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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

SuperStroke
JB said:
Truthfully I have usually gone midflight. I know so many that believe the shaft is the ultimate answer, and while I think it is important, I am not in that same camp.

The one in there is the one I was fit for, from TaylorMade. The Matrix Red Tie.
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I just remember you playing the Kusala white a few times which I thought profiled out to higher in flight.

Interesting that the red tie was fit into your game, although I certainly agree that each person needs to focus on fit more than profiles.
 
Canadan said:
I just remember you playing the Kusala white a few times which I thought profiled out to higher in flight.

Interesting that the red tie was fit into your game, although I certainly agree that each person needs to focus on fit more than profiles.
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Played the Kusala white in other very low spin heads, but always had less loft. Played the Blue (mid launch) when in this loft in the past. When asking about that, they do not offer Miyazaki, but the Matrix White according to the fitter did not give me the best ball flight.

FWIW, there is nothing wrong with the height of the ball or the launch.
 
JB said:
Played the Kusala white in other very low spin heads, but always had less loft. Played the Blue (mid launch) when in this loft in the past. When asking about that, they do not offer Miyazaki, but the Matrix White according to the fitter did not give me the best ball flight.

FWIW, there is nothing wrong with the height of the ball or the launch.
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From a shaft perspective, it seems like the added spin of the red tie would benefit over the defined low spin of the white tie.

I appreciate you taking another look at this one Josh. Maybe they should start marketing this to "The poor suckers with negative attack angles" like me hahaha
 
Canadan said:
I appreciate you taking another look at this one Josh. Maybe they should start marketing this to "The poor suckers with negative attack angles" like me hahaha
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I have a negative attack angle as well with the driver.

So do many tour pros. At least we have that going for us. Which is nice.
 
Canadan said:
From a shaft perspective, it seems like the added spin of the red tie would benefit over the defined low spin of the white tie.

I appreciate you taking another look at this one Josh. Maybe they should start marketing this to "The poor suckers with negative attack angles" like me hahaha
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Always bud. Looking closely at every single driver out there this year.
 
blugold said:
I have a negative attack angle as well with the driver.

So do many tour pros. At least we have that going for us. Which is nice.
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hah, well, it's a shame my contact on the center of the head doesn't match theirs. Anything under 3k is a huge victory to me. It's why I lean towards the tour versions of drivers or towards a head like the j40 or SLDR to help my swing flaw. It's probably why I end up striking towards the toe side of center where spin is reduced more. Longer carries and more roll unlike many who find not enough spin out there.

Just a shame that the smaller profile tour heads are less forgiving on a left to right spectrum.
 
blugold said:
I have a negative attack angle as well with the driver.

So do many tour pros. At least we have that going for us. Which is nice.
Click to expand...

I finally got my AoA with driver to 0. Just going to play that angle for the rest of the year since I fail at swinging up.
 
ChristopherKee said:
I finally got my AoA with driver to 0. Just going to play that angle for the rest of the year since I fail at swinging up.
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I find that if my AoA gets negative this driver seems to be harder to get it up
 
blugold said:
I have a negative attack angle as well with the driver.

So do many tour pros. At least we have that going for us. Which is nice.
Click to expand...

Yea, I suffer from this affliction as well... maybe we need a support group!
 
Interesting on the trackman the 5 HCP and bogey golfer have the same attack angle?

I love everything about the SLDR , besides the fact my swing gets too flat and I hit nothing but line drives with it...
 
blugold said:
It's not really an affliction. Like I said, many tour pros have a negative angle of attack with the driver.

http://mytrackman.com/explore/trackman-data/trackman-club-data/attack-angle
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I watched a trackman session with Ian Poulter and he's about -1 to 0 AoA as well. When I started the year I was -4 AoA and it wasn't helping my game. Getting it to 0 really helped with my contact and spin so I'm happy at 0 now. I feel swinging up any more at this point in my swing development just causes larger than normal draws which are not as predictable as the ball flight I get at 0.

Based on trackman, -1 to 0 is pro average so good enough for now =). 0 at least allows me to play lofts that are available on the market and still get good spin numbers. Thanks for the link.
 
