Taylormade Stealth Drivers

[Shankster]

9 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

They are good drivers like every other driver on the market. They work for some and not for others just like every other driver on the market. Some slight differences in spin, launch and speed over the sim2.

Plenty of feedback from actual on course use around the internet if one actually searches for it.

Like every other driver it comes down to does it work for you swing when paired with the right shaft.

Yeah. I’ve read and watched everything I could find.  I was just looking for some real world experience that isn’t by a paid writer or content creator… 

[RickyBobby_PR]

32 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Yeah. I’ve read and watched everything I could find.  I was just looking for some real world experience that isn’t by a paid writer or content creator… 

There’s over 200 pages on wrx with the last 50-100 pages that have personal on course and range feedback and a second thread with others providing their feedback. But again if one sticks to only one forum or a selected number of resources they are missing out on what they are looking for. I would imagine THP has a bunch too but I don’t read anything over there anymore 

[GaDawg]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:41 PM, RickyBobby_PR said:

They are good drivers like every other driver on the market. They work for some and not for others just like every other driver on the market. Some slight differences in spin, launch and speed over the sim2.

Plenty of feedback from actual on course use around the internet if one actually searches for it.

Like every other driver it comes down to does it work for you swing when paired with the right shaft.

You are so true. I went yesterday to get fitted for a new driver and tried TM Stealth, Cobra, Callaway, Ping, etc. With me getting older and recently having back surgery, I needed to find the correct shaft. Thought that I might need to move down to a regular flex, but after an hour, we got it dialed in. For me, the TM Stealth 10.5* with a Oban Kiyoshi Purple 65 stiff shaft was the ticket. I am not saying the stealth driver is the best on the market, but yesterday it was the correct one for me.

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, GaDawg said:

I am not saying the stealth driver is the best on the market, but yesterday it was the correct one for me.

At the end of the day that’s what matters. It’s nice you spent the whole hour took. It helps to test a lot of combos and even come back to some top see how it works when a little more fatigued. 

That was something I enjoyed in my 917 fitting. After we tried several head/shaft combos and some adapter settings and settled on the setup the fitter wanted to gather some info. He started swapping adapter settings and watched how my swing was changing based on what I saw visually at address. 

[Headhammer]

I finally got to try the Stealth last weekend at a demo day and came away meh. I tried the head with multiple shafts and just wasn't feeling it. The head feels a lot deader (not a word) than my Cobra SpeedZone and the distance was not near my better drives with the Cobra. I'm sure I could adjust to it, and I'm sure I'll catch a lot of flack for this comment, but other than a cool technology, it seems to be a much ado about nothing. YMMV.

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Headhammer said:

I finally got to try the Stealth last weekend at a demo day and came away meh. I tried the head with multiple shafts and just wasn't feeling it. The head feels a lot deader (not a word) than my Cobra SpeedZone and the distance was not near my better drives with the Cobra. I'm sure I could adjust to it, and I'm sure I'll catch a lot of flack for this comment, but other than a cool technology, it seems to be a much ado about nothing. YMMV.

Why would you catch flack? Most people on here say that all the manufacturers make god clubs but not every club will work for everyone.

It could be sound, performance, feel, looks or whatever that doesn’t work for a golfer. Just means that club wasn’t a fit for them. Some may say the same about cobra or callway or Ping and so on.

If someone gets fit and a club doesn’t work for them then great they are one step closer to finding what will

[THEZIPR23]

On 4/3/2022 at 5:37 PM, Shankster said:

Does anyone have a synopsis on these drivers?  Checked one out at the Pro Shop yesterday… not going to lie, they are beautiful. 

Quick thoughts:

Looks--To die for in my opinion. Looks wonderful behind the ball. One thing to note is how your eyes see the face. The red face is fully visible at setup (at least for me). Just something to note as many people see things differently and it could be a limiting factor.

Feel--When centered amazing! When anywhere else ugh. It is a little hard to discern where you miss it though, you can definitely tell you miss it and the more I hit it the more I understand where on the face I missed. 

Ball Speed--About 2 MPH faster than my SIM2 was. I am still slower since taking lessons than before however I have optimized my launch after some work. I had trouble originally getting AOA up enough. Deep face took a little to get used to. 

 Hit 10 last night close to these numbers. About as good as I'll get until my CHS gets back up.

Spin--I am sure it is me however I have seen some inconsistent spin numbers. There are times when it feels flush but spin creeps up to 3000. Spin on misses doesn't spike like sim2 so that is a good thing. 

Let me know if you have specific questions. 

