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Let's say the fitting is free or was included in the purchase price, what is your limit? How much is too much? What putter would it be?

I managed to grab a PXG Gen 5 X driving iron for pennies. I'm assuming this is an ex-fitting head. The plan is to have this head and a PXG 3 hybrid head, swapping a shaft between the two depending on the course/conditions. But I need some help...couple of questions for those much more knowledgeable on this kind of stuff than me (which will be literally all of you!) - 1. the shaft screw is smaller than normal, as in, I cannot unscrew it with a normal PXG torque wrench; is this normal for fitting heads? Do the fitters have their own tool? **UPDATE** - I have found a head/screwdriver combo that fits, so I can screw/unscrew it, just curious 2. it seems to have ferrule (metal), but suspect that this is there 'for display' and can be removed when a shaft is ready to be inserted; anyone know how to get this ferrule out? (guessing this is linked to the screw in question 1). I can probably loosen the screw completely then give it a pull with some pliers, but don't want to damage it if it's meant to be there! **UPDATE** - this is now the only issue that needs help. Thanks 3. the black back circular weight is loose, and needs tightening before using. The weight looks like it accepts a torque wrench, but has a single point in the centre, requiring a special tool/different head; again, does this require a fitter-only tool? Can we buy these? I know PXG don't want players mucking around with these once fitting is done, so probably a fitter only thing. - **UPDATE** apparently the back weight can be sorted with a tamperproof torx head, AKA 'security bit' Ordered from Amazon. Thanks for your help

Testers Announced! For this tester's wanted opportunity, we introduce you to RUNNER Golf, a small and up-and-coming putter company from France. Founded in 2021 by Simon Linot, the process of getting their putters to market took a little time. However, the time and hard work paid off when they won the “Best in Show” innovation prize at the 2022 PGA GOLF SHOW. About RUNNER Golf Putters: Available in three different models (RUNNER ORIGINAL, BLADE, and MALLET), this series of putters is packed with technology and RUNNER’s signature moving weights system at the back of each putter. All of the RUNNER golf putters are built in Normandy, France. They consist of a multi-material design with precision-milled 6061 aluminum, complete with various weight options and setups to help golfers make more putts. RUNNER Golf also has a comprehensive self-fitting guide on their website, which will help you choose which one of their putters is best for you. This AI configuration guide will consist of a handful of questions and only takes a few minutes to complete. The questions are thorough and cover everything from putter preferences to putting grip. At the end, it will give the best recommendation for putter style, weight setting, and more! Please welcome and congratulate our testers! @Bobbers @Northern Monkey @RTH1 @SDunne

Custom Fitting At Its Finest At the heart of Edel's brand is custom fitting. This is especially true with their putters, as their fitting carts host most options with the available “modular” build. If you have not experienced an Edel putting fitting, it should be on your bucket list of golf things to do, as they offer a truly unique experience. The new Edel Array brings another level of customization to putters and features several new options. These include four different models, with all three mallet designs now being available for left-handed golfers. There is also a single right-handed only blade design available. The other options include four different neck options, two alignment aids for the blade, and six for the mallets. As well as five sole weight options, four grip choices, and a Tour Lock Opti-Vibe Weighting system for internal shaft weighting options. That is a lot of options in one putter! What Edel Is Saying Edel says their Array putters are “Machined to the tightest tolerances for exacting precision. Each putter features a striking surface forged and machine-milled from 1025 carbon steel, known for its superior sound and softer feel. In tandem, head shapes and multiple alignment plates offered by the Array Putter line create a very powerful solution to aim bias." Please welcome and congratulate our testers! @Bucky CC @Parshooter36 @Prodigal Duffer @Woodrow72 AND The one and only Beta Tester @GolfSpy AFG

- How Many Golf Balls Do You Carry? How many golf balls do you carry in your bag? Do you trust yourself to only carry a few or do you double the weight of your bag with golf balls just in case? Everyone is a little different and we want to know how many you generally carry in your bag. Let us know here! Not sure on what golf ball to use? Check out the big golf ball test results from the Best Golf Balls of 2023. A total of 46 models were tested and reviewed so you can make the most informed purchasing decision: Best Golf Balls Of 2023   Golf Round Prices - How much is too much? What is an appropriate cost for you? How much does the course conditions and features factor in? Regardless of that, how much is just too much for you to play golf? Let us know your limit by posting here!   On-Going Member Tests Bridgestone Mindset Golf Ball Testing With over 200 testers (stay tuned for another exciting announcement) we have a lot of information to sift through. Members are putting the new Bridgestone Mindset golf ball into play and providing their results on how they are performing. Find all their results in the link below.  Bridgestone Mindset Golf Ball Testing Reviews   Forum Review Recaps Look, we love our members and all the work they do in their reviews. They are thorough, extensive and do a wonderful job with their reviews, but they can be a lot to read through. So what we do is take the key highlights and break things down for you to get the core of what these reviews are all about.  You can see the full series here. - Callaway Paradym Drivers - deWiz Swing Analyzer - Red Rooster Rain Gloves - Rapsodo MLM2Pro Launch Monitor Must Follow Forum Threads - Pet Pictures - Does 1 Degree of Loft Make A Difference? - GPS Watch or Range Finder?   Testers Wanted Member Reviews Become A Tester   Written By: Jamie Danbrook   Must Follow Content - Breaking News And Debate  - MyGolfSpy Buyers Guides  - MyGolfSpy Labs  - MyGolfSpy Head-To-Head Tool  - MyGolfSpy - Free Fitting Tool  - Donate to MyGolfSpy      © 2024 MGS Assets, LLC All rights reserved  316-A Old York-Hampton Hwy, Yorktown, VA 29632 Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Contact Us

