Yeah the variety in this testing is awesome.
I definitely think the options this gives off the tee will be interesting.
TaylorMade SLDR Fairway Wood - THP Review Thread
Yeah the variety in this testing is awesome.
I definitely think the options this gives off the tee will be interesting.
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Please feel free to throw your insights into this thread, the more the merrier.
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #153
Had this out again yesterday hitting it side by side with the JetSpeed trying to discern the absolute differences and its much narrower than I thought. I will say the edge off the tee to me goes to the SLDR because it does have the deeper face to it than the JetSpeed but even then distance to distance they are neck and neck. I still am really hit and miss with this one off the deck though, going to bump it to 16.5 this Friday and see how that goes!
Matthew
Well-known member
Do/did they send a wrench with the club? If not can one be picked up at a Golf Smith or Golf Galaxy?
mayday1775
New member
Matthew
Well-known member
I'll pick one up. I've never had a club I could adjust but am pretty stoked to play with the settings a little.
mayday1775
New member
It can be fun, big thing to remember is going up in loft is going to close the face and going down is going to open the face. Unless TMaG figured out how to change that with the new sleeves they are using but I haven't seen or read anything about that.
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DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Nope, no wrench comes with woods but ebay is also a good option.
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #160
Keep in mind though, its an open face by nature so though going up will close it to some extent, its actually going to bring it closer to neutral depending on what you put it on.
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
I took the SLDR 3 wood out today and walked 9 holes. I used the 3W off of each tee box and had occasion to hit it twice from the fairway. My initial thoughts are that this is a fairly long club, when I put a good swing on it it does go pretty well, I was carrying it out to distances that I expected, a good bit behind my driver but not so far as to be unplayable on par 5's or 4's. I put a couple of pretty good hooks on the first couple of balls I hit but was able to straighten it out with only a slight adjustment of my hand position, I probably also tried to swing a little harder knowing the shaft was a stiff flex. I did not change from the standard setting but I will certainly play with the settings next time out. From the deck I launched the first one fairly low but still got good distance, the second one I launched at a very good angle and it got out there very good. Initial impressions on the course are very good, I enjoyed it but not sure if the shaft is maybe a little stiff for my swing speed, we'll see. I am looking forward to getting to be friends with this 3W over the coming months.
After completing walking 9 holes I went to the range and compared the 3W to my RBZ Tour 5W, the comparison was exactly what I thought it might be the 3W was carrying a few yards farther in the air but rolling out to finish some 15 yards longer than the 5w. The SLDR is actually fairly easy to hit from the tee but then I still did not miss too often off of the deck either. I did have some miss hits that probably traveled 25% less than solid contact but the miss hits did not feel harsh to me. I did notice that from the deck the bottom would load with dirt much easier than did the RBZ, not a big thing but still you would want to be diligent to keep the bottom of this club wiped off.
I look forward to getting out again and playing with the adjustments and getting a little video on this club, I was very pleased with today's results but wonder if a regular flex shaft would help me a little with getting the ball up and out there a little longer. Thank you THP for this testing opportunity. Anyone with questions please jump right in and all of us testers will be glad to give you our thoughts, also if you have any specific requests we will certainly do our best to fulfill them.
Here is a link to my initial post http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...eview-Thread&p=2607608&viewfull=1#post2607608
After completing walking 9 holes I went to the range and compared the 3W to my RBZ Tour 5W, the comparison was exactly what I thought it might be the 3W was carrying a few yards farther in the air but rolling out to finish some 15 yards longer than the 5w. The SLDR is actually fairly easy to hit from the tee but then I still did not miss too often off of the deck either. I did have some miss hits that probably traveled 25% less than solid contact but the miss hits did not feel harsh to me. I did notice that from the deck the bottom would load with dirt much easier than did the RBZ, not a big thing but still you would want to be diligent to keep the bottom of this club wiped off.
I look forward to getting out again and playing with the adjustments and getting a little video on this club, I was very pleased with today's results but wonder if a regular flex shaft would help me a little with getting the ball up and out there a little longer. Thank you THP for this testing opportunity. Anyone with questions please jump right in and all of us testers will be glad to give you our thoughts, also if you have any specific requests we will certainly do our best to fulfill them.
Here is a link to my initial post http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...eview-Thread&p=2607608&viewfull=1#post2607608
Ole Gray
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What ya doing playing with a stiff shaft old man? Anyways it will be interesting to see if your ball flight stays low off the deck. I'll also be interested in seeing if those hooks show up more often than not.
Last edited:
- Admin
- #163
Good stuff DawgDaddy.
Matthew
Well-known member
Great stuff DD.
mayday1775
New member
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
What ya doing playing with a stiff shaft old man?Anyways it will be interesting to see if your ball flight stays low off the deck. I'll also be interested in seeing if those hooks show up more often than not.
