22 replies to this topic

[jol]

I just played my first round with the SuperFast TP and thought I would share some observations and comparisions to the R9 460 and the SuperTri.
All three are 10.5 lofted clubs, all three have Ozik XCon 5 shafts in them.  The R9 460 and SuperTri were set at NU and the the weights on the SuperTri were left at the stock setting (1-16-1). My normal shot is a STRAIGHT ball, my misses are rarely to the right (I'm right handed) but are pull hooks. This usually happens when I'm tired and swing with my arms instead of my body. All three drivers were very straight for me, no persistent slices or hooks.

The SuperTri is a beautiful club and seemed to be well made. It was the most spinney of the three with a ballooning trajectory that went up and came down with almost zero roll. It was the shortest of the three. I tried changing the provided weights and that did move the ball left of right but did nothing for the ballooning trajectory.  I have read on this site that an 8-2-8 configuration will bring the spin down, but I refuse to spend the outrageous price that TM charges for the weights. I returned the club to Golfsmith.

The R9 460 is the club that I have been gaming with since late last year. It sets up well for me in the NU position and I hit a piercing mid trajectory with this set up. Something about the way the ball comes off the face and the sound instills a great deal of confidence in this club.  The carry distance is good as is the roll and I can work baby cuts and baby draws with it.

My initial reaction with the SuperFast TP is the sound and the black face, the sound is more muted than either of the other two clubs and I had to get use to the black face when squaring the face to the ball.  At 46 inches, it is 1/4 inch longer than the other two clubs. As such, my first few hits when closer to the heel than they should be, but I adjusted after a few holes. The trajectory was higher than the R9 but definitely lower than the SuperTri. I would describe it as mid-high. The carry distance was about same or slightly longer than the R9 but with more roll.  The net result was 5-10 yards longer and maybe a club closer to the pin. This is what I was looking for in the R9 but was unable to achieve. I shot one of the best rounds I ever have on this particular course.

Was it the driver? Sometimes yes, but my putter was red hot and I would gladly give up yardage on a drive for better putting.

I look forward to playing with the SFTP again and hope that the honeymoon period doesn't fade.  I'll keep the R9 in the locker, just in case it does.

[jol]

Played another round with the Superfast TP yesterday and the honeymoon period may already be over.  In a nutshell, although the SFTP gave me a little more distance when I hit it flush, it just wasn't as forgiving as the R9 460. I put it away after the first 9 holes and brought out the R9 460 just to confirm what I thought and yes it was confirmed.

I'll give it another try this w/e, but unless you have confidence in the driver, you just won't "swing it".

Based on other experiences, do you find the regular SF is more forgiving?  My reservations about it have primarily been the closed face ( I like a square face) and I was told (don't know if true ) that the regular SF head spins the ball more for a higher trajectory.

jol, on 04 August 2010 - 01:59 PM, said:

I just played my first round with the SuperFast TP and thought I would share some observations and comparisions to the R9 460 and the SuperTri.
All three are 10.5 lofted clubs, all three have Ozik XCon 5 shafts in them.  The R9 460 and SuperTri were set at NU and the the weights on the SuperTri were left at the stock setting (1-16-1). My normal shot is a STRAIGHT ball, my misses are rarely to the right (I'm right handed) but are pull hooks. This usually happens when I'm tired and swing with my arms instead of my body. All three drivers were very straight for me, no persistent slices or hooks.

The SuperTri is a beautiful club and seemed to be well made. It was the most spinney of the three with a ballooning trajectory that went up and came down with almost zero roll. It was the shortest of the three. I tried changing the provided weights and that did move the ball left of right but did nothing for the ballooning trajectory.  I have read on this site that an 8-2-8 configuration will bring the spin down, but I refuse to spend the outrageous price that TM charges for the weights. I returned the club to Golfsmith.

The R9 460 is the club that I have been gaming with since late last year. It sets up well for me in the NU position and I hit a piercing mid trajectory with this set up. Something about the way the ball comes off the face and the sound instills a great deal of confidence in this club.  The carry distance is good as is the roll and I can work baby cuts and baby draws with it.

