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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

SuperStroke
mark blanchard said:
And yes, I would say that the R1 black and the 3deep qualify as patches. A dramatic color change to a 2013 driver that is announced like a month after initial release? That's a "patch" to sell more drivers or perhaps prepare us for the coming shift "back to dark". Is the R1 by anyone's calculation a paradigm-shifting success? It was a Spring 2013 release that came and was quickly superceded by the SLDR and Jetspeed before the year was out. Is it still even sold on the TM website? I dunno.

As for the 3deep, wasn't it created by Phil asking for a low launching Xhot 3 wood? It's a mid-generation tweak aimed at filling a perceived need or hole. That's a patch. What's the difference between a patch and a new product? Just a little more time and preparation and a few more changes and some different window dressing.
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So based on that, any equipment change that does not happen year over year would be a patch?
R1 Black was scheduled and was not a quick fix.
3Deep was absolutely scheduled.
 
Let me add one thing to that. Timelines change. Products get moved up and pushed back depending on how sales are going with some companies. But a change in the club or marketing? Or the release of something unscheduled? Never seen it before. Does not mean it doesnt happen, but in my 6 years of working with these companies every day, never seen it.
 
JB said:
So based on that, any equipment change that does not happen year over year would be a patch?
R1 Black was scheduled and was not a quick fix.
3Deep was absolutely scheduled.
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Nope, I'm saying that small intra-generational tweaks to products between major releases are patches. I'd call the SLDR 14 a patch. That's not a derogatory term. It's an adjustment or improvement that doesn't merit a major make-over. A color change to an existing driver a month after release? That's a cosmetic "patch" designed to sell more clubs. Auto companies do it all the time with special "neon orange GT's" that are only available months after launch. It's a "patch" to get the second bump after the first bump.

Patches can get scheduled before we even see the first product released! MS started working on Win 7 before Vista ever hit the shelves. That doesn't mean they're not patches.

And BTW, I hope you're not offended by this spirited debate. I certainly am not. Spirited debate brings life to the discussion. Without it, let's just call THP the The Church of Golf Paradise and you guys can give us a sermon and we'll genuflect. I'm pretty sure that's not what you want.
 
JB said:
Let me add one thing to that. Timelines change. Products get moved up and pushed back depending on how sales are going with some companies. But a change in the club or marketing? Or the release of something unscheduled? Never seen it before. Does not mean it doesnt happen, but in my 6 years of working with these companies every day, never seen it.
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And maybe this was said, but wasn't the SLDR release moved up a few months? I seem to remember that this was the club that was originally going to be tested in the first Ultimate Testing with Taylormade, but because it's release was moved up, the Speedblades were tested instead. This could explain why the Loft Up part was not part of the original press release (yet still known by THP), considering it was slated for a later launch. There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes with companies and their motives/reasons for doing things, it's kinda hard to speculate without knowing all the info. I have to think Taylormade knew what it was doing through this whole process and that it worked out the way they planned it to.

Let me just say, I have no dog in this fight and am not trying to take a side. Just an observation from an amateur.
 
I'm so tired and sleepy that I cannot remember if I have already asked and even got an answer, so I'll just ask a quick question, perhaps again :)

Can anyone say if the 14* SLDR will be available for left handed wonders like myself?
 
dcbrad said:
And maybe this was said, but wasn't the SLDR release moved up a few months? I seem to remember that this was the club that was originally going to be tested in the first Ultimate Testing with Taylormade, but because it's release was moved up, the Speedblades were tested instead. This could explain why the Loft Up part was not part of the original press release (yet still known by THP), considering it was slated for a later launch. There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes with companies and their motives/reasons for doing things, it's kinda hard to speculate without knowing all the info. I have to think Taylormade knew what it was doing through this whole process and that it worked out the way they planned it to.

Let me just say, I have no dog in this fight and am not trying to take a side. Just an observation from an amateur.
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Yes. You are exactly right.
It was not a patch. And certainly the marketing going on now is not a "patch".

But I said I was going to bow out before and now I definitely am. You can only try and provide accurate info and facts too often before its just not worth it anymore and this is one of those instances. People are going to believe whatever they want to believe whether it is correct or off base.
 
mark blanchard said:
And BTW, I hope you're not offended by this spirited debate. I certainly am not. Spirited debate brings life to the discussion. Without it, let's just call THP the The Church of Golf Paradise and you guys can give us a sermon and we'll genuflect. I'm pretty sure that's not what you want.
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I don't know if I'd call it debate or just out right obstinacy. I'm not offended by it but I am tired of it. You've had people in the know tell you that adding loft was there from the beginning but you continue to rail against SLDR and TM for the Loft Up campaign.
 