I never knew much about attack angle prior to getting a 10.5 SLDR. Prior to this I was always about the same with my driver (R9) and my irons in terms of angle (I think). I was not a good driver of the ball. Just never knew where it was going to go.

My driving has gotten a lot better and im so much more consistent with the SLDR and knowing more about attack angle. I'm very excited about the upcoming season.
 
Thats great news Jam.
You will have to keep us updated on how its working for you.
 
BIGBALL said:
Yea, I actually would agree. I tend to control the ball better when I hit down on it a bit. But now with the shoulder, and getting older, probably giving up too much distance.
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I would agree but for me when i have a slightly neg AoA ball flight is lower and straighter but since this driver launches low already a Neg AoA makes low shots a lot shorter
 
Brianbigoats said:
I would agree but for me when i have a slightly neg AoA ball flight is lower and straighter but since this driver launches low already a Neg AoA makes low shots a lot shorter
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Yea, that's the issue I have now... before the past few years, I was long enough that I could get away with hitting it a little negative. Not now.
 
It amazing what 2° of launch can do for a driver. Especially this driver!
 
I finally bought a SLDR head off a fellow THPer and had a chance to test it out in a simulator today. I was recently fitted in the SLDR with the shaft in my signature. At the fitting, I was hitting my R1 very well with the same shaft, so I figured I could switch out the heads while swinging the same shaft, as the adaptors are interchangeable.

A good question to ask me is why exactly am I trying to switch to the SLDR when the R1 has been one of my favorite clubs ever and exponentially increased my FIR? My answer would be I'm not sure. I really liked how the SLDR felt at the fitting and my numbers were much better across the board, so I suppose I'm interested in finding out whether I can improve my tee game even more. If it doesn't work out, switching back to the R1 will be effortless. In fact, the R1 head will stay in my golf bag, in case of emergency.

At any rate, the first 10 minutes hitting were not all that good. I was over swinging with excitement, but even good contact was slicing off right. I threw some impact tape on the face and realize I was hitting towards the heel (just had a lesson on this; I end way up on my toes at impact, shifting my weight and the clubhead in that direction. Again, overexcitement). I tried to ramp up the loft to 12* and couldn't even hit the ball. It was a head scratcher, but I tend to relax and swing better as I warm up, so I kept at it and finally starting seeing the numbers I saw at my fitting. I was getting more distance than I see with my R1 and everything was staying in the center, some with a draw bias. With that, I decided to play 9 holes at Oakmont, but was still seeing a lot of horizontal movement, albeit distance was acceptable. I toyed with the sliding weight a little as well and started seeing better dispersion. Then for comparison sake, I switched to the R1 and could tell my swing was some what off in the first instance. The R1, however, guided me to the fairway (with distance loss), showing its forgiveness even with my off swings.

I decided to go back to the range and work on the SLDR a little more to see if I could get a feel for the club. Finally, I found a groove, as my swing was much more relaxed and the impact tape showed I was making center contact. There more than a few that didn't register on the sim for whatever reason that were right on the screws, so it sucked I couldn't get the numbers from those shots. Regardless, I found the ball flight to be much stronger than I see with the R1, resulting in much more roll out. It was definitely mid to high flight, which was at the 11* setting.

Generally, I chalked all of this up to some getting-to-know-you time with the SLDR. I actually hit drivers better outside than on a sim for whatever reason, so I'm interested to take it outside and get the loft and weights in the right spot for me to see how it performs. It's a powerful feeling driver to me with a very simplistic adjustment system. Of course it is less forgiving than many other drivers because of the CG so forward and I suspect this will be the biggest factor in whether I will game the SLDR or not. If I'm able find a consistent swing and unleash its potential like I did on occasion today, my tee game will go up a notch. If side to side dispersion continues to be severe and as frequent as I saw today, then I'm likely staying with the R1.
 
