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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

SuperStroke
TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

On a whim while at golf galaxy I hit the sldr 10.5 at 12 regular today and compared it to a g25 10.5 regular at 10. Difference of 20 yds carry distance in favor of the sldr. Launch for both was 16 degrees. Whoa. Then I went out to my car and grabbed my gamer, rbz 2 10.5 set at 12 regular. 15 yd carry difference bw those two in favor of the sldr. Ball speed was 6 mph higher on avg. And this was the 430cc head! Has me really rethinking my driver. Was not expecting it to be a for for me bc of my slow swing speed (83 mph).
 
natideac said:
On a whim while at golf galaxy I hit the sldr 10.5 at 12 regular today and compared it to a g25 10.5 regular at 10. Difference of 20 yds carry distance in favor of the sldr. Launch for both was 16 degrees. Whoa. Then I went out to my car and grabbed my gamer, rbz 2 10.5 set at 12 regular. 15 yd carry difference bw those two in favor of the sldr. Ball speed was 6 mph higher on avg. And this was the 430cc head! Has me really rethinking my driver. Was not expecting it to be a for for me bc of my slow swing speed (83 mph).
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I have not hit the 430 head yet but i think i might need to give it a whirl
 
I have the 430, so nice to go back to the smaller head size, just sits behind a ball so much nicer!
 
yoopergolfer said:
Picture005_zpsa46fbf80.jpg
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Thanks for posting the pic Yooper Golfer. A TM online chat fitter suggested the White Tie as the strongest candidate for me after sharing some launch numbers achieved with several different drivers with him. I have an appointment to try the SLDR with the White Tie and a few other shafts as well as a couple other makers drivers this weekend. I planned to get the GP Tour Wrap grips as they are my favs and was thinking if I did go White Tie I'd probably go with the white grips too. Thanks for providing a sneak peak to confirm the choice.
 
I was finally able to game this yesterday and today. It will be staying in the bag; impact felt and sounded much crisper than with the R1 and the more surprising thing for me was how forgiving it was on mis hits. My misses were pulls, but they managed to stay in bounds. Most of the time though, I was able to belt the ball where I wanted, with a nice high arcing flight that didn't get bothered at all by the wind. For all those reasons, the R1 will be close by as a back up, but the feel and performance of there SLDR has been great.
 
I finally got to hit the 430 yesterday and as much as I hate to say it it outperformed my R1 by 12 yards on average. My ss is around 105 mph. Here are my numbers that I was seeing on the launch monitor*

R1 w/ Speeder 6.2 ts stiff

Launch - 14.2* avg.
Spin - 2700 rpm avg.
Carry - 249 yds avg.
Total - 269 yds avg.

Sldr 430 w/ speeder 7.3 stiff
Launch - 13.4* avg.
Spin - 1900 avg.
Carry - 254 avg.
Total - 275 avg.

Sldr 430 w/ speeder 6.3 stiff
Launch - 13.7* avg.
Spin - 2100 avg.
Carry - 259 avg.
Total - 281 avg.*

Rocketing it from the hosel!
 
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Wow those are some pretty big gains the 10yrds carry could be huge on a soft course


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Jrodgers0622 said:
I finally got to hit the 430 yesterday and as much as I hate to say it it outperformed my R1 by 12 yards on average. My ss is around 105 mph. Here are my numbers that I was seeing on the launch monitor*

R1 w/ Speeder 6.2 ts stiff

Launch - 14.2* avg.
Spin - 2700 rpm avg.
Carry - 249 yds avg.
Total - 269 yds avg.

Sldr 430 w/ speeder 7.3 stiff
Launch - 13.4* avg.
Spin - 1900 avg.
Carry - 254 avg.
Total - 275 avg.

Sldr 430 w/ speeder 6.3 stiff
Launch - 13.7* avg.
Spin - 2100 avg.
Carry - 259 avg.
Total - 281 avg.*

Rocketing it from the hosel!
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Those numbers I don't think tell the whole story.

With the same ball speed of around 150mph, I would actually expect your R1 to carry further. To get the increased distance you did from from the SLDR (both 7.3 and 6.3), I guess your ball speed must have increased by a few mph over the R1 as well? Was that better smash factor? Were you swinging faster with the SLDR?
 
Brianbigoats said:
Wow those are some pretty big gains the 10yrds carry could be huge on a soft course


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10 yards is pretty good on an course.
 
mab13 said:
Those numbers I don't think tell the whole story.

With the same ball speed of around 150mph, I would actually expect your R1 to carry further. To get the increased distance you did from from the SLDR (both 7.3 and 6.3), I guess your ball speed must have increased by a few mph over the R1 as well? Was that better smash factor? Were you swinging faster with the SLDR?
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I didn't write down the ballspeed avg. but swing speed with the sldr was 1 mph faster. I am going up to PGA superstore on Friday and will conduct a full comparison of my current R1, sldr 430, and the xcg7 beta. I will post the results.

Rocketing it from the hosel!
 
Jrodgers0622 said:
I didn't write down the ballspeed avg. but swing speed with the sldr was 1 mph faster. I am going up to PGA superstore on Friday and will conduct a full comparison of my current R1, sldr 430, and the xcg7 beta. I will post the results.

Rocketing it from the hosel!
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I look forward to reading the results. :)
 
blugold said:
10 yards is pretty good on an course.
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True I was thinking about this time of year with soft course


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Brianbigoats said:
True I was thinking about this time of year with soft course


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Hehe "this time of year." I would give my middle chut to golf this time of year.
 
blugold said:
Hehe "this time of year." I would give my middle chut to golf this time of year.
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Sorry man


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Just a quick question. After seeing the commercial for this driver 100x today while watching the tourney on nbc they say that tour players use TM drivers more than all other companies combined. Is that true?? Just curious..


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Spring182 said:
Just a quick question. After seeing the commercial for this driver 100x today while watching the tourney on nbc they say that tour players use TM drivers more than all other companies combined. Is that true?? Just curious..


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There's usually a disclaimer with that. Might exclude certain companies or tours. Not just the PGA tour exclusively
 
What they don't tell you is tmag pays the highest tee money


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Tahokie said:
Can someone compare the 460 with the 430? How much less forgiving is the 430, etc...? I'm starting to look into one of these with a 7m3 vs 6.3/7.3... Thanks.
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Well...relatively speaking the sweet spot is bigger compared to the overall face area :\. It's not that much less forgiving. I like it, but I've yet to play a round with it.
 
blugold said:
Nobody says how much they pay for play.
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I was referring to one of the reasons why they are number one on tour if TM give you cash no matter where you finish for some of the fringe pros who don't have full bag deal the tee up money is extra icing I have talked to a few pros I know they said TM payed 20-30% higher than the next closest


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This is one swing. Indoors on a Foresight launch monitor. But, I like what the machine told me.

sajyhujy.jpg
 
blugold said:
This is one swing. Indoors on a Foresight launch monitor. But, I like what the machine told me.

sajyhujy.jpg
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Pretty ideal numbers there.
 
blugold said:
This is one swing. Indoors on a Foresight launch monitor. But, I like what the machine told me.

sajyhujy.jpg
Click to expand...

Crazy low spin was that with your 430? What loft?
 
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