J13's WITB: Update- FUJIKURA AXIOM

[J13]

16 hours ago, nitram said:

Be careful in your decision. Can you imagine your legions after you've decided on a 6-year old driver????

 

haha i'm not that important.  Just a guy sharing his thoughts on shiny toys.  

[dcmidnight]

Loving all the mini love. My mini (13.5, up one notch) has been a solid 3W replacement. I hate 3Ws, always have, I try a million a year. But the mini off the tee is just SO easy to hit. I can choke all the way down the grip and work it in either direction. I took my 2UDI out of the bag because the mini is just so much easier to hit.

 

Its a trade off though, its bigger/easier (IMO) to hit off the tee than a 3W but not as easy off the deck.

Edited August 25, 2021 by dcmidnight

[drbonesvt]

On 8/23/2021 at 12:33 PM, J13 said:

I’ve toyed with shorter drivers in the past but always got lured back to the dark side. At a point now where my ego has been checked with age and kids lol.  
 

Like many I’ve struggled on tee boxes. I can hit it a long ways but it’s not fun having no idea where the ball is going.  Hitting 30% of fairways isn’t fun even if it’s 300+yds.  The mini and really the Ventus black has made driving fun again.  I feel like I have control and can actually work the ball.  The sldr I’m toying with at the same length is also amazing.  At 45+“ the sldr 430 was a waste of time for me but now it’s hitting bullets that land in the short grass.  I’m honesty loving it. 

I feel ya brotha 

[Golfingfanatic]

What headweight do you play the SLDR at? I am asking because I just picked up a 14 deg SLDR 460 that I intent to play as a 2 Wood at 43.5".

[TCGolfer35]

On 8/2/2021 at 11:23 AM, J13 said:

Round in the rain is complete. Soft conditions were ideal for testing carry.  Obviously I can control weather but I think I’m going to do my best in the future at including it in my testing.  Rundown this week as I want one more round before committing to an opinion.  
 

 

The Mini looks soo good.

[J13]

10 hours ago, dcmidnight said:

Loving all the mini love. My mini (13.5, up one notch) has been a solid 3W replacement. I hate 3Ws, always have, I try a million a year. But the mini off the tee is just SO easy to hit. I can choke all the way down the grip and work it in either direction. I took my 2UDI out of the bag because the mini is just so much easier to hit.

 

Its a trade off though, its bigger/easier (IMO) to hit off the tee than a 3W but not as easy off the deck.

 

I haven't hit the 13.5 but I know the 11.5 is not a great deck club.  If you can hit the mini consistently off the deck it's a no brainer to replace a 3 wood.

 

10 hours ago, Golfingfanatic said:

What headweight do you play the SLDR at? I am asking because I just picked up a 14 deg SLDR 460 that I intent to play as a 2 Wood at 43.5".

 

Headweight of the sldr 430 is 210g (without adapter)

 

 

 

[Mike_Honcho]

i've only used mine off the deck twice...first time was in light rough...not so good...second time was off the fairway...and it was magical.  i still prefer to play my 3W off the deck but i'm open to giving the mini a go off a clean fairway lie

[J13]

18 hours ago, El Kabong2 said:

i've only used mine off the deck twice...first time was in light rough...not so good...second time was off the fairway...and it was magical.  i still prefer to play my 3W off the deck but i'm open to giving the mini a go off a clean fairway lie

 

Yeah for me it would be hard to use a club that size off the deck.  Maybe the 13.5 would be easier who knows.  But I have no issues with my 3 wood so it's doesn't have a target on it's back like the driver did.

[dcmidnight]

8 minutes ago, J13 said:

 

Yeah for me it would be hard to use a club that size off the deck.  Maybe the 13.5 would be easier who knows.  But I have no issues with my 3 wood so it's doesn't have a target on it's back like the driver did.

 

Truth is there is only one hole on my home course where I would even need it off the deck and it requires a huge drive for me - so its just not something i'm going to encounter that much. I do think that if I spent an hour at the range just hitting this thing off the deck that I would figure it out. Am I going to do that? Probably not lol.

[J13]

11 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

 

Truth is there is only one hole on my home course where I would even need it off the deck and it requires a huge drive for me - so its just not something i'm going to encounter that much. I do think that if I spent an hour at the range just hitting this thing off the deck that I would figure it out. Am I going to do that? Probably not lol.

 

 

If 3 wood is simply a tee club then I completely get it but then maybe you should be experimenting like i am 😉

[dcmidnight]

The absolute LAST thing I need to do is experiment with more 3Ws LOL. 

 

In fact, it would probably be impossible for me to experiment with more than I already have.

[J13]

4 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

The absolute LAST thing I need to do is experiment with more 3Ws LOL. 

 

In fact, it would probably be impossible for me to experiment with more than I already have.

hahaha don't ignore your inner ho.  Embrace it

[J13]

UPDATE:

 

So after much debate and several more rounds I've determined I'm going to move forward with the TM SLDR 430.

 

Specs:

TM SLDR 430 10.5* w/ Fujikura Ventus Black 7X tipped 1"

Swing weight: D3

Head weight: 210.1g

Tipped: 1"

 

Why:

 

Love the mini 300 and very grateful that it helped get me back to the short grass.  It reawakened the idea of shorter setups and made me realize how much accuracy I was leaving on the table in pursuit of the elusive "bomb".  The longer the club the harder it is to center, no way around it.  I might be a +1 hcp but I'm not close to being a touring pro so why should I be playing a driver that's the same length, especially when driving accuracy is my weakness? Doesn't make sense, in fact it's downright illogical.  The mini helped get me back on track and for that I'm eternally grateful.  