Anyone have any experience comparing the stock Speeder to the Speeder 6.0? Weighs more, but torque is about the same.
 
Golf Ghost said:
Anyone have any experience comparing the stock Speeder to the Speeder 6.0? Weighs more, but torque is about the same.
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Interesting question because I literally just had someone on the launch monitor comparing these two shafts. There was virtually no difference in his ball flight. I know this does not help you much, and I personally did not try it, but I mean you could have given him either one and the results were the same.
 
That's really interesting. I've hit the stock set up and the Speeder in a different head, but never together. Liked the Speeder 6.0 in the Amp Cell last year as far as weight and launch characteristics, but spun a bit much. Going to have to see.

Have no idea what way my bag will go this year, but liked the SLDR from my short time with it last season. Its on the short list, just going to have some shaft testing.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

Just to add to the marketing conversation. The "Loft Up+" campaign is a campaign. The idea of lofting up is not, that's an idea, part of strategy created by low spinning heads. I can see why this could feel like TMaG would have woken up and realized that their marketing needed revising, could be, but I don't believe for that to be true. R&D for products is a long process, and they (all companies) know what they are putting out there. Marketing strategies are often planned long ahead and product road maps go years forward. Why was the trademarked "Loft Up+" campaign started in January? (my guess when I saw those logos popping up more and more)

They might have their marketing budgets starting and ending with the calendar year. They might just have planned it that way. Two, three, four phased marketing strategies do happen. Sell first to fanboys, lo cappers and the add something how to sell to the rest. They've certainly made the SLDR's life expectancy longer by starting with a second phase marketing campaign.

One big reason for taking a big campaign in January is the PGA show. They were not going to have a new driver there, but drivers are sexy and people need to be excited. Pump the new campaign prior to the show and people will be interested. Not a coincidence I might say.

I don't mind TMaG's marketing and I like their products, they do their marketing aggressively and there's nothing wrong with that.

There was the wrong loft ideology with the R1 and the subtle campaign for lofting up started in 2013 with the SLDR, and continued with an more aggressive campaign LOFT UP+ in 2014. This only shows me that they've got some brilliant planners there at the marketing department. Why? Because the one myth and idea that's been around since day one, is that good players and wannabe good players need to play with a low lofted driver. Most men have issues with lofting up, egos can't take it. A multi year long campaign to change this attitude might work. A change is coming. Sure, yesterday there were no super lo-spin heads so the lofts had to be low, but that is what people still believe and we all know how hard it is to change peoples beliefs. TaylorMade is taking it one step at the time.
 
mark blanchard said:
That is interesting. If a Beta isn't around the corner, that would explain why they want to put EVEN more marketing dollars into a campaign touting the "patches" developed from 2013 feedback. Can't change the product (much), so change our perception and the way we use it.

It almost worked on me. I almost was convinced I'd done something wrong the first time and wanted to buy another.
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JB said:
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.
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mark blanchard said:
I would define a Patch the same way the software guys would -- as an after-initial release fix or plug that makes the product better or fills a hole or helps sell more or adjusts something that wasn't quite right the first go round. As product release cycles shorten (as with software) it becomes harder to get all your ducks in a row in time for major release. If Microsoft can't get all its ducks in row for Vista, how can TMag be expected to execute a perfectly orchestrated multi-year master plan? While their marketing BUDGET for 2014 may have been fixed in stone long before, I can assure you their COPY was not. They work on it constantly right up to deadline. And being humans, they make mistakes. That July 2013 SLDR graphic was clearly a mistake. The SLDR does not launch high.

And yes, I would say that the R1 black and the 3deep qualify as patches. A dramatic color change to a 2013 driver that is announced like a month after initial release? That's a "patch" to sell more drivers or perhaps prepare us for the coming shift "back to dark". Is the R1 by anyone's calculation a paradigm-shifting success? It was a Spring 2013 release that came and was quickly superceded by the SLDR and Jetspeed before the year was out. Is it still even sold on the TM website? I dunno.

As for the 3deep, wasn't it created by Phil asking for a low launching Xhot 3 wood? It's a mid-generation tweak aimed at filling a perceived need or hole. That's a patch. What's the difference between a patch and a new product? Just a little more time and preparation and a few more changes and some different window dressing.
Click to expand...

