Taylormade SLDR. Falling out of love with it.

[Dave B]

I had the R1 which was superb when I first set it up however after a back injury my baby fade turned into an inconsistent fade/slice. Ok lets close the face up the loft and the tinkering began.

A few months and lessons later the R1 went and I've gone back to a non adjustable driver and everything is back on track.

Over the last few years I've tried quite a few drivers and shafts, gone through the fitting process and to be honest if you find a driver you get on with, stick with it. There is a great deal of marketing and BS spoken about drivers but the simple truth is if you try a few and find one that suits you, chances are it will be within 10 yds of the rest.

If you're a low handicap player who can cream the ball 250 yds average you may pick up a few yds by going the custom route. For the average Joe Bloggs if you have the right shaft flex and loft you'll be lucky to find an extra 10 yds distance but beware with the longer shafts its often detrimental to dispersion.

 

[G1BB0]

confidence young padawan.

I got my R1 last year (yes I am still using it!) and was hitting it sweet for around 6 or 7 month, had a few lessons to 'improve' my swing and went backwards. Lost confidence in the driver and ended up a bag of nerves on the tee because of it.

It wasnt the club it was me. I am now practicing up the range every other day to inspire confidence so when i tee it up I am not thinking where will this bloody go!

friday I hit about 20 drives and every one was a slight fade but within 20 yds of each other and all clearing the 200 marker comfortably. I am not resting on that as until i do it every session i know it isnt cured but the more I do then the more confident I will be on the course.

Maybe take it out of the bag for rounds and just put some effort in up the range and introduce it back gradually.


Or failing that go get a G20

 

[Odvan]

Oh no you didn't. Why not just walk up to a lion and poke him with a stick

After your comments on Tiger earlier, Hovis, I have now forgiven you

 

[Tashyboy]

I believe this is due to the forward COG on the SLDR its great for reducing spin but not so good for keeping the club stable on off centre hits. Your old Ping driver would have been more forgiving on off centre hits.

Now that is said in plain simple English, I read a couple of hours ago the cog in SLDRs and how it's different in the Ping G30.
But could not get my head around what it meant. The comment re confidence and where it's gonna go off the tee, Yup that's me at the moment.

 

[G1BB0]

the thing is, if it worked before theres no reason it shouldnt now! Something has changed physically which is affecting you mentally.

You could just be trying to skin it chasing the extra yards its supposed to give

 

[Imurg]

The only time I ever fell out with a club is when my draw biased Ping G15 kept putting me in the left rough, even with a decent swing. I was glad to see the back of that as the bias was too strong.

Err...so the club was wrong, not the clown on the other end.......?

It's too easy to just say that the club isn't at fault. If your swing needs a 14° stiff fade bias and your club is a 9° regular draw then the club IS wrong.......
Clubs like the SLDR need to be fitted, in fact most do these days to get the best out of them.

 

[Alex1975]

Now that is said in plain simple English, I read a couple of hours ago the cog in SLDRs and how it's different in the Ping G30.
But could not get my head around what it meant. The comment re confidence and where it's gonna go off the tee, Yup that's me at the moment.

As as has been said, the SLDR is a lot of things but it does want hitting out of the centre. Just as a swing thought, knowing that your best chance of a good one is to strike it well rather than rip it should help.

 

[patricks148]

It's all very well everyone saying it's not the club, it's the person holding it, but the SLDR more than any other club to date is one that definitely needs a good understanding of how it works to get the most out of it........if you play a 9 degree driver and just pick up a 9 degree SLDR, then the chances are you won't get the most out of it and will struggle.
I've seen it a few times already where guys have said they can't hit their new SLDR. Typically they have 9 degree drivers. I give them a go with mine (12 degrees) and they bomb it........LOFT up really does work with the SLDR....

Ps, if you've already got the 12 degree, then Ignore what I just said and get a lesson!! :rofl:

I used a 9.5 deg driver, and now have a 9.5 deg SDLR, hit it fine not much diff in the flight. Just looks better at Address to me than the Callaway.

 

[Maninblack4612]

I had a gud 9 holes a couple of weeks ago but I put that down to the ball and nowt else.

What on earth does that mean?

You say the SLDR gave you on average an extra 15 yards. Are you, as a 24 handicapper, that consistent that you can tell that? I think​​​ my SLDR gives me a few more yards but in all honesty the length of my drives vary so much I'm not sure, not within 15 yards certainly.

