A couple of days ago, TaylorMade Golf introduced the next generation of adjustable face drivers with the R11 and R11 TP. One of the big differences in the R11 from the R9 is the Adjustable Sole Plate Technology(ASP)- that allows you to adjust the face angle independent of loft.  But what makes the R11 so unique from all the other drivers is it’s white matte finish.

In this video, Brad Syslo from TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields Country Club walks through all the features of the new R11 driver.

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Mini-Lightning Review of the R11 Driver

I have to be honest, I thought aesthetically a white driver is cool, but not very practical and just some marketing gimmick to sell more golf clubs.  But after seeing the TaylorMade R11 driver in person, I was blown away how the white matte finish provides zero glare. When you address the ball (watch the video or look at the photos) you’ll notice how easy it is to tell at address if the clubface is open or closed. The black clubface also provides a lot of contrast making it super easy to aim the R11 at your intended target.

The shape of the driver of address is very pleasing to the eye, and looks more like a 460cc head, but is only 440cc clubhead. The white color crown tricks your eyes into thinking it is larger. Adjusting the sole plate or ASP is really simple with the torque wrench, which can also be used to adjust the moveable weights and Flight Control Technology. The Fujikura Blur shaft is truly a work of art with its contrasting matte black triangle pattern and provides just the right amount of flex and feel.

I can’t speak to performance aspects of the R11 driver, because I was only able to hit it indoors at the TaylorMade Performance Lab. What I can tell you, is it produces a great sound at impact and feels great. I’ll have an in-depth review of the R11 driver at a later date, when I can play it in real world playing conditions. So check back soon!

Special thanks to TaylorMade Golf and Brad Syslo from the TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields Country Club.

The TaylorMade R11 and R11 TP driver hit stores February 4, 2011.

TaylorMade Performance Labs, the premier custom golf club fitting company, announced today that it has joined popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter in an effort to keep golfers abreast of company news, updates and provide fitting tips from their certified PGA professionals. In addition, the company is offering 50% discount on the standard fitting fee through the end of September at any of the six U.S. locations when consumers sign up to follow TMPL at both sites and mention this special social network discount.

TMPL’s twitter name is “taylormadepl” and its Facebook page can be accessed by searching “TaylorMade Performance Labs.”

“Our goal is to streamline our company news and make interesting content specific to custom fitting readily available to the consumer,” said TMPL President Herb Meistrich. “We will also be offering special promotions for discounted fittings and leverage the experience of our master fitters to provide golfers with instructional and fitting tips to improve their game.”

TaylorMade Performance Lab’s certified professionals will fit men, women and junior golfers of all ages and abilities to a custom set of TaylorMade® golf clubs using an exclusive technology previously available only to Tour professionals

To date, TaylorMade Performance Labs has six U.S. locations: The International in Boston, The Four Seasons Resort in North San Diego, The Desert Springs Marriott in Palm Springs,The Hyatt Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando,Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicagoand Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, GA. There are also two international locations in South Africa and Dubai.

Using motion capture technology – the same technology used to make today’s video games and movies – 34 reflective markers are placed on strategic points of the golfer’s body as well as on the shaft and head of the fitting club to capture a number of swings with the driver, iron , wedge and putter. Six special high-speed cameras detect the reflectors and display a three-dimensional computer-animated image of the customer viewable from every angle, allowing the pro to make accurate critiques and recommendations. The two and one-half hour custom fitting experience includes recommendations for a driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putter and even the correct golf ball.

Following the swing analysis and club recommendations, demo clubs are built on-site with the customer’s correct swing specifications and the player can then validate the system’s recommendations on the driving range.

New custom TaylorMade clubs built to recommended specifications are shipped directly from TaylorMade’s headquarters in as little as 24 hours.

Learn more about TaylorMade Performance Labs at www.tmplabs.com and checkout my review of the TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields.

I reviewed the TaylorMade Performance Labs at Olympia Fields last year and now TaylorMade Performance Labs, the premier custom golf club fitting company, announced the opening of its sixth U.S. location at The International in Boston. Beginning April 27, TaylorMade Performance Lab’s certified professionals will fit men, women and junior golfers of all ages and abilities to a custom set of TaylorMade® golf clubs using an exclusive technology previously available only to Tour professionals, called Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade (MAT-T).

