Taylormade Kalea is the first complete golf club set made to fit the women needs. If you got a club set designed for men then you are doing it all wrong. Much research has been done already into women golf playing style and it is now quite clear that the women game dynamics are quite different from that of men. Women need specialized golf equipment. Taylormade Kalea golf set is the first in the series. I am going to have a Taylormade Kalea review. Fasten your seatbelts women!
Let’s meet Taylormade!
Taylormade is the risk taker. They spend huge lumps into the R&D and then come up with new concepts. Consider the ATV wedge the concave sole is truly a new concept. They have keenly observed the women game and made a set optimized for them. Average women golfer has a handicap of 30+ compared to around 15-20 for men. It has to do with wrong equipment not suited for your swing speed. Since entering into the market in 1979 Taylormade has most importantly identified the problems and then suggested solutions.
All you need to know about Taylormade Kalea
1) The set contains everything a women needs to go on the field. It comes with driver to hit those long shots off the tee to the putter to begin scoring. You will get all drivers, irons, wedges, hybrids and putter. Most importantly they are not randomly placed in. This is the benefit of buying a complete set. A lot of thought process is put in before compiling a golf set.
All the clubs in the set are meant to fill in the distance gap. For example, the driver is meant to go farthest, next are the irons in ascending order meant to hit for longer shots, followed by the wedges for shorter shots and lastly the putter.
If you are beginner it is very likely that you may have picked up random clubs in your bag. They will not give you the right results because one basic reason to select golf clubs is the distance they can hit the ball.
All the clubs in the Taylormade Kalea set are build with lightweight. Almost all the weight lies on the head of the club. This gives an increased moment of inertia, so with low swing speed, you can still extract the maximum distance out of your golf club.
2) It is not just the lightweight which helps to achieve the maximum swing speed. The hosel is flexible as well. Just at the point of impact, it flexes and the recoil action allows to add another push onto the ball. This helps in passing on the maximum forward momentum onto the ball.
It comes in two options of an 8 club set or 10 club set. In the 8 club set, the driver and fairway wood are missing. You will have to begin with a hybrid. If you play more in ranges where holes are 2-3 shots long then you can manage with the 8 club set. However, for 4-5 par holes, you may need a specialised driver and in such case, the complete 10 set is recommended.
3) There are air pockets on the clubs. The purpose is to compress the club head at the point of impact. Just like a spring, it reflexes back and adds into the ball speed. It is an extra measure in the design of the club to increase the ball speed.
4) The irons vary in their length and they rightly do so. The longer ones are meant to hit the long shots after the tee. You will get away with off the center shots with them because they are designed to be forgiving. For near hole shots, you need to use the shorter irons, but you will have to be more careful with the ball control.
6) The grip is quite comfortable. The shaft color scheme is also quite sleek. It does not bend at the top but does at the hosel part. That is the right place to bend. If it were to bend at the grip region or from the middle it would seriously hamper the swing path.
7) Women play by not digging the turf, they rather have the full swing that goes through the ball. Taylormade has taken this to account. Ideally, the ball should be hit from the bottom. It helps to add minimal spin on the ball allowing it to travel straight but also increases the loft angle.
Naturally, beginner women golfers do not swing the club aiming at the bottom. To compensate for this issue, Taylormade took the center of gravity very low and forward onto the face of the club. For men, the center of gravity should be down and near the shaft and head joint but for women, it should be towards the opposite end of the head. Kalea has CG at the right spot just to cater for women swinging path.
8) The looks are quite deceiving. First look and softness can make you feel that the golf set is weak and fragile but it actually is quite strong and intentionally made to flex.
9) There is no bag with the set but it does come up with headcovers for all the sets.
What makes them so inimitable? Let’s find out through its pros.
Pros:
Weight
Women find it difficult to swing heavier golf clubs. If you have a heavy golf club set your performance will go down as you go to higher holes in the range. It is merely because you are getting tired from swinging those heavy shafts. Kalea has all the shafts quite less in weight and all the weight is concentrated where it matters the most that is the head of the club.
The golfer will be able to go to the extremes while playing. This also makes it easy to carry.
Technology
The slot tech is a life saver. If you are a beginner and your ball is not following a straight path then it is a typical technique problem. You are not hitting the ball in the center. Slot Tech helps you get away with the off-center hits.
Speed Pocket
Women hit the ball at a slightly lower speed, the golf set designed especially for women has to take this into consideration. Taylormade has found a way to make use of the recoil. Just like the gun recoil, a significant amount of energy is lost when the gun moves back in the same way there is a recoil action on the head.
If this recoil time can be reduced than the recoil will immediately happen at the time of impact and can add that lost energy back into the shot. Taylormade has achieved this by their specially designed cavities in the head of the clubs. They call these pockets as speed pocket. The recoil which was the reason why some distance was lost now is the reason why this golf set helps in improving the distance.
Good Swing Speed
Swing speed vary from player to player. One reason is because of the muscle structure. Regular exercise and fitness routine can help increase the swing speed. However, regular exercise can make the muscles stiff and that can reduce the acceleration in the swing.
There is another more important cause and that is the weight of the shaft. It is difficult to swing heavier shaft. Kalea all shafts are low in weight. You will get higher swing speed which means more acceleration and higher force transferred onto the ball. Off the tee shots can benefit the most from this improvement.
Design
Some players do not consider the design important. Design is actually important, especially on rough days when you don’t seem to have enough luck looking at your club set if professional looking can give confidence.
Kalea is a beautiful looking set. It has the right color combination and nice sleek smooth design.
Easy to clean
Apart from the speed pocket, rest of the clubs are super easy to clean. Just keep a cloth and you can do the regular maintenance of your gear,
Cons:
Weight Again
Lightweight is good but it means that there is less mass. So this is a tradeoff, you will have to improve on your technique and compensate for the mass loss to get to the optimal distance from the swing.
Let’s compare Kalea with another women golf set called Solaire.
Price:
The price of the Callaway’s women Solaire set is comparatively higher than the Kalea; this means that women who couldn’t afford the rates of the Solaire might consider having the Kalea.
Pieces:
The Callaway Solaire consists of 11 to 13 pieces of clubs in the set whereas, the Taylormade Kalea only consists of 8 to 10 pieces.
Clubs:
Callaway Solaire provides the golfers with left-handed clubs as well which might not be a feature in the Taylormade Kalea
Weight:
Both of the clubs have different weights; the Taylormade Kalea has comparatively lightweight than the Callaway Solaire.
TaylorMade Kalea Review Summary
Nice sleek design with a satin finish, Kalea is certainly a special looking golf club set for women. Those who struggle with game, some training and right golf sets like Solaire or Kalea can help you achieve much better than you are currently at with your unspecialized golf gear.
