TaylorMade RSi 1 & RSi 2 irons review

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GOLFMAGIC has taken a first look review of the new TaylorMade RSi 1 and RSi 2 irons at Weybrook Park Golf Club in Basingstoke.

In the video review above, Golfmagic Assistant Editor Andy Roberts joined Golfmagic readers Brian Tracy, a 5-handicap player, and Geraint Ingram, a 13-handicapper, before putting the new game improvement and better player irons (available mid-November) through their paces.

Nobody's perfect and mis-hits do occasionally happen even for the likes of your Tour pros such as Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia. Results gathered by TaylorMade from thousands of club fittings revealed 76% of all iron shots are mis-hits struck outside the centre of the face (where the fastest ball speeds are produced). This discovery led the company to the development of a revolutionary new technology designed to improve consistency and distance on off-centre strikes.

Watch: Sergio Garcia RSi irons review

With brand new Face Slot Technology working in tangent with an improved Speed Pocket with Thru Slot Technology, the new RSi irons provide the golfer with forgiveness across the entire face as opposed to just on the bottom when catching the ball thin.

First Look: TaylorMade RSi irons

Utilising Face Slot Technology (3- to 8-iron) for the first ever time in an iron, RSi represents TaylorMade's longest ever iron, and that's even when missing the sweet spot. Two slots are located near the heel and toe of the clubface to provide uniform flexion across the face, and this also helps protect ball speed and generates more consistent distance on off-centre hits.

An improved Speed Pocket with ThruSlot Technology (3- to 7-iron) provides ball speed protection on shots below the centre of the face and increases launch angle and ball speed on all shots.

FEATURE: DO FACE SLOTS REALLY WORK?

Verdict

TaylorMade RSi 1 and RSi 2 are extremely hard to fault. For an 8-handicap player like myself, the RSi 2 fits a little better in terms of overall appearance, feel with the KBS Tour shaft and workability on offer, but both irons easy to strike cleanly and get airborne with the biggest ever sweetspot that TaylorMade has designed, as well as being the longest range of irons in the company's illustrious history.

In terms of distance, all three testers were easily receiving their current 5-iron yardage with both RSi 1 and RSi 2 6-iron, albeit aided by the new Face Slot Technology and an improved Speed Pocket, and yes okay, slightly cranked lofts. You may therefore need to get use to some significant distance gains if splashing the cash on RSi 1 or RSi 2, depending on the set you were playing before. Lofts are seemingly being jacked year on year.

The RSi 1 is a particularly long iron but that's hardly surprising given it's replacing the powerful SpeedBlade iron of 2013 with the 6-iron once again set to 26.5-degree. During SpeedBlade testing, my 6-iron average reached a 170-yard carry but even the RSi 1 pipped that by two yards. The RSi 2, replacing both SLDR iron of 2014 and RocketBladez Tour iron of 2013, features different lofts this time around with the 6-iron now 27-degree as opposed to 28-degree and 29.5-degree respectively. During RocketBladez Tour testing, my 6-iron average reached 164 yards and that is six yards down on the new RSi 2, so a full club.

Most importantly, however, these irons are very forgiving and that's exactly the road TaylorMade has gone down for the new season. Yes, distance is still an important factor and you get that in abundance with these irons here, but limiting a golfer's mis-hit is really the biggest incentive this time around.

Thanks to the new Face Slot Technology working in tangent with an improved Speed Pocket with Thru Slot Technology, there’s now forgiveness across the entire face of the iron. For someone like myself who tends to catch a long iron on the thin side more often than not, that’s a huge bonus knowing you've got all the technology down there to help you catch the ball cleaner than ever.

We also love how the face slots on both irons act as useful alignment, locking you into the strike like when putting.

Not exactly cheap at £699 and £829 in steel shafts respectively, but given the better ball striking and distance you'll obtain from these irons, it's fair to say you can't put a price on lower scores.

Click on the images below for a closer look at the new TaylorMade RSi 1 and RSi 2 irons

Click here for our TaylorMade RSi 1 irons review

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