I'm with you Philly. R1 has been phenomenal for me, but I'm always looking for something better. Picked up a SLDR and have played one round with it, with very little range time. I found myself wishing the R1 was in the bag the entire round, but I think it's just too new. Need to spend some more time with it and see if I can work out the kinks. Early season swing certainly doesn't help either.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
I finally bought a SLDR head off a fellow THPer and had a chance to test it out in a simulator today. I was recently fitted in the SLDR with the shaft in my signature. At the fitting, I was hitting my R1 very well with the same shaft, so I figured I could switch out the heads while swinging the same shaft, as the adaptors are interchangeable.

A good question to ask me is why exactly am I trying to switch to the SLDR when the R1 has been one of my favorite clubs ever and exponentially increased my FIR? My answer would be I'm not sure. I really liked how the SLDR felt at the fitting and my numbers were much better across the board, so I suppose I'm interested in finding out whether I can improve my tee game even more. If it doesn't work out, switching back to the R1 will be effortless. In fact, the R1 head will stay in my golf bag, in case of emergency.

At any rate, the first 10 minutes hitting were not all that good. I was over swinging with excitement, but even good contact was slicing off right. I threw some impact tape on the face and realize I was hitting towards the heel (just had a lesson on this; I end way up on my toes at impact, shifting my weight and the clubhead in that direction. Again, overexcitement). I tried to ramp up the loft to 12* and couldn't even hit the ball. It was a head scratcher, but I tend to relax and swing better as I warm up, so I kept at it and finally starting seeing the numbers I saw at my fitting. I was getting more distance than I see with my R1 and everything was staying in the center, some with a draw bias. With that, I decided to play 9 holes at Oakmont, but was still seeing a lot of horizontal movement, albeit distance was acceptable. I toyed with the sliding weight a little as well and started seeing better dispersion. Then for comparison sake, I switched to the R1 and could tell my swing was some what off in the first instance. The R1, however, guided me to the fairway (with distance loss), showing its forgiveness even with my off swings.

I decided to go back to the range and work on the SLDR a little more to see if I could get a feel for the club. Finally, I found a groove, as my swing was much more relaxed and the impact tape showed I was making center contact. There more than a few that didn't register on the sim for whatever reason that were right on the screws, so it sucked I couldn't get the numbers from those shots. Regardless, I found the ball flight to be much stronger than I see with the R1, resulting in much more roll out. It was definitely mid to high flight, which was at the 11* setting.

Generally, I chalked all of this up to some getting-to-know-you time with the SLDR. I actually hit drivers better outside than on a sim for whatever reason, so I'm interested to take it outside and get the loft and weights in the right spot for me to see how it performs. It's a powerful feeling driver to me with a very simplistic adjustment system. Of course it is less forgiving than many other drivers because of the CG so forward and I suspect this will be the biggest factor in whether I will game the SLDR or not. If I'm able find a consistent swing and unleash its potential like I did on occasion today, my tee game will go up a notch. If side to side dispersion continues to be severe and as frequent as I saw today, then I'm likely staying with the R1.
Click to expand...

I love how you mentioned the over swinging with excitement because that was exactly what I went through in the beginning. Heck, it still happens. If a hole fits my eye and I'm feeling good, it's so hard to not over swing
 
If I didn't like the R1 at all, would I hate the SLDR?

R11 and Burner 2.0 TP were a long time my favorite drivers, but when I tried the R1 it just didn't work. I really want to love the SLDR but I have only hit it once, with the stock shaft, so I can't say that much yet.
 
Castor Hades said:
If I didn't like the R1 at all, would I hate the SLDR?
Click to expand...

I would say no. They're pretty different drivers IMO, in terms of feel, sound, weighting and looks. The SLDR feels much like a classic driver to me, along the lines of the Titleist 909 series, whereas the R1 is kind of its own animal.
 
Castor Hades said:
If I didn't like the R1 at all, would I hate the SLDR?

R11 and Burner 2.0 TP were a long time my favorite drivers, but when I tried the R1 it just didn't work. I really want to love the SLDR but I have only hit it once, with the stock shaft, so I can't say that much yet.
Click to expand...

Very different heads IMO.
 
Two completely different drivers imo. I've hit the R11, R11s and R1 and those were very similar imo. But the SLDR is a monster of it's own
 
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