I see what you did there, but I will refrain from commenting on this. :laughing:
mayday1775
New member
DawgDaddy
Old Coot
Got out for a chilly 27 holes yesterday. Played the tour spoon off the tee on every hole I could except a big uphill par 5. Also played a couple off the tee on the second nine. Distance was solid. With the weather being what it was I was quite pleased as I was generally at worst a club further out than I would have been with my driver. I think when it's a little less wet I will see some pretty good rollout. Ball flight was a little lower than I like but I was able to get it where I wanted on a couple so I know it's there and don't think I'll have any issues there in the long run. Jman's comments about the open face had me a touch concerned going in but honestly was not an issue at all. Hit a couple a bit right in the beginning but was able to straighten it out and even get a little draw on a couple.
About halfway through the second nine I decided to adjust it up to 15.5 to see how that worked for me. Definitely got the ball up a little more. Had some solid shots off the tee with it including hitting the green on a 225 yard par 3. Had a pretty long birdie putt but was able to par it much to the chagrin of my FIL.
Also hit this off the deck on opportunities that presented themselves. I'm not going to lie and tell you that they were all perfect, but I'm also not great with a 3W off the deck. Add in the wet conditions and I expected to have some misses here and there. When I did make good contact ball flight was good, as was the distance. I was even able to manufacture a fade on a par 5 to get around a slight corner. Good stuff here. I too did notice that the sole collected a bit of dirt but nothing a quick wipe couldn't take care of.
So far I'm digging the shaft pairing. When I started out I think I was swinging a little slower but once I got comfortable with it I was able to get a little more aggressive with pretty good results.
The only thing that threw me a little was the head size. This is definitely the smallest FW head that I remember playing. It was more of a mental thing as I'm just used to seeing something a little larger framing the ball. After the first couple of swings it was not an issue. I think it actually helped on a couple of trouble shots. One of which where I had to go down to get the ball out of a low spot in the rough. Ball popped right out with a little distance loss but was still a good shot.
All in all a good first outing. Had a few struggles but nothing that shouldn't be expected with any new 3W and no range time to get comfortable with it.
Wrote this in the car as I'm traveling this weekend but wanted to get something up while it was still fresh on my mind. So apologies if it's a little rambling. Let me know if anyone has any questions!
About halfway through the second nine I decided to adjust it up to 15.5 to see how that worked for me. Definitely got the ball up a little more. Had some solid shots off the tee with it including hitting the green on a 225 yard par 3. Had a pretty long birdie putt but was able to par it much to the chagrin of my FIL.
Also hit this off the deck on opportunities that presented themselves. I'm not going to lie and tell you that they were all perfect, but I'm also not great with a 3W off the deck. Add in the wet conditions and I expected to have some misses here and there. When I did make good contact ball flight was good, as was the distance. I was even able to manufacture a fade on a par 5 to get around a slight corner. Good stuff here. I too did notice that the sole collected a bit of dirt but nothing a quick wipe couldn't take care of.
So far I'm digging the shaft pairing. When I started out I think I was swinging a little slower but once I got comfortable with it I was able to get a little more aggressive with pretty good results.
The only thing that threw me a little was the head size. This is definitely the smallest FW head that I remember playing. It was more of a mental thing as I'm just used to seeing something a little larger framing the ball. After the first couple of swings it was not an issue. I think it actually helped on a couple of trouble shots. One of which where I had to go down to get the ball out of a low spot in the rough. Ball popped right out with a little distance loss but was still a good shot.
All in all a good first outing. Had a few struggles but nothing that shouldn't be expected with any new 3W and no range time to get comfortable with it.
Wrote this in the car as I'm traveling this weekend but wanted to get something up while it was still fresh on my mind. So apologies if it's a little rambling. Let me know if anyone has any questions!
mayday1775
New member
Definitely some but it was kind of hard to gauge exactly in those conditions. Off the tee I had a couple the were out on the toe a little. Didn't feel like it was super penal but it's something I'll keep an eye on.
mayday1775
New member
lopsta5
Active member
Some great reviews guys. Thank you.
mayday1775
New member
I got out today and hit two buckets plus a round of golf. I have to say I am in love with this 5W. After dinner tonight I will be giving a full write up but for now here are some highlights.
This club likes a smooth swing, each time I tried to step on it took a bite out of me.
Toe hits took a 15-20 yard penalty, heel shots were...., well just don't hit heel shots!
Once I dropped the loft to 17.5 she was trying to give my 3W a run for its money.
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This club likes a smooth swing, each time I tried to step on it took a bite out of me.
Toe hits took a 15-20 yard penalty, heel shots were...., well just don't hit heel shots!