TaylorMade Qi10 driver fitting The next weekend, I did a TaylorMade Qi10 driver fitting at Golf Galaxy! Keep the rust off At the TaylorMade Qi10 driver fitting, I had a new fitter. Good guy, but I didn't mesh with him as well as I did the last one. I was still hitting strong draws and some hooks, but it was a little better. We went through different shafts with the vanilla Qi10, stiff mostly, 65g and 60g. He did have me try regular flex for the heck of it in case I was used to that on my current gamer. We didn't try extra stiff this time. After the vanilla Qi10, he switched me to the Qi10 LS. He moved the slider weight to the fade position to counteract my draws and hooks. This one is interesting in that the screw is stationary and it just tightens the weight behind it which slides. At first I didn't realize what position the weight was in because I didn't realize how it worked. I tried both the 10.5 and the 9 degree. I think he said the standard Qi10 has a slight draw bias, and it doesn't have a slider. And he said the Qi10 Max has more draw bias so he didn't bring that one near me, haha. My final fit was: Qi10 LS, 10.5 degree, slider to fade, Tensei Blue stiff shaft 65g I did take a couple swing tips - he said I had a nice swing, but... He didn't have all the numbers up there on the screen like I did last time. But I think he showed another screen just one time with all of that info. He made a point to look at this to check my swing path, and I did come inside-to-out a lot, 6 degrees. That makes it tough to have square club at impact also, not just creating hook spin. As I hit up on it, I may be having the club in front of my hands at impact, releasing fully at or before impact. Dustin Johnson for example he said still has hit hands way in front of the club with driver. Hands pull up and left when club impacts ball, finish high. Open face at address, hands forward, left shoulder high. Thinking about all this all screwed me up a bit, but the idea makes sense. 2 big things on my swing- I need to straighten out my swing path and be less inside to out so it’s easier to square the face at impact. I need to not hit up on it as much, if possible. The swing path seems like a more critical thing for my driver play than the hitting up on it. I'm glad he flagged that. I will say the Qi10 was a super-attractive club. On looks alone, I much preferred it to the Ai Smoke. But for hitting, I liked them both. I'm not sure which I liked better. It was really neat to be able to try out these brand new clubs, a new experience for me. Based on the numbers, I was also hitting the Qi10 LS better than my gamer driver. I also kept up my practice driver swings in back yard, now with knowledge of my hugely inside-to-out swing path that I wanted to straighten out a bit. I worked on what feel I needed to have to accomplish my swing fixes, and came up with a good adjustment. Next, to keep that up and take it to hit some more balls. Fix swing faults particularly with driver (over the line, steepening, swing path) A couple of my best shots, that I photo-ed-

About Haywood Golf Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2018, Haywood Golf is a relatively new addition to the DTC (Direct-to-consumer) market. However, Haywood has made a concerted effort to differentiate itself by offering multiple fitting locations worldwide. They also build all their clubs in Canada. With a move to a new and bigger location in the Vancouver area, Haywood looks to expand on its existing lineup, which already includes a multi-material designed driver and fairway wood, along with a newly released hybrid. Haywood then boasts four different iron models, a driving iron, wedges, and two different putter models (one mallet and one blade). Impressively, all their golf clubs are also available in right and left-handed options. Very Canadian! With so many DTC brands available to consumers, Haywood separates itself by offering more fitting location options and special runs of copper and black nitride finish clubs, along with extremely competitive prices and a ton of options to fit your game. Please welcome and congratulate our testers! @Nunfa0 @CB Lobo 4 Life @frazzman80 @ArizonaLogan

Ok, so first experience with Callaway woods was in the summer of 2005, when in a fitting for a new driver I was between the Nike SQ460 and the Callaway FT3 Fusion. I remember hitting the Fusion well, but just thought Sasquatch looked cooler and the numbers were so close, so that's what we went with at the time. Fast forward to my law school days and I started working at Dick's Sporting Goods in Dewitt, NY with a gentleman by the name of Alan Savage as our PGA Pro. He had a deal with the guys at Callaway and due to that, we were part of Callaway VIP. I was always a bit concerned about ordering a ton of stuff at discount because I didn't want them checking to make sure I was utilizing things correctly. This was the Big Bertha Relaunch era in the mid 2010's, so I had fitting experience with the BB Alpha, which I liked (Gravity Core forever!) original XHot and X2Hot, all the way through to my leaving Dick's around the time of GBB Epic I believe, maybe I was there with Rogue, it's a bit of a blur. So during that time I did the educational courses year on year to keep my fitting certificate status good and my discount active. The only club I ever ordered through the program was actually a fairway wood, the X2Hot in a strong 3 wood. I got it with the Aldila Tour Blue shaft an inch longer than standard to play it like a fairway finder driver alternative and until the shaft broke on me, I loved that club for that purpose. Eventually I got the shaft replaced when I sent it back to Callaway but it was never the same. So I traded it along with some other clubs for the only other Callaway wood to make my bag, another fairway wood, the Epic Flash Sub Zero 3 wood. Up until my most recent fitting that was the club in the bag occupying the 3 wood spot. Again, an awesome fairway finder when needed and a solid part of the bag. So Steve, I guess to answer your questions as to any thoughts and biases, I'd say this. I believe the marketing team does a great job of explaining to the consumer and the salespeople what the new tech is, how the new tech is better than what came before, and how to utilize it to help sell the product. I think from a performance standpoint Callaway is always at the bleeding edge of what is possible, but until more recently with Paradym and seemingly AI Smoke, the proof wasn't in the pudding as much as say Taylormade, Titleist, or Ping. I think you just have go back to the perception surveys to see that across the board. So I am coming into this with the potential to be wowed, but also to know that at the end of the day, there just might not be a ton out there that doesn't come down to me and not the club. I expect a solid club, one that looks awesome, performs solid, and might be able to surprise. I expect to have a fun time learned about the tech more and experimenting with the widest part of the bell curve head and hopefully am able to really help those of us in the middle to find real truths about AI Smoke Max.

I played SM5's for about 4+ yrs, replacing them with SM8's, which I bought new in a closeout. After going through a Titleist fitting, I found I was playing the incorrect grinds, which is the only reason I'm replacing the SM8's with SM10's. Now I'm really stoked because the SM10's came in the black finish vs the chrome finish of the SM8.

