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TaylorMade SLDR Rescue Review Thread

SuperStroke
I do agree with Freddie on this.... Based on seeing nate's numbers in a previous post, there is no possible way I would think a R flex would be working it is, however; I wouldn't care if I had to go to a senior flex to get numbers like that. It just shows how far shafts have come and what a good fitting will do for you


KG

Just Tapping Away
 
Nate said:
This may be another time for another topic but how in the world would any fitter know to start me off with hitting regular shafts? In every fitting I've done they take 2 looks at my swing and immediately grab a stiff flex. I played with someone's regular shafted irons a few years ago and couldn't keep the ball on the course. Was this maybe a diamond in the rough find where my swing, this shaft and this hybrid just all came together?
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Fwiw, I still think a fitting would put you into a stiff. It doesn't make sense on your SS to have you in regular.... Someone with intimate knowledge of this club may...but not your average fitting. And then there's the fact that IF you were purchasing, there's no way you would walk out with a regular despite what the monitor says and what past experience has you to expect.
 
#Cookie said:
Fwiw, I still think a fitting would put you into a stiff. It doesn't make sense on your SS to have you in regular.... Someone with intimate knowledge of this club may...but not your average fitting. And then there's the fact that IF you were purchasing, there's no way you would walk out with a regular despite what the monitor says and what past experience has you to expect.
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I agree with this as well. Sometimes you just find that magical setup and it works for your swing.


KG

Just Tapping Away
 
Tadashi70 said:
I'm not sure how educated or not plays into getting good results from a shaft with a different flex than what your were fit for. I truly can't piece this together.

If you get fit for a stiff shaft with particular characteristics that will maximize your swing. Why would you get solid results from a more flexible shaft?

Based in videos he is not swinging any easier so I can only surmise that the shaft if miss labeled and really place closer to his other gamers. Or this shaft is something special that I don't know about.

Either way it's confusing to me and I'd like to know the reasoning behind it. Because of it is truly a regular flex shaft and he is fit for stiff, it kind of negates fittings
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This is not really the place, but I will try to answer this one a bit here.
Nate was not fit for this club.
Not all shafts that say R or S are offer the same characteristic.
One companys R can be another companys S.

But let me give you an example. There is a gentleman that I have played golf with quite a few times that is an excellent golfer. He works for one of the large golf companies. Swing speed is at 109 with the driver. He plays R flex in his hybrids and fairway woods.

He comes in very steep and because of that the weaker flex at the tip (in his shaft) of the hybrid has helped more than it has hurt. In the past with stiffer hybrids, he either suffers a dead pull at times or a slight cut with an occasional miss high and right. We all know what its from (swing) and FWIW, I would venture to guess Nate has that too after seeing him play multiple times because he is a bit steep as well if I remember correctly (and a heck of a ball striker).

He put his regular and stiff hybrid shafts on the robot and got no noticeable difference in ball flight. He preferred the feel of the R and said he thinks subconsciously he believes he lays off it a bit (is less aggressive) without noticing it causing the straightest ball flight he has ever hit with any club. The body and mind do strange things at times.

Would Nate hit the stiff shaft better? No idea. Nor does he. But this one is working rather well and I believe what I posted above is 100% true about "smart" golfers and shafts.
 
Hit the 3h today and came away very impressed; more impressed than I've been with any hybrid in a while. It just set up very well for me and R flex held up very well, getting 205 - 220 distance, but more importantly for me, did not stray off line.

These are now on the short list for me and will be tested a bunch of times in the next couple weeks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
This hybrid is just sick. I know that's not a savvy review comment but I'm running out of words. Another perfect day with it.
 
Quick recap from this weekend. Played 2 times and used the hybrid on 4 shots, all off the tee. Went 4 for 4 on execution and 3 for 4 in fairways. One I just absolutely murdered and traveled through the fairway on a line! It was a missed fairway but hard to be displeased with getting too much distance. I got under my last one and popped it up a bit but still traveled 220yds and had a PW into the green.

