In a survey we found we found that 86% of people who bought an adjustable driver, never changed the settings off neutral. The new TaylorMade R1 Driver comes in a “one club suits all” format with loft interchangeable between 8 and 12 degrees. Thus you’re going to have to set the R1 up to suit you. Here’s our Golfbidder demonstration video we made at the R1 launch with TaylorMade Product Marketing Manager Brian Bazzel.
- The latest variation on variability is the R1. It offers three “tunable technologies”: loft, face angle, and weight. There are 12 positions on the loft sleeve between 8 and 12 degrees (7 standard and 5 upright settings), 7 face-angle options (maximum closed to maximum open), and two weights.
- TaylorMade's Tom Kroll explains how the new TaylorMade R1 driver lets you independently adjust face angle, weight bias and loft.
When TaylorMade R1 Driver Review came out, TaylorMade Golf labeled it as the most adjustable driver ever manufactured by the company.
Before even hitting the market, people already had hints via various TV ads that the next generation driver would come from the flagship R series.
Owing to its huge presence on the PGA Tour, TaylorMade promotes their latest equipment through their stable set of players. The Taylormade R1 Driver is such equipment that enabled its golfers to attain four global Tour victories.
With almost 80% of the players playing the wrong loft, golfers aren’t optimizing their driver’s potential. However, due to the customization, it provides to the club fitter and the golfer, TaylorMade R1 driver review seems exciting.
Let’s examine deeper on the features of the R1.
Look
The crown looks of the new TaylorMade R1 driver review has attracted a lot of opinionated buzz. Although it may not appear bold as other white-crowned drivers, the orange and black racing stripes and alignment decal does raise some eyebrows. According to its testers, the R1’s decal isn’t a marketing ploy but a useful tool that golfers can use as an alignment indicator.
Apart from the crown tweaks, TaylorMade’s newest driver model has a taller and large surface area that golfers can enjoy compared to other drivers like the R11S.
The graphics that appear at the head should not be distracting. Since you will not be staring at the head always whenever you swing your driver. The crucial thing when using a club is the sense of confidence; graphics don’t increase or reduce the level of confidence. That’s why the black-headed R1, is enough for the job.
Aesthetics Of The TaylorMade R1 Driver Review
While traditional drivers had either black or grey metallic color, TaylorMade usually preferred white. For the TaylorMade R1 Driver Review, new graphics were included to identify the tour players using the club.
Apart from the clubhead graphics, you can easily tell an individual who picks up and lays the club at the address as the grey, burnt orange and black graphics are easily noticeable. TaylorMade’s logo, which is the sweet spot designator, also appears on the face.
In contrast with the white club crown, the driver’s face is painted black. To signify the sweetspot, there are five grooves shaped like a ball that appear at the center of the face. You can also find additional five nicely designed grooves on the heel and toe.
When you turn the driver over, you will see the newly designed face angle sole plate at that clubhead’s bottom. The orange color is painted on the sole plate’s outer edge and the black on the inner ring. It is clear that there exists better wear on the sole plate design. Even after playing for a while using this club, the dial remains easier to read.
Technology
An enormous amount of technology is utilized in the design of TaylorMade R1 driver review – which may be confusing to many. The capability to change loft is the initial technological piece that you notice on the R1 Driver. Before the coming of the R1, a golfer could only change the loft by around one degree. However, with the TaylorMade hosel design, a golfer can enjoy the flexibility of up to eight degrees to twelve using a single R1 club. The twelve positions that can be achieved on the loft sleeve include seven standard lofts and five upright loft options.
R1 also provides the face angles to change capability technology. Although not a new technology as it had existed with the R11, it gives a golfer the capability to change the face angle and sole plate loft in seven different face angles. It was for better visibility and wear that TaylorMade decided to introduce this new design, the sole plate. Depending on your preference, you can set the clubhead address at closed, maximum closed, medium closed, maximum open, medium open, open or neutral.
