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TaylorMade SLDR Driver - Review Thread

SuperStroke
Ground has finally firmed up here in WI after a crazy wet June. I am finally starting to see some of the lower spin rollout with my SLDR. I have had to pull 3 wood on 2 par 5s at my home course instead of driver because I rolled the ball into the creek that crosses about 310 out.
 
I love my new combo! SLDR & Tour AD DI!

yramadyv.jpg
 
bobcat said:
Below is an attached pic of a "Masters Edition" Tour-issued SLDR Driver showing the Toe Screw. You can find more pics on ebay by seraching Tour issue SLDR Drivers. Don't buy a Tour-issued SLDR unless it has the toe screw.
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What's so special about the toe screw? It's a tamper resistant screw...
 
captaincaution said:
What's so special about the toe screw? It's a tamper resistant screw...
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell nothing. All SLDR have the hole there to add hotmelt if necessary and can be plugged with the screw instead of the cap most have glued in place.
 
bobcat said:
Below is an attached pic of a "Masters Edition" Tour-issued SLDR Driver showing the Toe Screw. You can find more pics on ebay by seraching Tour issue SLDR Drivers. Don't buy a Tour-issued SLDR unless it has the toe screw.
Click to expand...
The only difference between the Tour and Retail version is the toe screw which if you really like you can add yourself just remove the plate and put inn the same screw as the Adapter.
 
GolfFest said:
As far as I can tell nothing. All SLDR have the hole there to add hotmelt if necessary and can be plugged with the screw instead of the cap most have glued in place.
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You are correct the screw is in so that the plate will not fall of during a tournament it happened to CHIII and was deemed an adjustment to his club mid round and he was Disqualified from a tournament
 
captaincaution said:
What's so special about the toe screw? It's a tamper resistant screw...
Click to expand...


Yeah, Charles Howell III actually was disqualified when his weight cover and presumably the weight beneath fell off during PGA Tour play, making the club illegal and non-conforming under the rules. (Cannot change a club's weighting during the round).

After that, TM decided to go with the toe weight screw to ensure that kind of thing would never happen again with their SLDR Tour issued Drivers. Too bad they didn't make the change to the Retail versions too, but hopeully the newer ones latch more securely. However if you do remove the cap for a weight change, keep in mind it may loosen the latch a bit. Make sure it is securely fastened with the little latch.
 
Captaincaution and Brianbigoats....

You can review post# 2217 to understand the other differences...there's a bit more to it than just the toe screw and a different shaft adaptor even though those are the most obvious differences.

However be advised if you wanted to make the same kind of changes mentiond in post# 2217 you could do this with a Retail SLDR Driver. There are places where you can send it to have that kind of work done. Whether or not its worth the money for an average player to to consider such sophisticated tweaking is another queston entirely. The average player is much less likely to reap the same benefits as a Tour Player does. It also requires some time and likely more "fitting" to get the tweaks just right, and should you ever decide to change shafts, (either shaftweight or shaft length, you would likely need to re-tweak everything all over again.
 
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Left Hand shaft adapter solved. Called TM today they are sending me a new shaft with the right hand adapter and when I GET IT WILL return the shaft with the Left handed adapter in same box.

Hit my new sldr 12 at range quite a bit today. Still do not notice significant forgiveness issue, maybe there is a little less forgiveness than my R11S, but I WOULD NOT VIEW THAT AS A REASON TO NOT CONSIDER THE SLDR . It is plenty long, the range ground conditions are hard so hard for me to determine if there is extra rollout. My last 3 taylor drivers have been amazing in my view, 8.5 super tri, then 9 R11, THEN 9 R11S, each time I changed there was just a tad better performance. I feel the SLDR is a little longer, 5 to 7 yards. I have the 12 degree and will most likely have a setting at 12 or 12.5. The fact that 12.5 is in the mix was viewed by me as not likely since I always used lower lofted drivers and never have had low trajectory problems.

The biggest miss I am seeing with the SLDR ( this does not happen often) but it can happen. When my hands are a little open and not quite square at impact ( I can feel that immediately) it tends to start a little right and generally go right from there. "Unlike" my other Taylor made drivers when this error occurs the Sldr drifts right at least 10- 15 yards more and would bring a forest, OB or water on the right into play, not good.
Other than that the SLDR IS A VERY GOOD DRIVER, to early to tell when it will beat out my R11S, need to bag it on the course.
 
bobcat said:
I don't think size or "footprint" has anything to do with any perceived lack of forgiveness in the SLDR series. Any loss of forgiveness,(MOI), would be due to weight having been moved low and forward in the SLDR design. OEM's for years have placed more weight rearward in the head to increase MOI, (forgiveness), but that also tends to increase dynamic loft and produce added spin.

The Tour Players using SLDR Drivers actually have their Tour-issued heads "tweaked" for less weight in the forward area which then allows some extra weight (hot melt), to be added in the rear of the head to increase MOI, (forgiveness).

