Club Fitting

Got a demo fitting booked on Tuesday evening. Never done this before, so any advice on what i should expect?

Looking particularly at irons and driver. Hopefully will get a chance to test out titleist ap2, cb and mb . Currently using mizuno mp32 blades, but thinking a combo set might be the way to go.

Expect a large amount of money to escape from your pocket.

Its a free-bee. No commitment required as such. Going more out of interest than general expectation that I'll fork out for something. Interested to see what i will be spec'd up for. Been thinking about cutting an inch or so off the shaft on my driver, so interested to see what the advice is on all that.

There's no chance anyone will advise you to cut an inch off your driver shaft.

Right, presumably that will mess with the balance and performance of the shaft then. Anyway - i'm interested to know how 'bad' a fit the current shaft on my driver is for me.

As stated I've never ventured into the fitting scene, and am therefore a complete novice, and perhaps a little naive as to the science.

ban_bam wrote:Right, presumably that will mess with the balance and performance of the shaft then. Anyway - i'm interested to know how 'bad' a fit the current shaft on my driver is for me.

Won't mess any balance or performance but might lose you one swingweight or so.

I had a fitting for my irons a couple of years ago. A pro, his assistant and a launch monitor. Mine followed what seems a fairly logical format (but having only had one fitting I'm not sure whether it was a good one or not).

Started with a discussion about my game and my clubs what I currently had, why I had them and how I got on with them, what is my usual ball flight/shape, my usual "miss" if it goes wrong and the distribution (how wide left or right of target) of shots.

Moved on to hitting some balls with current 6 iron, check to see whether that was how I "normally" hit them. More balls with old club on the launch monitor to establish the swing speed, ball speed, ball rpm, launch angle etc etc.

Analysis of that information, their suggestion of shaft stiffness and my preferred ball flight then a discussion about club options based on my budget, "type" of club (forged/cast/blade/cavity/MB) then a few suggestions about club heads to try from different manufacturers with suggested shafts.

Try different club/shaft options. Whittle down to 2 or 3 that felt good/best. Use these (6 iron again to enable better comparison) on launch monitor and look at the results to see if anything stands out, but select club/shaft combo that feels best. Hit more balls to confirm opinion and establish whether you're happy that it is the optimum combination for you.

Pay for session (£40 I think). No real pressure to buy but cost of session usually deducted from purchase price if buying clubs.

No idea if this is "standard" but it's what happened with me so hope it gives you a pointer if nothing else. Only thing I would say is try to swing as you normally would, as there may be a temptation to swing differently (may be a temptation to see how fast you can swing it for example).

Sounds like what Roller had was the perfect club fitting.

I had a fitting at the local superstore earlier in the year and I didn't find them as helpful as I would have liked.

I expected them to ask me about ball flight, how far I hit it, shape of shot, what improvements I would like from the new clubs, etc, etc. I would then expect to be able to hit various clubs with various shafts until we got to the perfect combination. I would fully expect this to take a couple of hours so would be happy to pay and I think £40 is reasonable.

When I buy my next clubs I would choose a specific manufacturer and then go to one of their fitting centres.

thanks all - off to the fitting shortly, will report back later - lovely evening

Interesting session. Lasted around an hour, and thought the guy seemed thourough as far as i could tell.

From a hitting some shots off standard setup and analysing the results on the tracker, he narrowed me down to 2 shaft options: dgs300, and kbs something or other ( will get spec sheet next time i'm at the pro sho so can confirm then ). Tried a couple of others to check also, but these appeared to produce a very high spin rate, as my average swing speed was quite high at 92mph with a 6 iron. My current irons are dgs300 , however the lie is a little off neutral. Spin rate, ball flight and distance for both preferred options was pretty much identical, however the kbs results were tighter to the target line by approx 5 yards on an average hit and quite a bit more on a poor one. 'If' i do go for it, I've been advised toward a combo of 3-5 / 3-6 irons in the cb offering and the rest as mb . Really like the feel and consistency was good, but its a lotta lotta cash to hand over...

What were the results for the "ideal" clubs versus your existing bats? In your opinion do you think the proposed cost "if" you go for them to be commensurate with the potential improvement in distance/dispersion?

I decided mine was (from reg Nike shafts to Project X Flighted 6) as the dispersion and trajectory had improved a lot (although had lost a little distance as you would expect).