It is no secret that L.A.B. Golf has taken off because of multiple wins on the PGA Tour and a greater professional presence overall. Its success in MyGolfSpy testing and the hype around the newly released L.A.B. DF3 has only increased its notoriety. What Is L.A.B.? L.A.B. stands for Lie Angle Balance. These putters, unlike other putters, are not toe-hang or face balanced. They are balanced to point at the target, meaning no twisting, no struggling to keep the face directed at the target—the putter does this naturally. As each golfer is unique in their putting stance and stroke, the fitting process for L.A.B. is crucial. L.A.B. has made this easy by way of their online submission. A simple step-by-step process is sent to L.A.B. and they use this video to dial in your specifications. L.A.B. is best known for their big and unique-looking DF 2.1, a putter that has many nicknames and certainly does not appeal to all golfers. This is where the DF3 comes in. Please welcome and congratulate our testers! @jbern @MattWillGolf @CFreddie @Cfhandyman @GolfSpy MPR @Steve F

Most people won’t know the numbers, the fitter when appropriate during the fitting would explain what he/she is seeing in swing, ball flight and numbers and shown the golfer the difference so the golfer could make a decision based on data and what they felt and/or saw. Sounds like the fitter did that. i agree that you will have to or should trust what you went with. Lots of people have gone to a fitting and come out with some head, loft, shaft or a combo of them they didn’t expect. Usually based on old, outdated and incorrect “conventional wisdom” that has been debunked with data and technology.

For the better part of 3 years, I have been gaming the Evnroll ER5 with the gravity grip. Previous to that putter, I tried everything from the 2 Ball, Odyssey #7, Scotty SS 2.5. The ER5 made me want to get away from a mallet putter. The mallets fit my eye, but I have always had an issue with distance control with mallets. The ER5 varied so much in terms of distance. I even tried changing to different grips as I believe in the Evnroll grove technology. Day 1. I took my new Ai-One to the practice green at my local course. It has a good amount of slope and undulations to really test my putts. It was a face off between my new Ai-One vs. ER5 vs. Scotty SS 2.5. I tested the putters at 5 and 10 feet. Both uphill and downhill putts with minimal break. The Scotty did the worst in terms of direction. That is not to say it is a bad putter. Just that the standard blade leaves little room for error for me. Shots I intentionally off the toe and heel were punitive, as expected. On well center hit shots, the distance was good. I was able to control the distance other than a few putts I hit up on too much. The ER5 did the best on direction but the worst on distance control. Putts a little off of center did not stray much from the center line, but then I would hit one in the middle and it should take off like a rocket. Is it possible to hit a flyer when putting? This putter has always felt heavy to me, and I am sure that contributes to my issues. I had the notion that I would play this like one would a heavy putter. Line it up, and let the weight take over. Good in theory, but I found it hard to control/predict my putts speed. Ai-One has a great feel. Similar to a WhiteHot insert, but not as soft. I like the blue head color with the white face. It is a good looking putter. I feel like the double wide is a good compromise between a mallet and blade. Single sight line is clean and easy to use. One of the things I really like about this putter is that it sits square when I set it down behind the ball. I have had some putters that do not sit square, and that has always messed with my head when putting. It puts the notion that the putter heard is weighted "strangely". I have seen the advertisements and social media reviews, but I was not prepared for how good this putter performed. All of the putts I put a good stroke on, were basically in the cup, or came to rest right next to each other. I intentionally hit putts off the toe and heel (within with insert range) and they were all also within inches of each other. Day 2. First full round with the putter. I only had (1) 3 putt, and it was because I was a long way off and mishit the putt. My distance control was spot on and most of my putts went in, or left me with a tap in. I had a couple of putts from the fringe that nestled up nicely near the hole. With my ER5, I would have a couple of putts that I would blast 3-5 feet past the hole. None of those today. I found that I was much more relaxed when putting and I could just focus on direction. Now, If only I could learn to properly line up a putt. I would have shaved 7 strokes off of my round. So many putts just skimmed the edge, or I did not read the break correctly. I did try the DB 2 Ball and Seven putters at the store before deciding on the double wide. For some reason those 2 did not sit well with me, and I struggled with direction control with those even more that usual. I know I could do a proper putter fitting, but what is the fun in that? The Ai-One is in the bag....for now.

Here are some Trackman numbers from my Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke and TaylorMade Qi10 driver fittings. This includes numbers from the 2 setups I was fit into, and from my gamer. I got a Trackman report for the first one, but not for the second, so I just had to get what I could from the photos I took. Analysis: Looks like I had higher club speed with my gamer, but lower ball speed. The Callaway gave me 13 yards more carry, 24 yards more total distance. My gamer had much higher spin. Ball: He had me hitting a Callaway Chromesoft Analysis: Looks like same club speed and ball speed. But with the Qi10 I was getting 10.5 yards more carry, 21 yards more total distance. This is due to the spin difference. I hit my Ping G20 gamer slightly better this time compared to last fitting. I had been doing more swinging lately, and none last time. Ball: He had me hitting a Callaway Chrome Tour I have to admit, I'm surprised my gamer did not do better. I've played with it a long time. And my Golfshot app showed I average longer than that. There was some rust in there... maybe that was it, hmmm.

So what do you use your 4w, 4h, 5h, and 7w for? Are they just approach clubs or do they get tee time or are the 4/5h from the rough where the 4/7w are not? You should start with a bit of a note-taking session going club by club through your bag. What does each club do, how far does each club go, where do I use each club, etc. Sometimes that will give you answers on what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to swap in and out. I tend to swap my 4h and 5w in and out depending on needs, for example. Looking at the 245's, their lofts at the lower end of the set matches your 0211's (PW 43, GW 48), so changing wedges at the bottom is purely what you want to do. If you can't open the 58 or aren't comfortable with that and need something with more loft for around the greens, you might think about grabbing a 60 and swapping it for the 58 or have them available depending on course and conditions. Something you might want to consider doing is either a gapping session with your fitter for each club in your bag, or just do a full bag fitting (or a top-end fitting) and determine what clubs you may or may not need. Obviously we can help give you some ideas, but a quality fitter can give better recommendations as they look at the numbers in a fitting. Another option if the hybrids, 7w, and 6i are too close would be to cut down the hybrids a little to open up the gapping a little more. Or if you don't want to go that far is to adjust the lofts if possible. I believe all the woods and hybrids have adjustable hosels, so that might be an option to spread out the gaps. For me, I'd start with the fitting/gapping session for D-6i and see what it looks like in numbers with your current set up. The fitter might be able to adjust lofts on the spot to help with any gapping issues they find.