I'm really thinking I want to try and experiment with this club next time out at my club and use this off the tee on every par 4 holes to see what happens. We shall see if I can talk myself into leaving the driver in the car.
 
I'm very interested in this. Hawk, have you felt like you needed to work a little bit harder to get this one up in the air? I read a review on the 3 wood that stated it was kind of hard to launch the ball and harder to hit all around. Is this the case with the hybrid?
 
I never really did get that feeling with this one. Even off the turf I hit it high enough if I got the ball clean.
 
Getitclose said:
I'm very interested in this. Hawk, have you felt like you needed to work a little bit harder to get this one up in the air? I read a review on the 3 wood that stated it was kind of hard to launch the ball and harder to hit all around. Is this the case with the hybrid?
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Launch is not a problem with this club. And I find it incredibly easy to hit. Either of these are not a problem. f
 
Played around with one this weekend during a round with a friend who had just picked it up. I do like it, however I do prefer the feel off the face of my Tour Stage 2 3h. Could just be a matter of spending time with it (if I could afford one) but I definitely now know that I'm more than happy to keep my current setup for this year I think.

Having said that I probably wouldnt be allowed to buy anything more so its good I reached that conlusion on my own rather than being told... :)
 
For me, that is one area I find this one lacking, is the launch. However, this shaft is heavier than most I play in my hybos, and that would typically cause me fits in the past.
TNTCigarguy said:
Launch is not a problem with this club. And I find it incredibly easy to hit. Either of these are not a problem. f
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War Eagle said:
For me, that is one area I find this one lacking, is the launch. However, this shaft is heavier than most I play in my hybos, and that would typically cause me fits in the past.
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I actually really enjoy the heavier shaft to the point it will make me look at different options in the future.
 
If any of you are debating this club. I am not a monster off the tee. That being said I am with this club.

 
Another perfect day with what is now the best hybrid I've played. Straight, straight, straight. Regular shaft, regular shaft, regular shaft. Amazing. Eye opening. Shocking.

Had 240yds for my 2nd to a par 5 and put it on a rope to about 20 feet just slightly below pin high. 2 putt birdie.

Had 250yds to a short par 4 off the tee and drove it about 20yds short/left of the green. Chip and a 1 putt birdie.

Had 240yds for my 2nd to a par 5 and played a little cut to the left middle (pin was right) of the green about a 50 foot eagle putt. I three putted for par.

This thing is money for me on shots 225-240! Such a weapon for me right now. I still can't get over how solid the face is. If I was reading this from another THP'er I would think they were making it up. So ask WardF and ThreeBoysDad how straight those hybrid shots were going yesterday! I am not making this stuff up. Been very very excited about this club and what it's been doing for me.
 
With a few rounds under my belt I've had mixed results with pretty constant distance and trajectory. The results vary due to swing flaws and not design flaws.

I have my SLDR set to 20.5* to fill the gap between my 4i and 4W. It has done so very nicely. I know exactly what the club will do with a normal swing, hard swing or choke down swing. It's extremely consistent at all levels with no surprises.

The misses stand out to me more than the good shots. I'm not getting a ton of movement one way or another just a slight loss in distance. I caught one a bit high on the face and need to cover 227 yards. I missed that by 10 yards but still saw a high driving ball that always looked like it wanted to draw but just hung right of the pin. On another occasion I caught it a bit heavy from a similar yardage. I lost distance and trajectory but not direction. The shot actually ended up working out, a good miss of sorts.

I have yet to switch the grip so that is on tap prior to next round. The standard size grip might be playing a bit into the extra left to right spin I have been seeing with certain swings. A built up grip should quite the hands and decrease the draw.

As I stated previously, this replaced my Xhot pro hybrid as my regular gamer. Not because of lack of performance but because of the way it fits in my bag. It really filled a need for a solid 210-220 club. The adjustability made this possible and hence it's in the bag. I am enjoy to vey much.
 
