Live Event Coverage
TaylorMade is hosting a media event at the Omni LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, California for the announcement of the forthcoming SLDR S Metalwoods and SLDR Irons. For more info and pictures, be sure to check out our Live Stream at the bottom of both articles.
Written By: Tony Covey
The Death of JetSpeed
I can’t (actually I could, but I just don’t’ want to to) talk about the birth of SLDR S without first talking about the sudden demise of JetSpeed.
It’s not that we’re unaccustomed to short product lifecycles at TaylorMade, but by most any measure, JetSpeed’s was incredibly short. It’s been less than 6 months since JetSpeed was announced, and for many the December arrival, and now May departure means that JetSpeed was barely around long enough to see the start, never mind the end, of a golf season.
It’s almost as if it never existed at all.
There’s no nice way to put this: By TaylorMade standards, JetSpeed was flop. The interwebs would hashtag JetSpeed with #EpicFail. It’s not mean when it’s true.
And as long as we’re being honest, that’s almost entirely on TaylorMade. It’s not that JetSpeed was a particularly bad offering. It actually was…is…as solid as most anything else TaylorMade puts out.
The JetSpeed product line, from driver, to fairway, to rescue, is very good.
Triple Fail
In my estimation, JetSpeed’s issues were 3-fold:
It was poorly timed: A December launch? Yeah…TaylorMade tried that. In December guys aren’t buying new clubs, better than half the country is putting them away for the winter. By the time spring finally rolled around (which was basically last week), JetSpeed had the dubious distinction of being one of the oldest products on the shelves. That seldom ends well for a non-flagship offering.
It was poorly marketed: One word: PUPPETS. Yeah…TaylorMade tried those too. Speed Police wasn’t a particularly brilliant marketing campaign (and that’s as kind as I could possibly be about that). I told TaylorMade people as much when it launched, and I wasn’t shy about delivering the requisite I told you so last week.
An interesting side note that I probably enjoy more than I should; how ironic is it that a driver featured in a campaign to highlight golfers using outdated technology is now, itself, out-of-date?
Does time fly or what?
Did I mention the puppets.? Jesus.
It was completely over-shadowed by SLDR: By any reasonable measure TaylorMade’s SLDR has been THE top driver of 2014. It’s the #1 seller at retail, and based on things like our Most Wanted Driver Test, Golf Digest’s Hot List, and others, it’s the most decorated (most industry accolades) of any driver as well.
Between the SLiDing thing on the sole and the relentless hammering of the LOFT UP message SLDR has been a huge success and a huge story for TaylorMade. Unfortunately for JetSpeed, SLDR was the only story.
For TaylorMade it’s a 100% SLDR world right now, and that hasn’t helped move the really goood, but lesser-known product with the silly name.
It’s Time to Move on. . . Already
I’ll wrap up my diatribe on the demise of JetSpeed by suggesting that its legacy will be one just short of a disaster, and if TaylorMade allowed it to live for the duration of a normal product cycle, come September it most certainly would have been just that. And so mercifully…or perhaps mercilessly, TaylorMade is putting JetSpeed down.
5 months, 3 days, and 4 puppets after JetSpeed landed on store shelves, its direct replacement, the SLDR S, will be available for purchase.
Feel free to moan about TaylorMade release cycles, and (if you see it that way) TaylorMade jamming more equipment down the consumer’s throat (they don’t actually force you to eat), but this time it’s different. Mistakes were made, apparently big ones. JetSpeed simply isn’t resonating with consumers in any measurable way, and so, because they can, TaylorMade has made the smart…and largely obvious decision to move on.
Introducing SLDR S
No doubt this is where TaylorMade would have liked me to begin the story. What can I say; I meander, but almost always eventually get to the point.
While we didn’t realize it at the time, we got a preview of the SLDR S lineup last month when TaylorMade announced the Mini Driver. The Mini is brilliant, by the way. The rest of the new SLDR S family fits nicely into the same mold.
The “S” in SLDR S presumably stands for Silver, and so as you might expect, all of the clubs in the lineup feature silver crowns. Like the SLDR driver, the SLDR S driver features the sliding sole weight mechanism that most associate with the SLDR name.