I work in IT as a program/project manager and 90% of my work is geared towards software enhancements/patches and understand what a patch is. What you mentioned are not patches because they were part of a scheduled release that didn't fix a known issue with the product, nor did it enhance the performance of the product. The black R1 didn't alter the performance of the driver. It filled a option that TMaG players had been asking for since the Burner 2.0 Superfast. I find it plausible, but highly improbably that Callaway went from a prototype with Phil in March to full production release a week later. Yes, Phil wanted something to replace his driver, but R&D + Logistics would make it nearly impossible to complete product production and release in that period of time.

Companies like Taylormade don't deal in perception either. They're like any other large successful company and work on facts. They take real numbers and perform extensive analysis before even beginning to decide the R&D portion of a product's lifecycle. Working off of perception is a huge gamble when you're dealing with the volume that golf OEMs do. Plus, if any of these were a patch any reputable manufacturer would offer you the patch at no charge (electronics and car manufacturers).

I don't think the R1 was paradigm shifting but it did offer more adjustability than the R11s. As a matter of fact, it was much different than the R11s, but the both the R11s and R1 were based off of the foundations of the earlier R models. I didn't see the SLDR as a replacement for the R1 in anyway. They were two different drivers IMO, as is the Jetspeed. Again, using this logic, the Speedblades would be a patch for the RocketBladez since they came out in the same 12 month period? I saw more Rocketbladez and RBZ Stage 2 stuff in bags this past summer than I saw anything else. Hardly think any of that needed a patch. What the JetSpeed did do was rebrand the RBZ line, which I'm sure was part of the plan. The R1 is still offered on the TMaG site, as is the RBZ Stage 2.

The difference between a patch and a new product is a lot larger than what you listed. A patch is something that is released to fix a known issue, usually without having to purchase of the upgraded product. Microsoft doesn't make you buy a new XBox when they release patches, nor do the game manufactures make you buy the game over again. A new product involves research, development, sales forecasting, acquiring customers, release strategy, production and marketing. It's a bit more than window dressing. Again, the differences between the R11s and R1 are staggering.

With that, I bow out of this discussion. I respect your opinion, Mark. However, I do disagree with it.
 
Back to the topic.

When I hit the stock shaft, and the 460 head, I felt the missed shots way harder than other drivers. Would you say it's the head or is the stock shaft just so hard and boardy?
 
Castor Hades said:
Back to the topic.

When I hit the stock shaft, and the 460 head, I felt the missed shots way harder than other drivers. Would you say it's the head or is the stock shaft just so hard and boardy?
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The head. Did you notice if you were hitting it in the center?
 
JB said:
The head. Did you notice if you were hitting it in the center?
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It did feel slightly harder than "normal" in the center as well. But...I hadn't hit a driver for 3 months, so it's hard to say.
 
I say give it another go and then report back.
 
Castor Hades said:
Back to the topic.

When I hit the stock shaft, and the 460 head, I felt the missed shots way harder than other drivers. Would you say it's the head or is the stock shaft just so hard and boardy?
Click to expand...

You thought the stock "non-TP" shaft was boardy? That's something I haven't heard before. Very interesting.
 
JB said:
I say give it another go and then report back.
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I will. Hopefully already tomorrow.

blugold said:
You thought the stock "non-TP" shaft was boardy? That's something I haven't heard before. Very interesting.
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I don't know if boardy is the right word, but it didn't feel like it would "swing", and on impact it just felt I was hitting rocks with a 1-iron.

I play a AD-DI 6 normally and it feels smooth and it's swingy.
 
4araga7u.jpg

SLDR 430 Speeder 7.0 10.5*. It feels goooood.


Tapping Away
 
Good performance there. Those spin numbers are a bit surprising.
 
Castor Hades said:
I will. Hopefully already tomorrow.



I don't know if boardy is the right word, but it didn't feel like it would "swing", and on impact it just felt I was hitting rocks with a 1-iron.

I play a AD-DI 6 normally and it feels smooth and it's swingy.
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Crazy. I thought the stock shaft was super soft. Very interesting.
 
Castor Hades said:
Back to the topic.

When I hit the stock shaft, and the 460 head, I felt the missed shots way harder than other drivers. Would you say it's the head or is the stock shaft just so hard and boardy?
Click to expand...

I thought the stock shaft was dead feeling not boardy but very bad feeling it did not fit my swing at all
 
Gohead214 said:
4araga7u.jpg

SLDR 430 Speeder 7.0 10.5*. It feels goooood.


Tapping Away
Click to expand...

Wow! On the 334yd shot, did you just decide that you wanted to crank you SS up 13mph? That's impressive and by far the best swing out of all of them it looks like. If I swung that hard, all 4 screws and the two rods in my back would come flying out.

I'm with Blu too, those spin numbers are suprising. Looks like you were playing a pull slice?

Nice performance regardless.
 
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