Overall I am happy with it. 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

22 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Spin--I am sure it is me however I have seen some inconsistent spin numbers. There are times when it feels flush but spin creeps up to 3000. Spin on misses doesn't spike like sim2 so that is a good thing. 

Let me know if you have specific questions. 

Have you compared strike location to your spin rates. I’m guessing a little low heel on those 3000 numbers. Guessing higher and towards toe for 2k and smash of 1.44

[THEZIPR23]

Just now, RickyBobby_PR said:

Have you compared strike location to your spin rates. I’m guessing a little low heel on those 3000 numbers. Guessing higher and towards toe for 2k and smash of 1.44

Yes sir and you are exactly correct, my miss is low heel. However there seems to be something with my delivery that at times even when flushed the spin creeps up. Been playing with ball position a little bit to see if that helps. I will say though that as my AOA is getting back to my normal they are less frequent. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

42 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Yes sir and you are exactly correct, my miss is low heel. However there seems to be something with my delivery that at times even when flushed the spin creeps up. Been playing with ball position a little bit to see if that helps. I will say though that as my AOA is getting back to my normal they are less frequent. 

Was going to say maybe hitting down with some sort of out to in possibly swiping across the ball causing spin increase with centerish strike.

Aoa/swing getting back to normal sounds like you will see less of it.

 

[Golfspy_CG2]

Had a really good day with the Stealth yesterday, 10/14 fairways, and one of the 4 misses was just a dumb attempt on my part...ha

 

Really starting to get the feel with this driver, my normal drives are 210 to 215, yeah i'm old and slow. But had drives of 235 and 245 yesterday. I think a big part of it, is for some reason, I have learned to release this driver more than my previous one. I just feel so confident that it is going to be in play, it has freed up my swing and probably gained a few more mph as a result.

Loving the height I'm getting on it as well.

 

I had been holding off on the irons, as I had already bought a new set this year, but I'm thinking I might need to go ahaead and round out this bag!

 

[Thin2win]

43 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Had a really good day with the Stealth yesterday, 10/14 fairways, and one of the 4 misses was just a dumb attempt on my part...ha

 

Really starting to get the feel with this driver, my normal drives are 210 to 215, yeah i'm old and slow. But had drives of 235 and 245 yesterday. I think a big part of it, is for some reason, I have learned to release this driver more than my previous one. I just feel so confident that it is going to be in play, it has freed up my swing and probably gained a few more mph as a result.

Loving the height I'm getting on it as well.

 

I had been holding off on the irons, as I had already bought a new set this year, but I'm thinking I might need to go ahaead and round out this bag!

 

Dont give up on those D9's yet!!

[chisag]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Had a really good day with the Stealth yesterday, 10/14 fairways, and one of the 4 misses was just a dumb attempt on my part...ha

 

Really starting to get the feel with this driver, my normal drives are 210 to 215, yeah i'm old and slow. But had drives of 235 and 245 yesterday. I think a big part of it, is for some reason, I have learned to release this driver more than my previous one. I just feel so confident that it is going to be in play, it has freed up my swing and probably gained a few more mph as a result.

Loving the height I'm getting on it as well.

 

 

... Played with a guy using the Stealth Plus yesterday and after a fitting at True Spec with someone he has worked with before, he shared some info. I am going to assume this was for his swing specifically but they moved the weight toward the toe and the fitter said the head works best when hit slightly toe side not in the center. He said his first few weeks were a little rough until he started hitting it consistently more toward the toe and he was killing it yesterday. Early 60's and consistently 280ish with a mid trajectory that works well on hard fast Phoenix fairways. 

... Not sure I buy into the "center is not center but more toward the toe" philosophy but I can't argue with this guys results and thought you guys might find it interesting. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

13 minutes ago, chisag said:

I am going to assume this was for his swing specifically but they moved the weight toward the toe and the fitter said the head works best when hit slightly toe side not in the center.

This has been the case for many drivers and especially TaylorMade. The hot spot on the driver is slightly above center and towards the top. See the circle in the photo. Slightly above that is good too

[THEZIPR23]

25 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Played with a guy using the Stealth Plus yesterday and after a fitting at True Spec with someone he has worked with before, he shared some info. I am going to assume this was for his swing specifically but they moved the weight toward the toe and the fitter said the head works best when hit slightly toe side not in the center. He said his first few weeks were a little rough until he started hitting it consistently more toward the toe and he was killing it yesterday. Early 60's and consistently 280ish with a mid trajectory that works well on hard fast Phoenix fairways. 