The "toe screw" which is found on the Tour-issue heads only, allows the weight located beneath the little "metallic cover" to be easily replaced with a lighter weight. The "slider weight" which is 20 grams, (including the 4 gram blue cap), for the Retail models is usually modified to contain less weight on Tour-issued heads. In addition to making room for increased weight rearward, (MOI), these weighting modifications also allow for precise swingweighting due to shaft weight and shaft length. Tour Players tend to use stiffer, heavier shafts with lower torqe numbers for more control.

Despite what TM might want the consumer to believe, there are these subtle differences between the Tour-issued SLDR's and the SLDR's we acquire from our local Retailers.

Also, well before the SLDR series came along, Tour Players, (thanks to the Tour Vans), were able to have weight moved around inside their clubheads to achieve very precise spin rates and launch angles, (i.e. the "perfect fitting"). Moving weight around the way the SLDR had done may seem new to us, but it is nothing new to them.

Unfortunately even with a good club fitter, the fitting process is still somewhat of a "hit-or-miss" proposition for most of us. We obviously don't have access to all the Tour Van's highly precise tweaking options. That said, our swings are not as consistent as a Tour Players either, so one could argue that such precise tweaking would probably be a bit of an "overkill" as we can't take full advantage due to our imperfect and inconsistent swings. Compared to Tour Players we are all just "Hackers" but there's certainly nothing wrong with that!

:dohanim:
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From the factory the Retail and Tour are the exact same the Tour goes through more extensive testing to make sure it is is with in usga spec's and its measurements are know so that things can be adjust to the players specs you can get the lower weights and toe screw cover from TM just call them

As for changing MOI with hot melt each player on tour will be different some may like it further back some might be further forward but the change is not very big change hot melt is not that hard to do when you have the gun
 
I got a good range session in today with it. Overall I like it so far and am itching to get out on the course with it. I started out at 10.5° and played around with the loft and got the best flight at 9.5°. Just for fun I did put the matrix in for a few swings, didn't have a problem with the height but was very low spin. Had a couple range balls just drop straight out of the sky. The Kai'li is a bit more whippy than I am used to playing, but when I slow the tempo down a little it performed really well.

I didn't really feel it was all that unforgiving. Hard to judge distances with beat up range balls though the real test will be getting it out on the course. Saw very little side spin on any hit, which is great. Hitting side by side with the R1 it looked longer but I didn't have a way to measure anything. Looking forward to putting it through its paces..
 
Just got a SLDR as replacement for a busted R1. Never hit it until the first tee Tuesday morning and it a perfect 280 yard fade off the first tee. It continued delivering all day except for one smother hook but that was me not the club. It is subjective but I think it feels more muted off the middle of the face than the R1. That and the ball just explodes off the face on centre hits.

First impressions are that it is a better club and better sounding club than the R1 it replaces, and less complex to adjust as well.
 
I am hitting this thing 30+ yards further than anything before. A lot goes In to that. Being fit, changing my swing, and the SLDR. It took awhile for me to not hook the heck out of it but had an extremely impressive day yesterday with the driver. The problem was nothing else was impressive.
 
Hey guys, ok, so i'm in the process of buying the Taylormade SLDR driver.
I've demoed the 12.5 with the fujukura speeder 57 grams stiff on neutral settings and hit it fairly well.
I'm a consistent driver usually always down the middle off 5, but looking for an upgrade in distance and technology from my 9.5 degree r7 fujukura stiff which i have loved. But i have always found with the r7 that the hits off the toe go a little further as opposed to the sweet spot which often fades and overspins for me.

Basically, i want to know if this stock shaft (fujukura 57 stiff) is for me? as i have a 95/96mph swing. My local course doesn't have a swing analyser fitting setup, but i do know my swing speed is 95mph and i average around 235 yards off the tee, with a low ball flight.. looking to upgrade to 250 yards.

Any shaft advice/info would be greatly appreciated. Are there a range of shafts that are suitable for this driver?
 
I finally got this club figured out during my round yesterday. Most of my problem was my lower body getting way out in front of my hands, leading to an open face at impact. I don't know if the cause of that was the SLDR itself, a new shaft, or simply the fact I moved from a 400cc to 460cc head (or a little of all). But whatever the cause, I finally got the feel and modified my swing. Results were hitting 5 of 7 fairways on the back 9, with the two 'misses' due only to hitting the ball too far on my intended line. My worst miss was a 250 yard straight shot.

I still think the SLDR is one of the most finicky clubs I've ever hit, with the difference between draw, straight, and fade being vanishingly small. That's good and bad because if you're not on you can struggle hitting fairways, but, when I need a draw or fade, it is much easier for me to shape that shot without making exaggerated moves.

As for all the tour model adjustment discussion, I would bet most of us hackers aren't good enough to know the difference.
 
Hmmm, strange, a 14* came home with me. Crazy.
 
Jman said:
Hmmm, strange, a 14* came home with me. Crazy.
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Having good results with it Jman or are you going to be doing some testing perhaps haha
 
Just a fun little experiment courtesy of War.
 
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