Rocketballz, and **** ME!! (not directly related)

[SilverUberXeno]

1.) Have you guys had any experience with the RBZ driver? I'm a huge proponent of not replacing any reasonably modern driver, since the companies really aren't ALLOWED to make them better, based on COR restrictions and whatnot. I haven't hit one, and I was not interested in hitting one until...

My buddy hits the ball a long ways. He's been using a tour burner with a VS proto for a while and bombs it. He got an RBZ because he's a dink, and fooled with shafts for a couple weeks. Ended up with some 70-X R11 "phenom" shaft...

OH MY ****ING GOD.

He's in places that we haven't been within 30 yards of. His drives are much higher, but they it the ground and LEAP forward. I cannot comprehend what the hell is going on, but my jaw is dropping every other hole. He hit it long before, but he's seriously hitting the ball in a way I've never seen. Slightly downhill today, he hit it 345. I ripped mine quite a bit lower and hit it 310. I really don't get it. The difference is extraordinary, and he hit his other driver very well. He's hitting it 290 without any assistance EASILY. He's reaching the areas where the signs say "no carts beyond this point" near the green on 390 yd par 4s. Holy frig.

2.) Maybe related to the majesty of that stupid RBZ, my 919thi has totally abandoned me-- at the WORST time. I'm putting well, hitting extraordinary mid range wedges, my iron game is the best it's been in a couple of years (only above average, still), I love my hybrids and they love me... And the most reliable club in my bag, the driver, had totally disappeared. WORSE than disappeared.

In my last two rounds, I've put scores in the low-mid eighties with 6-10 strokes lost because of errant drives. This is coming through a season where my driver was SO solid. I was liable to blow irons all over the place, but I was killing the driver with superb control.

Today, I was +3 through 7 holes in the worst wind I've ever played in. Started double, made a bogey on 5, then all pars. I made a QUINTUPLE bogey on 8 with two OB drives. I'd also driven into a hazard for the other bogey on my card.

I just can't believe how much the club I love the most is hurting me, all of a sudden. Evidently, my iron swing does NOT translate to my driver at all. I've got this horribly negative block in my mind now-- I don't like the look, the feel, the sound of my driver. Grow up, right? Rant over.

 

[MIKE1218]

You need rocketballz. Do not delay.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

Rocketballz or that J33r....

Or a competent swing with the driver I have x.x

 

[BigJim13]

I still can't get over the name, Rocket Ballz. Really?

I guess its convievable that he found the perfect combination of launch and spin etc. Who knows though.

 

[MCDavis]

Maybe if you had rocketballz more people (since I don't know your preference) would **** you.

Seriously, though, if your driver was your best club, give it time before you jump ship. Go to the range and work with it, or get your local pro to watch you hit the driver and see if he notices something you're doing wrong. A bad swing is a bad swing no matter what club you're holding.

 

[IrishGolfer]

I tried the driver and the 3 wood. Latter stayed, former lasted 3 weeks and got moved on, the Superfast 2.0 was more accurate. Distance? Meh, not sure, it is so overhyped. I believe that the shaft is 90% of any performance as most heads are the same. Get the right shaft for your swing speed and style and you will hit it well. Sounds like you have that in the 919 already, so I'd agree with McD, start with a quick lesson with the pro, amazing how quick small nasty habits creep into the swing, that can be easily ironed out.

Only time I would switch drivers would be when I am hitting BOTH well, and notice that one performs a bit better than another in terms of consistency, flight, length etc.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

I've heard so many people going nuts over the RBZ line. Everyone that has one has claimed to gain a lot of distance. I've hit the 3w and I have to say it is longer than mine. High flying for sure but not a spinny ballooning high. If they weren't white with a stupid name the RBZ line might turn me on more, but they do perform.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

This is good, sound advice, boys. I need to focus on the dozens of phenomenal drives I've hit, not the handful that have been so catastrophic for me.

As for the RBZ, I told him he was an idiot for buying it. It was totally REVERSE placebo effect. I couldn't wait to tell him that he wasted his money. Seriously, it's undeniable. For HIM, it's just perfect. Towering shots that fly so high and so far, then just bound forward when they hit the ball. He's hitting moonshots with no spin. It's astonishing.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

Towering shots that fly so high and so far, then just bound forward when they hit the ball. He's hitting moonshots with no spin. It's astonishing.

Where I live, it doesn't matter how much spin is on the ball when it hits the fairway, it's rolling forever. We haven't had any rain this year, it's so dry that courses around here seem to be made out of concrete. I'm hitting my 3i as far as I would my 3w in soft conditions.

 

[warbirdlover]

If I were you I'd buy a RBZ!! You need more distance!!

 

[SilverUberXeno]

I need to find the fairway! I ripped the hybrid 210 into the teeth of a strong wind that same day. Probably plenty of distance under the circumstances. But if he's literally hitting it 290+ unassisted I can't sacrifice that much distance off the tee. Like I said, that last assisted drive was 340+, less than 2 yards from the "long drive" line in the fairway.

I'm going to work on it tonight. I love this driver. I love this driver. I love this driver...

*head against desk*

 

[TheTrueReview]

As long as your short game is in good shape, you'll run rings around your buddy SUX. I've seen plenty of bombers who can't putt, chip or pitch for sh*t.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

Indeed-- if I'm within 30 yards of the green, my up & down % has really been like 65%+ lately. If I'm just off the green, 5-10 yds, it's higher than that. I really have become one with the wedges, and my putting is stable enough that 4 footers are in the cup 90% of the time. Taking less break and being firm on the inside edge of the hole for breakers.

I worked the driver a bit last night and the contact was very good. Direction was consistently a 15 yard block to the right. That is a big improvement over where I was last week. A 15-20 yard block in the rough is playable, and if I'm playable I can eat his lunch all day long.

That being said, he's a very solid iron player. He's at least as good as I am from 120-170. It's always a good competitive match.

 

[nututhugame]

Dude, face it... you need RBZ. It doesn't mean you need to get rid of yours. It just lets your current driver know that indeed it is replaceable. Then perhaps it will realize that it needs to act right. Whether or not it comes around you still have (enter drum roll.....) RBZ!

 

[SilverUberXeno]

Well I'm playing with this guy tomorrow, and the last couple rounds with the 919thi/Okato have shown promise.

On a 520 yd par 5, hit a perfect little draw leaving 199 in. Tees were as far back a I've ever seen them.

On the toughest par 4, usually requiring a second shot over a huge ravine into a 6yard deep green that is virtually impossible to hold, I hit the ball so far that I could bump and run it across the area upon which we walk to the green. Never been close to there. Hit a knock down 9 iron to 12 feet.

On the following par 5, also hit the longest drive I've ever hit on that hole. The pond on the left is 280 to the front and I was halfway through it, in the fairway.

I feel good, and I'm going to show him that RBZ is a flash in the pan. If I'm in play, I win. But, I might as well be in play 300 yards away

#2 at the course we are playing tomorrow will be a defining moment. It's a par 5 in which the tee shot is lined on both sides with tall trees. Can't afford hardly any movement. Fairway maybe 25 yards wide. Considering hybrid/hybrid/mid iron. We will see.