“After visiting The International and seeing the fabulous golf courses and great facilities, I knew we had to bring our exclusive fitting system there,” said Herb Meistrich, President and CEO of TaylorMade Performance Labs. “The International is steeped in tradition and we know golfers from the Northeast will take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy an unparalleled custom fitting experience at a world class facility.  With our tour-proven technology developed by TaylorMade, we are confident that we can improve the scores and enjoyment of golfers of all ages and abilities by fitting them into the perfect set of custom golf clubs.”

Dan Weadock Jr, President of The International added, “With the introduction of the TaylorMade Performance Lab, The International reinforces its commitment to providing a world class golfing experience to our members, guests and the golfers around the world who come to play our two fabled courses.”

 Using motion capture technology – the same technology used to make today’s video games and movies – 34 reflective markers are placed on strategic points of the golfer’s body as well as on the shaft and head of the fitting club to capture a number of swings with the driver, iron , wedge and putter. Six special high-speed cameras detect the reflectors and display a three-dimensional computer-animated image of the customer viewable from every angle, allowing the pro to make accurate critiques and recommendations. The two and one-half hour custom fitting experience includes recommendations for a driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putter and even the correct golf ball.

Following the swing analysis and club recommendations, demo clubs are built on-site with the customer’s correct swing specifications and the player can then validate the system’s recommendations on the driving range.

 New custom TaylorMade clubs built to recommended specifications are shipped directly to the player in as little as 48 hours.

To date, TaylorMade Performance Labs has six U.S. locations including The International: The Four Seasons Resort in North San Diego, The Desert Springs Marriott in Palm Springs, The Hyatt Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago and Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, GA. There are also three international locations in South Africa, Spain and Dubai.

For more information and to book the ultimate club fitting experience visit  http://www.tmplabs.com

Today’s golfer has a lot of different choices available to them when they buy their golf clubs, what type of club (cavity back, blade,etc), Shaft (graphite or steel), etc. But often the most overlooked aspect of purchasing new clubs is the fitting of the golf clubs to match your swing characteristics. Last month I had the opportunity to get custom fitted at the state of the art TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields Country Club, Olympia Fields, IL (25 miles south of downtown Chicago) and experience “Golf’s Ultimate Fitting Experience”.

I’ve read about the importance of getting fitted for golf clubs and what a dramatic difference it can make in your game, but I never thought it was worth the trouble. How wrong could I go with with stock offering from any of the major golf club manufacturers?  I have an average build and height, so club length isn’t an issue. I don’t get as much distance on my shots as I would like, but this is something I’m working on with my golf instructor and not an equipment issue in my opinion. What else could I be missing from the equation? At the TaylorMade Performance Lab (TMPL), I was about to find out how wrong my assumptions were about my existing golf clubs and how much more there was to learn about my current golf swing.

The TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields Country Club is only one of four locations in the United States, that just opened this past June. The process of the fitting takes about two hours and it covers every club in your bag, from wedges, irons, hybrids, fairway woods, driver, and putter. At the end of the fitting your given a folder with your club recommendations and CD-Rom containing all your swing data, and you have the option to purchase the custom clubs from TaylorMade based on your specs, but rest assured there is no obligation to do so.

The Fitting Process
When you first arrive at Olympia Fields Country Club, you are escorted by TaylorMade’s Master Club Fitting Professional Brad Syslo. Brad takes me through the Pro Shop and leads me upstairs to The TaylorMade Performance Lab, where I’m greeted by a huge stainless steel vault like door with the TMPL Logo. Behind the vault door is the TaylorMade Performance Lab, the nucleus of the operation where you’ll be spending part of the fitting process. The room is simply amazing!  The room is nicely appointed with sever large flat screen TV’s, an extremely comfortable leather sofa, and plethora of TaylorMade golf clubs.  The atmosphere is completely relaxed and Brad does a great job of keeping you at ease during the entire process, with his great sense of humor and relaxed demeanor.

You begin by warming up, hitting your existing golf clubs like you normally do at the range, while Brad asks you a series of questions about your golf swing and tendencies, etc. Brad also asks about what are your strong points and shortcomings in your golf swing, favorite golf ball, what you are working on with your golf instructor. During this brief warm up process you are not hooked up to any of the motion sensors or being recorded via one of the nine high speed cameras. Brad is just observing the flight path of the ball and not judging your swing. I’ll admit, I do get a bit nervous around strangers watching me swing my golf clubs, but that wasn’t the case during my fitting. I felt completely relaxed.

