I'm at 12° and I love it.
Also, adding loft to am SLDR will close the face. Not open it.
TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread
I'm at 12° and I love it.
Also, adding loft to am SLDR will close the face. Not open it.
Brianbigoats
Active member
The 12* and 14* heads are great I prefer the squarer face when it is set at neutral when i loft up my 10.5 the face close and i end up more left than normal
silversnakes
New member
Oh wow, my b. When I was lofting up I also slid the weight to a more centered position with respect to the club face (between Neutral and Fade) and didn't notice balls going any more left. In fact, I had more of a fade on the ball- possibly from my OTT move, or a felt effect of the sliding weight...
HuntGolfVols
New member
Hit one today...I'll keep my Amp cell
Go Big Orange
Go Big Orange
silversnakes
New member
What shaft was on the SLDR? Stock 57g Speeder? I wouldn't like that set-up either.
HuntGolfVols
New member
BigCountryStein
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I've skimmed bits and pieces of this thread and it seems like the jury is still out as far as love or hate on this driver. I was just fit for one myself and I'll give my two cents on it. The first time I hit the SLDR I was really happy with it. I hit my friend's 9.5 head with stock stiff shaft and still saw a stable ball flight, despite my tendency to have a quicker transition from the top. It looked nice, very reasonable shape on the crown, nothing super weird which I like. The SLDR decal at the rear of the crown was a nice touch IMO. Once I was fit in to the driver I have now, my performance was a lot better. My "misses" weren't as bad as I thought they'd be and were still very playable, give me chances to save the hole and kept it in play. When my swing is on, the SLDR bombs the ball. It is really long to say the least. The sound isn't the greatest, but it's better than other heads I've played in the past by far. All in all, as said before in this thread, it isn't for everyone. But if it is for you, I'm sure it won't be leaving the bag for a while.
Fwiw - I think the jury is in. Some love it and some hate it.
-CRW-
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I've read a lot about the SLDR badge coming off of the driver head on early versions of the club, but that it was supposedly corrected by TM. Any of you experience this, or have drivers purchased in early 2014 that do/don't have issues with the badge peeling off?
I have no issues and I purchased my driver in February.
-CRW-
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That's good to hear. When I tried out the stock shafts at Golfsmith every club in the fitting kit had a badge that was either peeling or missing. That would not be a deal breaker for me, but would definitely be annoying.
allsportscoach
Active member
so far I love my sldr i still tee it same height as i do with all drivers and havent touched the settings, I eventually may lower tee height and mess with settings just for fun but so far no need to touch anything, just setup and swing, it's as long as any driver i've hit, and miss hits go good as well, I have no numbers or anything just on course play,
mark blanchard
New member
To catch up a bit after lots of good comments from others:
Bits falling off: I have never heard of a SLDR badge falling off, but I have seen the port cover on the far end of the "fade" side of the slider port fall off. That's why it is screwed on in the tour issued models.
Height: I'm actually starting to hit higher shots with mine now that I am getting used to it. Don't know why, I haven't changed the settings. It is a 12 degree, set to neutral, two notches to draw. I address with the club slightly closed. Yesterday I had my usual assortment of straights and slight pushes that don't curve at all and couple of draw/hooks that curve less than with my other club. I'm not sure what I think of the higher shots yet, but if I dial it down, I'd probably also adjust my slider bar further to draw to compensate for the open face. I can tell you that with my old 9.5 SLDR, I could not dial it up high enough. Even at 11 it was too low.
Two things I'm coming to accept with this club: 1) I cannot tell how far ANY shot will go. I've had nutted shots not go very far and mishits that went 20 yards farther than expected. 2) When it curves, it curves far less than with my other club. I'm confident now that instead of finding the treeline, it'll just be in the rough. That's a comfort.
I agree with that other poster who says that he's getting more comfortable with the club. I am too and I'm finding the sound is either changing or I'm getting used to it. In the beginning I heard a lot of broken bell clangs. Now I hear a lot more of solid anvil strikes. I'm swinging at it harder because I have more confidence that I'm not going to lose it in an unexpected direction. But I'm getting a bit wilder, so I might have to dial it back a bit.
Bits falling off: I have never heard of a SLDR badge falling off, but I have seen the port cover on the far end of the "fade" side of the slider port fall off. That's why it is screwed on in the tour issued models.
Height: I'm actually starting to hit higher shots with mine now that I am getting used to it. Don't know why, I haven't changed the settings. It is a 12 degree, set to neutral, two notches to draw. I address with the club slightly closed. Yesterday I had my usual assortment of straights and slight pushes that don't curve at all and couple of draw/hooks that curve less than with my other club. I'm not sure what I think of the higher shots yet, but if I dial it down, I'd probably also adjust my slider bar further to draw to compensate for the open face. I can tell you that with my old 9.5 SLDR, I could not dial it up high enough. Even at 11 it was too low.
