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My (ongoing) club fitting experience


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First off, I am a recovering club ho.  My addiction started many years back when I was playing daily in my quest to single digit (got close, but no cigars) and believed in the holy grail.  Being a broke student at the time, I was "hunting" on the BST of various forums and experimented with a bunch of heads and shaft combos.   all of the club work in my father in law's shed.
 From blades, to super GI I've tried all type of heads and shafts from Project X to KBS Tour. I finally settled for Wilson Ci7 (.370 heads) shafted in my .355 KBS Tour with brass shims.   That was in 2009.  Hyperdrive to 2015 (5 years of almost no golf), I can't hit the Ci7 consistently.   I find a set of more forgiving heads and away I go for my golf return.  But something is not right...

During the winter, I start researching the club fitters in my area (Ottawa) and finally decide to go for it:  I finally book an appointment with Les from Maxx Fit Golf (

 

First session was a 2 hour session last week.  I first get me to warm up while he get the specs of my 7 iron.  The frequency is at 5.7 - I already start thinking this is too stiff for my slower swing speed. 

After a few balls, he commented that I have a unique (self taught), but repeatable swing.  He ask me to look at the sole of the club: all the green melted plastic from the turf is on the heel: first observation - to be confirmed - I need flatter lie.  He also commented that my grips were way too small after measuring my hand.

Fast forward: I hit a bunch of head and shaft combo for irons, hybrids, 4 wood and driver.  Get some swing speed off the radar (he was having issue with his Flightscope).

My swing appeared to be off: barely 70 mph on a 6 iron (I usually carry it in the 160 - 165 yards range) and between 90 and 105 mph on the driver (yes 15 mph gap) and a lot of heel striking...

 

Initial findings: I likely need a heavy regulard shaft, bend the lie at least 2* flat, new irons to be discussed, he recommends keeping my Mizuno MP FliHi 4H, replacing my Sonartec MD 19* hybrid and Callaway FT  4 Wood.  Not sure on the driver.  However he strongly believes 45" is too long.   But say, he wants to take some time to review his notes, sleep over all this and that we should talk in a few days.

 

All in all, I leave with a good feeling and I look forward to hear about his findings

 

A couple of day ago, he shares his findings.  He wants me to try a few Wishon heads in a DG R300 HL, a 949MC 4w and a 775HS 21* hybrid.  He's thinking Wishon stiff  S2S White for my driver

 

- To be continued -  Today I did a 2 hour session on the flightscope

Driver:  Taylormade R1,65g Aldila RIP Phenom TP, Stiff
Fairway: Callaway FT 4 wood 16° Aldila  XVS6 "PGA Tour Only"
Hybrid: : Sonartec MD 19° Stiff Stepless steel
Irons: RSi 1 5i-AW, KBS Tour S (5.7)
Wedges: Callaway X-Tour forged 56° and Scratch 8620 60°
Putter: MannKrafted custom putter

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Second session - with flightscope

 

For this session, Les had prepared 3 different Wishon iron heads.  Two on TrueTemper DG R300 HL and one on a classic DG R300.  I did not want to biased by the heads so I asked him not to tell me which one is which.

 

First off: the 979SS with the HL shaft - after a dozen of hits, we both know that this is not a right combo for me.   While I'm back to a more decent swing speed (for me) of about 75 mph with an 8 iron, the smash factor is slightly over 1.30, the spin is way to high and distance, according to the flightscope is abnormally short.  Feeling wise, something is just not right, aesthetically, did not appeal to my eye.

 

Then we went to alternating half dozen of shots with the following 7 irons to get some numbers: my own, a 755PC / DG R300 HL and a 752TC / DG R300.  We get confirmation that my shaft is too stiff, I load the R300 way better.  However, I found the HL version too light and was not a fan of the more flexible shaft.  Based on the fitter observation, my own feeling and the Flightscope data, we are pretty much set on the DG R300.

 

We now need to identify the right head.  This will be done during the next session as I had a bad case of  hitting almost everything of the heel.  The 755PC appears to be my favorite, but don't want to rule out the 752TC.  

During the first session, I also tried a lot of Maltby and CER heads.  I did like the KE4 forged, but was hitting everything Wishon way better. 

 

As far as the driver goes, my spin rate was of the chart.  My angle of attack is descending on all clubs (sometime to steep - working on it) my backspin was upward of 4000 rpm, with a few in the 6000 rpm...  Needless to say that this was killing my distance.  And my bad case of hitting of the heel did not provide much accurate data.  So we decided to stand down on the driver for now a focus on the iron.

 

As far as the 4 wood and hybrids are concern, it was an instant love affair with the 949mc 4 wood and the 775HS 21* hybrid so it is just a matter of fine tuning.

 

Excited for the next session.  Happy with the process, as I want to take my time to do it right.  I believe it is well worth the time and money investment.

 

part 3 to be continued

Driver:  Taylormade R1,65g Aldila RIP Phenom TP, Stiff
Fairway: Callaway FT 4 wood 16° Aldila  XVS6 "PGA Tour Only"
Hybrid: : Sonartec MD 19° Stiff Stepless steel
Irons: RSi 1 5i-AW, KBS Tour S (5.7)
Wedges: Callaway X-Tour forged 56° and Scratch 8620 60°
Putter: MannKrafted custom putter

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