Tony79

Greetings. Wanted to get others' thoughts on this. I had a driver fitting last August at our local Club Champion store. It was a good experience. I liked the guys who run the store. I might be in the minority, but I am in the camp that these driver fittings are somewhat overrated. I used to play an Epic driver with I think a 55 gram shaft. I am 62 years old and have a swing speed of 97. I play with a lot of younger, really good guys who just smash it, and like everyone else I would like to hit it farther. I go through the fitting and end up with a Mizuno driver and a shaft that in theory added a few yards but, at least on the monitor, my spin rate came down dramatically, but as we all know, we don't play on a launch monitor. To make a long story short, when I hit it well, it does go farther and is better into the wind. My issue is I don't hit it well most of the time. In January I was in Naples hitting balls at the driving range close to Fiddlers' Creek. Maybe some of you have been there. There was a guy demoing Yonex Drivers which you pretty much can't find in the US. On a whim I hit one and My God I smashed like 10 out of 12 balls right in the center. Of course it's hard to tell on the driving range. I've continued to struggle with so last week I actually found the exact Yonex driver I hit in FL on Ebay so I bought it and got it last Friday. I played with it in 36 degree weather on Sunday and, while I did not hit it quite as far, I hit it markedly more consistently - night and day really. My theory with these driver fittings is that if you are REALLY good and have smash factor consistently about probably 1.45, I think these fittings probably really help. I am starting to think the problem is, yes, IF you hit it perfectly there is probably a driver that will max you potential - 13 degree launch rate, 2,200 spin, etc., but how many of us hit it perfectly. I would rather have a driver that might spin more than a perfect number than I can hit straight and consistently. For me, I've concluded that I need shaft that I would describe as "softer" and some would call more "spinny." The other issue is these fittings are not cheap. I bought this Yonex driver for $300.00. A Club Champion driver fitting is WAY more expensive than that. It will be interesting to see if that Yonex was Hawthorne effect. I don't think so and am looking forward to hitting it when it warms up, that is if any of us can go outside! Curious what others think. Thanks