Operation: Beat SLDR

[hckymeyer]

First off, I love my SLDR.  I was fit during the launch event at the Kingdom in CA.  I have a 430 10.5 set to 11 with a Diamana D+ 62 stiff tipped 1.5".  It hasn't left my bag in the 2+ years I've owned it.  The only thing I've changed since the fitting is the grip.

 

I had a very brief affair with a Titleist D3 early last season, but it lasted 2 rounds and I sold it.

 

I decided to get serious this season about trying to find something that could knock it out of the bag, 

 

The first contenders were a King LTD and F6+.  I also picked up 4 different shafts to try out.  The same Diamana that's in my SLDR, but only tipped 1/2", a HZRDUS 65 stiff, a Kiyoshi Black 65 04 and a Tour AD BB 7x.

 

First I tried out the King LTD.  I did not get along with this head.  Everything I hit was a weak fade and it never felt good.  I tried all four shafts in it and nothing worked.  

 

Next up is the F6+...

• Diamana - Not sure if it was just the smaller amount of tipping, but the shaft just felt a little whippy in the tip.  It was almost like you could feel it twisting on impact.  Everything went right with a ballooning fade.
•  
• HZRDUS - Jury is still out on this one.  I feel like I didn't really give it a fair test.  I hit two drives with it and didn't like the ball flight or feel.  It could have just been my swing that day though so I'm going to give it another shot.
•  
• Kiyoshi Black - I like this shaft.  I was fit into the purple on a previous driver fitting so I figured it would stand a chance for a good fit.  It just feels very stable through impact and lets you have confidence that you can go after if it want to.  It's a contender
•  
• Tour AD BB - I've been wanting to hit this shaft since it came out (mostly because it's blue) but also because the Tour AD series feels great and I really need a low spin/low launch shaft.  I loved hitting this setup!  I'm not sure it's any better than the SLDR, and my regular playing partners said I should switch back, but it's just so fun to hit.  I was hitting a lot of high fades, but they went similar distances to the SLDR.  I would prefer to play a straight ball or a little draw, but there were no big misses with the F6+/AD BB combo.

So based on Cobra's current offerings the King LTD just didn't work for me, it's on the way to the chopping block.  I didn't care for the Diamana as it stands, but I may tip it another inch and try it playing at 44" to see what happens.  I need more time with the HZRDUS but so far I'm not impressed.

 

I really like the F6+ with the AD BB and I'm going to give it a little more time.  The Kiyoshi is also still in the running...but I put a TMaG tip on it today

 

Which leads me to the next contender.  M1 430 is going to get tested for the first time tomorrow.

 

I'll keep updating this thread as the process goes on, but so far nothing is a clear cut leader to kick the SLDR out of the bag.  I have a feeling that I'll end up with a driver fitting in the near future and then sell off the extra's.

 

So for all the other SLDR lovers out there...Is it still in the bag?  Have you tried to kick it out?  What worked and what didn't?

[BigtazzGolf]

Question, what do you hope to gain with a new driver?

 

 

 

@bigtazzGOLF on Twitter

[hckymeyer]

Question, what do you hope to gain with a new driver?

 

 

 

@bigtazzGOLF on Twitter

That's the same question the guys I regularly golf with asked me

 

Really I'm looking for something with a little more forgiveness.  I wouldn't pass on some extra distance, but it's not my primary goal.  I'm also not willing to give up distance just for forgiveness.

 

Also if I'm being honest I just want something new and shiny

[BigtazzGolf]

Haha I get it.

I went from the Jetspeed that I love to the big bertha alpha. And I'm currently looking for an r1 head for an old shaft.

Good luck in your hunt.

 

Tazz

 

 

@bigtazzGOLF on Twitter

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

If you don't like the HZRDUS I'll take it off your hands...I've wanted to try it at well.  The fitter at Wilson said it might fit my waggle, er, I mean, my swing...

[Mr_Theoo]

I've had my SLDR since the fitting at the kingdom. Nothing has come close. What's more impressive to me is how it's grown with my swing. The better I get the better it performs. Just seems like that club was made for me. I think this summer once the swing gets in the groove I'll head over to the tmag performance lab and see if we can beat it.

[JBones]

Go older. The only thing able to kick the SLDR out of my bag is the Bio Cell Pro. I am getting ready to give the XR Pro a go though.

 

 

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[hckymeyer]

Go older. The only thing able to kick the SLDR out of my bag is the Bio Cell Pro. I am getting ready to give the XR Pro a go though.

 

 

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I never hit the pro, but I did like the plus.  I haven't hit a Cally driver since the RFX (didn't like that one) but I am intrigued by the XR Pro and the Sub Zero.  If I go get fitted I'm hoping I get a chance to test them out.