The family didn't need to eat that month and so food fell down the pecking order versus some shiny new bats. Although, it meant a decent saving in golf balls as I started to miss greens short and straight instead of gorse left or right of the green (but pin high!)

So, an update. I've mentioned already that I ordered the irons in December, and thanks to a decent wad of pro shop credit from competition winnings and selling off a couple of old sets of irons and various other clubs in the cupboard they didn't actually set me back very much at all. Opted for the 3-6 CBs and 7-P MBs, with KBS Tour S shafts, and have been getting on great with them. Performance wise, there is probably only a marginal improvement on previous MP32s, but it is great having a set of clubs purchased in the knowledge they suit me. Love the feel, distance control and look- everything I'd want really.
So, as a happy customer I'm taking the plunge again... Driver, 3 wood and hybrid fitting booked for 3 weeks time, can't wait! Once again any purchase will be funded by a combination of competition winnings and selling off old gear so shouldn't be too high a price to pay. Had a demo of the driver and hybrid and the feel off the face is sublime. Looking forward to having a more settled bag over the next few years too.

I'd always been an advocate of club fitting and had been for a few sets of irons until I fancied a new driver, seemed to be getting on great with it at the time following a fitting session, "matched" with a Stiff Fubiki shaft. On the course I never really liked it and stopped using it, after something with length and accuracy I tested a 3 wood (a club I had not had in my my bag for years), also in stiff, again couldn't hit it, so tested a regular as an experiment....
BOOM. Absolutely smashing it, 260 yards easy, so got a regular shaft for my driver and replaced all my irons with regular too.
Never hit it better.

So, Custom Fitting can be good, but due to my handicap and swing speed, they never assumed regular shafts would suit me so never even gave me the option. One of the shortcomings of the system I think is that they seem to rigidly believe what you should be playing rather than what you actually should be playing.

S_R

What's your transition like? Are you fairly smooth or pretty abrupt?

I've got a pretty simple smooth swing Navy so probably a reason why a regular is good for me. The three wood is just ridiculously good. I'm frequently asked if I get bored striping it down the middle.

One thing I've really noticed is that 9 and PW are a lot more accurate in dispersion, giving myself a lot more birdie opportunities. Which I hope will be good in the Texas Scramble tomorrow.

Makes sense that regular is a good fit it seems...

Don't mean to hijack this thread - it is almost relevant

I'm thinking about putting a fatso grip on my putter.

Question.....how do they fit into the bag? I know it sounds daft, but I'm pretty sure at 1.5 inches diameter I do not have anywhere in my bag the putter will fit!

They fit just fine OS, I have an oversize grip on my putter and I haven't had any trouble getting it in and out of the bag.

Mr. P has the fatso grip and loves it. Never has a problem fitting in the bag either. He's been putting much better since he switched to it.

OK - I think I'll try one first thought.

fitting completed this morning. great experience, very thorough (2h20 in total). more detailed update when i have a chance - but here are some average numbers below of existing equipment v's 913 range. off the top of my head i've been fitted for the following:

D2 10.5deg set at 12deg. Lie adjusted to slightly upright.
F 15deg set at 16.5deg. Lie as above.
H 17deg set at 17.75deg. Lie as above.
Diamana blue S Blue in each 62, 72, 72 respectively.

Current gear:
Ping G15 9.5 driver, 15.5 fairway and 17 hybrid, all with Aldila Serrano S shafts.

All about getting the ball up in the air for me, -9deg angle of attack with driver so he had his work cut out with me.

Clubs on order and should have them in time for my trip north next weekend.

Spoiler:

Good improvement I think Bar. Dispersion as tight/tighter too?

visually seemed excellent. nice solid high fade in most cases. my heely slice wasn't going particularly wild either which was pleasing (it can go pretty wild with G15). carry distances were astonishing. i hit some great strikes with the G15, but the numbers were miles behind the adjusted 913. 913 fairway wood carries longer on average than the G15 for me, and D2 is 30 yards up on the G15...crazy...and all because i was launching the ball so low before.

Interesting thing re. the drivers is, in that snap shot, the smash factor on the D2 is lower than the G15 and yet it still carries 30 yards beyond the G15.

navy

It's the spin rate - so much lower. When I was fitted for my driver, the object was to get the spin rate as near to 2,700 as possible. Apparently the tour pros are aiming for 2,500 with the big dog.

