RickRR:Example: Nike ball that I used at 50% would go 17 yards and stop dead. Now with the TaylorMade 81 a 50% hot will go 14 plus a 3-4 yard roll. And there are differences with the Pitch shot as well
Without question and I have an idea why. The Nikes used to be the best, now Titleist is. WGT could hardly have the TMs perform like the old Nikes because that would mean they'd have to make the Titleist ridiculous to outperform the TMs. What I think they did was make the Titleists like the Nikes and used the opportunity to tune down the Nike specs to make them TMs. Specs say one thing, actual performance says another.
I'm finding the TMs are long off the tee but the approaches play like the ball is made of cotton. You lose a lot of distance on approaches into the wind using back spin, way more than you did with the Nikes. The carry numbers are down with the 3, 4 and 5 irons, too, not to mention what you pointed out about the punches and pitches.
The 64W pitch was a solid shot before-you could stop it. Now it'll stop after rolling 2-3 yards. Same with the punch-it used to stop and hop and now it stops and rolls. Everything points to having to adjust to this new tendency or switch to the Titleists and with the price tag on those, adjusting seems to be the order of the day.
Less performance by the TMs compared to the Nikes and 100 credits more, minimum. Such a deal. :-(