TaylorMade SLDR "S'' Driver

Friends/readers who follow my blog would call me, message me or tell me when we met their different interests. "Bro, soccer lah soccer why always golf?" Others would say why soccer, I want to read what you have to report on golf!" Some want more on food, others some discussion on  issues or looking for some inspiration.

Alright I heard you. It has been more than two years since I have added any new golf clubs to my arsenal of weapons because now I am at a very high level. Haha, its the recession and it is stupid. For people who do not spend, you are the reason for the recession. 

The most common club that people would buy or change is the driver. Simply because you drive for show even as you putt for dough. Because it is the longest club, it is basically the hardest to hit. Then there is the ego problem to boot and few people understand enough about golf clubs in particular the driver to get themselves a correct one. Easily 7 out of 10 people are playing with the wrong driver especially in terms of its shaft flex. The shaft they say is like the engine of the club.

I have over many years played with, owned and experimented with countless drivers from Cobra to Cleveland, Titleist to TaylorMade, Callaway to Ping and many more not just different brands but also within the same brand different models. Today's drivers are all good in terms of their qualities of distance and forgiveness. A good player looks for playability, meaning you could do shot shaping - hitting it straight, playing a draw or creating a fade. Less proficient golfers look for forgiveness. Look/Sound and Feel are important too because if you do not like how it look, sound or feel, it won't work for you. In this respect, the greatest, most versatile and complete driver I have ever owned or played is for me the Titleist. Mine was some years back so it was the 910 D2.

In classic black and a traditional shape and a simple pointer for alignment. It is the shortest driver in the market at only 45 inches and its length is one of the reasons I like it. In the market place they are selling distance to you by extending to longer shafts. A longer club hits further let's say comparing your 5 iron and your 7 iron, your 5 iron will go further because it is longer but which is easier to hit? The 7 iron because it is shorter. You get my point? 

















Some clubs are built with auto-pilot effects which is good. What I meant is that they are created to auto-correct to just go high and straight which is a good thing but auto pilot correction is for me equal to auto spell-check on your mobile phone. It creates more problems when wrong messages are sent! For me, I would always need playability so that you can do your shot shaping when you need to draw or fade a shot. I like the sound it makes too and it feels good when the ball leaves the club face in a rapture. Can I find a better driver than this? Never say never but it would be tough to find a complete all-rounder. Anything that I can find that have some characteristics better than this? Distance perhaps? Golf and distance is about techniques that is why I could out-drive and hit longer than golfers who are bigger and stronger but all things being equal the right clubs help.

A few months ago I was invited and attended the launch of TaylorMade's SLDR "S'' series of clubs. Of course I tried the clubs and was impressed with the driver tried different lofts and shafts and was recommended SR shaft, meaning Stiff/Regular. SR shaft is basically Regular with a stiff tip so there is less whip at the club head. 



This was the previous article I wrote for the event launch:

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2014/06/taylormade-sldr-rlaunch.html

Loft

Every golfer has a different launch angle that is why getting fitted is important but in Singapore we lack this culture because may be our market is too small? So the golf retailers conveniently just bring in certain loft and shafts. 9.5 degrees go with stiff shaft and 10.5 degrees go with regular shaft. Sometimes, there are friends who asked me what is wrong with their game and I would tell them: "You have a loft problem?" They would say: "What do you mean? Please advise" and I would say it means you have a Lack Of Fxxking Talent" - LOFT. I can tell you they feel like killing me as much as they love me.

15 years ago, drivers come in 9 and 10 degrees. They have lines across the club face and the club head size were just 400 cc or less. In fact some 3-woods today are bigger than drivers of yesteryear. The lines across the face were there to help generate spin so that you golf balls can take off. The first thing they did to change was to take away those lines because too much spin while helping your ball fly in a certain trajectory causes loss of distance. To compensate for the that (no lines in the middle of the face), they increased loft to 9.5 and 10.5 degrees. 

Club Head

At first I played with a 425 cc club head I was out driving everyone and with great distance. It was the first 425 cc Nickent Genex! And then they started growing. PGA limits the golf head size to a maximum of 460cc. We have reached that limit. What else can they add or change to a club head? 

Centre Of Gravity (CG)

First, they stretched the club head's centre of gravity. The theory is simply that the further back the CG (centre of gravity) the easier it is to launch a golf ball. You remember seeing those drivers that slants far away to the back and look somewhat flatter? 

Adjustment

Some drivers were made with the engineering hidden inside the club head while others hang out their bells and whistles. They gave you adjustment - to face angle, to loft, to flight, etc. 

Lighter Shaft 

A lighter shaft shall create an overall lighter club weight. Heavy clubs slows down your swing while lighter clubs generates a faster swing speed. Swing speed at impact creates ball speed and these are equal to distance. But be careful if the shaft is light and whippy, it can be a recipe for disaster if you have good swing speed.