My initial reaction with the SuperFast TP is the sound and the black face, the sound is more muted than either of the other two clubs and I had to get use to the black face when squaring the face to the ball.  At 46 inches, it is 1/4 inch longer than the other two clubs. As such, my first few hits when closer to the heel than they should be, but I adjusted after a few holes. The trajectory was higher than the R9 but definitely lower than the SuperTri. I would describe it as mid-high. The carry distance was about same or slightly longer than the R9 but with more roll.  The net result was 5-10 yards longer and maybe a club closer to the pin. This is what I was looking for in the R9 but was unable to achieve. I shot one of the best rounds I ever have on this particular course.

Was it the driver? Sometimes yes, but my putter was red hot and I would gladly give up yardage on a drive for better putting.

I look forward to playing with the SFTP again and hope that the honeymoon period doesn't fade.  I'll keep the R9 in the locker, just in case it does.

[sbjinx]

thanks for the report, i'm looking for a new driver and was thinking about the R9 460, especially now with the price drop.

[igolfat8]

I just unloaded a SF 9.5*. When I flushed it the ball would rocket off the face and produce phenomenal distance. However, my aging and less than repetitive swing caused a LOT of variation in control and distance. The SF face really felt "thicker" and more "harsh" than my current gamer (09 Burner) which returned to the bag BTW. The quest goes on for ultimate control and distance.

[turnbowm]

jol,

Thanks for the review and the follow-up.  Haven't tried the Superfast, but demoed (range) the R9 460 and R9 Supertri on two different occasions.  I'm a low-ball hitter and liked the higher trajectory and stealthy/all black look of the Supertri, but couldn't justify the $200 price difference.  My shot dispersion also seemed to be a little tighter with the 460.

The R9 460 is now in the bag.....

Edited by turnbowm, 06 August 2010 - 12:40 PM.

[peteyang]

Nice review of the drivers.  

[njgolfer]

Thanks. Still think the SuperTri looks nicer than the R9 460 for some reason, to my eye.

[elcantante]

Has anyone tried the Voodoo on the R9 heads?  How does it compare to the Motore F1. Thanks

[Easygoingal]

I personally think that the R9 460 looks way better than the SuperTri.  

Also, the ability to change the face angle with the FCT technology is plenty of tweaking for an average player like myself; the MWT setup is a bit of an overkill for someone of my ability.  I can tweak it 80 different ways, but a bad swing will still yield poor results.

With the recent price drop, I picked up the R9 460 TP yesterday with the Motore F1 65 shaft.  Rather spend the extra money on the shaft and get the TP version instead of the Non-TP Supertri.  

Can't wait to try it out this weekend.

Edited by Easygoingal, 24 August 2010 - 12:35 AM.

[jol]

Good Luck with the new club, I still prefer mine over the SuperTri and SuperFast TP.

I'm going to have the opportunity to hit both my R9 460 and various Ping Drivers this w/e when the Ping Van comes to my club and hopefully get some Trackman numbers for a definitive comparison. Unfortunately (fortunately), my appt. is after I play 18. I'll probably be a bit tired, but at least I'll be loose - haha

Easygoingal, on 24 August 2010 - 12:32 AM, said:

I personally think that the R9 460 looks way better than the SuperTri.  

Also, the ability to change the face angle with the FCT technology is plenty of tweaking for an average player like myself; the MWT setup is a bit of an overkill for someone of my ability.  I can tweak it 80 different ways, but a bad swing will still yield poor results.

With the recent price drop, I picked up the R9 460 TP yesterday with the Motore F1 65 shaft.  Rather spend the extra money on the shaft and get the TP version instead of the Non-TP Supertri.  

Can't wait to try it out this weekend.

[cml694]

I've considered them all, SF, SF TP, ST TP, Superdeep, R9 460 TP. I have tested them all extensively and went with the R9 460 TP.  I hit longer drivers with the SF but I have trouble controlling the club with the SF and the ST TP was almost as good as the R9, but the price was much more and the R9 felt and sounded better. If the 460 TP doesn't work out, I'll probably get a SF TP or a Superdeep (extremely mixed results i have gotten from testings).

