Spider X Hydroblast Short Slant - Release Date

[So_Cal]

On 6/10/2023 at 12:34 PM, WJack13 said:

Brother SoCal, Let us know on the stepped performance.. I suspect stepped will be just fine if one can get over it's initial appearance. And making putts will help do that quickly, eh?

 

First round out 30 putts with a couple birdies.  Greens were super bushy poa so not the smoothest.  Still getting used to the flow of the putter.  Looks and feels good.  Gonna give it another go on smooth greens 

[WJack13]

6 hours ago, So_Cal said:

First round out 30 putts with a couple birdies.  Greens were super bushy poa so not the smoothest.  Still getting used to the flow of the putter.  Looks and feels good.  Gonna give it another go on smooth greens 

That's Good Man...30 putts is usually a pretty good round.  Unless you end up like me with 28 putts, but shooting a 78 due to poor iron play & an *Extremely Low GIR percentage* combined w/ great greenside chipping.

 

    Let us know how it goes on more pure greens b/c in Central Georgia the difference between typical Bermuda greens you find on most every courses here, and the extremely pure Bentgrass greens many upscale private courses have is night and day..

 

  As for stepped putter shafts...  I really like the stepped shafts in my older Cameon Newport 2's.

Sounds like stepped will turn out just fine for y'all.

      As far as Scotty Cameron goes, many loyalists claim the best feeling, softest, and most pure shaft he ever used on his putters was a certain stepped putter shaft, sometime in the 90's. Only a certain number of shafts were used on his models produced during that time period in his early days w/ Titleist. There's a specific way to tell if you have one- i cannot recall... but yes i digress, back to the point. The stepped will perform tremendously well even nowdays. You may even find you prefer the feel of the stepped best. For me, the Aesthetics are the hardest part to get over.

   My preference on spider X putter shafts:

Looks= Always Stepless (Smooth Black)

Feel= Stepped

Performance= Stepped

 

 

[BigtimeHC]

Found a random unicorn at the St. Simons/Sea Island Edwin Watts, slant neck with the stepless KBS shaft. Much to my wife's dismay, it left with me 😂

 

Will post a few pictures tonight

[tarrantian]

I've seen a couple 'stepless', but mostly they are in left handed versions here in the land of Nick Taylor...

 

Really can't stand the look of stepped shafts in putters, and was tempted when I saw the 1 or 2 right handed versions. So weird that TM never offered these on their website, and trying to order via Golftown in Canada would be hit or miss whether you would get the KBS shaft you want...

 

Feels like these versions of the Hydroblast are all at the end of the line before the line began, regardless of the fact Ror's appears to be sticking with it for the foreseeable future. I know TM seems to be looking at a premium blade putter that will hopefully get more traction w/the pros - The Spiders from the last 3 years have been a dud when it comes to the pros, and hence likely a dud in the marketplace in general.

 

It's rare now to see a TM putter in the hands of the pros, both males and females. A few Spider X's, a few Hydroblast blades/mallets, a MyTP Soto here and there (Collin M.). If TM doesn't commit to flatsticks the pros want to use, the buying public want pick these up as well... 

 

They really need to either introduce, or stick w/putter styles the pros want to use and perhaps just make minor cosmetic changes vs. reinventing the wheel every year.  

 

 - Ian

[MerryTex]

I think TM is going to try and push to gain more traction with putters like they have with the ball, putting more resources into development to create more competitive products. It will be interesting to see what they do with the Spider X. I'd love to see a few more options with it whether it's with the insert or colors that people flock to. If that does well, offer it in a My Spider X program with the slant and single bend option necks and Pure Roll (Spider X) and Pure Roll 2 inserts (GT lines), not the aluminum inserts they offer in the TP and Spider Tour putters. 

[ShortGameGod]

On 5/3/2023 at 8:43 AM, rukahs said:

 

 

U.S only! darn you TM 😞 will wait patiently for them to arrive in the UK.

I wouldn't hold my breath for that...

