TaylorMade Jetspeed - The Launch

I was invited. TaylorMade launched their new series of driver and fairway wood which they called "Jetspeed" at the Marina Bay Golf course's driving range. I like TaylorMade's marketing pitch, media and technological savvy.

They create a buzz. They originally gave you drivers that comes in Neutral, Fade or Draw and later gave you a 3-in-1 driver so that you could do your own adjustment perhaps when your swing changes. They further built on that with a driver that could not only select Neutral, Fade or Draw but where one could adjust face angle and loft. They were also bold to add colours and graphics to bland golf clubs. From grey to jet black, red to black and then black to matt white and now matt black.

What I found many social golfers didn't like were where some drivers have too many adjustments that by the time you have tinkered enough with it you may already have given up golf. The other is the incessant introduction of new equipment. Not many people knew enough what are the suitable equipment for them. The other problem has been that TaylorMade released too many models of drivers, fairway woods, rescue hybrids, irons, wedges and putters that many people I have spoken to are somewhat confused.

TaylorMade is today known as TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company or in short TMaG. Gary Adams was the founder of TaylorMade before he sold it to adidas. Every piece of wood you play in your golf bag today are metal woods and you have to appreciate and thank Gary Adams for his invention.

So here I am for the Jetspeed challenge as TaylorMade launch their latest series of driver and fairway wood at the Marina Bay Golf Course's driving range.

What is Jetspeed? It is about extreme velocity. Swing speed, club head speed and ball speed all into one added to their latest technology called the "speed pocket" it is engineered to produce less spin. Low impact contact of a driver generates too much back spin resulting in a ball that fly too high and land too short. Speed pocket is supposed to help minimise spin when you catch it thin and when you do hit it on the sweet spot - ka-boom! I supposed it also uses steel from the aerospace industry and it sends the ball flying like a fighter jet?

Unlike the earlier range of speed pocket, it is now covered with a polymer that dampens vibration and keep out debris. TaylorMade has also pushed forward the CG location and this will generate faster ball speed than when CG location is further behind. It is a lot forward in CG location than traditional drivers and slightly more forward than its predecessor the RBZ and RBZ stage 2.

You can now adjust your loft on the sleeve to choose 12 positions that offers you a range of plus 1.5 degrees. It is long at 46 inches and light at about 49g and has a swing weight of D5 for the regular shaft.

TaylorMade claimed that the Jetspeed fairway wood is their longest and most playable woods ever. Using the similar technology and philosophy as the driver, Jetspeed fairway woods and rescue clubs reduce spin compared to RBZ stage 2 for even more distance. Spin on the Jetspeed is reduced by some 200-300 rpm compared to RBZ stage 2. All Jetspeed metal wood faces are made of Jet steel of an ultra strong steel alloy.

So you got to register yourself. I came early for the media event.

Where the media was, there was a flag off. This man here looks like James Wong the discuss champion.

Videos and cameras were all in full swing. Sometimes, readers and friends would say to me: "Why your blog do not have pictures of women?" "Pictures of women would make your blog more popular." Alright, on the odd occasion I would relent.

They got a man in full suit with a helmet to tee off for the event with the Jetspeed driver. Wow! I thought he hit onto the 250m mark at least.

He was none other than our local pro Lip Ooi.

I know where your attention is.

Then it was Mike Casem's turn. Mike is from Class 95 FM and he acted in a hilarious parody as the Dog Whisperer in the "Random Island" series. He plays to a handicap of six.

He hit the Jetspeed driver 250 yards with the first shot.

Then hit it on the screws to 270 yards as Jef Goh verified it.

I had a good chat with him after that.

Here is the Guru with Jef Goh. Jef is one of Singapore's best if not the best golf club fitter. He is with TaylorMade. You should see him for all your golfing needs.

It was my turn to check the driver out. I selected a 9.5 degrees stiff shaft and let rip.

It soared and went straight down the middle past the 200m mark. With a good roll and if you use a good ball, it can easily reached at least 230m and I was not even trying too hard.

I repeated it several times with similar results. Nice. And it reminded me especially the way it felt of the Burner of a few years back. It even sounded quite similar.

Then I selected a 10.5 degrees with a regular shaft. It didn't suit me. For a start, it was very light and weighs less than 50g. The stock shaft also felt too whippy for me and it caused my shots to spray and at least 20m shorter.

This is suited for those who have slower swing speed as it helps you get more distance as a lighter club automatically increases your swing speed. I used to like the Burner but not its light weight.

There were also celebrity couples seen here. Oops! Wrong picture.

As I was saying, there were celebrities here.

You got to wait for your turn.

Jef Goh helping me on my request. Jef was the busiest man all day serving so many people who were there for the experience.

These are the Jetspeed drivers.

You can set it up for higher or lower loft.

These days they come with much better shafts. This is a Mitsubishi Rayon.

Jetspeed for your take off! Will your balls take off like a F22 Raptor or F16?

Jetspeed's crown graphics reminded me of the original Burner but with lesser details. The Burner's crown graphics were too busy. No more shiny black or matt white. It is now matt black. The "V" decal shows you the way forward.

If you have good swing speed and are the hard hitting macho type go for the 9.5 degrees with stiff shaft.

Today's golf technology is all about selling you distance. Distance can be achieved by greater swing speed. It is never about hitting hard but having a higher swing speed. Speed can be enhanced by giving you a lighter overall club weight from club head, shaft and even the grip. A lighter club helps you increase your swing speed. There you go, crazy speed runs in the family.

The one I became curious about was the fairway wood because they announced that someone has hit his shots up to an amazing 270 yards or about 240m. Basically, most people would actually hit their fairway wood from tee off straighter and farther than their driver.

Simply because a fairway wood at an average length of 43 inches compared to a driver's length of up to 46 inches plus a loft of 15 degrees versus 10.5 degrees is much easier to hit on the sweet spot and getting squared on impact. Unfortunately, I was getting hungry and the queue was long. I gave it a miss. For now.