Unlike everything else in the SLDR family, and really unlike anything TaylorMade has produced on a large scale in years, nothing in the SLDR S family offers an adjustable hosel. Everything..drivers, mini drivers, fairways, and rescues…all of it features an old-school glued hosel.
It’s mind-boggling, I know.
I gave it some thought, and couldn’t come up with anybody who even registers for market share that’s still producing a glued hosel driver; and there’s certainly not anyone doing it at the $329 price point.
#DistanceForAll
The idea behind the SLDR S family is what TaylorMade is calling #DistanceForAll. Yes, that is the official hashtag. By removing adjustability from the hosel, TaylorMade can offer the benefits of SLDR (Distance) at a more affordable price (For All). See what they did there?
The lofts are slightly different (10°, 12°, 14°, and 16°) than the original SLDR (and no…that 16° thing isn’t a typo.) The paint color (Silver) is clearly different, as is the lack of adjustability, but otherwise the SLDR S is the same as SLDR.
Actually, It might be better.
Removing the adjustable hosel will actually nudge the CG ever-so-slightly lower, and some would certainly argue that a traditional (glued) hosel design will produce less aerodynamic drag as well. Take those two factors for what they’re worth, but neither is going to hurt you as far as distance is concerned.
The PGA Tour “Silver Out”
Now would probably be the time to mention that TaylorMade will help support the launch of SLDR S by staging a Silver Out on Tour during the TPC at Sawgrass and the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Staffers will wear silver adidas apparel, carry silver staff bags, and play Tour-Only (bastards!) satin silver SLDR drivers. Basically everything is going to be silver.
TaylorMade is being up-front about that fact that their tour guys will be playing regular SLDR (not SLDR S), and that it’s only the paint that has been changed.
And oh by the way, a limited quantity of these special silver SLDR drivers will be available through the TaylorMade Vault.
SLDR Will Never Be Discounted…EVER
Frankly, I don’t have any sort of problem with tour-only, and limited this or that, but if 3 months from now TaylorMade launches an adjustable version of SLDR S to the masses, I’m going to very loudly scream Shenanigans.
And about that, team TaylorMade is saying that’s not going to happen. In fact, what TaylorMade is telling me is that they’ve committed internally, and now that I’m telling you about it, I guess that means publicly as well, to NEVER discount SLDR. Never. Ever. Never.
It was $399 when it launched, and apparently it’s going to be $399 until the day it disappears. Skepticism is expected, probably even welcome, but I think TaylorMade might finally be serious about restoring some level of consumer trust. It says so right on the hat.
Chopping prices on a flagship driver is bad for the consumer and as TaylorMade and Callaway have apparently figured out, bad for your brand as well. It’s lose-lose anyway, and if you’re the last guys doing it, it’s hard to justify calling yourself the #1 Performance Brand in Golf when the retail experience ends with a Blue Light Special.
SLDR has to live, and it looks like TaylorMade is going to let it do just that.
About those Fairways and Rescues
While SLDR S Driver is almost entirely SLDR the fairways and rescues are more like JetSpeed (without the baggage of the JetSpeed name).
Compared to the SLDR series, the faces are shallower, and overall the clubs are larger. To put it simply, they’re designed with more of a game-improvement slant.
Pricing, Options and Availability
The SLDR S driver is available in four high-lofted options (10°, 12°, 14° and 16°), each equipped with the lightweight Fujikura Speeder 57 graphite shaft and TaylorMade high-traction grip.
SLDR S fairway woods are equipped with the Fujikura Speeder 65 graphite (43.25”) shaft and is available in five models/lofts: 3W (15°), 3HL (17°), 5W (19°), 5HL (21°) and 7W (23°). The SLDR S Rescue shaft is the Fujikura Speeder 72 (41.25”) and is available in four models/lofts: 3 (19°), 4 (22°), 5 (25°) and 6 (28°).
Shaft lengths have been reduced to improve playability, and in my brief (one round) experience with the new clubs, it has done just that.
The entire SLDR S metalwood family will be available at retail on Friday, May 16. The driver will retail for $329; the fairway woods for $229; and Rescues for $179. For more information, visit taylormadegolf.com.
TaylorMade has also introduced SLDR Irons. Info and full coverage can be found Here.
ben
9 years ago
just picked up the jetspeed 3 wood from the local pro shop in the bargin bin for $150 cant wait to try it out