Testers Announced! Can the proper golf shaft for your driver be determined solely by how you use the ground in your swing? As part of this "testers wanted" opportunity with Terra Forza Golf Shafts, we will find out! About Terra Forza Terra Forza has taken a new approach to shaft fittings and flexes. In this case, it is best to hear about their claims directly from them. “Our theory revolved around the idea that how a golfer loads and unloads a shaft is directly correlated to how they use the ground. After many years of studying ground reaction forces (GRF) and pressure traces, Terra Forza Golf was born, validating that theory. After some trial and error, we were able to create a line of golf shafts that matched a golfer's pressure trace and pressure data. Our patented algorithm allows us to recognize those traces, along with all of the pressure data coming from the TF Pressure Plates, and objectively determine the proper shaft for any golfer. We welcome you to the new ERA of fitting shafts, from the ground up.” Please welcome and congratulate our testers! @ChiefMikeOfficer @MrBandit @GolfSpy BOS @tdc1

This past winter, I went for a driver fitting. By way of background, my driver swing speed is in the 92-93 mph range and at 59 I'm not getting any faster. I tend to create a lot of spin. My prior driver, which I purchased used, was a Callaway Rogue ST Max with a 40 gram 5.5 Project X Cypher. The fitter, with whom I have had good experiences with previously, fitted me into a Cobra Aerojet LS with a Mitsubishi Kai'li Blue 60 gram stiff shaft. During the fitting, the stiff shaft seemed to take my big miss, to the right, out of the equation. When I am swing it well, I have a slight fade but when I get a little loose I get the "right to rights." I was a little skeptical of the stiff shaft given conventional wisdom and my swing speed but went with it. After using the driver now for 6 or 8 actual and simulator rounds, it just feels like a little too much club and it has not eliminated the right side as it did in the fitting. I have a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 60 gram 5.5 flex shaft I can swap in. Just curious as to all of your thoughts.

Looks like feel play a big part in what we do. Learned that several years back during a titleist fitting. The fitter wanted to do some testing and experimenting with some things after my fitting since I as his last appointment and we both and traffic to fight I told him I had no problem staying and hitting more balls. he changed the hosel settings on the driver but didn’t tell me what. My first swing the bal didn’t do what I expected it to do based on the fitting. Took another swing and same result. He goes you changed your swing to try and achieve your normal ball flight based on what you saw at address. Club was more closed than I was used to and I think he messed with lie angle too.

