jaskanski

As others have mentioned, fitting is a numbers game - not about the LM data (which does form a part of it) but purely about percentages. A fittied club will have a greater percentage of a better result - regardless of your swing. In fact, it's because of your swing that the fitted club makes perfect sense. It simply reduces the chances (or percentages) of a poor result than a club that is statistically less likely to provide a positive result, because it has not been matched to your physical or dynamic needs. It's that simple. Once you get your head around that simple premise, your playing ability will improve as a result, because you will have the confidence to believe your clubs are not the root cause of your own ability.

Not many shafts are balanced towards the tip due to physics - they're thick at the butt and thin at the tip using a uniform material. If you're intent on finding some sort of feel based weighting, then you're probably better off looking at swing weighting options which are a lot easier to engineer into club building - good old-fashioned lead tape being the easiest option to experiment with.

Like I said - it depends on the circumstances. Some shafts have enough parallel tip section to trim to whatever flex you like, but may not possess enough wall thickness to allow them to be shaved down to taper. It's not a huge size as you have mentioned, but it's enough to cause failure at the stress point where the shaft meets the hosel. Specific hybrid shafts are usually good to go as they have reinforced tip sections and they are not likely to be trimmed to the same extent of an iron shaft - they tend to be called hybrid shafts for a reason -they're meant to be used in hybrids. Parallel iron shfts are meant to be used in parallel bore iron heads.... If you are using parallel shafts to fit taper hosels in irons - then you've got the wrong shaft. Use a taper shaft shaft for the correct insertion.

Normal practice for hybrid shafts - not a problem for most shaft OEMs. Iron shafts may be a bit different though - if it is tipped trimmed to flex to be used for a specific iron# then it would most certainly be a no. In summary - hybrid yes - iron(s) no- (depending on circumstances)

The black shaft with red lettering is the HZARDUS RED.

It sounds like ferrule creep to me - it happens, particularly in hot climates, if you tend to clean your clubs in hot water, if you tend to leave clubs in a hot environment (eg in the trunk of your car). A quick fix is to gently heat the ferrule with a hair dryer or steam from a kettle and push it back down - secure it with a small dab of epoxy or even super glue and it won't give you much trouble again. Like I said - ferrule creep is quite common and not anything to worry about. If however you can twist the shaft in the adapter or hosel, then you have epoxy failure which will need immediate repair. The chances of the latter are pretty rare.

Another vote for the Ping Eye 2 here. The overall design, concept, playability and performance was (and still is) pretty much faultless. The sand wedge alone deserves a mention as one the best all round bunker clubs - it just works. Granted, the look, the offset and the sole bounce (in some cases negative bounce on the longer irons) isn't to everyone's taste, but it's hard to dispute that any other iron had such an impact on the world golf scene from their debut to the present day. Tommy Armour 845's would be a close second maybe, with blade fans going for Mizuno MP33's and yours truly would wouldn't part with his Titleist 690MB's for anything.

I say yes. If nothing else, you may find out something that will point you somewhere you didn't otherwise know.

No Cubans today - Alec Bradley gift from a customer gets a puff. And it's pretty good.

I think @cnosil has a valid point. Bending irons is not always as straightforward as you think if you aren't looking at the bigger picture. As with most good fitters, it's always best to get a snapshot of what you have before making any adjustments - bending 2* is only really possible if you know the reference point you're starting from. Did they just assume the irons were in standard spec without checking first or did they just move 2* from where they were? Measuring everything eliminates any doubt. That is why all good fitters get a baseline of results and metrics as a reference point to start from. The measured factors can assist in building a picture of what is required. After any adjustment - measure again to see how much has changed, regardless of how much you think it has been adjusted. If the adjustment is out of plane by a single degree, it will have an effect on loft. GC2HMT is a useful tool in getting a snapshot of where dynamic loft and face angle relates to impact and can give a useful 'before and after' confirmation of what is occurring. The good news is there is no replacement for the Mk1 human eyeball - and if the ball flight looks good, then all the tweaking in the world is pretty much irrelevant. It's much better to have a baseline of straight shots to work from rather than worrying about distance in this case. Sole interaction only does so much in analysis - it could be that your path is leading slightly heel first and giving more loft with the open face, even though you are otherwise square to target with your lie - it would certainly account for reduced distance.