The ability to screw weights into the driver’s head to adjust the preferable ball flight is another remarkable adjustable technology. The weights found in the R1 are the one gram weight and ten gram weight that are positioned low and forward for effectiveness. In a neutral setting, the toe weight port version is inserted with the ten-gram weight. In a draw bias position, the toe has the one gram, and the heel port entails the ten gram weight.
TaylorMade has also come up with the crown graphic technology that has never been seen with drivers. R1’s crown graphic design is a new technology that aids a player to accurately square the ball to the face at the address thereby preventing unwanted slice or fade.
Taylormade R1 Driver Loft Settings
Performance
It is common knowledge that how a club performs will substantially determine whether it’s a good driver.
The R1 from TaylorMade is one of the best adjustable drivers around- you can try to strike some golf balls using this club and see if you are doubtful.
If you want to counteract your slice, set the club closed using the tweak setting that will allow you to hit the ball straight via swing mechanics. When the TaylorMade R1 Driver Review is set at neutral, hitting the ball with a fade or a draw is easy.
Distance
Although the distance R1 produces is explosive, the disparity in distance amongst many modern drivers is mostly attributed to the fitting rather than the longevity of the driver.
With that in mind, an individual has the opportunity to increase the carry distance with R1. A standard loft and neutral face settings of 10.5 degrees will produce an additional distance of around +12.7 yards. Experienced players can stretch the yardage gain to up to +20 after tweaking the loft, heel/toe, face angle weights.
Forgiveness
With most drivers, you will get wicked spin rates from off-center shots. Unfortunately, the R1 does the same, and so, you have to maintain the ball to close contact with the sweetspot when playing in the fairway. There are at times when the off-center shots produced using R1 prove unpredictable and off-target especially at the range sessions. You will get better results with a miss slightly higher on the face compared to lower on the face. Therefore, the TaylorMade R1 driver review is adequately more forgiving.
R1 Driver Loft Settings
Playability and Feel
It is easy to dial a suitable trajectory with the ability to make adjustments on the clubface parameters. When you lower the club’s loft, it is easy to dial and get a bit higher launch.
As long as you don’t mess around with the clubface angle sole plate or weights, your playability will be fantastic. When a player reduces the loft by a degree, the face will open by 2 degrees while if the loft is increased by a degree, it will close the face by 2 degrees. A new golfer can sometimes be overwhelmed with this kind of adjustment capabilities leaving the clubface close or open.
The sound that the clubhead produces is a little louder, and higher-pitched instead of a more muted sound which many might find unpalatable. Even if that is the case, it doesn’t rank as the loudest clubhead in the market.
- Forgiveness/ accuracy: fairway hits are plenty and correction on toe or heel hits is good as you can easily make solid contact.
- Adequate Distance: a large number of players who hit consistent shots attain adequate length on the course.
- Good-Feel: apart from the firm stability at impact, its sensation is nice. You will definitely realize if the hit is solid through good feedback and a muscular feel.
- Amazing Look: alignment becomes easy with the large graphics that appear on the crown.
- Playability: shots into the wind are easy to acquire trajectory and shape.
- A couple of the testers have the opinion that the crown graphics are too busy instead of innovative.
- Not every person appreciates a relatively high-pitched sound and a feel that is too firm on impact.
Accessories
Bottom-line
Taylormade took a different direction when designing the R1. The team decided to put some graphics on the clubhead. Previously, it was rare to find such graphics as many believed that could distract a golfer. Even so, the changes are small enough to allow a player to use the driver comfortably.
The adjustability of the driver is more than most of the clubs around the market. Evidence also shows that this driver performs highly on the fairway when the drives are done consistently.
When TaylorMade decided to produce white drivers, many people found it crazy, but now it is almost rare not to find a white driver in a group of golfers. Taylormade has a substantial representation on the PGA Tour which allows you to see the performance of the drivers.
R1 driver gives a golfer much flexibility of adjustment and therefore most golfers especially the mid-handicappers can enjoy when using this club.