Are you a Modern Golfer? #projectMG

[jaskanski]

Actually, my Alpha irons and Wishon fairway wood were some of the less expensive equipment I've purchased, and I've purchased far to much for my own good.

 

It wasn't until I "discovered" fitting, which wasn't really offered in a big way in my area until a few years ago, that I started to realize that a custom fitting could be more affordable in the long run, that buying off the rack.

 

I'll still "fiddle" with my bag, that's just something I like to do, but in all honesty I'm probably better off to work with the tools I have.  Whether you're fit for a major OEM brand or a "boutique," doesn't really matter much, but you really SHOULD get fit.  At that point, it really is the "Archer, not the arrow," and you need to work on your game.

 

Actually, this is where the niche brands get owned.

The major OEM's still have the upper hand with fitting options and availability, making it easier than ever to find the perfect fit. Even customisation is duly covered by most.

Whether or not you actually opt to buy the equipment or not is entirely up to you - for instance it's just as possible to find your optimal fit and then buy the equipment later in the secondhand market and adjust it to your specs. Something you could do just as easily with the niche brands perhaps, but the lack of availability and options (shafts alone for instance) makes it a no-brainer really - like I said you really have to be sold on the niche ideal to want to follow up on the fitting program of the smaller brand. 

I fully endorse anyone wanting to get fitted for golf clubs, but the lack of availability, dexterity, options (and let's not forget the price) for the smaller boutique brands, makes the prospect of finding the optimal fit a little further out of reach of the masses.

[NiftyNiblick]

What major OEM offers lie and face angle options (not hosel dials) on their metalwoods?  Custom shafts and grips isn't customizing.  That can be done after the fact.  A custom clubhead is customizing, and that includes custom weighting so that you can match any club length to any loft with any shaft and grip that you want.

 

In the days of real wooden woods, that was easy. Your club pro sent the required specs to the major OEM club maker and that was the end of that.  (Louisvile Golf will still do that with their wooden woods but it's fifty bucks over the standard cost per club.)

 

With metal, the tooling costs for doing that elevated substantially so it just stopped being done. Eventually, they came up with those facacta  dials that look like breakage waiting to happen.

 

The OEMs put anti-slice bias in all weak loft options because they automatically assume that every slow swing speed player is a high handicapper with flawed ball-striking skills.  What if you have good skills but you're just slight of build or as in my case, old and less flexible?  Is that too difficult to imagine?

 

I've been going with an antique Titleist PT set---13, 17, 20, 23º--to which I recently added a matching 10.5º driver which was less demanding to hit than I thought it might be.  Regardless of whether I choose to bag the driving spoon or the driver, the log jam comes at 17 and 20º, a place where one 18.5 would be preferable for more flexibility in set configuration.

 

Henry-Griffitts has an answer for this, not that I'm shilling for them.  They have a "Praxis" model 18.5º fairway wood orderable in choice of lie angle, face angle, and clubhead weight. 

 

Also, with everybody making hybrids, 23º full-sized woods like my old Titleist aren't found in everybody's catalog either.  That's covered by the H-G "Purist" model which also has the same lie angle, face angle, and weight options.  The Purist has a deeper face that the Praxis, which is good in a 23 that might be used from shaggy lies in the rough.

 

As for a higher loft driver with a square face and a flat enough lie angle, TaylorMade's 253cc AeroBurner TP mini-driver now fills that bill--if you can put up with the silly white crown color.  I haven't seen a 55º lie driver in a long time, and they're still not to be found if you like a huge-headed titanium club.  Wedgewood has a 460cc 12º driver with a flat lie like that, but you'll have to tell me about anybody else.

[wbealsd]

Actually, this is where the niche brands get owned.

The major OEM's still have the upper hand with fitting options and availability, making it easier than ever to find the perfect fit. Even customisation is duly covered by most.

Whether or not you actually opt to buy the equipment or not is entirely up to you - for instance it's just as possible to find your optimal fit and then buy the equipment later in the secondhand market and adjust it to your specs. Something you could do just as easily with the niche brands perhaps, but the lack of availability and options (shafts alone for instance) makes it a no-brainer really - like I said you really have to be sold on the niche ideal to want to follow up on the fitting program of the smaller brand. 

I fully endorse anyone wanting to get fitted for golf clubs, but the lack of availability, dexterity, options (and let's not forget the price) for the smaller boutique brands, makes the prospect of finding the optimal fit a little further out of reach of the masses.

It really does depend on the fitter.

 

My personal experience leads me to belive that most "Big Box" fitter do little to prepare their staff to provide quality fittings.  YES, it's better than nothing, but in many cases it's little better than that.