I would wait and get the right shaft. Alternatively, you could buy the wedges with whatever shaft and then get them swapped out by any competent pro shop up and down the land who probably WILL have a DG R300 either new or pulled in stock which can be fitted. The DG is pretty common for a reason - it just works. But for a variety of players it is seen as heavy, so it tends to get swapped out a lot. They are cheap as chips too, so don't expect to break the bank in finding one or getting it fitted. Or just wait for the right shaft.

You could try the ubiquitous Trackman Optimal charts for driver distance. They also take into account your AoA, but also assume you hit the middle of the club....er...like we all do.

I think you are missing the point. Any adjustment you do makes a difference by definition. Once you cut anything, it's a non-reversible exercise. How much of a difference it makes depends on what you as a person can perceive or see in real terms. Generally speaking, it is better to start small and see how it works - if more tipping is required, then you can take another small amount off. If you're too impetuous and lob off too much on a whim because you don't even know what the shaft spec is - you have just ruined your first shaft - congratulations. If however you saw a fitter and got the correct set up, it would save you the bother of the trial and error process that (a) could have prevented you from buying a club that is totally unsuitable in the first place and (b) would give you the specs to look for if you don't want to make a purchase that you perceive as a "selling model" - it's nothing of the kind. Once you know what your specs are that work, you can translate that to any piece of equipment that you will ever own again - new or used - not a bad proposal at all. A real fitter will never force you into buying anything - you just pay for their time and expertise. If they're trying to sell you a club - tell them exactly what your intentions are. If they refuse to fit you any further, it's their loss and not yours.

If the shaft is already trimmed to playing length, any tipping will shorten the shaft - meaning you will need to extend the butt - which could make matters worse... It's always best to build the profile into the overall club before anything else - the section of the shaft that you intend to remain in the overall build is crucial. I did a post earlier that explains how it works: But how this actually relates to how you perceive it as a means of stability and control is entirely up to your own opinion. It does get said a lot, but if you get properly fitted before buying equipment, it does take the element of doubt out of the equation when it comes to wondering what you want and how you want to make it perform. Just saying.

I have a 1999 Titleist 975F 20.5 degree that gets an airing from time to time, depending on which course I'm playing. Otherwise the oldest club in the bag comes from 2016.

Well - it's not as daft as it seems. Weight is a much overlooked element of shaft fitting. It is a useful tool for controlling tempo. A fast tempo and transition would justify a higher weight - tip trimming 2" would negate the need to trim the butt further and therefore losing more weight. The logic that the 2" tip trim stiffens it up to the 'stiff' frequency range without losing as much overall weight as using a stiff shaft and butt trimming to playing length. 105mph SS isn't that extreme - it's certainly not completely out of any flex category to give the desired trajectory, spin and launch profile - it's all a question of getting the correct ball impact dynamics for the given loft. Your release point and AoA would be a deciding factor maybe to get you into the ideal spin loft - weight and length are the critical factors in getting the centre impact spot on. So if the numbers are good, the flex is a means of fine tuning.

