TaylorMade Unveil New RocketBladez Irons

After the runaway success of the RocketBallz franchise this year, TaylorMade are set to launch their new RocketBladez game-improver irons which have been designed to offer sensational distance by using an enhanced Speed Pocket behind the face.

The introduction of the RocketBallz woods, and in particular the fairway wood and hybrid, in January last year sent a buzz through the golf industry, and consumers were quick to embrace the Speed Pocket story that gave the face more flexibility for greater distance.

That technology has now been tweaked to work in a set of irons, so golfers who benefited from the RBZ fairway wood and hybrid will now be able to get even more help in their irons. The Speed Pocket really comes into its own on shots hit lower on the face – TaylorMade studies have shown that 68% of iron shots by amateur golfers are mishits in this portion of the face, but the Speed Pocket’s properties will still deliver impressive results.

Each RocketBladez iron has been individually designed and TaylorMade testing has also shown that irons with the 2mm Speed Pocket (which features from 3-7i) will produce a higher peak trajectory and steeper landing angle, for more control when attacking greens and tight pins. By distributing 17.5g of weight, TaylorMade engineers have been able to lower the centre of gravity, which also contributes to the lofty ball flight.

Golfers can expect dampened vibrations after impact due to the polymer in the Speed Pocket which helps to enhance feel and Mark King, TaylorMade Golf Company President and CEO, hailed the launch of the RocketBladez clubs as the biggest iron innovation to date.

“Metalwoods have advanced tremendously since TaylorMade introduced the first one in 1979. The ball has advanced too, and even footwear and apparel have improved a great deal. But there hasn’t been a significant advancement in irons since the perimeter-weighted cavity back was introduced more than 50 years ago. The RocketBladez Speed Pocket changes that – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime innovation in the iron category. If your iron doesn’t have a Speed Pocket, your iron is out-dated,” he said.

The RocketBladez irons may well be set to help out game-improvers, but a Tour model will also be on offer in the early part of 2013.

We created RocketBladez irons for amateurs, but when our Tour Staff pros tried it, they wanted it,” said King. “We created a Tour version, and they love it. It’s the first distance-oriented iron to be played on Tour.  The genius of the Speed Pocket is that not only does it deliver more speed for more distance, it delivers consistent speed, so shots fly a consistent distance. That combination of speed and consistent distance is what made the eyes of our Tour pros light up.”

To see the Rocketbladez wedges, click here.

RRP: 549 (steel) and £649 (graphite)
Available: Pre-orders from October 23rd and in shops from December 3rd.  

Tour Irons

RRP: £699
Available: February 1st 2013