TaylorMade 500 Series Power from In to Out

Next Generation of No1 - Sequel to to the revolutionary 300 series features fastest ball speed. The larget COR zone in the golf industry; inverted cone technology, weight cartridge gives R500 series 'POWER FROM THE INSIDE OUT'

BASINGSTOKE, Hampshire (7th June 2002) -- In a follow-up to its breakthrough 300 Series -- the No. 1 driver on tour worldwide -- TaylorMade has unveiled the R500 Series, offering players the fastest ball speed and largest driver sweetspot in golf.
Featuring an innovative structural design that performs like a 500cc driver, the titanium R500 Series continues TaylorMade's unique one-size-fits-none philosophy, with the company launching three different-sized premium drivers geared for different swing types: a 330cc (R510), 350cc (R540) and 400cc (R580).

In addition, in accordance with new USGA/R&A COR limits proposed recently, the R500 will possess an extremely thin face (made of a SP-700 alloy), one that bumps up against the new statute of .860. The result is the largest COR zone (or, sweetspot) in golf, five times bigger than TaylorMade's 300 Series -- and 140 percent the size of the nearest competitor.

Other club specifics: a new black lava head colour, retail price of £399 & €649 and an availability of various lofts per model (R510 and R540 in 8.5- to 10.5-degrees; R580 in 9.5- to 12-degrees). It will ship to on- and off-course outlets starting 1st August 2002.

"Our goal was to develop the next generation of No. 1," said TaylorMade-adidas president Mark King. "With the 300 Series, we created a franchise that broke the traditional rules of club construction…one that then went on to break records, both at retail and on tour."

"In the new R500 Series we used many of the 300's ground-breaking technologies and philosophies as a base, including our pull-face design and the multi-head design theory," he continued. "We then added some never-before-seen features, including our inverted cone technology face design, a tunable weight cartridge and a proprietary shaft system."

"It's a five-part equipment equation that is a defining moment for the company," said King. "It will quickly revolutionize the way all golfers feel about their long game, establishing that driver power comes from the inside out."
Following up on this statement, King pointed to the immediate impact that has already been made with long-time TaylorMade tour staff player Ernie Els. Playing a prototype featuring some of the same elements of the R500
Series' design (under the name of "300 Tour"), Els has already won five tournaments in less than five months (total as of week ending 12th May, 2002).

ZONE and the Expansion of Sweetspot: Inverted Cone Technology/Pull-Face Construction

ZONE (Zero Off-Centre Negative Effect), Vincent described, defines the entirety of the R500 Series' face technology and goal of a COR expansion over a wider area (COR exceeding 0.80). Part of that overall concept is a never-before-seen face-crafting technique, an inverted cone technology, one that gives the club a drastically modified interior face contour.

Inverted Cone Technology
Taking a cross section of the R500 Series' head (looking directly at the inside of the club face), its thickness starts at 3.1mm, nearly twice as high as the edge. It then dramatically thins out as you get further away from the centre, going from 2.5mm at its nucleus to 1.6mm at the face's edge.

The effect, says Vincent, is similar to a small, cratered volcano -- a precise geometry that is the controlling factor in face thickness distribution and can only be done in a specialised, machining method (CNC lathe, or Computer Numeric Control). The name of this highly unique design: Inverted Cone Technology.
"As most drivers on the market are investment cast or forged, their design only allows for a thin face directly in the centre with a minimum amount of change in thickness as you move toward the perimeter of the face," said Vincent. "What that gives the golfer is a very small point of flex, a ZONE that's about as big as the head of a tee."
"With Inverted Cone Technology, we were able to add a precision-milled element that's machined directly on the opposite side of the face, a personalized process which equalizes the high COR further across the face," he continued.

While comparing the R500's ZONE to the 300 Series, Vincent put the percentage of increase on the growth at five times the size. The ZONE of the new R500 Series (approximately same from club to club) was also measured to be 140 percent the size of the nearest competitor.
Pull-Face Construction

ZONE Technology in the R500 Series drivers is an expansion of the pull-face construction that TaylorMade pioneered in the development of its state-of-the-art 300 Series titanium drivers (also used in its 200 Steel line).

Utilizing a two-piece face-weld, the R500 Series' club head is composed of a high-strength hollow metal body and a faceplate. This allows the club face to be made from a high-strength cold-rolled metal (SP-700) to generate more efficient energy transfer at impact, for higher COR (resulting in more power and distance).

In addition, there are other advantages to the pull-face construction, according to Vincent, including the optimum distribution of weight.
"Unlike the strict limitations of the forging process -- which restricts the manufacturer from designing a large-area head with a constant wall thickness -- the pull-face construction allows large wall thickness variation resulting in optimum weight distribution," said Vincent. "In the R500, the usage of high-strength titanium alloys reaches a new performance level."

Vincent also noted that the pull-frame construction's optimum distribution of weight has lead to the increase of inertia in the R500 Series driver, one that was measured as an increase of 14 percent versus the 300 Series and other competitive drivers of comparable size and COR.
Tunable Weight Cartridge (TWC)

Along with the new inverted cone technology, TaylorMade developed two additional technologies for its new driver offering, systems explicitly geared for the better player and their custom club needs.

The R500 Series features a new tunable weight cartridge (or, TWC) increases the quality of assembled clubs and makes possible high-performance custom clubs.

TWC's construction uses three rods of selected densities, encased in a urethane housing, creating cartridges covering a 12g weight span. The TWC "tunes" each head to the specific weight and allows for a shaft adjustment (length, swing weight) to match the different shafts without compromising other performance parameters such as head centre of gravity, COR and sound.

"Nearly 25 percent of all TaylorMade drivers are either fitted with custom shafts upon purchase -- or are done so afterward," said Vincent. "These customers were generally found to be the more skilled player. Knowing the trend would continue with the introduction of the R500, we came up with a weighting solution that ensured that the club would adjust to their swing…not the other way around."

In addition to creating matching head weighting for custom clubs, the new TWC helps to solve two industry-wide problems caused by traditional methods for controlling head weight: epoxy applied inside the head (leading to inconsistent outcomes) and shaft weight plugs installed in the end of the shaft tip (high CG).

Motion Analysis Shaft System (M.A.S.2)
Leveraging the new cartridge system, TaylorMade will now offer more specialty shafts in its initial introduction than in any previous driver launch (13, including offerings from Aldila, Fujikura, Graffaloy, Graphite Design, Penley, Precision, True Temper and UST). It will also make available its own proprietary shaft for each model.

Based on differences in the mass of the cartridge insert in each and a variation in individual player-level torque and tip needs, these TaylorMade stock shafts have been specifically shaped based on the company's innovative new shaft analysis system, M.A.S.2 (Motion Analysis Shaft System).

The shafts will come in all five standard flexes (L through TS), and are identified by the M.A.S.2 system and its relative weight in grams: 510 (M.A.S.2 75), 540 (M.A.S.2 70) and 580 (M.A.S.2 60).
About TaylorMade-adidas Golf

TaylorMade Golf has led the golf industry's technological evolution since being founded in 1979. In 1998 the company joined with adidas Golf, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of adidas-Salomon AG. Dedicated to being the best performance golf brand in the world, consumers can find more information on TaylorMade-adidas Golf at www.taylormadegolf.com or www.adidasgolf.com. TaylorMade is a registered trademark of Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. All other trademarks and/or service marks are the property of their respective owners.