Taylormade OEM shafts were definitely grey in the lower section as were some Pings as I recall. There is (or certainly was) a distinct difference in specs between the "made for" version and the standard aftermarket retail version, normally in weight categorisation (65g is usually a giveaway of OEM shafts) but also in overall specs of butt diameter and torque, giving a mid/low profile rather than low. The Pro version is ramped up a bit more to give low/low characteristics and TX version to boot. Most shaft manufacturers are a bit fickle when it comes to shaft manufacture and most brands do deals to showcase the shafts in their latest lineups. Needless to say the quantities required make for a slightly modified fibre to pre-preg ratio (and even the amount of kevlar in the case of the CK series) to keep costs down to suit the requirements of the OEM. They are different, but not in a bad way - you have to be pretty discerning or fitted specifically to notice the major differences. Lower in quality? not one bit - like I said it's all about reducing the quantity of the fibre content which is the element of where the money goes in shaft manufacture ( and a bit of tungsten powder for the counter weighting in the CK orange). Minor tweaks in quantities of fibre and resin equate to big bucks on a bulk order. It's purely for economics - the snobs among the golfing world equate that ratio in cost to mean "quality" - which is totally wrong. It's a quality shaft in any format. I would say you probably have a 60g "made for' shaft (measuring the butt would reveal a bit more probably) - it's not a Pro version.

The biggest surprise to me is the amount of people who claim that 'there isn't a fitter near me' or 'I cannot justify the cost of a fitting session' - and yet somehow have no trouble in finding their way to Ireland for a 3 week golfing vacation from wherever they live. Bizarre. I guess it comes as no surprise that when they actually do find the time to see a fitter, they usually end up totally ignoring any advice and buying whatever they choose anyway - and then ask random strangers on the internet for a validation of their purchase. Weird.......

I have one and it's OK. The bag itself is pretty well made and the 14 way top works, but the bottom two slots can snag from time to time. The drinks pocket is a bit of a let down though - when it rains it just fills up with water. Stand legs work well but if you're using it on a push cart the wide top design can be a bit of a tight squeeze on some Clic-Gear models. The ball pocket is nice and large and can hold plenty of other stuff. The thing that really let's it down (in my opinion anyway) is the rain hood which is a bit of a faff to put on and when it's on it doesn't really fit that well. Overall I'd score it 8/10. If you're dead set on a hybrid bag though the Taylormade Flextech is a lot better in my opinion.

The small batch is a beefed up version of the standard Hzardus Yellow. The flex is 6.5TX and the torque drops down lower than for the standard shaft. Other notable differences are the .660 taper butt section rather than the standard .600" butt. The extra ply wraps for a stiffer profile adds another 5g in weight over the standard shaft too. If it doesn't have the small batch logo in the prismatic colours and the flex doesn't say 6.5TX with a maximum of 3.2 degrees torque - it ain't a small batch.

It's basically a revamp of the venerable Blueboard - not a bad thing if you like mid launch and mid spin. The Taylormade OEM version differs in spec from that of Mitsubishi, which gives the impression that it's a 'made for' shaft, however the performance is near identical to the original Blueboard. Designed as a safe bet to fit a wide spectrum of golfers - hence it's inclusion in TM's line up.

Generally speaking, a 3-wood is shorter than a driver with a lighter head weight. In order to give the feel of swinging similar to the driver, the 3-wood shaft is normally heavier than the equivalent driver - as a general rule of thumb by 10g. There's no right or wrong - it's all about preference

1/3 flex is normally a good rule of thumb for pre-trimmed taper tip shafts, however tip trimming parallel can be a little more fickle depending on the shaft model, or how much PTS (parallel tip section) is available. Hard stepping twice is normally the limit - if you need to hard step three times, then you've got the wrong shaft.

This question gets asked a lot. Basically you can't - that's why they make regular, stiff and x-stiff shafts. You have 5.25" of parallel tip section to play with, so providing the shaft hasn't already been butt trimmed to length - and provided hosel insertion depth is less than 1.25" (pretty much no chance for an approach wedge) you could eek out an extra 0.5" of trimming. But if you want stiff, it won't get you close if you have a regular shaft to begin with. So if you want stiff - buy stiff.

Please - do not listen to armchair fitters who know absolutely nothing about LM dynamics This is absolute drivel. I will say no more.