Bradka13

I recently posted a topic regarding club fitting effectiveness and had several members suggest that what I may really need was to start tracking some statistics. I have come to trust the members of the forum, so I have decided to try to start tracking some basic statistics this year by hand. I would love to get some more detailed information and I think something hands off like this system has the highest chance of working for me.

cut +5 low amateur Hagestad

Can't wait to see how the new stuff compares to last year's gear. Congratulations testers!

OK, everyone that says they will keep their ball for multiple rounds must be playing a different game than me. Last time I used one ball for multiple rounds I'm pretty sure there were clowns and windmills involved! If I am fortunate enough to have a ball stick around long enough for me to have to make a decision, minor scuffs are usually OK. If there is a hunk of ball hanging off, the ball gets sent into the water to appease the golf gods.

I truly appreciate the suggestions on how to start tracking some things to try and figure out why I am not golfing as well as I do when I picture the shots in my head!

I've been thinking a bit more about this and I have a question for the "non-glovers." Do your hands not sweat? I have 1/2 cord grips and when it gets hot out (yes, it does in fact get hot in MN for 1 or 2 days during the Summer) I would be so afraid I would lose my grip that I would have a death grip on the club. Some of those days I even use 2 gloves, alternating between them to allow one to dry as I am soaking the other. I may try "gloveless" on cooler days but don't think I would dare on hot ones.

I'm sure anyone who has golfed much at all has experienced similar things. I've never taken the next step and asked why. Do you, or anyone, know an easy way to start tracking some of these stats?

I'm not even saying that I don't feel I got the value from the fitting as I also think the results are more likely tied to my reduced reps. I was more just curious if I should completely remove the thought that the clubs might share in the blame or if others had experienced unexpected results that couldn't be explained by other factors.

Those are interesting questions. The fact that I don't know the answer to most of them might be one of the issues of the lack of improvement. My previous irons were not fit for me. During the fitting they showed me that the dispersion of where I was making contact with the ball on the clubface was significantly improved with the new irons compared to the old and the gapping was also improved. Other than that, I don't know that I was able to see any actual improvements on the course. I don't have data to back this up, but it seems like I have hit a lot fewer greens since I got the new irons. I am not saying this is a direct result of the fitting, but I think maybe has more to do with what matt_puttercup said about a fitting only fitting to the swing you had that day and my swing inconsistencies coming into play due to my decrease in time with the game. That was the reason for my original question. Trying to determine if anyone else had had an adverse effect on their scores after a fitting or if it was more likely that my results were solely due to lack of reps. But now I am also interested in some of the comments saying that lower scores should not necessarily be an expectation of a club fitting. The examples given were deficiencies in other areas of your game also affecting scoring such as poor putting or course management. I am struggling to see the logic in that. I agree that there are other factors to scoring and new irons are not going to help putting or course management, but it also shouldn't hurt putting or course management. So, if everything else stays the same, is it not logical to expect better scoring after a fitting?

A couple replies suggest that my expectations of playing better golf (measured by lower scores) may have not been realistic. This seems odd to me. Why would anyone spend money on a fitting and new clubs if the result is not an improvement in their game? I understand that a fitting will not magically fix all areas of your game and getting new irons won't make me putt better. However, the fitting won't make me putt worse either. So, if the goal of a fitting is to "reduce the dispersion" of shots and "maximize our ability to hit a consistent stock shot" it seems logical to me that the results of those outcomes would ultimately be lower scores.

Has anyone had a fitting that did not yield expected results? I had my first fitting several years ago and ended up buying new (very expensive for me) irons. My handicap went up since the fitting. To be fair, the timing of this was also when I started playing a bit less as well but I guess I was expecting to see a bigger difference in my game after the fitting. I was fit for a new driver a little over a year ago and I would say that part of my game has been better since.

This is very interesting to me. I have never considered not using a glove on full swing shots. I might try it based on some of the responses here. Definitely need rain gloves if playing it wet weather!

I do my own replacements when I feel it is needed. I am also cheap, I mean frugal, so it is usually a while past when it should be done. No need to break in new grips. They are at their best when new.

I am just old enough to have seen the tail end of Jack's career. When Tiger was starting out, I was fairly "anti-Tiger". At this point I think anyone that says there is a clear-cut GOAT is not being honest with themselves. I think Tiger had the opportunity to clearly take that title, but he made some questionable (my opinion) choices during his career. The 2 biggest being... 1. Continually reworking his swing even when he was already clearly the best player in the world at the time. 2. Choosing to play with inferior equipment most of his career. Granted, this worked out just fine for him financially but likely hurts his lifetime stats. So, to answer your question, I would give the slight edge to Tiger due to how dominant he was in his prime, but can't help but wonder what might have been if it weren't for poor choices and injuries.

I would love to be able to buy new clubs, (or last year's model if I'm being honest) but if I want to stay married (and eat) it just isn't in the budget right now. That being said, especially if you are buying from a trusted seller, most people won't be able to tell the difference between new and one year old clubs.

Holy smokes...must have been quite the "all you can eat" buffet!

Thank you for the time it must have taken to put that list together!

I don't suppose anyone has come across Pro V1s on Black Friday deals? I have a couple people that have everything to buy for and you can't go wrong with Pro V1s.

Definitely sounds like someone with personal experience in this area!

For those that don't regrip their own clubs, Golf Galaxy has: Free Grip Installation with Purchase of 10 or More Golf Pride MCC, CP, or Z-Grip Grips | Golf Galaxy

Nicely done...bringing it back to golf. And yes, chocolate in a golf bag is a mistake everyone makes once, and only once!

I had always teed everything until last year when I started SEVERELY hooking irons (mainly my 7 for some reason) from the box. It helped to play it off the deck but this year I am back to teeing almost everything with mostly better results. Like several have stated, why not take advantage of a perfect lie?

You have to let the Peeps sit opened for a few days to "firm up" ...then, yumm.

The GPS -vs- rangefinder is an interesting question that I have been thinking about lately. I have and use both but have used the rangefinder almost exclusively for the last several years. The only time I use the GPS is at an unfamiliar course or when I am a couple fairways off course and can't see the pin. I have always thought that the rangefinder is the better option since it is giving me exact distance to the pin. Recently, I have been wondering if this is flawed logic. I keep hearing that most golfers, especially crappy ones like myself, should almost always be aiming at the middle of the green instead of the pin. If that is true, is it possible that using the exact distance to the pin may be costing me strokes? If so, then the GPS is probably the one I should be using most of the time. Any opinions on this side of the GPS/rangefinder question?

Don't they let you play alone at your course?