[rukahs]

8 hours ago, ShortGameGod said:

I wouldn't hold my breath for that...

 

 

Nope. I gave up. Even asked the pro at my course to ask his reps and they said it's not happening. 

[tarrantian]

Finally, and oddly the 'short slant' has finally shown up on Taylormade's Canadian website:

 

https://www.taylormadegolf.ca/Spider-X-Hydro-Blast/DW-TA409.html?lang=en_CA

[ShortGameGod]

45 minutes ago, tarrantian said:

Finally, and oddly the 'short slant' has finally shown up on Taylormade's Canadian website:

 

https://www.taylormadegolf.ca/Spider-X-Hydro-Blast/DW-TA409.html?lang=en_CA

 

Yes and exactly like the USA version of the website the flow neck #9 has disappeared and now they pretend that single bend #7 and small slant #3 are the only models they ever had.

 

And they probably soon will pretend that they never said that Rory had the #9 in his bag...

 

As I linked and mentioned last year in this post:

TM used to link to the flow neck in their WITB, now they don't any more, see below. They still link to the flow neck in this text:

https://www.taylormadegolf.com/clubhouse/415320-rory-rips-back-to-win-2022-tour-championship-and-fedex-cup.html?lang=en_US

 

The Rory page at TM is surprisingly sparse right now, no irons or putters! And images of a bag and headcover Rory probably wants to forget sooner than later...

 

WHAT'S IN THE BAG

Stealth 2 Plus Driver

Stealth 2 Plus Fairway

TP5x Golf Balls

Milled Grind 3 Wedge

Season Opener Staff Bag

Season Opener Fairway Headcover

 

 

[ShortGameGod]

15 hours ago, rukahs said:

 

 

Nope. I gave up. Even asked the pro at my course to ask his reps and they said it's not happening. 

You can buy it here:

 

https://www.pgatoursuperstore.com/taylormade-spider-x-hydroblast/

 

 to the UK:

 

Items	£230.76
Shipping	£82.09
Duties & Taxes	£70.08
TOTAL	(GBP) £382.93

 

Spider X Hydro Blast #3 Putter

Qty: 1

£230.76

In Stock

 

[MerryTex]

I might pick one up here shortly. There’s something that feels right about it. I would rotate it with my GT Max if it starts misbehaving 😂

[michbarn10]

We need this to happen, I own a copper spider and can’t stand the color chipping but I putt better with it than any other putter I’ve had so it stays in the bag

[BagofToast]

5 hours ago, michbarn10 said:

We need this to happen, I own a copper spider and can’t stand the color chipping but I putt better with it than any other putter I’ve had so it stays in the bag

Its on TMs website...

[MerryTex]

Just picked up an X on Taylormade’s website. I couldn’t resist 😂

 

I’ll see if it’s a stepless shaft like it says or if it’s stepped like the flow neck I saw in my local shop. 

[CircleC29]

3 hours ago, MerryTex said:

Just picked up an X on Taylormade’s website. I couldn’t resist 😂

 

I’ll see if it’s a stepless shaft like it says or if it’s stepped like the flow neck I saw in my local shop. 

Both of my short slants are stepless, as is my flow neck which I've had for awhile now. So I think you'll be fine. 

[MerryTex]

Does anyone know if the CT Tour Putter Shaft from KBS is stepless? I’d like to order one for my GT Max in black. 

[CircleC29]

9 minutes ago, MerryTex said:

Does anyone know if the CT Tour Putter Shaft from KBS is stepless? I’d like to order one for my GT Max in black. 

In black, tried to capture the best I could. It is stepless tho.

[CircleC29]

13 minutes ago, MerryTex said:

Does anyone know if the CT Tour Putter Shaft from KBS is stepless? I’d like to order one for my GT Max in black. 

In chrome for reference. 

[mjo23]

18 minutes ago, MerryTex said:

Does anyone know if the CT Tour Putter Shaft from KBS is stepless? I’d like to order one for my GT Max in black. 