 

What I have found is, a focus on FITTING rather than brand, provides better results.  It's really all angles and the metal it's composed of.  The reason I've trusted the fitters I have is the time they've spent with me, and the analysis of WHY a particular club works for me.

 

Maybe it's a "head thing," but in most "Big Box OEM" fittings, I've felt pushed to buy the "latest and greatest" brand that produces the largest commission.

 

I've not felt that way with the "boutique" fitters I've gone to, even those that offer a wide selection of "Big Name" brands.  Considering that at my latest wedge fitting, I could have been "sold" on Edel or Miura, the fact my "fit" was with the stock Ping surprised me.  At my last putter fitting, all that was suggested was a loft adjustment to what I was alreadying playing, impressed me.

 

I know, for a fact, I've had fittings biased for the vendor, as opposesed to fitting for ME.  That's my "Big Box" experience.  Change a shaft (to my specs), adjust a lie angle or loft, that's OK but I know what I want when I use them.

 

It's definitely importent to know your specs when buying equipment, but it's equally important to know WHO is evaluating you specs!  I've got 3 fitters within 200 miles that I trust.  Granted, I live in a very rural area, but I have 3 (and only 3) fitters I'll work with.  Each of them is good in their own niche, but some of them have more options and specialize in different areas.

[revkev]

3 fitters that you can trust trumps me. I have one and I live in a county with a million people in it next to another one with two million.

 

There are plenty of fitters one with a great reputation (hewill tell you all about it). I only trust one of them.

[silver & black]

3 fitters that you can trust trumps me. I have one and I live in a county with a million people in it next to another one with two million. 

 

Which begs the question:

 

Even though I know I should get fit for my clubs, how/where do you find a competent fitter in your area without driving a hundred miles or more and requiring a stay over?

 

I would love to get fit, but I have no idea where to go. I have inquired at my local golf shop, and all they do is a launch monitor fitting in their testing bay. That doesn't sound very reliable to me.

[jaskanski]

Which begs the question:

 

Even though I know I should get fit for my clubs, how/where do you find a competent fitter in your area without driving a hundred miles or more and requiring a stay over?

 

I would love to get fit, but I have no idea where to go. I have inquired at my local golf shop, and all they do is a launch monitor fitting in their testing bay. That doesn't sound very reliable to me.

 

This is a common problem. 

The truth is, you really need to put a certain amount of effort in getting fitted. Take an indifferent approach to a fitting and the likelihood is you will find an experience on similar lines. Once someone says, "where do I go without travelling miles?", then it sounds like they've already resigned themselves to a fitting they can only be bothered to make. My advice is to go a bit further, not only in distance but with your own effort  - only then will you find a level of fitting that will match you own level of effort.

If you're in the continental US, then you have a better chance of finding a certified fitter and equipment than anywhere else on earth - because that's where the majority are. 

The problem is, most folks will travel miles to play a golf course - maybe even travel abroad - yet they will be reluctant to travel further than their own back yard to seek professional advice. But once you do a bit of homework and searching, you may surprise yourself how easy it can be to get properly fitted by a professional with solid credentials. 

[revkev]

Bottom line is that you are going to get what you put into it. My last purchase I had what I'd consider a competent fitting because:

 

1. I was buying from him.

 

2. He has access to the full line of a number of OEMs.

 

3. He knows golf (former European Tour Player).

 

 

Having written that I would not go to him for repair or an evaluation of my current set. He wants to sell clubs and his advice will be towards the latest and greatest at full profit to him. I've found a guy who is about forty minutes a way that's perfect for repairs and set evaluations, used to work a tour van for Titleist. He's my guy going forward. What's 40 minutes when playing the best golf possible is my stress release?

[wbealsd]

In my case, it really was by trial and error (mostly errors).

 

Local fitter that opened up a couple of years ago gained my trust after developing a relationship with him and going to the range with him.  I hit indoors a lot, but still don't find it comperable to hitting on turf.  He's got a limited selection of heads that he sells, but shaft fitting is his mainstay and if a head "suits my eye," I trust him to fit me for a shaft.

 

The other two shops are in the Twin Cities and require an overnight trip, 2nd Swing and Totally Driven.  Both shops could have "oversold me" on equipment lines they carry, but not only do they carry a LOT of options, they fit me into equipment that provided immediate improvement at a lower cost than I was expecting.

 

Putter fitting at 2nd Swing resulted in adjusting the loft on my current putters (no charge).  Wedges at Totally Driven ended up being stock Ping Glides instead of the Edels or Miuras I was leaning toward before the fitting.

 

I feel like these fitters were looking out for my best interests and focused on improving my game.  I did spend a few years trying to find them.