[jol]

Now if TM would also sell optional shafts with the adapter attached, that would be a winner.  I would love to try some other shafts w/o having to either buy another complete driver or use a blackmarket sleeve.

cml694, on 25 August 2010 - 03:24 PM, said:

I've considered them all, SF, SF TP, ST TP, Superdeep, R9 460 TP. I have tested them all extensively and went with the R9 460 TP.  I hit longer drivers with the SF but I have trouble controlling the club with the SF and the ST TP was almost as good as the R9, but the price was much more and the R9 felt and sounded better. If the 460 TP doesn't work out, I'll probably get a SF TP or a Superdeep (extremely mixed results i have gotten from testings).

[cml694]

Luckily, the place I get my clubs has plenty of clubheads and we tried the club with the Fubuki 63 S and X, 73 S and X, RIP, Motore 65 S and 75S and they had a blueboard with a tip on it and I got the best results with the Motore.

[Easygoingal]

jol, on 25 August 2010 - 08:02 AM, said:

Good Luck with the new club, I still prefer mine over the SuperTri and SuperFast TP.

I'm going to have the opportunity to hit both my R9 460 and various Ping Drivers this w/e when the Ping Van comes to my club and hopefully get some Trackman numbers for a definitive comparison. Unfortunately (fortunately), my appt. is after I play 18. I'll probably be a bit tired, but at least I'll be loose - haha

Played an enitre round with the R9 460 TP and just absolutely loved it.  I know it may still be the "honeymoon" period, but so far, I like it better than the G15 and also the FT-iz.  The Motore F1 stiff shaft is very consistent with penetrating ball flight.  The clubhead provides great feedback as on well struck balls on the sweetspot, you'll get the high pitched crisp sound.  Off center hits will produce a more muted sound.

I definitely prefer this driver over the SuperTri in both looks and performance.

[jol]

I spent about 30 minutes hitting the G15 and K15 Drivers this afternoon during a Ping Fitting.
Net result, I prefer the G15 over the K15 and after trying different loft and shaft combinations with the G15, I was not able to better my R9 460's numbers on the Trackman.
No Ping in my bag this year or next.

Easygoingal, on 27 August 2010 - 11:04 PM, said:

jol, on 25 August 2010 - 08:02 AM, said:

Good Luck with the new club, I still prefer mine over the SuperTri and SuperFast TP.

I'm going to have the opportunity to hit both my R9 460 and various Ping Drivers this w/e when the Ping Van comes to my club and hopefully get some Trackman numbers for a definitive comparison. Unfortunately (fortunately), my appt. is after I play 18. I'll probably be a bit tired, but at least I'll be loose - haha

Played an enitre round with the R9 460 TP and just absolutely loved it.  I know it may still be the "honeymoon" period, but so far, I like it better than the G15 and also the FT-iz.  The Motore F1 stiff shaft is very consistent with penetrating ball flight.  The clubhead provides great feedback as on well struck balls on the sweetspot, you'll get the high pitched crisp sound.  Off center hits will produce a more muted sound.

I definitely prefer this driver over the SuperTri in both looks and performance.

[jol]

I just played a round with a Taylormade Superfast (regular), Wow this thing is light.  I got it in a 9.5 instead of the 10.5 I normally use as the 10.5 really launched the ball HIGH. The 9.5 launch the ball slightly higher than my 10.5 R9 460.  It is definitely longer than my R9 460 and I reached some parts of the fairways at my home course that I rarely have.  The issue maybe controlling it though. I normally hit a straight ball, with this I hit a couple of slices which I rarely do and I was inconsistent in hiting the sweet spot. The shaft may just be too long for me.  I'll give it a few more rounds before making a final decision.  BTW, the closed face actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

jol, on 06 August 2010 - 08:26 AM, said:

Played another round with the Superfast TP yesterday and the honeymoon period may already be over.  In a nutshell, although the SFTP gave me a little more distance when I hit it flush, it just wasn't as forgiving as the R9 460. I put it away after the first 9 holes and brought out the R9 460 just to confirm what I thought and yes it was confirmed.