I think any​​ golfer can pick up any driver with roughly the right loft & flex & hit pretty good shots with it. I think it's much more likely to be a fault in your swing which wasn't there when you were hitting it well. Without wanting to sound patronising a 24 handicap player will not perform that differently with any equipment that is approximately right for his swingspeed and the way he hits the ball. I recently changed my irons and found no difference in the way I hit any but the 3, 4 & 5 irons and that's because they are much more of a "game improvement" type of club. I'm sure other makes of the same type of club would have done the same.

Blame the workman, not the tools! Have a lesson.

 

[Tashyboy]

What on earth does that mean?

You say the SLDR gave you on average an extra 15 yards. Are you, as a 24 handicapper, that consistent that you can tell that? I think​​​ my SLDR gives me a few more yards but in all honesty the length of my drives vary so much I'm not sure, not within 15 yards certainly.

I think any​​ golfer can pick up any driver with roughly the right loft & flex & hit pretty good shots with it. I think it's much more likely to be a fault in your swing which wasn't there when you were hitting it well. Without wanting to sound patronising a 24 handicap player will not perform that differently with any equipment that is approximately right for his swingspeed and the way he hits the ball. I recently changed my irons and found no difference in the way I hit any but the 3, 4 & 5 irons and that's because they are much more of a "game improvement" type of club. I'm sure other makes of the same type of club would have done the same.

Blame the workman, not the tools! Have a lesson.

man in black you are either a poor wind up merchant, or have not read the post from start to finish. The extra 15 yards was not down to me going out with a tape measure after I had hit every ball, nor was the less spin on my shots with the. SLDR down to me counting 3,500 revs per minute it was down to me having a fitting when buying the SLDR and reading the results of what the computer (not me )said. So was the shaft, due to my swing speed and the loft of my club. I had a lesson when I bought the club and another lesson a month after I bought the club to fine tune a few things. Which obviously has not worked long term.

your comment re the ball "what on earth does that mean" means exactly what it means. I played a nine hole comp with taylor made tour preferred balls for the first time and creamed it every drive bar one using the same "blame the workman" swing that is now narking me.

re. 24 handicapper not noticing any difference between equipment for his swing speed. Well I am noticing a massive difference. My ping G15 was fine although a bit short of length. Something the. SLDR advertised as being able to deliver and the computer backed that up. It is just no where near as forgiving for my 24 handicap swing as the ping is. It may well be down to the COG that was explained to me earlier in this post.

one thing I do know is that this will be the third lesson I will of had with this driver which will equate to about £70 the, Ping driver cost me nowt in lessons.

 

[Maninblack4612]

Thought that's what you meant but, seriously, do you really attribute a good 9 holes to the type of ball you were using? That's just daft. And, sorry but I don't think that, at either of our levels of experience, the club will make that much difference, provided it roughly suits your, or my swing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Sorry if I've offended you, I didn't intend to wind you up. I've been playing golf for 57 years and was speaking from my experience. I don't believe that, with decent swing, you couldn't hit the ball OK with any of the drivers you've had. Fitting helps but not half as much as some on here would have you believe. I think you've just lost your swing & need help in finding it again. I stand by what I said about distance. I've seen the launch monitor stats for some of my driver/shaft combinations and the results suggest which performs best, but there's so much variation in there that it's difficult to tell - & I'm 9 handicap player whose strength is the way I drive. Just don't think a 24 handicapper could really reach any firm conclusions.

No need to take offence, none intended.

 

[lex!]

The man in black speaks the truth.
Whether you're hitting a premium ball with a SLDR, or a pebble with a tree branch that you found in the woods, if you have a swing fault then it will be exposed. A 24 handicapper is on the right road but is some way off having a consistent swing.
Have another lesson, take the advice given and work hard at the range on the medicine.

 

[davidy233]

man in black you are either a poor wind up merchant, or have not read the post from start to finish. The extra 15 yards was not down to me going out with a tape measure after I had hit every ball, nor was the less spin on my shots with the. SLDR down to me counting 3,500 revs per minute it was down to me having a fitting when buying the SLDR and reading the results of what the computer (not me )said. So was the shaft, due to my swing speed and the loft of my club. I had a lesson when I bought the club and another lesson a month after I bought the club to fine tune a few things. Which obviously has not worked long term.

your comment re the ball "what on earth does that mean" means exactly what it means. I played a nine hole comp with taylor made tour preferred balls for the first time and creamed it every drive bar one using the same "blame the workman" swing that is now narking me.

re. 24 handicapper not noticing any difference between equipment for his swing speed. Well I am noticing a massive difference. My ping G15 was fine although a bit short of length. Something the. SLDR advertised as being able to deliver and the computer backed that up. It is just no where near as forgiving for my 24 handicap swing as the ping is. It may well be down to the COG that was explained to me earlier in this post.

one thing I do know is that this will be the third lesson I will of had with this driver which will equate to about £70 the, Ping driver cost me nowt in lessons.

Bad swing good ball? doesn't work like that, - and the driver hasn't cost you anything in lessons - you didn't have to have them.

You were hitting the SDLR fine at first - so it's you not the lump of metal.

 

[duncan mackie]

the thing is, if it worked before theres no reason it shouldnt now! Something has changed physically which is affecting you mentally.

You could just be trying to skin it chasing the extra yards its supposed to give

9/10 it's something affecting the player mentally that's causing a physical swing change; but it's definitely the case that players looking to get more out of their equipment (and swing) will frequently fall off a cliff - you are much more likely to hear about the guy who's been hitting it better than ever 'losing it' than the guy who's been hitting it the same for 2 years suddenly having a problem!!! it's the nature of the beast :fore:

 

[CMAC]

9/10 it's something affecting the player mentally that's causing a physical swing change; but it's definitely the case that players looking to get more out of their equipment (and swing) will frequently fall off a cliff - you are much more likely to hear about the guy who's been hitting it better than ever 'loosing it' than the guy who's been hitting it the same for 2 years suddenly having a problem!!! it's the nature of the beast :fore:

surprised at you Duncan

 

[duncan mackie]

surprised at you Duncan

yep - lost it there for a moment; sorry

 

[RobertB]

There might be a small chance your swing isn't attuned to club/spec. But I'm with the few on hear who'd suggest it's the worker not the tools. Today my drives ranged from 220 to 275 yds ... With a fitted 913... Why? ME! And my current long game inconsistency. Get lessons/instruction first. Far more productive than chopping drivers. Majority of people I see getting fittings are for drivers.... Few for fairways, irons, wedges. Easy to get pulled by the marketing lure. Also given the subtleties of setup for a driver are you sure you are even in a position to get your best out of it?

 

[Tashyboy]

First and foremost apologies to maninblack for coming across as a bit arsey earlier on. I'm quiet positive that it is the workman and not the tool but everything I have tried up to yet just has not worked out. Am off to the clubs driving range tomorrow for a couple of hours to try and work it out, if not it's a lesson. One of the problems I had with the SLDR is that 4 months ago I was hitting it really well and I adjusted the weight which was set to draw across one slot and it all went tits up. I moved it back and it was still no better.

My comments re the ball I usedand had a fantastic none holes again was it down to confidence. I'm sure it was. Watch this space and thanks for all advice. After all that's why I posted.

 

[Maninblack4612]

No problem Tashyboy. As someone else said it could be a confidence issues. It's a more mental game than most, too much thinking time. Good luck, get to know your own swing, what works & what to do when it goes wrong. Lessons are fine but I'm a great believer in self help.

 

[Jack_bfc]

First and foremost apologies to maninblack for coming across as a bit arsey earlier on. I'm quiet positive that it is the workman and not the tool but everything I have tried up to yet just has not worked out. Am off to the clubs driving range tomorrow for a couple of hours to try and work it out, if not it's a lesson. One of the problems I had with the SLDR is that 4 months ago I was hitting it really well and I adjusted the weight which was set to draw across one slot and it all went tits up. I moved it back and it was still no better.

My comments re the ball I usedand had a fantastic none holes again was it down to confidence. I'm sure it was. Watch this space and thanks for all advice. After all that's why I posted.

As a 23 HC down to 18 in the last 6 months it generally is about consistency of swing and not the new driver... Although one can help the other..

I fixed my slice with my old driver down to a 'big' fade which I could manage. Then, when I got it reasonable consistent, I tried the SLDR and the Jetspeed.

I ended up with the HL Jetspeed which improved my dispersion even further. Its not a magic wand but I know if I tick the boxes with my 'stock' swing then it will hit the fairway around 220 - 250y...