TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

[jlukes]

Like the Jetspeed line?

I heard rumblings of a wood line with a deeper face/more compact head than the jetspeed line.

 

[War Eagle]

I heard rumblings of a wood line with a deeper face/more compact head than the jetspeed line.

I need your connections, I haven't heard a darn thing.

 

[jlukes]

I need your connections, I haven't heard a darn thing.

I know a guy on TM staff. Unfortunately i didnt get any other details.

 

[blugold]

I need your connections, I haven't heard a darn thing.

I sat next to a product line manager from Taylormade at dinner, he never brought up a new wood line. We asked him specifically if there were new woods on the horizon. Granted, like I said early, he was being a touch coy.

 

[JB]

I sat next to a product line manager from Taylormade at dinner, he never brought up a new wood line. We asked him specifically if there were new woods on the horizon. Granted, like I said early, he was being a touch coy.

You have to remember that many times they do not know release dates. Reason being is that for some companies it is all based on how current lines are selling.

 

[blugold]

You have to remember that many times they do not know release dates. Reason being is that for some companies it is all based on how current lines are selling.

Did not know that.

I can check off "Learn something new" my daily task list. Thank you boss.

 

[JB]

Did not know that.

I can check off "Learn something new" my daily task list. Thank you boss.

Im not stating that as something that is common, but for some companies, if a current line is not doing well, a new line is "moved up".

 

[Castor Hades]

Make sure you give the 430 SLDR a run before you pass judgement. I swear on all things holy it is easier to hit than the 460.

Stop it! That messes up my ponder big time. Need to hit it for sure.

 

[Canadan]

I don't argue that with the SLDR you need to "loft up". I well remember, however, that midway through 2013 when it was released that TMag was not saying "loft up". They only started screaming it in their ads and on their hats in 2014. I think they started screaming this new mantra because they realized something wasn't quite working in 2013.

When the club was released, we bought it because of the nifty sliding weight that was supposed to help us control fade and draw. Yes, we heard as an afterthought that it was also really low spinning. Okay fine, that's what they told us about the RBZ2 too, good stuff, no problem. So I bought a head with similar loft to what I was used to before, 9.5. The damn thing wouldn't get off the deck! So I dial it all the way up as high as it will go (for me that was 11 degrees) and the thing still launches semi-low. I put in a high launching shaft and I end up trying it on ALL settings before I'm done. I find that the slider weight doesn't work all that well unless set to its far extremes. (An observation echoed by many others I came to find out.) After about a month, I give up.

So then I do more research and I start hearing from TMag, "Many folks need even more lofting up. No problem, we're releasing a 12 degree SLDR." And then I start to hear from many others, including in this forum, "Oh yeah, didn't you know? SLDR's are no good with stock shafts, you gotta get a good aftermarket shafts." ($200 more) And, "Oh yeah, didn't you know? You can't just get a SLDR and dial it in yourself, you gotta be fitted for it." ($100 more)

Well hell... if I have to be fitted for an adjustable driver, what is the point? Why not get fitted for a glued hosel driver like Tiger? And why sell SLDR's off the rack if to make the thing actually work you're looking at a $900 custom purchase that must be special ordered?

I think that SLDR 2.0 is just around the corner and this time it's not just because TMag loves its quarterly releases. I think that this time they NEED a SLDR BETA cause the Alpha was measured and found lacking!

A couple of thoughts on this...

1 - I don't think the SLDR weight is there for show. It works quite well for me. You're moving some pretty notable weight from the heel to the toe, and that's GOING to change something.
2 - As someone who owns both adaptered and glued drivers, I'd love nothing less than a glued SLDR. Why would I limit myself by gluing a shaft into it?
3 - Seems weird that you're taking issue with the idea of a fitting, yet game a driver with an aftermarket (or at least non-stock) shaft in it. Why OptiForce and not SLDR?

An honest question out of sheer curiosity, did you hit the SLDR before buying it? Wouldn't a simple SIM or range session give you a pretty good idea of what loft would work well for you?

 

[blugold]

A couple of thoughts on this...

1 - I don't think the SLDR weight is there for show. It works quite well for me. You're moving some pretty notable weight from the heel to the toe, and that's GOING to change something.
2 - As someone who owns both adaptered and glued drivers, I'd love nothing less than a glued SLDR. Why would I limit myself by gluing a shaft into it?
3 - Seems weird that you're taking issue with the idea of a fitting, yet game a driver with an aftermarket (or at least non-stock) shaft in it. Why OptiForce and not SLDR?

