Driver Fitting

[revkev]

As many of you know I made a ridiculous M1 purchase at Sports Authority the other day.  Knowing that I was buying off the shelf I went for a driver fitting to have the thing tuned.  My fitter was Bob VanSweden of VanSweden's golf repair in St Petersburg, Florida.  Bob's pedigree is impeccable.  He worked in TMag's tour van for some time and then opened his own shop in Clearwater and finally St. Pete.  He has twice won their Fitter of the Year Award.  He fits and/or builds clubs for John Daly and Brittany Lincicome.  He is affiliated with KBS shafts and TMag. He's also a classic character who is very confident in his ability to fit people.  The cost of a driver fitting from him is a very reasonable $100 for an hour.

 

I know Bob from his prior shop (he wouldn't remember me from that) and then also as my Mizuno fitter from the MGS staff contest where I finished second and won more swag than I care to mention here.  The fitting was fun but I wish that I knew then what I do now about equipment.  Bob recalled exactly what he fit me for when I called to schedule this appointment.  I was impressed by that fact.

 

Like last time we had a great time for our hour plus together.  This time though he was much more interested in my input into the fitting and also my involvement as a member of the MGS community.  He is aware of the strains that exist between X, T and TMag execs and certainly far more in tune with what MGS does (he has links to some of T's stuff on his facebook page including the recent M1 MOI blog post) than before.

 

After warmed up I hit 6 balls with the M1 and stock Fijukara 60 R shaft.  I was unimpressed with the results.  Bob was unimpressed with my clubhead speed (duh) but very impressed with my smash factor of 4.6.  He said that's an unusually high smash factor for the people whom he fits. 

 

Next I asked if I could hit my Ping G30 gamer.  After 6 balls there (2 mph of additional swing speed, 4 of ball speed and 12 yards of distance) he said, "This is why I can't sell any drivers.  Your smash factor with that club is 4.9 which puts you right at the top of people who come in.  We can try every shaft in this place and it would never be worth the money for you to purchase one.  OEM's made a huge mistake to hit the $500 threshold at this time."  We then discussed today's MGS blog post.   

 

I did show him my Paderson shaft and asked if we could try it in the M1 so we put it in.  We were very pleased that I maintained the 4.9 and picked up 4 more yards with the same launch, less spin and a shallower decent that could lead to a greater run out under certain conditions.  Also the dispersion was ridiculously tight.  We did try a couple of other heavier shafts to reduce spin but none really did the trick. 

 

I ended up having him grip my Paderson with a Golf Pride CP2 which he threw in to the $100 fitting fee.  I asked about messing with the settings on the head and he said, "You're at 4.9 what are we supposed to do to improve on that?  The beauty of the club though is you can play with it yourself.  Bring your wrench, hit a couple on the course and then change it up and see what works best.  It's silly adjustable." 

 

So for $399 I have a nice new M1, fully fitted with an after market shaft valued at $200 and a top shelf grip.  I'm very pleased.  Here's what I learned:

 

1.  Most shockingly I belong in a longer shaft.  I hit the ball best with shafts that were between 45.5 and 46.  Call me Brooke.  (In my dreams golf wise)

 

2.  Yesterday's golf equipment is very good and with a proper fitting can be maximized to match today's.

 

3.  Fitting is fun, plain old fun.  Bob told me stories about John Daly (including showing me the putter that Daly used last year on tour because John gave it to Bob as a gift.) 

 

4.  Golf is fun and talking to other people who love the game regardless of ability is about as good as it gets (next to church, another activity with my wife and time spent with my children some of which might be done playing golf)

 

5.  Getting a picture of my newest grandchild - Karianna Hope Loughran - is priceless.  Penny and I are going to see her tomorrow AM.  I can hardly wait.

 

 

[jlew2144]

Very glad that you've found a nice groove with the new pretty!

 

Also congrats on the new grandchild!! I'm sure yours brings you as much joy as mine does!!

[revkev]

Very glad that you've found a nice groove with the new pretty!

Also congrats on the new grandchild!! I'm sure yours brings you as much joy as mine does!!

Number 8! Where have the years gone? How old is yours?

[jlew2144]

Number 8! Where have the years gone? How old is yours?

She'll be 2 in October.. she has Papaw wrapped already!!

 

8 that's awesome, what's the age range? Any of them old enough/interested in a round with you?

[revkev]

We go from 7 hrs old to 13. That's the 8 legal ones. I can't even count up the ones that belong to our foster kids.

