Golf tech that missed the cut

[OGputtnfool]

Tell that to the golf balls that had covers stuck in the grooves back pre-groove rule days. Even now a wedge will chew up a golf ball.

Edit: Even in the Shiels video, the grooveless wedge generated half the spin that a grooved wedge did. And that was indoors off a very clean lie (hitting mat).

Ok

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[H8tobogie]

I recall TaylorMade had a foam filled set of irons that looked like a larger blade back in the 90's called a Burner I believe. They went away and now it seems everyone is doing these - very similar to the 790s.

 

[Paladin]

Flip Face putters
Toe UP putters
SLDR

I was thinking the whole #LoftUp campaign TM was doing just didn't do what it was intended. It didn't help that it was just as a lot of TaylorMade's business practices caught up with it. The end result was a bit of a mess as it became more apparent that low-forward CG just doesn't work for everyone. Though if I recall, SLDR was one of TM's best selling drivers.

 

[mikeg_74]

Golf tech that missed the cut

I was hesitant to mention the SLDR. As, I thought it wasn't a great fit for everyone, but did push the low spin weight forward idea. Now, we have drivers that can obtain super low spin while maintaining more moi.

But, their 17/1700 campaign was a little ridiculous.

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I was thinking on how they applies it and sold it to the consumer it was a miss imo, but I think it still did well for them riding the hype wave.

I was thinking the whole #LoftUp campaign TM was doing just didn't do what it was intended. It didn't help that it was just as a lot of TaylorMade's business practices caught up with it. The end result was a bit of a mess as it became more apparent that low-forward CG just doesn't work for everyone. Though if I recall, SLDR was one of TM's best selling drivers.

That’s where I was coming from. The whole campaign was misleading (while intentions were good) they painted the golfer into a specific corner that didn’t fit for everyone. I think it sold well, but was more hype than performance for many.

 

[Paladin]

I was thinking on how they applies it and sold it to the consumer it was a miss imo, but I think it still did well for them riding the hype wave.



That’s where I was coming from. The whole campaign was misleading (while intentions were good) they painted the golfer into a specific corner that didn’t fit for everyone. I think it sold well, but was more hype than performance for many.

I agree. It's not that the tech was poor, and it's not that the aesthetics were bad, or anything else, but I think the technology didn't work for everyone and it came at a terrible time for TaylorMade. In fairness, I can certainly draw a technological line from the SLDR to the current M5 without much effort, so it's hard to say that it missed the cut in that regard, but I think the #LoftUp part of their marketing just didn't gain much traction.

 

[pattyboy21]

You mean like in my Stroke Lab putter?

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No, I had a driver with a small head on it back in the late 90's or early 00's. I think the actual brand of the club was Bi-Metal (though I can't find any sign of it on the internet, and not to be confused with Orlimar, Cobra, Intec and others that had bimetal and trimetal drivers). It was a sweet driver and the shaft felt awesome.

I think it had kind of a mirrored face and the graphite portion of the shaft was bright blue. Haha - that reminds me of another technology as I traded a Titleist 972D driver with a "Black Ice" face coating for the driver I'm talking about. Not sure what the Black Ice was supposed to do...