MyGolfSpy Forum Guide: How To Be A Tester As promised I wanted to do an update for our Want To Be A Tester Thread. We take pride in our transparency and member testing platform. 2023 was an incredible season and it continues to provide amazing opportunities to all of our members. For those new to the Forum let me break down the keys to becoming a Forum Tester and how to increase your chances at being selected. (I will break down the why afterwards) It should also be noted that we as staff view member testing opportunities as a way to give back to the members who have contributed so much to our community. It should also be noted that these reviews are a lot of work and take a lot of time to commit to. All Forum Members selected for testing must have a profile photo. This is our most basic rule, but the bottom line is no profile photo = no selection. Recent Activity - We want to see and have members who are actively engaged in the community. This does not necessarily mean posting everyday 10 plus times a day. But a steady history or pattern of activity is a must. Posting an unofficial review. This is not a must, but helps give us an idea for your writing style and overall ability and completing a thorough review for us. These are 3 simple, yet very effective ways to being noticed by the Forum Staff and having your name stand out as we go through the tester selection process. Now as to why we look for those previous 3 areas of criteria. Photos and media content are essential for testing. While some people are good writers, a bunch of text can be a tough slog to read through. We want to see creative photos and media that highlight the product. If someone cannot even bother to post a profile photo it gives us little confidence they could do any photos in a review. Photos and media are becoming ever more important for our reviews, especially with our Forum Recap Articles gaining further recognition and popularity with OEMs and MyGolfSpy readers. Good, high quality photos which highlight and feature the product are essential. Recent Activity is also extremely important. This shows us reliability to post consistently and take part in conversation throughout the testing period, as well as after the testing period. Being able to see that history gives us added confidence in our selection. Now when I say history I do not mean years of posting. It will be shown a little later in this post, but we actively try to get new people involved. Posting an unofficial review is pretty self explanatory, but for us when we are giving out thousands of dollars worth of equipment we want to have a level of confidence in who we are selecting. So is that all we look at when selecting testers? No, definitely not. The other things we look at and take note of are as follows. Post to Reaction Ratio: This is a simple metric, but gives us a slight idea of the value contributions to the community. However posting in the Good Morning Thread is a bit of a cheat code for that. Donor Status: For those that have, but don’t have the tag please let one of the staff members know and we can add that for you. While not a deal breaker one way or another, it can be used as a tie breaker. OEM requests: This one you can’t really know about ahead of time. However as these companies are providing equipment for free they are within their rights to ask for certain handicaps, situations, swing speeds, geographic regions and more. These questions are asked in the signup form. For those with lower post counts we can see login dates to see that someone is visiting the site. Maybe you are someone who loves reading the forum, but are hesitant to post that much or feel as though you do not have a lot to contribute. I ensure that you do have a lot to contribute no matter who you are, but at least this allows us to see that someone is taking an active interest in the forum. For those that have tested before. Previous review grades and comments are taken into account. More on that below. How long do I have to be a Forum Member before I am considered for Testing? A week? A month? Longer? I was a member for 2 years before I was selected for my first testing opportunity. However it took me a year to really get involved. There is no magic number for how long it takes to be a tester. Simply put we want to select members who are active contributors within our community. That doesn’t have to mean a long history of posts. We also actively try our best to give at least one new tester in on every testing opportunity that happens. In 2023 this happened in nearly every test. What else can help me become a tester? These are small things and are not requirements, but help with us getting to know you a little more or at the very least recognize your forum name. Follow us on our social platforms - The Forum has accounts on Instagram and Twitter… or X. Join our Community Call: Every Thursday we host a Community Call for our members to have general chit chat and sometimes Live Q&A with different golf companies or people. These are a great way for a member to get to know the staff, ask questions and for us to get to know you a little better. Importantly you don’t have to have your camera or mic on, but can simply sit back and listen or type questions in the chat. It is a great way to quickly get involved and see what our community is all about. What are the other rules or guidelines to Member Testing? Members generally only get one opportunity to test each season. Meaning if you are selected for a set of irons it is unlikely you will be selected for another test during the season. There are some exceptions, however we have a lot of great members and want to spread the opportunities around as best we can. Smaller tests such as golf balls, gloves, grips and that sort of thing do leave you eligible for other tests later in the season, however members will only be allowed to be involved in one review at a time. Basically no testing two items at once. For our testing opportunities like Cobra Challenge and full bag opportunities a member can only take part in these once. Period. These are amazing opportunities and of course a lot of fun and work, but we have too many incredible members to give these to any member multiple times. I mention these previous points to highlight a greater point. Please only register or sign up for the testing opportunities you are really excited about and if you are currently testing please do not sign up for other testing opportunities. To be frank it looks greedy and like you are only here for free stuff. Are there certain things that would make me ineligible for a testing opportunity? Outside of not having a profile photo, it should go without saying but all testers must be members of the forum. To that end you must also be a member in good standing. This means no current warnings on your account. Another factor that comes into play are poor previous review scores. I will put this bluntly, if a tester have gone mia on a testing opportunity in the past or been a difficult tester missing deadlines, not providing a review or come close to meeting the deadlines. We have very little reason to consider that person for any future review opportunities. We have too many deserving members to go back to that well or take that risk. Geo Restrictions are the other factor. It should be highlighted and noted that we encourage all testing opportunities to be eligible for all our members, however some OEMs have certain restrictions and in the end it is their call. I am a lefty and live outside the US so I am in your corner, but we are also not going to deny an opportunity if is just US only. Another factor in this is over 90% of the community is US and Canada based. Getting a larger portion of outside NA members will help increase are chances of getting more worldwide testing. I have been selected as a tester, now what? Your lead Forum Staff Member will guide you throughout the process. If there is a fitting involved or any other requirements they will facilitate those and ensure that everything is run smoothly. Most importantly, carefully read all the instructions and documents provided. There is a lot to go over and missing key points can cause you to get behind or miss important deadlines. The biggest thing is ask questions if you have them! The forum staff are here to help and work with all the testers throughout the process. What Happens After Testing? Even after an official test is completed it is highly encouraged that testers continue to take part in discussion. There may still be questions and may still activity on the thread which you should engage in. We love seeing ongoing and longer term updates as it helps anyone considering buying the product have a longer term view of how the product performs. Your Lead Forum Staff Member will then grade your review and participation and you will be given a survey to fill out. After these have been completed you will get your official tester badge! Technically speaking you are now eligible to enter in for more testing opportunities, however as we said above for the most part a member will only get to take part in 1 tester per season. Again I repeat it is why anyone should only sign up for the products they are truly interested in. _____________________________________________________ FAQ I never get picked! Why don't I ever get picked? I hear you, but have you done most of the above? Have you provided worthwhile contributions to the forum? Do you have a profile photo? The answers are all above and we lay out the process pretty clear. The rest is up to you. That being said posting in the TESTERS WANTED pages does not count towards your post count. Also the pick me pick me type posts don't really fly with us. Post them as you like or if you like, but again we want to see members adding value to the forum. Those posts are not. What happens if I get sick or injured during testing? Look this is a lot of work, but at the end of the day we understand things in life happen. TELL THE FORUM STAFF! We can make adjustments and arrange dates to work with everyone's schedule. However you have to tell us first! I don't have social media accounts, does that mean I can't be a tester? This is not a requirement for us. It is nice when the forum gets mentioned and a member is able to bring attention to the forum via social channels, but not a requirement. Good photos however are and with phones today there is little reason why anyone wouldn't be able to take a decent photo. Why don't we know what tests are coming so we can wait to sign up for the ones we really want and not risk getting picked for one we don't really love? We build our schedule out starting about now, however it takes time and things move around so there are no guarantees on when a test will be posted or moved. Posting our schedule to everyone also wouldn't be fair to the smaller tests or some of the lesser known brands which come to testing. We want excitement for every test and mystery in whats to come. If you aren't excited about the product up for testing, don't sign up. I was picked and the product just didn't work for me. What now? First I hope that the person enjoyed the review and was able to provide a good thorough and honest review. If it doesn't work, so be it! That being said we do not allow for any reason a member to sell their testing equipment for at least 2 product cycles. If it doesn't work for you, then pass it along to another member and let them try it. This happened several times this season with various products and members were able to get more testing opportunities. Pay it forward! But seriously, I have been here for X amount of years and still never get picked. Yeah I bring this up again because you would not believe the emails we get. We picked a lot of testers this year, if a longer term member hasn't been picked the basics of is the timing wasn't right or the activity level just wasn't there. There are some tests we feel some testers would be great for and others not as great, we have thousands of applications and have to pick 4-6, it isn't easy and not a ton of fun. If your name hasn't been called there are some gaps in the above material. _______________________________________________ I hope all of you have found this beneficial and productive to go through. The forum staff spend a lot of time going through all the applicants and reviews and so much more. It is not an easy task and we take pride in the selections we make. The testers that don't live up to expectations well that is tough for us and not a great look on us, the forum and this community. Therefore we take a good amount of time and effort to hand pick each tester. There were some testers this year that under performed to a level that they will not be partaking in testing moving forward. On a good note there were a ton of excellent testers and reviews which we are all very proud of. If you have questions please just ask! If you have concerns or want to know more then please reach out to one of the forum staff members. The other thread is going to be locked and this will be the main thread moving forward. There will also be subsequent larger drops of information here for all to view as we aim to be as transparent as possible with testing and make sure that anyone who really wants to be a tester will have that chance and ability to be. Thank you all for reading!

I understand fully the testing requirements and design. I answered it fully in my review and subsequent post. As stated earlier the fitting app is only as accurate as the data entered. I would argue most golfers have no idea of how far they actually hit the ball. Most people over estimate. I did get the correct ball, but the MindSet logo and technique didn’t really do much. Additionally, a counter to your point. You could have a great mental approach, but the wrong ball will hold you back at some point. Bottom line you need to maximize the mental aspect as well as have the correct gear.

Today Range session: Got loose with the Orange whip trainer just to make sure I was getting in good swings. Capture the Data using the SC300i unit. Started with my current game shaft Fujikura NX TCS 50. Carry/Total/Swing Speed/Ball Speed were solid for my swing.And they were was pretty consistent. After this took a breather, swapped out the shaft to the Terra Forza White. Carry/Total/Swing Speed/Ball Speed there was a solid improvement on all of the numbers, which is consistent with my initial session after the fitting. One thing I have notice and I just need to adjust my setup is that because the swing weight is so different from my gamer (D8) to the Terra Forza (D5) There is more of a left straight pull / draw to the ball flight vs my straight / baby cut that am accustomed of playing. The shaft feels like I can still give it a harder swing and it doesn't feel like am going to lose the drive. Next time I get on the course that its not raining, I be interested to see how its coming along as I continue to get more comfortable with the shaft.