An honest question out of sheer curiosity, did you hit the SLDR before buying it? Wouldn't a simple SIM or range session give you a pretty good idea of what loft would work well for you?

Fitting is important, until it proves you bought the wrong club. Then it becomes the OEMs fault for making a bad club.

 

[Canadan]

Fitting is important, until it proves you bought the wrong club. Then it becomes the OEMs fault for making a bad club.

It's a pretty important aspect of the club purchasing process, or at least it should be. Sure, these companies are putting shafts that work well for the average golf swing in clubheads, but I think it's up to us to make sure we are finding not only the perfect head, but also the perfect shaft combination for our swing.

Clubs like SLDR seem to just magnify that fact. I wonder if that's the path the club industry is on, where the aspects of each build really reinforce the need to get fitted to the right shaft.

 

[JB]

Fitting is important, until it proves you bought the wrong club. Then it becomes the OEMs fault for making a bad club.

Im not sure thats fair. You have bought drivers without fitting and gone through multiple shafts until it worked.

A company has marketed a driver as revolutionary, including having a midnight launch. So clearly they are willing to sell it (like all companies are) without fitting. If it does not work as they advertise, who's fault is it? A little of both I guess.

 

[blugold]

Im not sure thats fair. You have bought drivers without fitting and gone through multiple shafts until it worked.

A company has marketed a driver as revolutionary, including having a midnight launch. So clearly they are willing to sell it (like all companies are) without fitting. If it does not work as they advertise, who's fault is it? A little of both I guess.

I speak from experience on the driver fitting. I was all for getting fit, until it told me I spent 2013 defending a driver that didn't fit me. I also don't believe it's the OEM's responsibility to get you fit for a club.

 

[JB]

I speak from experience on the driver fitting. I was all for getting fit, until it told me I spent 2013 defending a driver that didn't fit me. I also don't believe it's the OEM's responsibility to get you fit for a club.

And now you are critical of that same driver. But why is it the companies fault, you did not get fit? Same exact thing in this thread that you are now criticizing for.

If a company is poised to sell a product at a midnight launch (when trial is not an option), they should have a product that is going to please the masses. Based on feedback in this thread this one seems to have some struggles in that regard.

 

[Brianbigoats]

a 14* driver. I thought it was going to be 460cc.

Are we considering that a 2wood?

No
it is a Deep Faced 200+ cc fairwasy wood 2/3/5 Deep Compeditor

 

[blugold]

And now you are critical of that same driver. But why is it the companies fault, you did not get fit? Same exact thing in this thread that you are now criticizing for.

If a company is poised to sell a product at a midnight launch (when trial is not an option), they should have a product that is going to please the masses. Based on feedback in this thread this one seems to have some struggles in that regard.

I am not critical of the company who made my previous driver. I am critical of myself for not getting fit properly. That isn't Nike's fault. That was on me.

In regards to the second part, I agree. But most retail locations should have had an available sim or LM for a quick double check.

 

[blugold]

No
it is a Deep Faced 200+ cc fairwasy wood 2/3/5 Deep Compeditor

Link??

 

[Brianbigoats]

I sat next to a product line manager from Taylormade at dinner, he never brought up a new wood line. We asked him specifically if there were new woods on the horizon. Granted, like I said early, he was being a touch coy.

Not a new line just SLDR extension

 

[JB]

I am not critical of the company who made my previous driver. I am critical of myself for not getting fit properly. That isn't Nike's fault. That was on me.

In regards to the second part, I agree. But most retail locations should have had an available sim or LM for a quick double check.

I wont go find them, but you have made several posts in the last month about that driver being a "turd" as you put it. I guess that is code for you not getting fit, but at the time, it certainly read more about being critical about the company's product.

Which for what its worth, is perfectly fine. People can be critical of anything they would like to be here.

 

[blugold]

I wont go find them, but you have made several posts in the last month about that driver being a "turd" as you put it. I guess that is code for you not getting fit, but at the time, it certainly read more about being critical about the company's product.

Which for what its worth, is perfectly fine. People can be critical of anything they would like to be here.