Yes. A standard KBS CT Tour 120 shaft is stepless. Which is probably noted in the description from wherever you’re gonna order from

[ShortGameGod]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:52 AM, mjo23 said:

Yes. A standard KBS CT Tour 120 shaft is stepless. Which is probably noted in the description from wherever you’re gonna order from

Is there a stepped version also of that same shaft?

[mjo23]

1 hour ago, ShortGameGod said:

Is there a stepped version also of that same shaft?

Yes I think so. In fact i was just looking at a stepped version somewhere but i forget, maybe golfworks or grips4less. So they exist but i don’t think they’re as widely available to order as the stepless 

 

The new TM putters have stepped but idk if they’re the same or some sort of new prototype with KBS

Edited June 18, 2023 by mjo23

[ShortGameGod]

On 6/18/2023 at 4:41 PM, mjo23 said:

Yes I think so. In fact i was just looking at a stepped version somewhere but i forget, maybe golfworks or grips4less. So they exist but i don’t think they’re as widely available to order as the stepless 

 

The new TM putters have stepped but idk if they’re the same or some sort of new prototype with KBS

 

Could it be that the stepped version is called

"Tour Putter"

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/product/tour-putter/

and the non stepped version is called 

"CT TOUR PUTTER"

where CT stands for "constant taper", that means it tapers at a constant rate and there fore is stepless?

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/product/ct-tour-putter

[TK3309]

Came across this thread again but just thought I'd share I've used a MySpider X for the last couple years but no alignment aids on the top and bought this putter before the start of the year. Swapped out the chrome shaft for a black one and have been having my best putting year in a long time. Contemplating another to have a backup just in case anything ever happened. Spider X model still the best Spider model they've come out with IMO. 

[ShortGameGod]

10 hours ago, ShortGameGod said:

 

Could it be that the stepped version is called

"Tour Putter"

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/product/tour-putter/

and the non stepped version is called 

"CT TOUR PUTTER"

where CT stands for "constant taper", that means it tapers at a constant rate and there fore is stepless?

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/product/ct-tour-putter

 

Funny detail:

On my TaylorMade Spider X Hydro Blast small slant #3 it has an original stepped shaft, but TM put the KBS CT TOUR PUTTER 120 sticker on it, despite that CT stands for "constant taper", that is not stepped!  And since the sticker is large, and the shaft stepped, the sticker "crosses" a step, and thus it doesn't really stick to the shaft that good at the step! I guess that is "mislabelling"? 🙂

Edited June 21, 2023 by ShortGameGod

[von3jack]

I decided to snag one of these off of the TM website before they disappeared. I loved my SS Spider X chalk but hated how chipped it got, and I am super careful with my putter. For those of you who have ordered off the TM website, what grip comes stock on the SS model? and does the stepped shaft have a shaft band on it?

[Misc1600]

Here go. Step shaft and TM branded SS GTT 

[So_Cal]

27 minutes ago, von3jack said:

I decided to snag one of these off of the TM website before they disappeared. I loved my SS Spider X chalk but hated how chipped it got, and I am super careful with my putter. For those of you who have ordered off the TM website, what grip comes stock on the SS model? and does the stepped shaft have a shaft band on it?

I got one from a retail store.  It only had the small TM shaft band.  The grip is the same SS that’s in the flow neck. 

[ShortGameGod]

On 5/18/2023 at 2:56 PM, bossman641 said:

Feedback from anyone who has switched from the flow to short slant? I don't particularly need to switch from the flow but have been thinking about it. Thanks

The short slant sets up really "square" behind the ball. I don't know which is best for my putting stroke, yet.

[scotty_2987]

I’ve tried to research but can’t really find a definite answer. Will the older spider tour putter fit in the newer spider headcovers? Thanks

[So_Cal]

8 minutes ago, scotty_2987 said:

I’ve tried to research but can’t really find a definite answer. Will the older spider tour putter fit in the newer spider headcovers? Thanks

I would assume so yes.  The size is the same right?