[Fourpar18]

One word...maybe a few letters...M1!

 

I owned a SLDR for almost three years and I NEVER thought anything would replace it! Along came the 460 M1, after being fitted I was easily 10-15 yds longer and more forgiving too!

 

With the right shaft and setting the M1 is a beast! 5 stars out of 5 in most reviews.

 

 

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[Undershooter]

I never hit the pro, but I did like the plus.  I haven't hit a Cally driver since the RFX (didn't like that one) but I am intrigued by the XR Pro and the Sub Zero.  If I go get fitted I'm hoping I get a chance to test them out.

Well my suggestion is out then. I was going old as well Haha. Ignore the driver in my signature.

[oaks]

I'm going to put my SLDR to a test this spring against a Fly Z+. Tried an R15 last fall and it was garbage.

 

Good luck

[hckymeyer]

One word...maybe a few letters...M1!

 

I owned a SLDR for almost three years and I NEVER thought anything would replace it! Along came the 460 M1, after being fitted I was easily 10-15 yds longer and more forgiving too!

 

With the right shaft and setting the M1 is a beast! 5 stars out of 5 in most reviews.

 

 

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I picked up an M1 430 head and will hit it for the first time today

 

 

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[fozcycle]

So what are you gonna do with the King LTD and the F6 heads?

 

[PlaidJacket]

Hcky...this post was made for me.

 

I've gamed SLDR since I was selected by MGS in 2014 for the SLDR review. Over the past two years I've grown to love the SLDR. It's still stock* except for the shaft. I'll explain later.

 

During the past month or two I've been trying to replace the SLDR in my bag with something newer. Why? Because I want to. No other reason. However, I'm finding it's not so easy. I've made other posts on this subject recently also. After doing some research and reading reviews here and there including on the MGS Blog site I decided I wanted to try the 2015 Cobra Fly-Z or Fly-Z+. Which I did. But I just couldn't make them work for me. I tried all the adjustments, different shafts and shaft lengths, etc, etc. I just couldn't get the clubs to perform anywhere close to my SLDR. With the Cobra's I was working with a local fitter/retailer. After a few weeks I returned the clubs. During this time I was also searching around for another driver. Then it hit me.... why not the 2015 TaylorMade R15? It's very similar to the SLDR. So, I ordered and bought the R15 which I have now. At home in my practice bag.

 

When I received the R15 I took it out to see what it would do. After a few shots in the stock settings I changed the hosel and bottom weighting to resemble my SLDR. Now I was hitting some fairly decent shots. Almost like my SLDR...but not quite. About a week ago I took the R15 back to the range and swapped shafts with the SLDR. Putting the SLDR shaft in the R15 and visa-versa with the R15. Interesting. My shot shape improved. Some I thought. Then something interesting happened....

 

A few days later I went out to play my normal Saturday morning game with the SLDR. But woops.... I had forgotten to switch the shafts back. Oh well I thought; I'll just make the best of it. And boy did I ever. I ended up hitting 13 of 14 fairways and went on to shoot a 72 for the day. Some days you just get lucky I guess. My ball flight and distance was awesome. This shaft is also stock (s). So where does all that leave me today? I'm sticking with my SLDR now with the stock R15 S-shaft. I don't know what the difference is if any but there's something there I think.

[hckymeyer]

If you don't like the HZRDUS I'll take it off your hands...I've wanted to try it at well.  The fitter at Wilson said it might fit my waggle, er, I mean, my swing...

 

Going to give it a little more time, but if it continues the way it's been it's going to be up for grabs.

 

So what are you gonna do with the King LTD and the F6 heads?

 

The F6+ warrants further testing.  Hanging on to it for now.

 

The King LTD head is going to be sold, just haven't made the ad yet.  i was going to wait and see if I wanted to get rid of any shafts at the same time.  Are you interested?

[hckymeyer]

TP-X - 0 M1 - 1

 

Took me 2 shots of WTF why isn't this going anywhere to figure it out.

 

 

 

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[Kor.A.Door]

For some of us this is an easy one, question: how to beat the SLDR? Answer: take any driver you can find, and hit it! Mission accomplished end of quest.

[Kor.A.Door]

TP-X - 0 M1 - 1

Took me 2 shots of WTF why isn't this going anywhere to figure it out.

ImageUploadedByMyGolfSpy1459276389.918228.jpg

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Maybe it's not the driver that needs to be replaced. So I say switch to a better ball, I think the Warbird is better than that one.

[Undershooter]

For some of us this is an easy one, question: how to beat the SLDR? Answer: take any driver you can find, and hit it! Mission accomplished end of quest.