Don’t disagree, but that is why you were asked to do the fitting to find the ball that worked for you. While understanding how the ball reacts is necessary, the intent of the test is the mindset feature and trying to determine if it helps you play better. You could have a perfect ball and terrible mental game and play poor golf. My question was simple and wanted to know if people had started doing comparisons on their performance metrics.

January 28 - I had my Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver fitting at Golf Galaxy. I made a longer post (below). But let me summarize just for my 2024 driver quest Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver fitting This was the first time I hit a ball since November, that was definitely helpful to knock the rust off. But 2 months of golf down time is really good for me. It was great to get some indoors practice. Keep the rust off I was hitting a bunch of strong draws and hooks in the Trackman bay. I told the fitter I wouldn't normally go for a fitting when I hadn't played much. The fitter said "you and everybody else". He ended up fitting me into the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond 9.0 degrees with X-stiff Lin-Q 75 shaft. My fitter started me out with stiff, then went to extra stiff. That was an eye opener, because my current driver is a regular. I knew it was probably wrong since I had a stiff shaft in my 3 wood after a fitting 1-2 years prior. But I hadn't been paying much attention really until I started diving in to stuff with my GPS watch breaking, joining the MGS forum, and reading up. With the Trackman's club data, I also discovered I was hitting up significantly on the ball (high dynamic loft). I learned more about spin when hitting different parts of the face, and also learned more about how the LS/LST low spin heads and the MAX heads with their different COGs act differently regarding spin depending on where you hit the ball on the face. I got a good gauge for how high I should be hitting it as well - some of my best hits were 105-120 ft height and 2300-2700 rpm spin. The fitter also described a bit about the shaft flexing during the swing and why a stiffer shaft could lead to more consistency. He said at the beginning of your downswing is the point where your hands move the fastest, so the shaft flexes the most. As you get further in the downswing it’s a bit less, and so the shaft flexes back a bit closer to straight. At the top of the swing, it might not be in the same place every time of course. And as you are pulling down on the downswing, you are working to correct to the right path. You can do that some, but the result is inconsistent hitting on the face of the driver. The more flex of a regular shaft like my driver causes that issue to be much more pronounced than with a stiff flex shaft. Less flex means I can control where the club head goes better. Also, as a result I will gradually be able to get a better feel for my consistent shot. The pros generally use stiffer shafts for this reason. Long drive competitors actually use much higher flex since they get more distance with the snapping back of the shaft adding a little more speed. And of course for long drive competitors, they don't have to worry about some of the horribly offline shots. They get a bunch of hits to get a straight one and don’t care about dispersion like someone actually playing on a course. Based on the numbers, I did hit the Smoke Triple Diamond better than my gamer driver. Overall it was a good experience, it was fun, and I learned some good stuff for my driver game. I really liked the fitter as well, we had a good rapport. Fix swing faults particularly with driver (over the line & steepening)