It was a "turd" because my "fit by me Covert Tour" was out performed by a 10.5 SLDR with a Tour Spec Speeder 7.3 Xflec and 12* SLDR with a Project X 6.0

Honest question, is this the place for this convo? I am happy to discuss it, but I don't want to bog down the SLDR thread. I have no problems continuing it.

 

[Brianbigoats]

Link??

Here is a shot of a early prototype i found

 

[Brianbigoats]

I was told by a Tmag rep that the 3 Deep would have company by masters time

 

[Carnage]

awesome!

 

[mark blanchard]

FWIW, I dont think they have done that. From the day we started speaking with TaylorMade about the SLDR driver, it was always about moving up in loft. This goes back long before it was previewed on THP and released in stores. In fact they sent us some for testing and told us that they were going to loft up quite a few of the testers that we selected.

I think what you are seeing now is "Tour Marketing" around the golf season starting on tour (despite what wrap around says) and more golf on TV.

Well, if TMag shared that secret "loft up" strategy with you guys privately, well before the 7/29/2013 preview, you certainly didn't tip us off to it. I went back and re-read Hawk's fine preview article and it said nary a word about "Lofting Up" or even a need that many might have to loft up. However, his article did contain a nifty Taylormade graphic that claimed the SLDR's lower center of gravity would naturally make the ball launch higher.

Hawk's article and the early posts in the Preview forum spend most of their time discussing the club's looks, the slider weight, the tip adaptor, and all the other normal stuff that I remember dissecting when I first saw the club myself. While Hawk didn't discuss "lofting up" as a checklist requirement, he did have a hard time getting the club to behave and he quickly discovered that when set to neutral, it launched very low. So he dialed it all the way up to 12 and tried some more. With more mixed results.

The first hint of "lofting up" came on about page 5 of the Preview forum from Arydolphin, who had not seen or hit the club yet. He suggested to Hawk:

I'm trying to figure this out as well. It seems to me like pushing the CG forward lowers the spin and that's where the distance is coming from. What they don't tell you is that people probably have to go up in loft from what they have played in the past to get the right launch conditions.

To which Hawk responded,

That was my first thought ad well Ary.

.
After about another 4 or 5 pages, Tpluff chimes in and says,

... I like what is coming about with the need for increasing the loft to get the launch angle to be ideal and that appears to close the face. ...

Seems to me that the secret about "lofting up" the SLDR was organically discovered within the THP community as the early testers fiddled and struggled to get the club to work, not a communicated suggestion from Taylormade.

BTW, Arydolphin was also the first to correctly surmise that the SLDR would be a difficult to hit club aimed at skilled players looking to lower spin, NOT a club for the masses. The guy was right on the money.

 

[blugold]

Well, if TMag shared that secret "loft up" strategy with you guys privately, well before the 7/29/2013 preview, you certainly didn't tip us off to it. I went back and re-read Hawk's fine preview article and it said nary a word about "Lofting Up" or even a need that many might have to loft up. However, his article did contain a nifty Taylormade graphic that claimed the SLDR's lower center of gravity would naturally make the ball launch higher. (Nope.)

Hawk's article and the early posts in the Preview forum spend most of their time discussing the club's looks, the slider weight, the tip adaptor, and all the other normal stuff that I remember dissecting when I first saw the club myself. While Hawk didn't discuss "lofting up" as a checklist requirement, he did have a hard time getting the club to behave and he quickly discovered that when set to neutral, it launched very low. So he dialed it all the way up to 12 and tried some more. With more mixed results.

The first hint of "lofting up" came on about page 5 of the Preview forum from Arydolphin, who had not seen or hit the club yet. He suggested to Hawk:

To which Hawk responded, .
After about another 4 or 5 pages, Tpluff chimes in and says,
Seems to me that the secret about "lofting up" the SLDR was organically discovered within the THP community as the early testers fiddled and struggled to get the club to work, not a communicated suggestion from Taylormade.

BTW, Arydolphin was also the first to correctly surmised that the SLDR would be a difficult to hit club aimed at skilled players looking to lower spin, NOT a club for the masses. The guy was right on the money.

Post 15 from this thread stated...

TaylorMade Golf has been working on fitting with this head with their tour pros. More than 65% of their tour pros are fit for higher loft than they previously played, so TaylorMade decided to go 1 up on the loft for each tester.