Taylormade RBZ Irons Review - Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

Taylormade RBZ Irons Review – Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

The Taylormade RBZ iron are anything but new news. They debuted back in 2012 and were marketed as game-improvement irons. So do they have anything to offer in 2022? Are they really a good set of game-improvement irons? Find out in the following review.

Taylormade RBZ Irons Overview

One of the defining features of the Taylormade RBZ iron set is that the design is progressive and unique to each club and each loft.

This is something that we would see mimicked in a lot of other iron sets even from other companies but in the Taylormade RBZ iron set, one word kept coming up for this design in testing: clever.

For example, the longer irons in this set have thinner faces that act more like a springboard for your full shots while the shorter irons have thicker faces and a more streamlined sole.

The idea behind this design is to increase launch in the longer irons and to yield more control in the scoring irons. Of course, the Taylormade RBZ irons are cavity back irons that feature an undercut cavity section in the back.

These irons are also pretty strongly-lofted for a set of game-improvement irons which is generally a nice thing. For instance, the 7 iron in this set is 30.5 degrees while the 9 iron is 40 degrees.

The loft is slightly more comparable to a set of player’s performance irons than it is to game-improvement irons but don’t let that fool you: after testing, we can emphatically conclude that these irons indeed play like game-improvement irons.

Are Taylormade RBZ Irons Forgiving?

The longer irons in this set have a semi-hollow design which definitely helps with ball speeds.

The longer irons also have chunkier soles which helps with launch and makes them look generally more favorable to higher handicappers. The Taylormade RBZ irons also have a multi-material design which is made to mimic the performance of a metal-wood.

All that means is that the body in conjunction with the face, is designed to flex more at impact which helps with distance. Overall, the Taylormade RBZ irons play long and launch is almost effortless so they are moderately forgiving.

Are Taylormade RBZ Irons Good for High Handicappers & Beginners?

They would suit no other category of players if they didn’t suit high handicappers and beginners.

In particular, they would be a great choice for any player who wants an easy, almost thoughtless set of irons. You can pull these right out of the bag and expect really good launch out of them and a nice low trajectory from the short irons.

While they lack some of the distance and advanced features of modern-day game-improvement irons, they will still work really well for players with a moderate swing speed.

They feel great and it’s not hard to land the sweet spot. Offset is moderate but it doesn’t seem to affect the flight path from our test results.

In short, these are good irons for beginners and high handicappers and even better for anyone looking for a set of irons that will be really easy to use right out of the bag.

Should you Buy the Taylormade RBZ or SIM Max Irons?

Taylormade leaves no mysteries that the SIM Max irons are distance irons.

What we liked about the SIM Max irons is that they produce easy distance, sort of like how the Taylormade RBZ irons produce almost thoughtless launch. So these iron sets are really like yin and yang.

The SIM Max irons have weaker lofts as well so keep that in mind. If you are looking for pure distance, the SIM Max’s might work better for you. But if you want more well-rounded performance, you’re better off with the Taylormade RBZ irons.

Taylormade RBZ Irons

Category: Game-Improvement

Taylormade RBZ First Impressions

What was really striking at first was to see that the Taylormade RBZ heads don’t look like there is a lot of distance between heel and toe.

They have an almost deceptive player’s performance look but on closer inspection, they are still pretty long – they just don’t look it for some reason at point of address. We were also very impressed with the strong lofts but the tamed flight in the scoring irons.

Another thing that struck us during testing was the relatively moderate offset. The offset in the Taylormade RBZ set is more akin to some of the player’s irons that we typically use.

The offset is certainly less than what you would expect from a set of game-improvement irons but that didn’t seem to affect the flight negatively. Our high handicap testers were still able to get straight shots out of these irons pretty easily.

Taylormade RBZ Selling Points

Progressive face thickness
ATV sole in the pitching wedge
2-piece construction in the long irons
Moderate offset
Deep cavity back
Inverted cone technology

Who Are the Taylormade RBZ Irons for?

The surprising thing about these irons is that they seem to be just as viable for high handicappers as they would be for mid handicappers. That’s because the controlled launch in the scoring irons seem to be better suited for slightly better players.

However, they are ideal for any player who has trouble getting the ball airborne with their long irons.

The RBZ Family

You can also check out the RocketBladez irons from Taylormade which make some moderate improvements over the RBZ’s. The RocketBladez incorporate Taylormade’s Speed pocket which allows the face to hinge more.

It became apparent after testing that the design of the RocketBladez irons puts a higher emphasis on a pleasant feel. The polyurethane used to make these irons helps to dampen excess vibration.

They also have the same loft characteristics as the Taylormade RBZ irons so at the end of the day, the RocketBladez irons simply feel like a slightly upgraded or updated version of the Taylormade RBZ irons.