You read it correctly.. "Otto Phlex". I'm sure there's not a person on MGS or in the golf world who hasn't heard of (or seen) the Auto Flex shaft. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years, Auto Flex is a South Korean company that has basically branded their flagship shaft as a very flexible, but high performing, high tech, and somewhat "magic" shaft made with "Secret Hidden Korean Technology". The concept lends itself to the idea that a specific flexy profile can help increase clubhead and ball speed, while increasing launch and keeping spin relatively low, and improving disbursement and forgiveness, therefore yielding results of long, straight, towering bombs.. I mean, who doesn't what that right? Another claim is that while keeping the profile relatively soft, tempo improves, and the overall risk for injury can be reduced. Well I'll be one of the first to admit it. I was NEVER enamored by the claims and especially the price of the AutoFlex. Oh, and let's not forget about the color scheme.. Ultra Hot Pink? not my jam Sam. As a sole provider trying my best to balance a decent golf game on a budget with my family life, spending $800+ on a hot pink golf shaft just isn't something that interests me.. regardless of the claims. Well over the past year or so, there have been a few Youtube channels that have showcased the AutoFlex Hack.. or as I like to call it, the "Otto Phlex". It has been somewhat theorized that the secret sauce to the AutoFlex is based on the following basic profile characteristics: 2-3 flexes lighter than your preferred flex or frequency, at least 1 or even 2 weight classes lower than your preferred weight, a swingweight between D0 and D2 depending on the flex, and a mid/high launch profile. It has also been debated that the Autoflex works best when it's at least 46" or longer. I tried starting at 46.5" and just didn't like the length. I then tried shorter .5" increments and I ended up at 45" and I'll explain how I got there in a bit. OK before anybody sounds the alarm, I realize that all of these characteristics are subject to each shaft company's interpretation and that there is no such thing as a standardized R, S, X, etc, flex shaft. All of these characteristics are based on broad generalities and this experiment has quite a bit of wiggle room so don't get your plaid golf knickers in a twist. (there, got that out of the way) I've been playing the MotoreX F1 6X for the past 2 years. It's an XS shaft according to Fujikura, it weighs in at about 68g uncut. I've played it at about D5 SW but the shaft can take the extra head weight with no issues. Up until very recently, this was supposed to be my "Forever" shaft. It just works and up to this point I just couldn't find anything better. This is however going by conventional wisdom standards that with 110+ mph swing speed, I need to play either a hefty stiff or XS profile shaft and my preferred weight has always been sub 70g in driver. My Otto Phlex profile should look something like this: A flex, 45 - 55g, High Launch with low loft setting or mid launch with standard loft setting. Torque is another factor that can be thrown into the debate ring as having any value. The AutoFlex from what I've read is around a 4.0 torque rating. I believe torque can be important with this experiment because we're really treading on the edge of making sure the shaft bends but doesn't twist. Too high of torque rating and you may be pushing things a little too far. DISCLAIMER 1: I realize that this is a subject that might rub some folks the wrong way.. namely those who've spent the $ and are completely bought into the Autoflex concept.. or those who've done the research, had a fitting, and are about to pull the trigger on one. I think that this topic fully encompasses the MGS spirit of debunking a pretty hyped up marketing claim and/or discussing alternatives that take all of the marketing hype out of the equation and stick to the hard facts. Does the concept actually work? Can I make an Otto Phlex shaft that performs similarly or better than the real thing while nixing the insane price tag by following the guidelines listed above? DISCLAIMER 2: just because I'm finding success with this at the moment, it doesn't mean that it's for everybody. This is definitely a concept that even I'm still working to wrap my head around after playing for 30 years. It definitely has a lot of allure and appeal so the best we can do is try it out, give it some time and formulate final conclusions when the data is adequate. Below are a few of the videos that influenced my journey (and a few others like @Samsonite, @blackngold_blood, @cnosil, @cksurfdude, @tommc23, (forgive me if I missed anyone else) down this Otto Phlex rabbit hole. We all started up in the thread discussing the new PXG 0311 Gen5 Driver and ended up directing most of our discussion towards this AutoFlex Hack project because it just worked in such harmonized synchrony with the Gen5 head. Below is the PXG Gen5 thread if you'd like to catch up on what lead to this topic. The top of about page 3 is where the discussion starts to go sideways and turn into AutoFlex hack project Here is the original review by MrShortgame of the Autoflex. Very supportive of the Autoflex performance benefits Here are the colab videos by MrShortgage and MobileClubmaker. Both guys make great and very informative videos and they both know their stuff. Simon from SAS did something similar a while back.. He kind of rolls like me. He's all about getting the most out of a budget and still getting some really killer gear. Freddie Meikle Golf. I found this one as I was looking up more reviews for the PXG Gen 5 and it happened to be that he also stumbled upon the Otto Phlex After watching these videos about 10x each and saying "hey I can actually do that!", I tracked down a Project X Evenflow Riptide CB. In fact, it's the exact same spec of the shaft in the MrShortgame video. 40g 5.0 A flex. I sourced the shaft from a local OfferUp listing for a PXG Gen4 driver for sale. I reached out and offered the guy a straight trade for the Diamana S series that initially came with my Gen5 driver. Being that he was trying to sell his driver and I was able to gently convince him that an S flex might appeal to a broader audience, he was open for the trade. My fallback plan if all else fails is to plug in my trusty MotoreX and resell the experimental shafts and get on with my life. The only concern that I had was that the Evenflow played at 45" and I was convinced that it needed to be at least 46" for max results so I was already sourcing my shaft extension piece to have ready. Well eventually I discovered that 45" was absolutely perfect and that no extension was needed. I took the shaft back to the workshop, put it in the Gen5 and got the SW calculated to D0. Because of the higher balance point, I needed to add just a little more weight to the head. Luckily I was able to find a 10g PXG weight to replace one of the 7.5g weights and there we go.. I'm sitting right at D1.5. Now why is the SW so important with this build? Well this shaft isn't made for swing speeds over 100 MPH.. let alone the 110 - 115 that I'll be imparting on it. From my obsessive gathering of info, if you're able to keep the head weight to a minimum, and keep the swing weight optimal based on the desired shaft frequency (D1 lighter to D2 heavier), you should still be able to apply a max swing without any unwanted torsional head twisting. This is where the head can twist open or shut in addition to the shaft flexing the face up or down and then even more damaging is finding some odd variation in between where the face is flexed open or shut to some degree and then the face lofted or delofted to another degree and then who knows which direction the ball goes? Ultimately, the idea is to be able to put a hefty swing on the club and the ONLY reactional bending is the face increasing in loft, therefore assisting with an easier launch. Other variations are the actual club head itself. Every driver head is engineered for something specific. Luckily in my case, the PXG Gen5 seems to be a perfect mate for this experiment. It's naturally a lower spinning head and has a load of variable weight configurations. I have the 9* head option. Here are some standardized #'s from what I've seen with the MotoreX. I no longer have my membership with PGATSS (due to their recent 50% cost spike) so I'm just basing this off of memory from my last few sessions. (not 100%). As you can see though, the MotoreX works well for me. It's not an overly stiff profile. I'd say that it falls right where I need it to be between S+ and XS if I could give it my own classification. It's in the 65g weight class but actually closer to 70g than 65g. Launch - 10-12* Ball Speed - 157 MPH (probably not accurate) Swing Speed - 111 Carry 270 Spin 1900 Moment of Truth I took the Project X Evenflow Riptide along with the MotoreX to the Foresight Monitors at an outdoor range. This way I can see true flight and get some basic #'s to help quantify what I'm seeing with my eyes. The only downside is that the balls they use are limited flight which supposedly cut the flight down by 20% and the monitors weren't showing club or ball speed and weren't showing Spin so I was kind of disappointed. The limited results that I did see however blew my socks off. I started off the session with about 20 hits from the MotoreX and saw a nice low-ish draw. The carry was about 250 with rollout to about 270+. Not bad considering the balls were limited flight. I did see my miss come into play a few times which is a hard pull hook. This happens when I'm not fully sync'd and I'm swinging with my arms, chasing the ball, and just flipping the face closed. My shot can quickly go from fairway to neighborhood finder on the wrong layout. As soon as I plugged in the "OttoPhlex1" (I'll get to that "1") I could immediately feel the difference but that's to be expected.. the difference however isn't what I was expecting at all. The club actually doesn't feel lighter by weight or Swing Weight. I think there's some kind of trickery about the D1 SW and overall lighter club. The club doesn't feel too light at all. In fact if feels perfect! The SW also doesn't feel like D1 but closer to my preferred D4-5. I'm sure it's more to do with physics than witchcraft but to a lay fool like me.. it's the devil at work! JK. when I tee'd up my first ball, it was a high fowl ball to right field.. probably into the parking lot. weird.. OK this is a new sensation to me. At first impression I'm thinking, man this thing's too whippy and twisty. Well I buried that though and hit a few more. The more I hit, the more in sync I was getting and then the easier it became to just hit high towering baby draws. I'll say that the overall height at 9* was probably more than I wanted to see so I ended up cranking the loft down to 7.5 and just like old Bob Parsons himself would put it "KABOOM BABY".. ok I actually really hate PXG marketing but I guess it can have a time and place. You can read more about my thoughts on the Gen5 in the thread above.. but the overall feeling of it paired with the OttoPhlex1 is something else. The launch is effortless and even though I couldn't see the spin or ball speed #'s, I was getting about 15 yds more carry and rollout to about 290 - 300 yds. I went back and plugged the MotoreX in, bumped it back to 9° and then found myself struggling to get the ball in the air. A shaft that I've been familiar with for 2 years all of a sudden became a stranger to me. I had been so completely overtaken by the feeling, flight, and performance of the OttoPhlex1 that I'd completely forgot everything I knew about the MotoreX.. and that was just in 1 hitting session. So of course I go home all giddy happy but my silly brain just couldn't rest on 1 thing.. Just like the video with MrShortgame, the PX Evenflow Riptide didn't really feel how the Autoflex looks from videos. Those guys got some real 1/1 comparison and I don't know if I'll ever have that luxury. The shaft just felt like a really smooth, stable "Me" flex. Take the stigma of "# Flex" out of the equation. It isn't really whippy or overly explosive feeling but it just feels like a really nice, stable shaft to play that gave some great results and something that I could definitely game. So that night I went back to looking around for possibly another option that might land me a little closer to the Motore F3 like they used in the video. Looking at all of the comments, it's literally impossible to find that exact shaft anywhere and people were frustrated. Even the current MotoreX F3 is a tad pricy for an experiment. Off the top of my head I knew of a few light weight, low cost options that I could look into. I looked at the UST ProForce V2 in both the HL and standard version, the Aldila NXT GEN NVS Orange, and the classic Garafalloy Pro Launch Blue. All in A flex and ranging between 45 and 55g. Well I settled for the Garafalloy PL based on a very technical analysis of.. Aesthetics . Now we have OttoPhlex2 in the mix. This and all of these are shafts that you can pick up at Golf Galaxy, PGATSS, or Golfworks for around $60, which is about the same price that AJ (Mobileclubmaker) paid for the OG Motore F3 and all seem to fit that general profile. I will add that I started out the GPLB at 46.5". The SW was just too much and I wasn't loving the length. So this is where I shortened it in .5" increments until I just found my glass slipper at 45". I took this out to play a round on Saturday 9/24 and I tell you what.. Just like I was blown away by the improved results with the Evenflow Riptide, I was even more so impressed with the Garafalloy PLB. The round I played was on a tight community Exec course with very narrow fairways. I played the front 9 with the OttoPhlex1 and hit everything! then I played the back with OttoPhlex2 and not only did I hit everything but it was a noticeably longer and higher flight. Not feeling content with the limited amount of playing time during the round, I immediately took to the course driving range afterward to compare both shafts in a long drive battle. Same situation as the other range, they have limited flight balls. It's in a retirement community so the back wall of the range stops at about 290 from the matts and on the other side behind the back wall is a gigantic aluminum storage facility. When it's matts only, I haven't ever hit over the fence. When they push it to grass, and depending how far forward, and when you smash a good drive, you're rewarded with a loud PING when the ball hits the storage facility over the fence.. too many good drives, and the storage facility calls the golf course and you are kindly asked to put your driver away . like I said, from the matts, that's that furthest point from the end of the range and I've never hit one over the fence. So I started the contest with the OttoPhlex1 (Riptide). I hit a lot of nice straight bombs that bounced to the wall but not over. When I put the OttoPhlex2 (GPLB) in, I was clearing the fence almost every 2 or 3 balls. Not only was I clearing the fence but I kept a directional point of a large tree at the back end of the range and everything was at or just outside of the tree. Luckily I finished the bucket and wasn't asked to leave Well for the finale, I took a used ball from my bag that I planned to retire to my backyard for chipping practice and tee'd it up. I didn't hit the side of the storage facility.. I landed it on the roof which had to be about 30' high and I wasn't rewarded with 1 PING.. but a series of pings as the ball bounced all the way across the rooftop. I've already made a short story very long but I had a chance to take both shafts to PGATSS to get some better #'s with the Garafalloy PLB. What I found just added to some of the crazy things that I've already seen with this club. Launch from a 7.5* head with little to no effort is right at about 14*. Club head speed 112+ without breaking a sweat. Spin.. 2000 - 2200 RPM. Carry distance an avg of 285 - 290 rolling out to around 315. Shots that I felt like I hit off the planet were just right or left of the green. I will add that I was using my game ball Maxfli Tour CG. I've got 1 more potential candidate that I would like to add to the mix and that's the UST ProForce V2 HL or regular V2. TBC **************** It's getting late. This is phase 1. I'll add some pics and continue more tomorrow. ***************** PLEASE feel free to start commenting or sharing any similar stories. I think this could be a really good topic for MGS to cover on their GolfScience channel. Cheers!

