Castor Hades
New member
Thanks guys. My encounter with both R1 and SLDR have been brief, so it's just pondering now, I'll try to get a decent session with the SLDR as soon as possible.
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Thanks guys. My encounter with both R1 and SLDR have been brief, so it's just pondering now, I'll try to get a decent session with the SLDR as soon as possible.
Some quick words of advice, trust the technology and trust the results. I've never hit a draw off the tee until the SLDR came along and I didn't trust the loft technology until I saw the results. And from personal experience, this isn't a club you wanna "go after" too much. Trust your swing and the bombs will follow
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.
Fitter did not mention using the other side of the shaft which gives an upright lie. According to the TM Tuning Guide this gives 250 rpm less spin at the same loft. Has any longer term users played around with this?
I noticed something odd. A steeper angle of attack has been giving me better results. Higher launch and manageable spin numbers. Almost as if the low forward CG makes the club act like an iron.
I can see why you would get higher launch, but what do you mean by manageable spin numbers? Higher or lower?
At my fitting on Friday I was seeing total spin numbers at just over 2000 and a launch angle at just under 12. Really excited for the upcoming year.
Great numbers with a great shaft pairing!!! Seeing some improved distances in carry and roll?
So far only in the digital world. This combo really did give me the best in carry and roll. Now if Winter would just let go I could give this thing a try on the course.
Just purchased a SLDR TP. Cannot wait to take this bad boy out to the course.
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As long as my data does not get worse I'll be happy. But, I would not mind the improvement if the numbers end up being better than on the monitor.What's also exciting is that my numbers and LM data were way worse than actually on a course. Maybe it's just me and my inability to hit well into monitors, but this was always a better performer on the course for me