Yeah, I guess it must be (combined w/ increased launch angle) but it's a lot more striking than I thought, especially with the smash factors. 30 yards difference is an almost 14% increase.

30 yards extra on your driver will transform your game assuming the accuracy stays the same, but it sounds like that has also improved. Where you were hitting long irons you will now be hitting 8 iron, and 8 irons will now be wedges.

And that's without considering the 20 yard gain on the 3w.

Looks like it was a worthwhile day to get fitted.

Big sticks going further and straighter, have you got a plan (or a need...) to plug the distance gap that presumably will now be more marked (esp with hybrid at 25 yards more) between hybrid and irons? Back to the fitter for irons...

I deliberately up lofted my hybrid (20 from 18) when I went to the 913s which seems to work quite well even though I'd prefer a lower flight on the hybrid (4 iron next down to allow 3 wedges I like to carry on our course which is shorter than most)

I look at things from another point of view. I subtract 120 yards from the middle of the green and try to hit to that point, so a driver is seldom my club of choice of the tee, even if I am striping it straight and true.

Greater distance even when consistently accurate isn't always the best option, for me at least. I'd rather have a full wedge which I'm confident of hitting a fairly consistent distance than a tricky half shot 80 yarder which is more difficult to execute and control.

Super

You must be mega big to be getting inside 120 regularly on par 4's?

Or playing pitch and putts.

Not really Mac. Most par 4's are sub 400 yards, Only requires a shot of 280 from the tee. With the run you get on links, it's not that difficult.

Many par 4's at St.Andrews around 350-400, only an occasional one over 400 so it's often a long iron, rescue or 3 wood off the tee.
In fact I often play TOC with no driver.

Pretty amazing the difference that you are getting there. Only trouble I found when a change of driver gave me an extra 20-30 yards was that this could be the difference between it hanging onto the rough or a reload!

The ball can also be a massive one. I tested the Z-Star XVs that I was using against NXT Tours and the Strixons were about 15 yards longer. While I expected them to be a little better I didn't expect that much.

GOod point Two.

A lot of players instinctively opt for a premium ball like a pro-v, even though a very high proportion won't be good enough to get the performance out of it and should be using a ball like an AD333 or NXT-Tour

Alongside custom fitting for clubs (which I've done loads), I'd be very interested to do an actual ball comparison between half a dozen types on a launch monitor to see the results.

Mac, what on earth are you talking about?

It's a fact that the average golfer is about a 16 HCP.

It's a fact that most aren't good enough to get the best out of a Pro-V.

I didn't state at any point I was good enough to get the best out of it, I've no idea if I am getting the best out of my ball, hence why I stated I'd like to try a ball fitting to see which one suits me best.

I've even stated in the past how I've gone against popular convention for a so called "decent" player and replaced all my clubs with regular.

You really can be a pap at times.

Mods.

Just delete the post if you feel compelled to alter it.

Does shaft flex not depend on swing speed and not ability?

Regular could be perfect for you no matter what your handicap. You seem stuck in the mind set that being a good players means you have to use certain balls or that you are beyond the likes of a regular shaft.

bridge-stone did a free clinic in our club last year purely for balls. i didn't make it along but from all the reports i heard people were shocked at the distance they were giving up by using the " premium" prov V equivalent ball as apposed to the harder NXT type ball

Roller_Coaster wrote:Big sticks going further and straighter, have you got a plan (or a need...) to plug the distance gap that presumably will now be more marked (esp with hybrid at 25 yards more) between hybrid and irons? Back to the fitter for irons...

I deliberately up lofted my hybrid (20 from 18) when I went to the 913s which seems to work quite well even though I'd prefer a lower flight on the hybrid (4 iron next down to allow 3 wedges I like to carry on our course which is shorter than most)

gap of 32 yards carry between 3 wood and 4 iron. nudging the loft up to 18.5 on the hybrid should plug that gap perfectly. however my 3 iron is staying in the bag for now - despite only a (very disappointing 5 yard carry improvement on the 4 iron, hence nudging the loft to 17.75 on the hybrid for now. will see how it performs on the course and can tweak accordingly if required. 3 iron does run out a bit more and gives me more options on away links days.

Exactly Mac, and stiff might suit certain higher handicappers . Did you not read any of what I wrote?