Once I dropped the loft to 17.5 she was trying to give my 3W a run for its money.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
mayday1775
New member
So today I told the wife I would take her out to dinner if I got to play golf all day long so that is what I did. I got out to the course at around 11 and got two buckets of balls. The entire 120 balls were dedicated to testing out the SLDR 5W and putting it against the R11s 5W and then the R11s 3W. The weather was perfect at 70* with some wind, maybe 10mph in the face on the range.
I decided to start the testing 5W vs 5W with the ball tee'ed up my normal 1/4 inch. This was not even a challenge for the SLDR. I was hitting three balls a piece then switching clubs. Starting with the R11s all three balls where my normal 10 yard fade dropping just over the 200 marker. Since I was hitting into the wind I wasn't worried about that distance because I know I hit that club regularly 220 and do get some height on it. The first three balls with the SLDR were nothing impressive as I was getting use to the longer Speeder shaft and heavier feeling head. Once I got settled in with the SLDR it was nothing short of amazing, into the wind I was flying the ball close to 215. It was almost too easy to get the ball up with it and was starting to balloon the ball using the tee. After running through 15 balls with each from a tee I went ahead and moved to hitting them off the deck. Again the SLDR was out shining the R11s every step of the way. It was interesting but I was hitting the SLDR better off of the deck vs off a tee. I don't know if it is because the face is just a little hotter towards the bottom of the face or just my steep swing but it was more consistent for me off of the deck.
After running through close to 30 balls at the stock setting I moved SLDR to the -1.5 (17.5*) and was hitting just over the 225 marker. This is where she started to shine, my 3W was just barely clearing where the SLDR was hitting. Again I was hitting it better off of the deck than from a tee which is just fine for me as this is where I will be using it the most. For me the speeder shaft did not like being treated ruff. Each time I tried to step on it and got a little quick on the down swing it bit back hard. I would lose the ball hard right each time. As long as I put a smooth swing on it she treated me right.
I really liked the fact that the face was still fairly forgiving. I did notice about a 15 yard loss on toe shots, and the toe shots also sliced MUCH more. Once you start hitting towards the toe that was when my fade turned into a slice. Heel shots where awful, they were the most pineal with massive yardage loss. I was seeing close to 40 yards with no loft at all.
Once I got out onto the course I really tried to put myself into position to use the SLDR as much as possible but really only got to use it five times. The first time I used it was on the second hole which is a downhill par 5. I destroyed the drive and left myself right at 245 with 10 yards of downhill. The green is a very large green with a nice back stop so I pulled the SLDR and gave it soft swing and just stood in amazement as the ball was arrow straight and landed so soft at the fringe of the green and rolled out about foot.
The third hole is a force lay up with water sitting at 240, with the wind back into my face I tee'ed the ball low and sit the ball back in my stance and hit a stinger no more than 40 foot of the ground with the SLDR and stood there and watched the ball take a huge bounce and rolled into the water. I was not upset at all after hitting a 5W 245ish.
The next time I got it out was on the sixth hole which was a long dogleg par 5. I knew I was well outside of the SLDR's range sitting just over 260 left, I still tried to muscle one out there and she did not like it at all. High and right by a mile. I didn't catch it fat, but it was out on the toe and I ended up going OB. I dropped a second one right there and put a smooth swing onto it and she gave me a nice little fade that left me a 25 yard chip.
I hit it for the first time off the tee on the 10th which is a short dogleg left par 4 that is about 320 yards. Like I said before, I really did not hit it as well off the tee as I do from the deck. Still I stepped up and put a smooth swing on it kinda ballooned on me some. It is so easy to get into the air for me. I still got good distance out of it and left myself about 100 yards on the left side of the fairway.
The longest par 3 on the course is the 15th and today it was playing 215 yards and has a large trap that guards the entire front of the green minus a small area to the left. Here is where the ballooning shot that I was seeing from the tee helped. Hitting into the wind, I tee'ed up and aimed to the left side of the green and she did not disappoint. Just like I saw on the second hole the ball got up quick, faded about 5 yards and landed like a feather. It did help that the greens were actually soft today but there was only 10 or so foot of roll out.
The next hole I got to use it again but this time more like a rescue hybrid. I ended up slicing my drive something fierce and had to play from the cabbage on the right. The grass is very thick on the right side here and the ball was sitting down a fair amount. I really had to get steep on the ball and I was rather surprised that the club didn't open on me like it does when I hit out of thick rough. The ball did get up and out of fairly easy even though it was a little left.
I know this was pretty long winded but I wanted to make sure that I gave THP a good review after choosing me to test this club. In closing I will give you the short notes:
Give the club a smooth swing, getting quick with the swing resulted with toe shots.
Toe shots left at least 15 yards on the table.
Heel shots were the worst with massive yardage loss.
The club seemed easier to hit off the deck than from the tee for me.