... Not sure I buy into the "center is not center but more toward the toe" philosophy but I can't argue with this guys results and thought you guys might find it interesting. 

Adam Young said in podcast I listened to this week that 5mm high and 5mm towards the toe provided the best spin launch combo. Bulge & roll etc etc...

[Golfspy_CG2]

1 hour ago, Thin2win said:

Dont give up on those D9's yet!!

Oh, I'm not yet.  It's still early only 2 full rounds.  It was discouraging as I had several thin shots for the first two thirds of the round, and got away a bit with them, but still not great results.   

But the last 4 holes, I hit 9, 7, 7 and 5 irons into the greens.  All 4 were about as well as I coule hit them and they felt amazing and best of all had a great flight and held the target line pefectly.   I was +2 on those 4 holes.  Mainly due to havign to pitch out to go around a tree on hole 18, before hitting the 5 iron to the back of the green from 155.  

So they will get some more time, I'll just try and ignore those shiny Stealths for a bit..haSSo

37 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Played with a guy using the Stealth Plus yesterday and after a fitting at True Spec with someone he has worked with before, he shared some info. I am going to assume this was for his swing specifically but they moved the weight toward the toe and the fitter said the head works best when hit slightly toe side not in the center. He said his first few weeks were a little rough until he started hitting it consistently more toward the toe and he was killing it yesterday. Early 60's and consistently 280ish with a mid trajectory that works well on hard fast Phoenix fairways. 

... Not sure I buy into the "center is not center but more toward the toe" philosophy but I can't argue with this guys results and thought you guys might find it interesting. 

So a similar but slightly different thought from me.  My miss (with any driver) has always tended to be more heel slde.  Yet I never really thought about adjusting how I line up to the ball.   Yesterday after some experimenting on the range, I set up with the balll more lined up on the toe, than the center.  and a slightly open face.   I think that along with the confidence to swing more freely toward (right field) may have led to more center or near center face strikes.  I probably should have looked at the impact position after each shot, but as others have said, it's not as easily detected on the Carobn face.   Unlike some who say every shot with that face leaves an indention...ha   Whoops that's another thread...ha

 

[Golfnut0226]

I bought just the Stealth head and kept my current shaft. I did not see a huge difference in any direction from my Sim but I did love matte black finish and the feel at impact.  Wouldn't mind giving the 3 wood a try

[GolfSpy BOS]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Oh, I'm not yet.  It's still early only 2 full rounds.  It was discouraging as I had several thin shots for the first two thirds of the round, and got away a bit with them, but still not great results.   

But the last 4 holes, I hit 9, 7, 7 and 5 irons into the greens.  All 4 were about as well as I coule hit them and they felt amazing and best of all had a great flight and held the target line pefectly.   I was +2 on those 4 holes.  Mainly due to havign to pitch out to go around a tree on hole 18, before hitting the 5 iron to the back of the green from 155.  

So they will get some more time, I'll just try and ignore those shiny Stealths for a bit..haSSo

So a similar but slightly different thought from me.  My miss (with any driver) has always tended to be more heel slde.  Yet I never really thought about adjusting how I line up to the ball.   Yesterday after some experimenting on the range, I set up with the balll more lined up on the toe, than the center.  and a slightly open face.   I think that along with the confidence to swing more freely toward (right field) may have led to more center or near center face strikes.  I probably should have looked at the impact position after each shot, but as others have said, it's not as easily detected on the Carobn face.   Unlike some who say every shot with that face leaves an indention...ha   Whoops that's another thread...ha

 

one of my favorite things about Cobra's milled face is that it always left a good mark where it was hit, almost didn't need any athlete's foot spray at the range!

I too often favored the heel of the driver.  I started setting up with the ball on the toe when soled on the ground.  Worked wonders for me.  Probably helped me ensure a more consistent set up too.

[Golfspy_CG2]

56 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

one of my favorite things about Cobra's milled face is that it always left a good mark where it was hit, almost didn't need any athlete's foot spray at the range!

I too often favored the heel of the driver.  I started setting up with the ball on the toe when soled on the ground.  Worked wonders for me.  Probably helped me ensure a more consistent set up too.

Yep.  Agree 100% on the milled face of my LTDX, it’s very clear where contact was made.  But easily wiped off. 

[JonMUSC08]

I won the Stealth Plus+ in a giveaway but ended up trading it in for the regular Stealth bc the spin was too low. It was around 1500rpm for me. But I LOVE the feel of the stealth at impact. Only have 1 rd with it but every shot felt like butter. On a small sample size, It’s abt 5yds longer than my M6. That was not on my home course either so I’ll be interested in seeing how it rolls there. 