THe point is that conventional thinking assumess that low players should use a stiff shaft as more often they have more powerful faster swings to which stiffer shafts are generally more suited. When I've been fitted before they haven't even looked at regular shafts for me on the basis I'm a fairly low player, despite me subsequently discovering they are more suited to me.

Similarly, there is a perception that the Pro V (or premium equivalent) are the best balls and therefore people feel inclined to use them, regardless of the fact most aren't good enough to get the benefits from the ball. Whether that includes me or not, I've never claimed.

So no, I'm not remotely stuck in the mindset that good players should use only stiff shafts and only use a premium ball. If anything I'm far more open minded about it than most club fitters and most golfers seem to be, but not so open minded I go shopping for golf gear in Jumble Sales

The guy that I have lessons with uses a launch monitor and does ball testing. I was using the Z Star XV at the time so for a bit of fun we tried mine against the NXTs. (It was into a net so I got them back.)

Strangely the XVs are designed for very fast swings and mine is about 98-100mph so not quite that level but I had found them better than the standard ones. So I guess the low spin element was better. So another layer of confusion! I find the same with Pro V1 vs V1x. Again the V1x seems better. These are on course observations rather than numbers on a monitor.

I find that of the cheaper balls the Strixon AD-333 than the Titleist NXTs. In fact about to go back to using them as the winter comes in and spin control around the green is less relevant.

289

It's a good myth this "these balls are designed for a high speed swing" etc. Anyone will get a higher ball speed using a harder vs. a softer ball as that's plain physics. Harder balls will generally generate less spin so if the hard ball doesn't give someone enough spin, it'll die out of the air even though it launches faster than the softer/less spinny ball.
For me, even if, say, a Pro V1x gave me the most distance and I liked its spin characteristics, I wouldn't use one as I don't like their feel for chipping and putting so that's another consideration over and above the actual numbers.

It's always going to be a balance between multiple factors.

I am talking the wife into helping toward a new set for Christmas. I have had my set for a while and got them off the internet for a decent price. I am a hacker at 20hc. But I guess the consensus is to pop down American golf and get fitted up rather then order a good deal online blind??

It's not really a fitting down at AG Ben. Best to hit balls into the open air, not a net.

The 2 American golf nearby are both on driving ranges so there is somewhere to hit. I assumed most where the same?

what is the point going to AG/DG other than to try out a range of clubs? i booked my fittings through my pro, have paid no more for the clubs than i would have online at AG/DG, and got a full fitting service at the manufacturers national fitting centre included in the cost. admittedly it's on my doorstep, but for the professional service v's a golf superstore i'd be more than willing to travel if required.

Super should damn well know that the braids AG does fitting on a range.

Couple of posts late now but...

Indeed, feel is everything on balls (oo-er).

Know plenty of people across the handicap spectrum that play the Pro V purely because they like the feel on the greens and are simply more confident over their wedges, regardless of whether they can get the most out of the ball on longer shots or not. Close to, I reckon the landing area with a pro v would actually be larger (short sided delicate flick over a bunker say) as you'd need to be more precise with a harder ball due to roll to get it close. Conversely, I prefer the x despite being a lower spin player as I can get enough out of it round the greens but have that little bit more confidence on the longer clubs with the lower spin rate.

I used to change in winter on the basis that you simply don't need the greenside control of a premium ball on softer greens, but (probably due to the spin rate drop off per NBS) found that the harder NXT Tour simply didn't fly as far as the V or x on longer shots for me while the extra spin on the green of a V or x didn't result in the ball spinning backwards (ie they all just drop and stop on full shots in winter) so I went back.

I do still get bored of using the same ball and occasionally go Srixon/Penta/Lethal/Nike/Callaway/Bridgestone but after a while ball hopping I'll hit an x again and the score is simply better. Fortunately with the 4 for 3 offer at the beginning of the year combined with a £20 voucher in a golf mag I got 4 doz Pro v1x for about £95 delivered so they worked out cheaper than many of the so called lesser balls anyway.

Driver - wow, wow, wow. Fast becoming my best golfing investment. Carry distance is a long way ahead of what I was achieving in the summer. Dispersion is in another world of improvement. It's weird aiming up the middle instead of up the left hand side. Love it.
Hybrid and 3 woods are beauts also, but soooo much confidence with the driver they are hardly getting a word in.