 

Basically,  I was hitting so many fairways with the mini I had no choice but to try a modern size driver head to see if results would carry over.  Was it the size of the head?, the design? shaft length?.  I needed to figure out why this was working.

 

My process:

 

 I took the mini 300 and SLDR 430 on the course and literally swapped the shaft between the two heads on multiple tee boxes in multiple rounds.  Both setups were also used in money games so there was some pressure.  In the end, the 430 was just as accurate but gave me a little more distance and much better misses on those really bad swings.  Vertically, I had much more room for error on the face, a good thing for me.  

 

Most important factor and why the SLDR 430?

 

I love the design of the mini.  I sought out to get a modern day driver with characteristics similar to the Mini with regards to COG and weight placement.  I didn't want a super stretched out crown like a G425 Max, instead a compact head with weight closer to the face like the mini.  I needed something to keep spin down considering I need to go up in loft with the shorter setup which would steepen my AOA and get the right launch window.  Too low of loft and I'd lose too much on carry.  I also didn't want to break the bank on this experiment so I found a new Tour issue SLDR 430 Head so if it didn't work or I needed a different loft I wouldn't be out much cash.  I also wanted a tour issue head as we all know they are magic and forged by unicorns in outer space.  Again, it was a no brainer.

 

Future experiments:

 

I do have my eye on trying a few things in the future and might try to play with different lengths to see where the breaking point is.  That is easier said than done for obvious reasons.  If @Fujikura Golfwants to send me 4 more Ventus Blacks I can do it more easily though 😉  Basically if it takes a while blame them not me!  🤣

 

 

 

 

[Mike_Honcho]

i do like the look of the sldr at address...why'd you have to show me that? 🤣

[J13]

54 minutes ago, El Kabong2 said:

i do like the look of the sldr at address...why'd you have to show me that? 🤣

 

be honest, you ran an eBay search didn’t you? 🤣

[Mike_Honcho]

10 hours ago, J13 said:

 

be honest, you ran an eBay search didn’t you? 🤣

 

of course, i did 🤣

[nitram]

Oh Baby, you've compelled me to give my JDM SLDR 430 another shot. In fact I slapped a tip on a Ventus Red 6X yesterday and will see what happens this afternoon.

 

Quick note, it doesn't appear as if you've done the "Bobcat" fix to this head. I know he was abusively over the top about it but in all honesty it helped me take the left side out of play. I know you can do the same with hotmelt but just throwing that out there.

 

PM sent about another subject... 🍻

[J13]

Hahaha gotcha.  
 

 

 

[Lemonde]

I had a SLDR 430 way back in 2014 but it was a black shiny head?  Didn’t know the made the grey 430? 

[J13]

12 hours ago, Lemonde said:

I had a SLDR 430 way back in 2014 but it was a black shiny head?  Didn’t know the made the grey 430? 

 

 

They didn't for retail.  This is a rare tour issue 430 head painted in the "S" color scheme.  I don't mind gloss heads at all but if i can get something in a matte finish I prefer it.  

[J13]

Quick update:

 

Been messing with settings on the SLDR 430 and i'm settling in on 11.25* of loft with sliding weight in the toe.  It's giving me Mid flight 5-8yd draws on a VERY consistent basis.    Also had another friend hit my creation (former mini tour player) and he looked at me like "what the hell just happened".  He loved it and now wants to cut his driver down to 44" 🤣

[J13]

Played in an evening 9 hole money game:

 

Results of the SLDR / VB

Fairways 4 / 5

Greens hit 9/9

Score -5 (31)

 

The confidence in the driver has infected (in a good way) the rest of my game.  I'm having a ton of fun right now on the golf course and I have to give credit to the short driver and to the changes that i've been working on with @iteachgolf finally clicking.  Literally been about 7 months of working on the swing changes and the last month or so it's feeling like my new normal.

[manxytag]

was there any other driver heads you were considering or looking at instead of the Sldr

[J13]

55 minutes ago, manxytag said:

was there any other driver heads you were considering or looking at instead of the Sldr

 

For this experiment I chose the SLDR 430 for very specific reasons.  If it was successful (which it is) I might grab another head that's similar to push the length to see where the tipping point is.  Whatever head I choose it will be a low spin head with loft somewhere around 10-10.5*

[manxytag]

is the Sldr is working?

[J13]

41 minutes ago, manxytag said:

is the Sldr is working?

 

SLDR is working great.  Essentially what I built was a Mini'ish driver that's twice as forgiving as the TM Mini.  Slightly lower lower.  

[manxytag]

what do you reckon about a 12° Sldr? 

[J13]

2 hours ago, manxytag said:

what do you reckon about a 12° Sldr? 

 

I think for many people it would be unreal in this type of build.  The trick is adding enough weight and not just slamming a super heavy weight in the front.  Fortunately, I have my own shop with a tour van hotmelt setup so it's pretty easy for me to tinker.  I would not recommend buying a super heavy weight and just adding to the front track.  Again depends on shaft and length ect..

[manxytag]

have you tried an even shorter shaft, maybe stick a 5 wood shaft in?

[J13]

51 minutes ago, manxytag said:

have you tried an even shorter shaft, maybe stick a 5 wood shaft in?

 

No.  I wouldn't go shorter than where i'm at, especially at my height and the lie angle of modern drivers.