N (from O+) which puts the face back to square, from 3* open. the ball flight indeed straightened, but I was missing my draw. It felt lonely. even swings I tried to hook/ pull left would still want to go right.

lost a little confidence with the R11s - not because of my swing, but because it didn't feel very workable to me. When I pick up the 910D3/RAZR/VRLE - I know I can put on a swing which is defintely a hook/draw or a slice/fade. The R11s just seems a little harder to work. Might be a good chance to put the VRLE back in the bag to see the results. I know I am putting some pretty terrible swings on the club....

Previoulsy with my other smaller more traditional driver heads, when I suffer from a particular shot on course, it is pretty easy for me to rectify it, by trying the total opposite - fighting a hook, try to hit a push slice - will often bear good results, or alternatively, figting a high gayde, try to hit a burning hook.

But at address with the R11s, I just struggle to visualise what I want to do.

Need to get a GP NDMC grip on it as soon as possible also - the 'Karma' grip on it at the moment is rubbish.

[razaar]

You may be moving the axis of your swing forward towards the target during the downswing. The swing axis is the spine in the mid point of the shoulders. This fault produces a low pull hook or a straight push, depending on the timing of the shoulder turn in the downswing.

[Puji]

^^ that sounds like me!

Thanks for the suggestion razaar. I have a swing vid of my driver in my in the swing thread. Would you mind having a look at that video to see whether what you mentioned is happening?

Thanks.

[JADO75]

Inside to out swing path with a square face = straight block right

[razaar]

^^ that sounds like me!

Thanks for the suggestion razaar. I have a swing vid of my driver in my in the swing thread. Would you mind having a look at that video to see whether what you mentioned is happening?

Thanks.

A good way to check it yourself is if you can see the outside of your right leg well into the downswing, then your axis has stayed behind the ball and the centre of mass has moved level with the ball position. When the COM stays back the swing is outside the plane line; when the axis moves forward with the COM the swing is too far inside the plane line. Does this make sense to you.

[TheTrueReview]

Did you happen to see this comparison by Mark Crossfield, Puj?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMnsLvI6bWw&feature=relmfu

[Puji]

Razaar: I think it makes sense - maybe need to read what you wrote a few times on the range to properly understand it.

TTR: I saw that video after I ordered the head. I like his reviews! And agree with everything he says.

I'm thinking of goin back to the VRLE this weekend.