Two things I'm coming to accept with this club: 1) I cannot tell how far ANY shot will go. I've had nutted shots not go very far and mishits that went 20 yards farther than expected. 2) When it curves, it curves far less than with my other club. I'm confident now that instead of finding the treeline, it'll just be in the rough. That's a comfort.
I agree with that other poster who says that he's getting more comfortable with the club. I am too and I'm finding the sound is either changing or I'm getting used to it. In the beginning I heard a lot of broken bell clangs. Now I hear a lot more of solid anvil strikes. I'm swinging at it harder because I have more confidence that I'm not going to lose it in an unexpected direction. But I'm getting a bit wilder, so I might have to dial it back a bit.
What's silly, the higher my tee shots seem to go, the farther the drive. The idea that a low piercing flight is better doesn't work for me with this club.
Brianbigoats
Active member
I got mine in Oct 2013 so mine is an early version i have had no issues with the badge what so ever
Brianbigoats
Active member
Jury is in for me it works great
The SLDR seems to work for you or not so some love it some hate it not many in the middle ground
BigCountryStein
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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread
Sorry guys, I worded that poorly. All I meant by the "jury being out" was that there wasn't much middle ground when it came to the SLDR, but you can count me in as one of the guys in love... So far
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sorry guys, I worded that poorly. All I meant by the "jury being out" was that there wasn't much middle ground when it came to the SLDR, but you can count me in as one of the guys in love... So far
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Brianbigoats
Active member
No worries glad you love it
Every time i hit another driver it makes me realize how well the SLDR works for me
mark blanchard
New member
My experience with the SLDR is making me realize how foolish it is to choose a driver based on just a handful of simulator swings in a store.
This tuning and adjustment process is long and kinda slow. Each driver (and shaft) has its own slightly different requirements from your swing and it takes a while to get used to them and give the club what it needs. In trying to swing two clubs on every hole for comparisons sake (even heads that have the exact same shaft attached to them), I'm still seeing that I change my set up, takeaway and thought process for each club.
My first outing with the 9.5 SLDR last year was a bust. I never found a good loft and I didn't get my swing grooved with it. I hated it. This go round I seem to have found a loft that works and my swing is dropping into the groove. But heck, I'm going on 3 weeks and a dozen rounds and range sessions to find that groove. How can anyone know anything looking at numbers and colored lines on a screen for a half an hour?
This tuning and adjustment process is long and kinda slow. Each driver (and shaft) has its own slightly different requirements from your swing and it takes a while to get used to them and give the club what it needs. In trying to swing two clubs on every hole for comparisons sake (even heads that have the exact same shaft attached to them), I'm still seeing that I change my set up, takeaway and thought process for each club.
My first outing with the 9.5 SLDR last year was a bust. I never found a good loft and I didn't get my swing grooved with it. I hated it. This go round I seem to have found a loft that works and my swing is dropping into the groove. But heck, I'm going on 3 weeks and a dozen rounds and range sessions to find that groove. How can anyone know anything looking at numbers and colored lines on a screen for a half an hour?
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I have 7 heads and all are from the 1st batch TaylorMade released (pre-release) and not a single one has come out. I asked them about this when I saw the post earlier. THey have not had any come back (that they know of off hand) with this issue either. This could very well be from "interesting" care from golfers.
Tadashi70
Well-known member
I saw this in action today and a few things stood out. 1. It's a fairway finder 2. Flush hits are just as good as any driver in the market 3. Miss hits are 35 yards am average drive but in the fairway.
There is something to be said about finding the short stuff and keeping up with the guys in your group. But the distance lose on toe or heal hits is a bit staggering.
There is something to be said about finding the short stuff and keeping up with the guys in your group. But the distance lose on toe or heal hits is a bit staggering.
I feel as if this is directed at me... Oh wait! Haha!
It's taken a good bit of effort to get this one to work for me, but a ton of range time and some work on my swing I have found a bit of success with it. Interesting enough from today, as soon as I missed out on the toe, all 3 of the guys instantly said it/knew it. The results from center of the face hits to shots out on the toe are night and day different...unlike anything I have ever gamed before.
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Yeah, it was pretty eye opening and FWIW similar to everything we have said in this thread from the beginning. When you miss, the punishment is pretty darn severe. However as you stated, people have a tendency to either never miss in this thread, or forget the misses pretty darn quickly. :angel: