Yes, another SLDR mini driver thread

[patricks148]

isn't that the point!

Ive just been up the range for a lesson and they had one inthere, its way bigger than a 3 wood looks about 300-400 ( the driver is 460) it begs the point why is a 300 cc driver easier to hit that a 460?

I bet most would struggle to hit it off the deck at all, so its just a small headed driver.. no?

 

[duncan mackie]

Ive just been up the range for a lesson and they had one inthere, its way bigger than a 3 wood looks about 300-400 ( the driver is 460) it begs the point why is a 300 cc driver easier to hit that a 460?

I bet most would struggle to hit it off the deck at all, so its just a small headed driver.. no?

260cc I believe

 

[Scrindle]

It would be fair to say that I have only been playing golf a relatively short period and am perhaps misguided here, but I don't really see how a club can be 'more consistent' other than through some form of placebo effect that makes your swing more repeatable.

Everything that I have read about ball flight, etc... in the past has just reinforced my understanding that where the ball goes is dependant upon the path of your swing. Granted catching something out of, for example, the toe will lose you distance but I thought that was all (unless you catch only half the ball with the toe and it rockets sideways of course).

In-to-out/out-to-in/open face/closed face/etc. These factors are what I understood to influence a slice/draw/pull/etc... not the model of the club or its make. Other than lower lofted clubs generally being less forgiving of poor/faulty swing mechanics (which might explain why a 14* driver is consistently more straight than a lower lofted variant), I don't really understand how a club can be 'more consistent' other than in the realm of a personal confidence placebo improving the repeatability of your swing?

Also, I thought it was the case that a correctly fitted shaft is vastly more important to ball flight and trajectory than the head of the club (all other things being equal). Again, could be incorrect information I have picked up along the way but it makes sense to me (though isn't what manufacturers would want being flaunted about, granted).

 

[Stuey01]

I suppose it goes like this:
Bigger head than 3w = easier to hit from tee
Same length as 3w and higher loft than driver = easier to hit than driver
Slightly lower loft than 3w and the SLDR low spin characteristics = longer than 3w

I'm just speculating from what I've read a I haven't hit one yet.

 

[patricks148]

I suppose it goes like this:
Bigger head than 3w = easier to hit from tee
Same length as 3w and higher loft than driver = easier to hit than driver
Slightly lower loft than 3w and the SLDR low spin characteristics = longer than 3w

I'm just speculating from what I've read a I haven't hit one yet.

ego, shouldn't anyone who struggles with a driver just have one with a shorter shaft?

 

[Foxholer]

It would be fair to say that I have only been playing golf a relatively short period and am perhaps misguided here, but I don't really see how a club can be 'more consistent' other than through some form of placebo effect that makes your swing more repeatable.

Everything that I have read about ball flight, etc... in the past has just reinforced my understanding that where the ball goes is dependant upon the path of your swing. Granted catching something out of, for example, the toe will lose you distance but I thought that was all (unless you catch only half the ball with the toe and it rockets sideways of course).

In-to-out/out-to-in/open face/closed face/etc. These factors are what I understood to influence a slice/draw/pull/etc... not the model of the club or its make. Other than lower lofted clubs generally being less forgiving of poor/faulty swing mechanics (which might explain why a 14* driver is consistently more straight than a lower lofted variant), I don't really understand how a club can be 'more consistent' other than in the realm of a personal confidence placebo improving the repeatability of your swing?

Also, I thought it was the case that a correctly fitted shaft is vastly more important to ball flight and trajectory than the head of the club (all other things being equal). Again, could be incorrect information I have picked up along the way but it makes sense to me (though isn't what manufacturers would want being flaunted about, granted).

Do you actually play?

If so, which do you hit your more consistently off the deck? Your 8 and 9 irons or your 3, 4 and 5?

And why do you think it is that the Driver isn't shafted at the maximum allowed length - 48"?

It's not that the club is more, or less, consistent! It's that the user is more, or less, consistent with the particular club!

 

[CMAC]

Ive just been up the range for a lesson and they had one inthere, its way bigger than a 3 wood looks about 300-400 ( the driver is 460) it begs the point why is a 300 cc driver easier to hit that a 460?

I bet most would struggle to hit it off the deck at all, so its just a small headed driver.. no?

no, as the loft is much higher, it's equivalent to the old 2 wood of yesteryear sets (nothing new in golf)

 

[Scrindle]

It's not that the club is more, or less, consistent! It's that the user is more, or less, consistent with the particular club!

Which was what I was trying to get at, though I think it is just as much, if not more, about how confident the user feels with that club rather than the club itself suiting the user. i.e. the psychology of it all, rather than the equipment itself.

New club > decent first shot > instant confidence boost > relaxed feeling > better, more repeatable swing > better numbers. I'd be surprised if tests didn't find that one's personal feelings towards a particular club affected the numbers in a large capacity on testing also. No one can take their personal biases out of the equation completely. If you want to purchase a new club because you fancy something new, it'll probably perform for you in one way or another to justify the purchase.

In relation to your query as to the consistency of higher lofted irons over lower lofted variants, I mentioned higher lofted drivers being more 'consistent', comparably, than lower lofted variants in my post. Presumably you didn't read it all.

Anyway...

Whenever you read things like this it is always from the angle of 'this club was far more consistent', which I just don't understand because everything I have learned about this game suggests that it is all down to the person holding the thing and very little to do with the equipment at all.

You can see from Mark Crossfield's club reviews that a repeatable swing generally produces around the same numbers from different manufacturers' similar clubs. This leads me to think that, all other factors being equal, everything comes down to the repeatability of your swing, primarily, governed by where your mind is, with the club itself being pretty low on that list. If you believe you're going to hit it better, chances are you probably will. If the OP could play shots blindfolded, and someone gave him his original driver but told him it was the SLDR-mini being discussed, I bet he would hit it just as well.

Take my recent custom fitting as an example. I've gone from a set of G10s, which arguably are 'better' for my game and should give me 'more consistency', to a set of MP-54s, which arguably are the 'wrong' choice for my handicap level and something I shouldn't be using. Following a back injury I've started playing again in the last few days and I'm hitting the 54s better than my old G10s, even after basically lying around for 2 weeks not being able to do anything. Don't get me wrong I am ecstatic about my new clubs and appreciate that they are still somewhat forgiving, but I doubt that a 1* difference in lie angle together with the same flex of shaft from a different manufacturer is going to make much of a difference, practically (I refuse to believe that peoples' swings don't naturally fluctuate by at least a degree from shot to shot - particularly at my level). This only leaves my confidence left as the disseminating factor for the improvement in my game while using less forgiving clubs with the same lofts as my old ones. (Conversely, I'm also very sure that at some point a particular shot will leave doubts in my mind as to the suitability of the clubs themselves and this will, in turn, cause me to start shanking, toeing, topping and fatting shots all over the shop. The clubs obviously will be identical, all that will have changed is my confidence level).

I'm sure the SLDR-mini is a very good club (let's face it, none of the main manufacturers are releasing rubbish, are they?) but, I wonder what the average dispersion numbers would have looked like with the SLDR-mini had the first shot with it been a shank. Not something that can be quantified, obviously, but I would bet money on them not being as good as they were, if it were possible to test it. The original driver or another club entirely might have shown better dispersion numbers.

 

[SGC001]

It would be fair to say that I have only been playing golf a relatively short period and am perhaps misguided here, but I don't really see how a club can be 'more consistent' other than through some form of placebo effect that makes your swing more repeatable.

Everything that I have read about ball flight, etc... in the past has just reinforced my understanding that where the ball goes is dependant upon the path of your swing. Granted catching something out of, for example, the toe will lose you distance but I thought that was all (unless you catch only half the ball with the toe and it rockets sideways of course).

In-to-out/out-to-in/open face/closed face/etc. These factors are what I understood to influence a slice/draw/pull/etc... not the model of the club or its make. Other than lower lofted clubs generally being less forgiving of poor/faulty swing mechanics (which might explain why a 14* driver is consistently more straight than a lower lofted variant), I don't really understand how a club can be 'more consistent' other than in the realm of a personal confidence placebo improving the repeatability of your swing?

Also, I thought it was the case that a correctly fitted shaft is vastly more important to ball flight and trajectory than the head of the club (all other things being equal). Again, could be incorrect information I have picked up along the way but it makes sense to me (though isn't what manufacturers would want being flaunted about, granted).

Shorter shafted clubs are also arguably easier to control, especially if you're the kind of golfer who either swings out to in or increases the distance between a point (approx C7 at the neck region - it's do with torque placed on the body and the amount of work needed to keep it in position) and the club head from the top of the swing early. (Too many golfers do this).

Most golfers arguably play with a driving club of too long a shaft, too stiff a shaft and too low a loft anyway, so it may well help most players if that reasoning is in any way accurate.

I'd not heard of shafts been more important to ball flight than heads, in fact I'd heard the opposite form a well known and respected club fitter / builder / designer, interestingly or not Tayormade are talking about the CoG position of this club. I'd read they could be more variable in terms of areas such as weight than areas like grips or heads, but that placements of CoG and loft have more effect on launch than shaft, especially when you consider that around 90-95% of golfers have been argued to have a release that is too early for the shaft kick point to matter in launch, though it'd still be fitted for that way due to feel.

 

[Slab]

looks a pretty mean club, would love to give it a go

Some marketing chappie earned his monthly wedge with this one

Getting the shaft length back down to what is manageable for most golfers without getting refund requests for all those not fit for purpose 46" drivers... genius!

Short of calling it the Mini Cooper SLDR and painting it green they couldn't really do much more

Reading the blurb its just the type of club I've been looking for. Really hope one or two find their way out here soon

 

[Foxholer]

To me, there's another, more compelling, reason for TM's hype on this club....

To counter the 'unique' release of Callaway's X2Hot Deep - the retail version of Mickelson's quest for something in between Driver and 3W that generated quite a lot of interest and media coverage. I'm almost certain that TM's ultra competitive approach, especially where Callaway is concerned, has been to do everything it can to counter that product!

 

[patricks148]

i stll prefer the callaway version, at least you could hit that off the deck or at least most would the TM would be just like hitting driver off the deck and how many guys do that reg?

 

[Slab]

To me, there's another, more compelling, reason for TM's hype on this club....

To counter the 'unique' release of Callaway's X2Hot Deep - the retail version of Mickelson's quest for something in between Driver and 3W that generated quite a lot of interest and media coverage. I'm almost certain that TM's ultra competitive approach, especially where Callaway is concerned, has been to do everything it can to counter that product!

I guess where the TM marketing boy earned is dough is that their SLDR mini will sit and be sold with the drivers while Cally's offering will be in amongst the fairway woods

 

[road2ruin]

i stll prefer the callaway version, at least you could hit that off the deck or at least most would the TM would be just like hitting driver off the deck and how many guys do that reg?

I've been hitting this off the deck for about a week now and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to get up in the air. When I bought it I was under no illusions that it was likely to be used off the tee only however I have been pleasantly surprised by it's performance off the deck.

 

[Beezerk]

Gonna give one of these a bash tonight with a bit of luck, thinking about the 14 degree for a touch more accuracy as opposed to possibly more distance with the 12 degree version.

 

[harpo_72]

Jury is a bit out for me, I know what yardage I need to replace my driver and my strong 3 wood. If i headed toward the 12 degree I think it would be pretty hard off the deck, but would offer the distance to compete with the driver. I think it would free up space in my bag but honestly speaking I have everything I need already.

 

[MadAdey]

Well it had its first trip to a course yesterday at bearwood lakes for a game with a few forumers, very impressed with it. Bit of a shame that I have an injured hand so was not really hitting the ball as well as I would hope. But hey the ones I did hit properly were fantastic.

To give an idea of just how well these go off the tee this is a couple of the tee shots I hit.

8th hole 297 yards, club of of wind behind 5 yards short of green.
11th hole 496 yards, club of wind behind, long climb back up the hill, hit it twice and was 20 yards short of the green.

Swinging the way I was yesterday with a bad hand the driver would have been all over the place, but the SLDR mini still kept it in play. The only thing I do not like about it is the shaft, for me I feel it launches the ball too high so wish it had a lower launching shaft. But having said that, into the wind it still flew pretty well.

To the conclusion:
I would say it goes about 10-15 yards shorter than my driver, I have the 14* model.
It flies really well off the deck with ease.
I find it a lot easier to control than a driver and a bad swing still goes straight.
It looks really good at address.
The weighting of the head makes it feel really nice in the swing.

 

[Slab]

Well it had its first trip to a course yesterday at bearwood lakes for a game with a few forumers, very impressed with it. Bit of a shame that I have an injured hand so was not really hitting the ball as well as I would hope. But hey the ones I did hit properly were fantastic.

To give an idea of just how well these go off the tee this is a couple of the tee shots I hit.

8th hole 297 yards, club of of wind behind 5 yards short of green.
11th hole 496 yards, club of wind behind, long climb back up the hill, hit it twice and was 20 yards short of the green.

Swinging the way I was yesterday with a bad hand the driver would have been all over the place, but the SLDR mini still kept it in play. The only thing I do not like about it is the shaft, for me I feel it launches the ball too high so wish it had a lower launching shaft. But having said that, into the wind it still flew pretty well.

Thanks
At address does it look like a baby driver or a big FW and what about when you swing, does it feel more like driver or FW club?

 

[MadAdey]

Thanks
At address does it look like a baby driver or a big FW and what about when you swing, does it feel more like driver or FW club?

I would say it looks like a 1990's driver, not a big headed 3 wood. It does feel more like a FW than a driver because of the weighting in the head.

 

[Twire]

What shaft is in yours Adey and what loft?