I'll give it another try this w/e, but unless you have confidence in the driver, you just won't "swing it".

Based on other experiences, do you find the regular SF is more forgiving?  My reservations about it have primarily been the closed face ( I like a square face) and I was told (don't know if true ) that the regular SF head spins the ball more for a higher trajectory.

jol, on 04 August 2010 - 01:59 PM, said:

I just played my first round with the SuperFast TP and thought I would share some observations and comparisions to the R9 460 and the SuperTri.
All three are 10.5 lofted clubs, all three have Ozik XCon 5 shafts in them.  The R9 460 and SuperTri were set at NU and the the weights on the SuperTri were left at the stock setting (1-16-1). My normal shot is a STRAIGHT ball, my misses are rarely to the right (I'm right handed) but are pull hooks. This usually happens when I'm tired and swing with my arms instead of my body. All three drivers were very straight for me, no persistent slices or hooks.

The SuperTri is a beautiful club and seemed to be well made. It was the most spinney of the three with a ballooning trajectory that went up and came down with almost zero roll. It was the shortest of the three. I tried changing the provided weights and that did move the ball left of right but did nothing for the ballooning trajectory.  I have read on this site that an 8-2-8 configuration will bring the spin down, but I refuse to spend the outrageous price that TM charges for the weights. I returned the club to Golfsmith.

The R9 460 is the club that I have been gaming with since late last year. It sets up well for me in the NU position and I hit a piercing mid trajectory with this set up. Something about the way the ball comes off the face and the sound instills a great deal of confidence in this club.  The carry distance is good as is the roll and I can work baby cuts and baby draws with it.

My initial reaction with the SuperFast TP is the sound and the black face, the sound is more muted than either of the other two clubs and I had to get use to the black face when squaring the face to the ball.  At 46 inches, it is 1/4 inch longer than the other two clubs. As such, my first few hits when closer to the heel than they should be, but I adjusted after a few holes. The trajectory was higher than the R9 but definitely lower than the SuperTri. I would describe it as mid-high. The carry distance was about same or slightly longer than the R9 but with more roll.  The net result was 5-10 yards longer and maybe a club closer to the pin. This is what I was looking for in the R9 but was unable to achieve. I shot one of the best rounds I ever have on this particular course.

Was it the driver? Sometimes yes, but my putter was red hot and I would gladly give up yardage on a drive for better putting.

I look forward to playing with the SFTP again and hope that the honeymoon period doesn't fade.  I'll keep the R9 in the locker, just in case it does.

[turnbowm]

jol, on 12 September 2010 - 02:17 PM, said:

I just played a round with a Taylormade Superfast (regular), Wow this thing is light.  I got it in a 9.5 instead of the 10.5 I normally use as the 10.5 really launched the ball HIGH. The 9.5 launch the ball slightly higher than my 10.5 R9 460.  It is definitely longer than my R9 460 and I reached some parts of the fairways at my home course that I rarely have.  The issue maybe controlling it though. I normally hit a straight ball, with this I hit a couple of slices which I rarely do and I was inconsistent in hiting the sweet spot. The shaft may just be too long for me.  I'll give it a few more rounds before making a final decision.  BTW, the closed face actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

jol,

Did the SF (non-TP) win you over or is the R9 460 still in the bag?

[jol]

The R9 460 is still in the bag. The non TP SF is a very good driver, the head is very hot and if I could handle the long shaft it would have replaced the R9 , but at the end of the day, it just wasn't as consistent. Hitting it 10-15 yards further into the woods wasn't worth it.  If I had the club earlier in the season, I probably would have spent the time playing with different shafts at shorter lengths. Who knows, maybe next season I may just do that. One thing I will try is regripping the R9 with a light weight Winn grip which will bring the total weight of the R9 close to the SF's weight.

jol,

Did the SF (non-TP) win you over or is the R9 460 still in the bag?
[/quote]

[johnnythunders]

Tried the Superfast, Superfast TP and Supertri, sold them all and stuck with the R9 460, almost as long, straight  and so cheap its scary, bought an 11.5 with Matrix HD6 lightly used and a 10.5 with stock stiff new for less than $275. Have a few shafts to try in the spring but this is about as good as its going to get, time to pump iron and work on the swing. Thanks Taylormade for contiuning to come out with new drivers!