[Dave Silbar]

I'm a coach and fitter and just going to toss this out there: Of the 20-30 fittings I've done over the last month, only 2-3 times has the Stealth driver outperformed the others. Oftentimes, its been the shortest!

It may be the right driver for you and maybe not.

Go get fit and hit a bunch of different brands to see which works best with your authentic swing.

[floridagolfer]

I preordered this directly from Taylormade and I have been very happy with it. Picked up 15-20 real yards. The face has to be broken in a little bit. Took me about 3 rounds and then the face softened and I was glad I purchased it. Very forgiving 

[Chester3488]

On 4/13/2022 at 6:41 PM, GolfSpy_BOS said:

one of my favorite things about Cobra's milled face is that it always left a good mark where it was hit,

I have been a fan of this for years. With the milled face there's a witness mark left after every strike. It's now my habit to hit a drive, look at the face for where I hit it, wipe the mark off the face. 

I'm sure the driver wasn't designed specifically for this feature, but it is pretty handy. 

[Chester3488]

On 4/14/2022 at 2:50 PM, floridagolfer said:

The face has to be broken in a little bit. Took me about 3 rounds and then the face softened

What? Is that a real thing? 

If so, the engineer in me has immediate alarm bells ringing in my ears. 

Anything that has to "break in" is prone to bad tolerance. 

How much does it need to break in?
How long does it take to break in?
What's to stop it from breaking in too much or too long?
What if it keeps breaking in forever? ... Answer, it will fail. 

A break in period is NOT good engineering if that's a real thing. 

If it's just you having to get used to a new driver then it's fine. But if the face really needs to break in, that's bad design, and I'd avoid it like the plague. 

[revkev]

On 4/16/2022 at 6:23 AM, Chester3488 said:

What? Is that a real thing? 

If so, the engineer in me has immediate alarm bells ringing in my ears. 

Anything that has to "break in" is prone to bad tolerance. 

How much does it need to break in?
How long does it take to break in?
What's to stop it from breaking in too much or too long?
What if it keeps breaking in forever? ... Answer, it will fail. 

A break in period is NOT good engineering if that's a real thing. 

If it's just you having to get used to a new driver then it's fine. But if the face really needs to break in, that's bad design, and I'd avoid it like the plague. 

I can't imagine this is real - it certainly wasn't for me.  However it may have felt like it to the poster.  

[Hobert]

On 4/12/2022 at 10:15 PM, GaDawg said:

You are so true. I went yesterday to get fitted for a new driver and tried TM Stealth, Cobra, Callaway, Ping, etc. With me getting older and recently having back surgery, I needed to find the correct shaft. Thought that I might need to move down to a regular flex, but after an hour, we got it dialed in. For me, the TM Stealth 10.5* with a Oban Kiyoshi Purple 65 stiff shaft was the ticket. I am not saying the stealth driver is the best on the market, but yesterday it was the correct one for me.

 

And it comes UGA colors 

[THEZIPR23]

On 4/13/2022 at 9:54 AM, THEZIPR23 said:

Yes sir and you are exactly correct, my miss is low heel. However there seems to be something with my delivery that at times even when flushed the spin creeps up. Been playing with ball position a little bit to see if that helps. I will say though that as my AOA is getting back to my normal they are less frequent. 

Here is an example. This is from last night. Didn't get a read on club data due to the foot spray however path and aoa don't change more than 1* generally for me. Pretty much at a loss as to how I am doing this. And yes it happens on course so it is not LM. 

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

 

Here is an example. This is from last night. Didn't get a read on club data due to the foot spray however path and aoa don't change more than 1* generally for me. Pretty much at a loss as to how I am doing this. And yes it happens on course so it is not LM. 

Interesting.  so with similar ball location and launch parameters other shots have better spin?   If so,  makes me think that the loft you are delivering varies creating higher or lower spin. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

Interesting.  so with similar ball location and launch parameters other shots have better spin?   If so,  makes me think that the loft you are delivering varies creating higher or lower spin. 

This is my guess too. 

[THEZIPR23]

16 hours ago, cnosil said:

Interesting.  so with similar ball location and launch parameters other shots have better spin?   If so,  makes me think that the loft you are delivering varies creating higher or lower spin. 

Yes, and I believe you are both correct. I fight a flip so I have deduced that it is it. It is only thing that makes any sense to me. 

14 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

This is my guess too.