Man 1: And how would you beat him?

Man 2: With a stick, while he slept.

[Kor.A.Door]

Man 1: And how would you beat him?

Man 2: With a stick, while he slept.

You just quoted one of my favorite movies,

A knights tale

[hckymeyer]

First round in the books playing with the M1.  I paired it with the Kiyoshi Black for this round.  I would say at best I had my 'B' swing with me today.  Also it's 60 and blowing 20mph with gusts to 25-30mph so not the easiest day to have a driver shoot out.

 

Preliminary thoughts on the M1 are that it's just as good as the SLDR.  I haven't played around with moving any of the weights yet, but I think it may need some tweaking.  For this round I set them to all the way draw and all the way forward.  I'm going to play with the front-to-back setting a little for next time.  I also want to try my SLDR shaft in it.

 

Bottom line so far is that it's a contender.  I don't think it's any longer than the SLDR for me.  I would say it plays very similar so far though.  I had a few holes where I hit both M1 and SLDR and a few holes were I hit M1 and F6+.  Very different ball flights but for the most part they ended up all in the same spot.  And if they are all going to end the same then I might as well keep playing SLDR.

 

No decisions made yet at this point though.  F6+ and M1 are still in the mix.

[Mr_Theoo]

Plan on getting these drivers on the LM before you make a choice?

[hckymeyer]

Plan on getting these drivers on the LM before you make a choice?

Right now that's my plan.  Some time in the next few weeks.  I've played 5 1/2 rounds so far so I'd like to play a few more in nicer weather and try and get my swing back before going in for a fitting.

 

At this point any of the three are playable, but I need to find something that's clear cut better before I'll replace the SLDR.

[westy]

Well, I dropped my sldr in the autumn and put a brand new (but clearly old) super fast TP 2.0 in the bag.

 

With a heavier regular shaft, shorter in the TP as well and of course face is open. It was a club that always suited my eye.

 

If my swing speed goes up again (well you never know!) then sldr may come back. Sldr wasn't the most forgiving I've ever had - but it was mostly reliable.

[EthanSterlingPrice]

I recommend trying the new nike vapor drivers and the bomb tech grenade drivers

 

 

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[Undershooter]

You just quoted one of my favorite movies,

A knights tale

Yep. Quite a few good quotes from that movie.

 

Hcky it sounds like you have a contender. Maybe it will continue to improve even more once you get used to it.

[Jmikecpa]

For some of us this is an easy one, question: how to beat the SLDR? Answer: take any driver you can find, and hit it! Mission accomplished end of quest.

Sums up my experience with the SLDR.

 

 

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[HighFade]

Broke my original SLDR, but got a new one. But it is officially out of the bag. Replaced with the BB Alpha. Still worried I made the wrong decision, so I am shipping the SLDR to my brother. He loves it.

[revkev]

It's still a club that evokes strong opinions either way. I'm guessing it does at TMag too because they took a risk with it.

 

Mine stayed in the bag for two years. I could max it out on a LM like clock work, I had one session where I averaged 16.9/1800. The bad news was that was too close to the edge. On bad days that driver was a disaster for me. The G 30 that I'm currently bagging is much safer.

 

Good luck!

[superduper]

I had some similar clubs with the OP, so I will share my experience:

I gamed SLDR 430 (Japan version) last year.  10 degree but actual loft is 11.7*.   Shafted it with Matrix Ozik Xcon (the original one).   This combo is the longest I've ever had.  About 15 yards longer than anything I ever gamed.   The big problem, this driver is going left left left about 50% of my tee shots.  I've seen some complains that some people hook withtheir SLDR so my experience is not far from it.   The head is so small that I would not recommend this head to anyone above 16 handicap.

 

Then I gamed Nike Covert Tour 2.0.  Classic pear shape 460cc.  More forgiving than the SLDR.   The only problem it launches too low (despite the low kick point shaft on it).  This is a low spin low launch driver.  The spin is probably about the same as the SLDR but the launch is even lower.  I hit it shorter than the SLDR.

 

Then I found my old Nike VR Tour (/w fixed hosel).  I gamed this about 3 years ago and I couldn't hit it during that time.   My swing was out to in and I sliced most of the time with this driver.  Recently I shafted with the matrix Ozik Xcon I had in the SLDR and with my new swing (fixed my slice in 2015), I found this driver is more forgiving and with the same low spin I got with the SLDR.   How far do I hit it? about 15 yards longer than my average drive (about the same with the SLDR).     

 

So my point.... newer is not always better.... and low spin drivers have been existing for ages.  SLDR was not the first front forward CG driver.  Every tour driver on the market has a low front forward CG for lower spin and lower launch.      Callaway FT Tour is one example....