The next part of the fitting process is where the fun begins and you get suited up to begin capturing your swing with the Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade (MATT), which captures every aspect of your swing in 3-D, swing data, and club recommendations. Prior to the TaylorMade Performance Lab, the motion capture technology was only available to PGA Tour professionals and movie studios, but now you can get access to the same amazing technology. In order for the nine high-speed cameras to capture your swing data, you need to put on several articles of clothing with specially reflective markers that are strategic located on your body and on the golf clubs as well. The clothing consists of hat, a vest, cumber bun, elbow straps, knee straps, shoe covers, and wrist straps. The clothing takes very little time to get used too and fits right over your existing clothes, so you don’t have to worry about restriction of movement. Once your suited up, your asked to stand tall, with your arms raised to shoulder height so the system can get an accurate measurement and scale of your body. I discovered during this setup, that my one arm was hanging slightly lower on one side.  Now your ready to begin the journey of the “Ultimate Fitting Experience”.

What does it show you?
We started out the club fitting process by fitting my irons first. Brad instructs me that I can swing my golf club once the red light flashes and I hear beep. I was little nervous about waiting for a visual and audio cue, and that it might throw off my tempo. It took very little to get used to this and actually became ingrained, almost Pavlovian like. Brad had me hit at least six to eight golf balls to get enough data for MATT analyze. After each swing of the club the MATT software renders all the data captured, along with data from a launch monitor. The results were simply amazing and extremely detailed. After one swing Brad was able to tell me exact clubhead path, In/Out Path of the club, backspin, swing speed, loft of clubhead at impact, ball position, and more. The amount of data was invaluable in understanding my swing characteristics and tendencies. For example, I learned that I have an Out to In swing and play the ball a little too far forward in my setup. This is one aspect of my golf swing I’ve been working on with my instructor.  Brad was able to explain in plain English what all the data means and gave me some valuable tips for correcting these swing flaws, its more than just a club fitting. After you complete six to eight swings MATT crunches all the data and gives it recommendations for what irons would work best for my swing.  You also get to see your swing rendered in 3-D that can be rotated and viewed from multiple angles in full motion to see what your swing is doing. This was extremely amazing and so cool to look at, and gave me such valuable insight into my swing.

The next step is where you get to try the latest equipment from TaylorMade based on the systems recommendation. It turns out, I have a slow swing swing speed (about 70 MPH), which is partly attributed to my steel shafts being too heavy. So when trying the various irons, I try out graphite shafts and light weight steel shafts. I ended up liking the lightweight steel shafts best and noticed a big difference, in how much lighter and easier to swing the TaylorMade clubs were. I never realized what a difference selecting the proper shaft makes until now. This especially rang true when getting fitted for my driver. For my driver, I thought that the stock regular flex graphite shaft was all I needed. I couldn’t believe the difference a properly fitted graphite shaft, with the correct flex and tip could make with your swing. You do this process for all of your other clubs from your wedges, hybrids, fairway woods, driver , and putter.

Once you complete the fitting inside the TaylorMade Performance Lab, you are taken outside to the driving range to validate the recommended clubs for the remainder of the two hour fitting. After this is completed, Brad gives you a folder and CD-ROM containing all the data and club recommendations from MATT to take home with you. There is an option to buy any of the clubs that were recommended during the fitting directly from TaylorMade, which includes any customizations required (length,lie, loft, shaft, grip) at no extra charge. There is no obligation to purchase any of the equipment you test during the fitting process.  I did end up getting an entire new set of clubs based on the recommendations and I will be writing a follow up post on whether my custom clubs have made a difference.

Overall, I highly recommend you get fitted at the TaylorMade Performance Lab, it’s an experience like no other and you’ll learn so much about your golf swing than you could ever imagine. It’s worth the small investment of time and money and you’ll be glad you did.

TaylorMade Performance Lab at Olympia Fields Country Clubs costs $400 for a two hour fitting.

Other TaylorMade Performance Lab Locations: Aviara Golf Academy-Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, California; Reynolds Plantation-Ritz Carlton Lodge in Greensboro, Georgia; Grand Cypress Golf Academy at the Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida.