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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

SuperStroke
Crw. If I gave you a blank shaft that had a torque of 2.7 and one with 2.9 I would be very surprised if you could tell me which was which.
 
War Eagle said:
Ridiculously confident in this club this morning. Some range time and straight to the course and not sure what did it, but this is clicking for me right now.

Confidence in the tee is what I always look for to spark my game, an right now, I am hammering the SLDR. All 14* of lofted uppness.
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^this

enjoy the ride... and keep us posted!

does this deserve #OutingApproved?!?!?
 
blugold said:
Crw. If I gave you a blank shaft that had a torque of 2.7 and one with 2.9 I would be very surprised if you could tell me which was which.
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I know I could NOT. I could tell you if it felt whippy or more like a board. I tend to perform better in the accuracy category with shafts that feel like rebar. I may be sacrificing distance with shafts like that though.

I didn't post the study to argue with anyone. It's not a study to see if people could determine the torque on a blacked out shaft. However, their test revealed that torque was very important in determining the right shaft in a fitting. More so than flex.
 
Links to sites that do not honor embargo dates unfortunately must be removed.

And FWIW I will take live thpers conducting tests on actual golf courses with launch monitors at one of the 15 events held here over a handful of guys hitting on a simulator.

Truly just my take however. I tend to side with actual testing and #OutingApproved type of things more often than not. Definitely not a knock on anybody looking around for info. Knowledge is power.
 
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I just traded mine in. I couldn't hit it well. if I pured it, yes it was very long but I had an extremely difficult time shaping shots. In all fairness this was also with the stock stiff shaft that I know for a fact is not good for me. I had the face set open and the weight all the way on fade so I could hit it straight. off center hits imo were not forgiving..at all. maybe if I reshafted it I may have had better luck with it but to pay 400 bucks for a driver and then invest another 125 for a good shaft and hoping I like it didn't seem like a good idea. im using the big bertha which even with the stock shaft feels better than the sldr on a good day
 
bogeybrain said:
I just traded mine in. I couldn't hit it well. if I pured it, yes it was very long but I had an extremely difficult time shaping shots. In all fairness this was also with the stock stiff shaft that I know for a fact is not good for me. I had the face set open and the weight all the way on fade so I could hit it straight. off center hits imo were not forgiving..at all. maybe if I reshafted it I may have had better luck with it but to pay 400 bucks for a driver and then invest another 125 for a good shaft and hoping I like it didn't seem like a good idea. im using the big bertha which even with the stock shaft feels better than the sldr on a good day
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I think you hit the nail on the head. When I demo'ed a bunch of clubs the SLDR face gave me the most distance, but the shaft (speeder 57 stiff) was just too inconsistent. Conversely the shafts on x2hot pro/BB Alpha agreed with me... specifically the Adila tour green and the fubuki zt60. I took a bit of a risk in buying a fubuki zt60 fitted with a TM adapter, but it made all the difference in the world with my dispersion.

Bummer this driver didn't work out for you, but the good news is there are hundreds of driver/shaft combinations that probably will. Happy hunting!
 
JB said:
Most amateurs cant. and of course the lack of standard in testing and it's a number that is common to be discussed on the interwebz for some reason and every time we have tested groups of them to determine if they could tell high and low torque it confirmed the above.

but then again so did a whole lot more with shafts and amateurs.
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I have hit a few clubs with the same shaft and flex but different torque and felt no difference to me the bend profile is more important to me when choosing a shaft


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have been openly critical about the SLDR from TaylorMade since it was released. I have gamed the SLDR off and on, in multiple different lofts... 10.5*, 12* and now, 14*.

This is not a forgiving driver. Lateral misses across the face result in very penalizing results. Having had the 14* SLDR in my possession for just over a month now, I have come to learn that in order to game this one with some sort of resemblance of a decent tee shot, I had to take a look at what I am trying to accomplish when swinging the driver.

I have spent more time on the range working on my driver swing in the past month than I have ever before. I know what my swing flaw is with the big stick, and I have always just "found a way to play it." With the SLDR, I could find no way to play it. So, off to work I went.

Being critical of this driver, I always focused on the misses across the face of the club, specifically on misses out on the toe. Those shots, well, they sucked. Like, made me not want to carry a driver type of sucked. Putting in some work with the 14* SLDR, I have minimized my miss on the toe, and have found that my new miss is high/low on the face, which with this driver isnt nearly as penal as the miss on the toe.

After a few rounds and some range sessions, I finally had a break through with this one today. I was confident with it in my hand, and was hitting some absolute bombs off the tee (#beagsbombs). My shot was predicitable, and I was comfortable pulling the driver whenever I needed to. I pulled it 10 times today, and hit 9/10 fairways with it. My one miss was small, and still resulted in being setup decent for my second shot. I was actually eager to keep pulling this one from the bag to see if I was going to stay dialed in with it. I was.

My critcism of this club is still there. Most golfers are probably better suited playing something else over this one that offers more forgiving properties than what the SLDR can give you. However, when finding the sweet spot and finding a swing that is in tune with what I need, this club absolutely delivers. Yes, the misses are still there at times. No, its not the best driver I have ever gamed. But, with a good bit of work and patience, I am pretty pumped up that I am gaming this one with confidence heading in to the #THPMC.
 
Talk about a purely honest post right there. Glad you are working though the issues and now seeing the results of all that work. What length are you playing this at right now? I know we talked in the past about playing one at a much shorter length than the stock setup to help get that desired contact position.
 
Great post there RyJo, truly.
 
ddec said:
Talk about a purely honest post right there. Glad you are working though the issues and now seeing the results of all that work. What length are you playing this at right now? I know we talked in the past about playing one at a much shorter length than the stock setup to help get that desired contact position.
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44.5", took an inch off the stock shaft.
 
And to think some have said there isn't truly honest feedback on here...... They need to read that post. Great stuff War, I liked reading through that as the sldr seems to be hit or miss with people. I haven't spent much time with it but it's cool to see what some tinkering and practice time can do
 
War Eagle said:
44.5", took an inch off the stock shaft.
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Nice. I think I am taking some off mine tonight. Honestly my last 2 times out with it haven't been bad since I took it out of time out. Yesterday I did have one that looked like a bird getting shot down though.
 
I'm excited for #beagsbombs to become a thing.
 
Evok said:
And to think some have said there isn't truly honest feedback on here...... They need to read that post. Great stuff War, I liked reading through that as the sldr seems to be hit or miss with people. I haven't spent much time with it but it's cool to see what some tinkering and practice time can do
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Just calling it as I see it dude.
 
JB said:
Links to sites that do not honor embargo dates unfortunately must be removed.

And FWIW I will take live thpers conducting tests on actual golf courses with launch monitors at one of the 15 events held here over a handful of guys hitting on a simulator.

Truly just my take however. I tend to side with actual testing and #OutingApproved type of things more often than not. Definitely not a knock on anybody looking around for info. Knowledge is power.
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This is why some people comment about favoritism on THP. I get it, your site - your rules. And if there is a concern with the integrity of people running a particular site I wouldn't want to be affiliated with them either. BUT, the link has nothing to do with violating embargo dates, and counters your point with data. It doesn't mean they are right, but it's a little irresponsible to say that I'll trust THP'ers over "some guys on a monitor". When in fact the THP'ers are just some guys on a monitor too. Same can be said about all the snide comments from people about "Internet golfers" and now the idea of "we don't care about/believe/agree with anything you say" because someone isn't "outing approved".

I joined this site because of the complaints I read about other forum sites being this way. I'm wondering if I made the wrong choice. I'm not a member of any other online golf forum yet so I have no bias here. Just expressing the perception and don't want people to believe that perception is reality.
 
I understand your thoughts. I wont argue with them, because that is not what we do here. We urge for people to read and gain knowledge.
We dont however allow links to sites that do not honor simple rules that let us host amazing events.
FWIW, try going to the site you went to and even mentioning this site.
We believe we are the most lax of the large golf communities out there. THP also offers more contests, forum testings, etc than any other place. We are also the ONLY place out there with events such as what we offer, nevermind 15 of them. The only place with a Tour Van traveling to host them as well.

I dont post this to get a pat on the back or anything else. We have 2 simple rules that we ask every THPer to follow.

No personal attacks.
And no links to places that do not honor embargo dates.

Then GG has her own rule.
Don't be a D-Bag or suffer her wrath (her words, not mine).

We believe that is extremely fair and love nothing more than honest feedback, opinions and conversation. We do not think not allowing a select few links to be posted takes away from that.
 
I don't think JB has ever said that torque rating doesn't matter. Just that amateur golfers cannot decipher if a shaft is low or high. And an amateur specifically cannot detect 2 hundredths of a rating.
 
JB said:
Then GG has her own rule.
Don't be a D-Bag or suffer her wrath (her words, not mine).
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Not to make light...

but lol... that's a good rule:alien:
 
rallo said:
Not to make light...

but lol... that's a good rule:alien:
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Its her rule, not mine. Then again, she is the boss and owner of this place.
 
You need a Houston event next year so I can be outing approved. I get jumped on a lot here for commenting on what actually works for me in real settings with monitors with instructors with professional golf careers. I understand that most golfers aren't 250 pounds and built like linebackers. But when I comment on things that have worked for me it's solely to try and help anyone that might benefit because they are similar to me in build, flexibility, skill, etc. But because I haven't made an event yet, the site staff and regulars are quick to attempt to refute. Perhaps something didn't work for the refuter because he is 150 pounds and plays with more flexibility and finesse.

Contention is not for me. I have enough stress in life. So hopefully this thread can get back on track. I expect to make a decision on the SLDR and shaft by the end of next weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to post some results the following week.
 
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