[MagShot91]

great stuff guys im also look at the supertri and Sf hit both today and must say i was hitting the supertri much more straighter than the SF but idk how much more longer it is......any help on which one i should go with....srry jol

[msdamailman]

jol, on 04 August 2010 - 01:59 PM, said:

I just played my first round with the SuperFast TP and thought I would share some observations and comparisions to the R9 460 and the SuperTri.
All three are 10.5 lofted clubs, all three have Ozik XCon 5 shafts in them.  The R9 460 and SuperTri were set at NU and the the weights on the SuperTri were left at the stock setting (1-16-1). My normal shot is a STRAIGHT ball, my misses are rarely to the right (I'm right handed) but are pull hooks. This usually happens when I'm tired and swing with my arms instead of my body. All three drivers were very straight for me, no persistent slices or hooks.

The SuperTri is a beautiful club and seemed to be well made. It was the most spinney of the three with a ballooning trajectory that went up and came down with almost zero roll. It was the shortest of the three. I tried changing the provided weights and that did move the ball left of right but did nothing for the ballooning trajectory.  I have read on this site that an 8-2-8 configuration will bring the spin down, but I refuse to spend the outrageous price that TM charges for the weights. I returned the club to Golfsmith.

The R9 460 is the club that I have been gaming with since late last year. It sets up well for me in the NU position and I hit a piercing mid trajectory with this set up. Something about the way the ball comes off the face and the sound instills a great deal of confidence in this club.  The carry distance is good as is the roll and I can work baby cuts and baby draws with it.

My initial reaction with the SuperFast TP is the sound and the black face, the sound is more muted than either of the other two clubs and I had to get use to the black face when squaring the face to the ball.  At 46 inches, it is 1/4 inch longer than the other two clubs. As such, my first few hits when closer to the heel than they should be, but I adjusted after a few holes. The trajectory was higher than the R9 but definitely lower than the SuperTri. I would describe it as mid-high. The carry distance was about same or slightly longer than the R9 but with more roll.  The net result was 5-10 yards longer and maybe a club closer to the pin. This is what I was looking for in the R9 but was unable to achieve. I shot one of the best rounds I ever have on this particular course.

Was it the driver? Sometimes yes, but my putter was red hot and I would gladly give up yardage on a drive for better putting.

I look forward to playing with the SFTP again and hope that the honeymoon period doesn't fade.  I'll keep the R9 in the locker, just in case it does.

thought about the superfast but 46 inches is ridiculous. i did buy the r9 460 and tm site has it listed at 45.75 inches. Mine was actually 45.5 with the grip off and i had it cut down to 3/4 of an inch to 44.75 and added a winnlite grip. I play a 10.5 in NU position and this is better than the FT-Iz i previously owned!

[jol]

I regripped the R9 460 with a Winn Lite grip, it was originally gripped with a Golf Pride Multicompound. The total weight is now the same as a non TP Superfast at 284 grams. The swingweight went from a measures D2 to D6 (the SF is listed at D8). Unfortunately, its been a bit chilly outside to hit it, hopefully I'll make it out this w/e. I'll report the results when I can.

[quote name='jol' timestamp='1288025521' post='2758351']
The R9 460 is still in the bag. The non TP SF is a very good driver, the head is very hot and if I could handle the long shaft it would have replaced the R9 , but at the end of the day, it just wasn't as consistent. Hitting it 10-15 yards further into the woods wasn't worth it.  If I had the club earlier in the season, I probably would have spent the time playing with different shafts at shorter lengths. Who knows, maybe next season I may just do that. One thing I will try is regripping the R9 with a light weight Winn grip which will bring the total weight of the R9 close to the SF's weight.