I had a chance to hit the SLDR 2h (17*) yesterday on the LM at PGA SS. I was very impressed with the club. It may be my favorite thing that TM made this year.

I actually thought that I was hitting the 3h at first, because it was incredibly easy to hit. I was surprised to see that it was actually the 2h. Shots feel incredibly solid off of the face, and it just seems easy to hit at or around the center of the club face.

Most every shot was a nice, high draw that did not have much movement. Mishit shorts lost some distance but still tried to keep the same ball flight. All in all, this was a very impressive club. I'd like to get this one outside.
 
Enjoying the feedback Natedogg, Freddie, and Sethdaddy.

I think it's an extrememly solid club and no surprise that you all are hitting it so far. I tend to think it was one of the better feeling/sounding hybrids I hit last year as well.
 
I have generally not been a fan of hybrids, but two of the 2014 lineup really impress me. It makes me wonder if I should have dropped the 5W long ago for a hybrid.

If the SLDR 2h performs in real life like it did in the LM sim, it definitely kicks my #elitist 5W out of the bag. That hybrid was really impressive.
 
I like that you adjust the face angle too.
 
ATLGolfer said:
I have generally not been a fan of hybrids, but two of the 2014 lineup really impress me. It makes me wonder if I should have dropped the 5W long ago for a hybrid.

If the SLDR 2h performs in real life like it did in the LM sim, it definitely kicks my #elitist 5W out of the bag. That hybrid was really impressive.
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It's just about the straightest club in my bag right now and might push my PW for the honors. I was telling the guys in my group on Saturday this. It's shocking really considering my hybrid past experience. It has been a joy hitting this club and I can't remember the last time I was so giddy in pulling a club to hit.
 
I go through 2 -3 hybrids a season and based on my time with the SLDR, it's what I've been looking for in a hybrid. Stable, easy to hit and versatile meaning just as appealing to hit off the tee as well as in the rough. Definitely not the fairway wood-ish feel you get from other hybos. I haven't had the opportunity to hit this outside, but that stable feeling and heavier shaft make me think it would perform well for me in the rough. It kind of reminds of the Tour Edge XCGV, which is a pretty good thing.
 
Hawk said:
Enjoying the feedback Natedogg, Freddie, and Sethdaddy.

I think it's an extrememly solid club and no surprise that you all are hitting it so far. I tend to think it was one of the better feeling/sounding hybrids I hit last year as well.
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For me this hands down the best hybrid they out out in 3 seasons. All around good looks, adjustability and consistency
 
Nate said:
It's just about the straightest club in my bag right now and might push my PW for the honors. I was telling the guys in my group on Saturday this. It's shocking really considering my hybrid past experience. It has been a joy hitting this club and I can't remember the last time I was so giddy in pulling a club to hit.
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Yep. The hybrid is pretty amazing.

I'm totally acknowledging that I was hitting into a LM sim and not seeing real life conditions. With that said, the first cold swing generated a "whoa, that was solid" response. Then I saw the flight and the numbers. Then I kept doing the same thing over and over again.

I really want to get this club outside to see what it can do. I was really impressed with it.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
I go through 2 -3 hybrids a season and based on my time with the SLDR, it's what I've been looking for in a hybrid. Stable, easy to hit and versatile meaning just as appealing to hit off the tee as well as in the rough. Definitely not the fairway wood-ish feel you get from other hybos. I haven't had the opportunity to hit this outside, but that stable feeling and heavier shaft make me think it would perform well for me in the rough. It kind of reminds of the Tour Edge XCGV, which is a pretty good thing.
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That's a good comparison PGG. I liked that TEE hybrid as well.

Tadashi70 said:
For me this hands down the best hybrid they out out in 3 seasons. All around good looks, adjustability and consistency
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Crazy that I didn't really spend much time at all with the last few years' hybrids. This one appealed to me more visually and then ended up being very solid on the course.
 
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