TaylorMade-adidas Golf today officially unveiled its SLDR driver that
TaylorMade’s SLDR driver
has been used on the PGA Tour and European Tour the past three years, including this past week by Brent Snedeker (for three rounds ) during his victory at the Canadian Open.
Not surprisingly, TMAG called the SLDR, which features a sliding weight system it said is engineered to launch the golf ball high, fast and long, the longest driver in its history.The SLDR will be available beginning Aug. 9 at a suggested retail price of $399. It’s the third new driver the company has introduced this year – the R1 and RBZ Stage 2 being the other two – giving rise to the question of how many drivers the market place (and consumers) can handle in what has been a slow selling season for equipment
Key to the leap in distance, according to TMaG, is a lower and more forward center of gravity (CG) that promotes a hotter launch, low spin and faster ball speed.
“Without a doubt, this is the longest driver we have ever created,” said TaylorMade’s Chief Technical Officer Benoit Vincent. “Our expertise at positioning the CG low and forward sets us apart from our competitors, and is vital to making SLDR the spectacular distance machine that it is.”
In addition to the low-forward CG benefits, Vincent said the SLDR also incorporates a complete reinvention of TaylorMade’s movable weight technology (MWT), making it more effective and easier to use. The blue, 20-gram weight that slides on a track located on the front of the sole takes the place of the wrench and weighted screws that some players found cumbersome.
Vincent said movable weight shifts the clubhead’s CG horizontally toward the heel, to promote a draw, or toward the toe, to promote a fade. SLDR delivers six millimeters of movement – 50 percent more than the TMaG R1 according to the company– promoting a shot-dispersion range of up to 30 yards. The SLDR weight slides on a 21-point track system that TMaG said never comes loose from the clubhead.
To position the weight in any one of them simply loosen the screw, slide the weight to the point selected, then tighten the screw. Golfers can adjust for a “draw” or “fade” by sliding the weight across the slider track into the appropriate position in as little as 10 seconds.
SLDR also incorporates TaylorMade’s Loft-sleeve Technology, which allows the golfer to easily adjust the loft. Golfers can choose from 12 positions within a range of plus-or-minus 1.5 degrees of loft change. The more loft added, the more the face closes and vice-versa.
There is no difference between the heads for stock and TP, only a shaft upgrade from Fuji Speeder 57 to Fuji Motore Speeder TS 6.3.