I offer these explanation so that you will later understand the concept of the SLDR S driver.

It was unfortunate that TaylorMade themselves did not bring in an SLDR drivers with SR shaft as usual I guess most would play with just Regular shaft with those super strong ones playing stiff shaft.

When I later visited a friend's automobile shop's (G1S Carz) opening at Sin Ming's Midview Point (here Miss Hong Kong with Mr. and Mrs. Me). 

I found that Golf Direct has a shop nearby.

I also found Samy there. He is no longer stationed at Kaki Bukit but here at Sin Ming.





SLDR "S"

So how is the SLDR "S" driver different from the others? It is different from the SLDR driver as they comes in fixed loft of 10, 12, 14 and 16 degrees and you could only adjust flight with varying degrees of draw or fade.

Many golfers have a mistaken concept that the lower the loft the greater the distance. That is only true you have have the swing speed of Tiger Woods at 125 mph. Your shot need to reach an apex to get to a certain carry distance and the most natural way to get distance is through your swing speed. Higher swing speed is key but most social golfers may have a swing speed of only 75-85 mph. and may overestimated their own distance and prowess. The average driver one should play is a 10.5 degrees loft with shaft depending on your swing speed.

So for the last 15 years they preached about CG right behind the club head as gospel truth. Now TaylorMade with the SLDR or SLDR "S'' has shifted the CG towards the front near the club face because it was claimed that CG nearer the face promotes a faster ball speed. Ball speed is directly proportional to your distance. But when the CG is in the front, you will get a lower ball flight. Therefore, to compensate for that lower flight, TaylorMade raised the loft. If you used to play a 9-10 degrees, perhaps you should try the 12 degrees now. 

Nothing about being the alpha male or ego because unbeknownst to you, your 10.5 degrees driver in the past may actually be a 11-12 degrees. They just did not tell you to keep your ego. It is a clever marketing ploy.

Here, I like the satin silver colour. It is the first time I have a silver driver. Each time before I tee off I will just shout "Go Silver!" The black horse shoe at the end I think is just clever marketing. If you see me on TV playing this you know it is a Taylor Made SLDR S.

The darker face gives a contrast when lining up a shot.

I was disappointed that TaylorMade themselves did not bring in any SR shaft but I was blessed with friends who could help me change the shaft and find a suitable fit. I am grateful to the staff at TaylorMade for their help.

There are 21 positions to slide on the grid. Opposed to old theory of locating the CG right at the end of the club head, you can see the "blue square peg" is the weight and it is positioned forward to the front nearer the club face. Use a wrench to loosen it and slide it to a preferred position of "fade" or "draw".

Draw Or Fade

Many golfers still get confused about fade or draw shots often saying the wrong things. A fade shot goes straight or left and swerve slightly to the right,  a L-R flight. A draw goes straight or right and turns slightly to its left. A slice is an extreme left to right shot while  a hook is an extreme right to left shot. A fade shot is the shortest, even shorter than straight shots while the draw is the longest shot in golf. Pros prefer fade shots as they already have the distance and a fade shot does not run too much when it hits the fairway. Bet with your friends for a beer when they say the wrong things.

The head cover is easy to slide out or pull over as the club head though at 460cc has taller face than a bigger circumference.

I experimented camera shots with a macro lens.

For very interesting angles. I love it!

Unmistakable TaylorMade SLDR trademark behind.

The tall face gives you the full confidence to tee up. Most golfers have problems because they do not tee up enough. 

It came fitted to a Mitsubishi Rayon shaft, a very good and famous shaft. I have previously written about it when I was talking shaft.

I was grateful to get fitted to the right shaft, a SR shaft which means stiff regular, a regular shaft with a stiff tip to have a little less flex and whip.

Remember to get the right club that fits you because buying and selling golf clubs is like trading in antiques. Some fools buy and some fools sell. Quite often, I do not even sell them which makes me half a fool. Worse, at times I give them away and that makes me a complete iDiot but I do not belong to Apple.

TaylorMade claimed that the SLDR is their longest driver ever made. Is is true? Does the sliding weight works? I am still on honeymoon with it but I have hit some really great shots! One indication was at a usual par 4 where my longest drive all these years left me with about 105-110m to the green. This one shot was smack right in the middle of the fairway but I could not find it at the usual place. I found it 70m from the green, Wow! The potential is there. 

I tried making a very slight adjustment, sliding the weight just one space towards draw and it usually goes straight and towards the end of the flight drops down in a slight draw. It works! Be fearless, release the Kraken!

Well, I am still hunting for birdies, eagles, albatrosses and hole-in-ones. The last three have been elusive. In my prayer, I asked for a Jaguar. God answered me.

And I actually got one from a kind friend. Next time I must be more specific.

For the love of golf. Till we meet or talk again.
Golf as in life, play as it lies.