 

And yes but the ones interested aren't quite old enough yet. One is getting his first baseball glove for his birthday next week courtesy of his aunt who at 14 is our youngest child. It's been a wonderful life thus far. Can't wait to see what's next.

 

October is a great month!

 

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[jlew2144]

We go from 7 hrs old to 13. That's the 8 legal ones. I can't even count up the ones that belong to our foster kids.

 

And yes but the ones interested aren't quite old enough yet. One is getting his first baseball glove for his birthday next week courtesy of his aunt who at 14 is our youngest child. It's been a wonderful life thus far. Can't wait to see what's next.

 

October is a great month!

 

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That's great to hear and the age range isn't too far off from a round or two with gpa.

 

Goes without saying but the foster kids count too as you're well aware. Those you raised because you wanted to and not because you "had" to.

[revkev]

Thanks you are so right. We have w adoptedchildren as well and I'm always reminding them that in their case we had a choice.

 

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[StrokerAce]

Sounds like a ton of fun and what a great experience with a fitter who worked with the great JD!  He is certainly one of a kind.  I can only imagine what it would be like to try to fit him into something.

 

Q: Why did you decide to move on from your G30 to the M1?  Adjustability?  Just trying something different?

[revkev]

Sounds like a ton of fun and what a great experience with a fitter who worked with the great JD!  He is certainly one of a kind.  I can only imagine what it would be like to try to fit him into something.

 

Q: Why did you decide to move on from your G30 to the M1?  Adjustability?  Just trying something different?

Great question and one that I will no doubt ask loudly the first time I hit a crapy drive with the M1. Like everyone I'm always chasing some extra distance and the M1 kicked butt in the most wanted driver test. It would not have been worth $500 for me to try it out and I would not have relied on one LM session to give it a whirl at that price point either. But at $299, $399 fully fit it was far more appealing plus I self fit myself for the G30. Finally I knew that I had that Paderson shaft as an ace in the hole.

 

Who knows once I get the thing on the course I may prefer the G30 but we'll see. Being able to pull driver and hit it consistently to the area I want is a huge part of my game and I need it to be automatic so that I may focus on shots between 150-200 in my practice. That's the hole in my game, that and distance and With 60 coming at me hard and fast gaining too much there is unlikely so it's working on greater accuracy with the mid irons, hybrids and fairway woods that is on tap for me the remainder of the year.

 

So my goal with the M1 will be to quickly get a handle on flight ing it up or down plus on how much I will be drawing it.

[StrokerAce]

Great question and one that I will no doubt ask loudly the first time I hit a crapy drive with the M1. Like everyone I'm always chasing some extra distance and the M1 kicked butt in the most wanted driver test. It would not have been worth $500 for me to try it out and I would not have relied on one LM session to give it a whirl at that price point either. But at $299, $399 fully fit it was far more appealing plus I self fit myself for the G30. Finally I knew that I had that Paderson shaft as an ace in the hole.

 

Who knows once I get the thing on the course I may prefer the G30 but we'll see. Being able to pull driver and hit it consistently to the area I want is a huge part of my game and I need it to be automatic so that I may focus on shots between 150-200 in my practice. That's the hole in my game, that and distance and With 60 coming at me hard and fast gaining too much there is unlikely so it's working on greater accuracy with the mid irons, hybrids and fairway woods that is on tap for me the remainder of the year.

 

So my goal with the M1 will be to quickly get a handle on flight ing it up or down plus on how much I will be drawing it.

 

Sounds like a good plan.  Good luck in your quest!!

[revkev]

 

 

Here's the grand baby. Karianna Hope but don't hold me to the spelling of her frat name just yet.

 

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[Mr_Theoo]

Congrats rev

[revkev]

Sorry that I managed to get the pic on sideways - Barbajo taught me how to post pics from my phone so I owe it all to him.

[Mr_Theoo]

Sorry that I managed to get the pic on sideways - Barbajo taught me how to post pics from my phone so I owe it all to him.

 

Thats like the blind leading the blind lol

[jlew2144]

She's adorable rev

[revkev]

She's adorable rev

Thanks I think so too and love the name!

 

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[revkev]

Okay games the M1 yesterday at St Pete Country Club. I'm only concerning myself with the first 10 holes because we had a 3 beer rain delay after our tee balls on 10 and everything is a bit blurry after that.

 

Results were pretty good. I hit driver 6 times and 5 of them were hit well. All of them were playable on the fairway all though one was a sort of dying quail hook that went no where.

 

I had one drive that was spot on perfect and measured 241 into a little breeze on wet turf. That's the one I'm looking for as often as possible so I have it's visual.

 

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