Is Tayloarmade R9 Driver suitable for u?

Dec. 14, 2009 - PRLog -- Over the last few years one company have dominated the driver count on the major Tours. TaylorMade drivers are found in the bags of more Tour professionals than any other manufacturer. Their latest driver, the R9 adds an adjustable hosel to the moveable weight technology that has been so successful.

TaylorMade are responsible for some of the most iconic drivers of recent years, most notably the 510TP and the R7 425 TP, and have been at the fore-front of driver technology. Bag Chatter got to look at the R9 to see how it compares against these past classics and how well it fares against the competition who have not been standing still.

Appearance

With its headshape the R9 has been described as a combination of the classical shape of the R7 Superquad and the triangular R7 Limited in what TaylorMade are calling ‘new classic’. While I’m not sure that I’d go that far, it is certainly a handsome club that looks well at all angles, particularly at set up. At only 420cc or thereabouts, the head is neat and compact and with its deep face has a smaller footprint at address even at the end of a 45 inch shaft that is shorter than the typical modern standard of 46 inches. The headcover is top quality and both comes off and goes on without any hassle – a far cry from some 460cc driver headcovers.

Performance

TaylorMade’s strapline for this is ‘Adjust The Head. Adjust The Weight. Totally Optimize You’ and you have to say that with the FCT and MWT technologies this is the most adjustable driver in the world. TaylorMade make a point of this by differentiating between ‘Totally Adjustable’ versus ‘Partially Adjustable’. The first requires both moveable weights and an adjustable hosel while the second only has one or the other. The combination of FCT and MWT can be found in not just the R9 driver but also the fairway woods and the Rescue ‘09 TP hybrid.

Both systems are adjusted by a white torque wrench that looks similar to the standard version but it’s important to know that it ‘clicks’ at 40 inch-pounds of torque rather than the more usual 30 inch-pounds so you are not supposed to use the old one on this club. The FCT bolt is as simple to undo as the weights and makes changing the R9 to one of its 24 settings very easy. That it has 24 settings is mind-boggling but the speed with which you can switch settings makes it great fun to play with. Moving the weights and the face angle showed that the face angle had the most obvious effect on trajectory and that the weights altered flight a lot less smaller. The FCT allows the face to be moved from 2 degrees closed to 2 degrees open. With the face moved all the way to the left, the book showed a high draw. While it was definitely a hard draw, it was medium high at most. With the face all the way open, the book showed a low fade and that is exactly what you got where you could roll the wrists without worrying about a snap hook. A neutral setup showed that this club has no inherent fade or draw bias and being able to alter the loft by 2 degrees gave noticeably different ball flight.

There have been more than a few comments that the R9 is shorter than other drivers. Not just from internet and print reviews but also from players such as Kenny Perry. Comments generally seem to say that this club is between 5-10 yards shorter than you might expect. The initial testing period did show that this driver had a much lower launch and much lower spin than was expected probably due to combination of the deep face and the center of gravity placement. The 9.5 version launched much more like an 8.5 and judging by the flight the spin levels were also much lower than expected. This was most noticeable when hitting into the wind when it was remarkably unaffected by strong gusts. This makes it essential to get fit for this driver as ‘buying blind’ could see you end up with a driver than is a less than optimal fit. When you do obtain the right launch conditions this driver produces distance that is very close to its competitors.

If the distance is more or less the same as other drivers, what makes this on so special or so popular? It’s simply down to the controllability. Whether it’s the combination of FCT and MWT and the slightly smaller head or something else, this is a club that responds to your swing and does what you tell it. You want a high fade, you get one. You want a slingy draw? You can have one of those too. This is very much a shotmakers club and a real boon to longer hitters that are either looking to take one side of the course out of play or are looking to shape the ball to keep it on the fairway.

The sound that the R9 makes is a solid thump that leads directly back to the likes of its iconic predecessors. In fact it’s far close to a persimmon wood than the most extreme ‘tin cannons’ that exist today. At first it is a little disconcerting the first time you hear it as you just aren’t expecting something so muted but it’s really a pleasant surprise and you soon come to appreciate it.

With the enhanced workability, there is some drop-off in the amount of forgiveness but it should not be a problem to the mid-lower handicapper golfer that is the R9’s natural audience but might penalize those who find it hard to find the center of the club face. This is offset a little by the shorter (or should I say more correct) length shaft which makes it easier to flush the ball. These make the R9 much more a swingers club than a hitters club.

The stock shaft is the 65 gram Fujikura Motore which is designed to add kick through the impact zone and add ball speed but it comparison to the better shafts available it felt lifeless. It’s interesting to note that the TP version differs only by having an upgraded shaft. Thankfully TaylorMade have a wide range of custom options to choose from although they do not sell the sleeve adapters separately.



Conclusion

With TaylorMade being so dominant in the Tour count, expectation is always high. The R9 is an excellent driver but it might not be the home run hit that golfers have come to expect from them. The pluses are that the appearance, adjustability, workability and sheer technology are as good as you’ll find in any club – they are genuinely excellent. The distance generated seems to be very individual to the person swinging it and the level of forgiveness is naturally a level below what you would find in drivers that max out on MOI but the R9 gets it out there pretty long and it’s easily good enough to cope with all but the worst mishits. Better players will love how comfortable the club looks behind the ball and how much confidence it inspires. The fact that the flight can be adjusted by up to 75 yards makes the R9 super-flexible, either in hitting the shot shape that you want to by protecting you from the miss that you don’t.

The real surprise was the low launch (especially compared to the recently reviewed and high launching Nike STR8-FIT and Mizuno MX-700) and low spin and it’s easy to see why people who don’t get fit for this club could get a shock.  This is a club that rewards the better player. Those with a high swingspeed and consistent swing will definitely be fans which also expains why this is the most commonly played TaylorMade driver model on the major tours. All in all this is a very good club and the legions of TaylorMade fans will be happy with this latest hit.

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