The bottom of the club did collect a lot of dirt in the crevices.
The 17.5* setting only gave up about 5 yards on the 15.5* setting of my R11s 3W.
I am standing by for any of your questions!
I decided to start the testing 5W vs 5W with the ball tee'ed up my normal 1/4 inch. This was not even a challenge for the SLDR. I was hitting three balls a piece then switching clubs. Starting with the R11s all three balls where my normal 10 yard fade dropping just over the 200 marker. Since I was hitting into the wind I wasn't worried about that distance because I know I hit that club regularly 220 and do get some height on it. The first three balls with the SLDR were nothing impressive as I was getting use to the longer Speeder shaft and heavier feeling head. Once I got settled in with the SLDR it was nothing short of amazing, into the wind I was flying the ball close to 215. It was almost too easy to get the ball up with it and was starting to balloon the ball using the tee. After running through 15 balls with each from a tee I went ahead and moved to hitting them off the deck. Again the SLDR was out shining the R11s every step of the way. It was interesting but I was hitting the SLDR better off of the deck vs off a tee. I don't know if it is because the face is just a little hotter towards the bottom of the face or just my steep swing but it was more consistent for me off of the deck.
After running through close to 30 balls at the stock setting I moved SLDR to the -1.5 (17.5*) and was hitting just over the 225 marker. This is where she started to shine, my 3W was just barely clearing where the SLDR was hitting. Again I was hitting it better off of the deck than from a tee which is just fine for me as this is where I will be using it the most. For me the speeder shaft did not like being treated ruff. Each time I tried to step on it and got a little quick on the down swing it bit back hard. I would lose the ball hard right each time. As long as I put a smooth swing on it she treated me right.
I really liked the fact that the face was still fairly forgiving. I did notice about a 15 yard loss on toe shots, and the toe shots also sliced MUCH more. Once you start hitting towards the toe that was when my fade turned into a slice. Heel shots where awful, they were the most pineal with massive yardage loss. I was seeing close to 40 yards with no loft at all.
Once I got out onto the course I really tried to put myself into position to use the SLDR as much as possible but really only got to use it five times. The first time I used it was on the second hole which is a downhill par 5. I destroyed the drive and left myself right at 245 with 10 yards of downhill. The green is a very large green with a nice back stop so I pulled the SLDR and gave it soft swing and just stood in amazement as the ball was arrow straight and landed so soft at the fringe of the green and rolled out about foot.
The third hole is a force lay up with water sitting at 240, with the wind back into my face I tee'ed the ball low and sit the ball back in my stance and hit a stinger no more than 40 foot of the ground with the SLDR and stood there and watched the ball take a huge bounce and rolled into the water. I was not upset at all after hitting a 5W 245ish.
The next time I got it out was on the sixth hole which was a long dogleg par 5. I knew I was well outside of the SLDR's range sitting just over 260 left, I still tried to muscle one out there and she did not like it at all. High and right by a mile. I didn't catch it fat, but it was out on the toe and I ended up going OB. I dropped a second one right there and put a smooth swing onto it and she gave me a nice little fade that left me a 25 yard chip.
I hit it for the first time off the tee on the 10th which is a short dogleg left par 4 that is about 320 yards. Like I said before, I really did not hit it as well off the tee as I do from the deck. Still I stepped up and put a smooth swing on it kinda ballooned on me some. It is so easy to get into the air for me. I still got good distance out of it and left myself about 100 yards on the left side of the fairway.
The longest par 3 on the course is the 15th and today it was playing 215 yards and has a large trap that guards the entire front of the green minus a small area to the left. Here is where the ballooning shot that I was seeing from the tee helped. Hitting into the wind, I tee'ed up and aimed to the left side of the green and she did not disappoint. Just like I saw on the second hole the ball got up quick, faded about 5 yards and landed like a feather. It did help that the greens were actually soft today but there was only 10 or so foot of roll out.
The next hole I got to use it again but this time more like a rescue hybrid. I ended up slicing my drive something fierce and had to play from the cabbage on the right. The grass is very thick on the right side here and the ball was sitting down a fair amount. I really had to get steep on the ball and I was rather surprised that the club didn't open on me like it does when I hit out of thick rough. The ball did get up and out of fairly easy even though it was a little left.
I know this was pretty long winded but I wanted to make sure that I gave THP a good review after choosing me to test this club. In closing I will give you the short notes:
Give the club a smooth swing, getting quick with the swing resulted with toe shots.
Toe shots left at least 15 yards on the table.
Heel shots were the worst with massive yardage loss.
The club seemed easier to hit off the deck than from the tee for me.
The bottom of the club did collect a lot of dirt in the crevices.
The 17.5* setting only gave up about 5 yards on the 15.5* setting of my R11s 3W.
I am standing by for any of your questions!