TaylorMade Combines R9 and R9 460 Clubs for 2010
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 14, 2010 11:39 AM EST
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PrintIn the adjustable driver space, the competition really is two-sided at this point. It boils down to Nike Golf's Str8-Fit technology and TaylorMade's R9 line. Both are making enhancements to the technology for the 2010 year. Nike previously announced that the Str8-Fit line will be extended to a set of metalwoods and also now feature 32 adjustable positions. (In my mind, that render Str8-Fit as an outmoded name. Why not Str32-Fit?)
TaylorMade initially competed with Nike with their R9 driver. The driver featured the same eight adjustable positions, but also had movable weight technology that allowed for trajectory changes. The downside was that it was just 420cc in size while Nike's was 460cc. Then TaylorMade introduced the R9 460, which was an nearly identical club compared to the Str8-Fit line, but it lost the movable weight technology in the original R9.
For 2010, TaylorMade is coming out with the R9 SuperTri driver that combines the best of the R9 and R9 460. The 2010 version is 460 cc, is adjustable to 8 different positions, has movable weight technology, and is a little lighter than last year's model to allow for increased swing speeds.
There are a few downsides to the new TaylorMade line. While the lack of 32 positions is not really concerning, Nike Golf has extended this technology through the metalwood lineup. Both will be able to be customized to use any shaft, though, which is great for techie players that experiment with multiple shafts - a notion that Callaway anticipated pretty well.
I have not gotten my hands on this year's R9 Supertri, but it comes out in mid-February with a price tag of $400 - $100 higher than Nike's introductory price point.
The game is back on!
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Not This Year for This Fellow...
Look in the three spare club bags in my garage and you’ll see that one of them looks like a flower pot filled with Taylor Made drivers. Starting with the Ti Bubble 2, I’ve pretty much bought or acquired every new model from that one all the way to the R9 460 that sits in my bag.
This year, however, I am sitting it out. I haven’t seen or swung their 2010 model, but right now, my instincts, bank account and especially my long-suffering wife have told me to not even think about trying to buy game but instead to use that R9 and get the extra ten yards I always want the old fashioned way: by working out and practicing on the range.
I guess I’ll be sticking with Ping for the foreseeable future. Either that or I’ll have to go get a degree in mechanical engineering to figure out how to set up a driver.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
Haha, just keep it on neutral – that’s what I do :)
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 14, 2010 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
if you’re going to do that – why spend the extra money to get the adjustable model ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Well, to date, I haven’t :) I have played with it to some extent, but my game is mostly a straight ball. I don’t hit a lot of cuts or draws on purpose, so I have nothing to promote or fight. I’ll probably play with it some more this year, but last year I honestly did most of that stuff only on the range.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 14, 2010 12:33 PM EST up reply actions
It’s easy to be straight when you hit it 135 off the tee, Ryan!
(I kid I kid)
by Charles Boyer on Jan 14, 2010 1:44 PM EST up reply actions
My concern
is for Ol Easing…as D said, you need a degree in mechanical engineering just to go play the game….Easing Ol man, I do feel sorry for ya, but on the other hand, I did tell you to look at the Titleist AP1 &2s before plunking down yur hard earned shekels…I still play my Titleist 704s and I will tell ya this….I ain’t parting with one thin dime on all this new fangled stuff…As Ol Lee T. said, “it ain’t the arrow, it’s the Indian”…I still have my TM ti driver, 3 & 7 with bubble shafts….hit good too, except I did finally get talked into a Callaway 460cc job 2 years ago, and it’s OK but really lost my ability to draw the ball…but I figure that’s mostly me….I feel sorry for all the poor schmucks who go out year after year and keep lining the pockets of the club mfg. and never do get any improvement….wasn’t a study done a couple years back that said the average golfer hasn’t increased his yardage by more than 2-3 yds in the past 10 years?? Court, you know anything about that?….Well, off to play again, or at least get a work out, hahaha…sorry Wendy,Easing, OMP…STUB
I can only recall one article claiming something similar to that, but their premise was that most golfers aren’t getting the ball much further down the fairway because they aren’t hitting the ball straighter.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
how would they know?
The average Joe and Jill Golfer don’t send distance and accuracy numbers anywhere?
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
Oh, I’ve gotten some improvement with each new driver — but at the same time I think I personally have maxed out on what forgiveness will get me and now I need to fine tune what I can do.
Then again, I don’t have any idea what kind of swing I have, considering that it has been 39 days since I last played. I am medically cleared to swing today but am instead visiting a brewer-friend at his pub and enjoying a cold beer after work. Tomorrow, however, is another story.
by Charles Boyer on Jan 14, 2010 1:47 PM EST up reply actions
Good Luck OMP
I sympathise with the 39 days. Are you going to pitch and putt or try to play a full game? Don’t overdo it either way.
He (and you) have an open invitation if you are ever in the Triangle.
I have a dual tap at my house and have been brewing beer for 30 years now. In fact, Saturday I am replenishing my stock with two new batches.
by Charles Boyer on Jan 14, 2010 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
Court,
just got through my thick skull…You said you pulled the bubble shaft from the ti driver?..TM said I couldn’t do that due to the diam. of the bubble shaft into the hozel..I liked the metals, and that’s one of the reasons I stayed with them so long…not being able to replace shafts was the other…Did you have to make any adjustments when reshafting??…I’m getting kind of skittish about using them, as if the shaft breaks, there are no replacement bubbles at TM…STUB
that was what – almost 15 years ago or more ? I don’t remember having any problem doing the reshafting. seems like it was a standard 335 tip. There weren’t a whole lot of different diameters back then. My problem with the bubble shaft was the length..and the annoying amount of work it took to regrip. The driver was 2" longer than standard with a whippy tip section – I couldn’t control it.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
that's another
conversation…I had them re gripped last spring, and was told than, that the ORIGIONAL TM bubble grip was in very short supply…Ya know, I just hate getting bad info…ARgggg!!…STUB
Sooooo
Who was right? Kenny Perry, or Sergio? Maybe, Sergio Perry.
"The game is swell when it's played well."
by Fairways and Grins on Jan 15, 2010 6:37 PM EST reply actions
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