Well, we have our first copy-cat color. I took a family poll with my wife and kids and the clear winner was blue (it’s also my favorite color in general!). The only non-blue vote was my wife choosing pink, which made me laugh out loud thinking about @Cfhandyman‘s wife stealing his putter if he chose pink! Our LAB fitter answered all of my questions and really helped guide me to something I should be comfortable with right away. In my fitting video, I was using a standard putter, but my gamer putter is armlock. Having not used a standard putter in a year for a single putt, I was holding the standard putter armlock-ish. This lead to some funky initial fitting measurements (32.5” long & 70* lie). We landed on the counterbalance option so I could have the grip and feel of the armlock without being an armlock putter and without the putter being abnormally short. Below are my specs as submitted including the final alignment design: Hand: RIGHT Putting style: COUNTERBALANCED [ $70.00 ] Head weight: HEAVIER Shaft: L.A.B. Golf x TPT Shaft Long [ $399.00 ] Shaft length: 37″ Lie angle: 70 Putter color: DF3 Blue Alignment mark: I & X with line along the back of putter Grip Selection: Garsen Quad Tour 17″ For the alignment aid, I went with the two lines (option I), the LAB logo (option X) and a line down the back because it’s a shoutout to LAB while still having lines from front to back. It also reminds me of a hammer for some reason, which I like. Let me know what you think!

When the grips start getting a little slick and cleaning them doesn’t get them back to having a tacky feel is when I replace. Hard to provide grip recommendations without knowing your desire. Some people like softer grips, some firmer, some need grips for humid conditions, ribbed/no rib, budget, etc. . my suggestion would be to go to golf pride, lampkin, and other grip OEMs and do their grip fitting tool and see what you get as a result. You can also go to stores and feel the grips. Then you can ask for people’s opinion on specific grips.