Full Bag Fitting Friday - What questions do you have?

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Have a full bag fitting scheduled Friday afternoon with Thomas Elsberry - master clubfitter for 2nd Swing in Minneapolis. Should be a hoot!

 

Do you have have any questions you'd like me to pose to Thomas?

 

Already have Theoo's question about what type of clubs he looks at for higher handicappers, and one from hckeymeyer on wedge shafts.

 

Anything else? Add me here and I'll do my best to get you answers...

[Kenny B]

OK, I'll give it a shot.

 

Let's assume a slower swing speed player (85-90). AoA = +5* In trying to get a higher ball flight, is it better to add driver loft, and use a shaft that promotes a medium trajectory; or use less loft with a shaft that kicks the ball on a higher trajectory?

[BirdieMonster]

what is his opinion on replacing a driver with a strong 3 wood lets say 12-13 degrees.

[Mr_Theoo]

I have another question.

 

How does he know when a player has found "the club" during a fitting?

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

I have another question.

 

How does he know when a player has found "the club" during a fitting?

 

Good question!!  These are great guys -- thanks!  Keep 'em coming!!!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Bag fitting was a hoot - they have some very cool technology at 2nd Swing.  Lots to report, will prepare a full write-up over the weekend.  Biggest surprise was an increase in club head speed (been hitting the gym!) and being fit in X-stiff shafts for driver, hybrids and irons.  That came as a bit of a shock to me.  

[Kenny B]

Animal!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Full write up coming - but some quick answers to the questions posed here:

 

1. KennyB: It's the head all the way for a lower swing speed player.  Thomas says at those swing speeds the first thing he looks at is adding loft.  

 

2. BirdieMonster: Thomas says that's often an excellent solution, especially if the player is inconsistent with the driver.  The biggest benefit is the shorter shaft on the strong 3 - says a 45-46" driver cann be a lot to handle.  (Aside - I carry the X2Hot 2 Deep for those days when I can't hit the driver worth a crap).

 

3. Theoo - this may have been his favorite question!  He says it's two things - first is the sound the ball make at impact and coming off the club. Thomas has been doing this a while, and he can hear it when it's pure.  The other is the reaction of the golfer - usually the first thing they say is something like "whoa" or "wow."

 

Will have a full report hopefully by Monday.  Thomas talks VERY fast and I have a lot of recording to go through to get the good stuff! 

 

X-Stiff?  You gotta be kidding me!!!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

They had some pretty slick equipment at 2nd Swing -- they call it the Tour Van Experience

Getting @golfspybarbajo dialed in to the right driver set up. #GetFit @MyGolfSpy pic.twitter.com/BlphcEs7hJ

— Tour Van Minneapolis (@TourVanMPLS) December 5, 2014

[wbealsd]

Looking forward to the write up!!  That looks like a GC2 sitting on the mat but the software doesn't look like the Foresight fitting software I'm familiar with??  Granted, I haven't installed the "latest & greatest," since the software I'm using has all the information I need, but I am curious about what software that is.

[Mr_Theoo]

Looking forward to the write up!! That looks like a GC2 sitting on the mat but the software doesn't look like the Foresight fitting software I'm familiar with?? Granted, I haven't installed the "latest & greatest," since the software I'm using has all the information I need, but I am curious about what software that is.

It's the gears system, you have a bunch of sensors hooked onto you like a video game and it tracks the movements of where they're placed

[wbealsd]

It's the gears system, you have a bunch of sensors hooked onto you like a video game and it tracks the movements of where they're placed

Thanks Theoo, I've never seen that one before!  I wonder what' Furyk's results would look like

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

The GEARS thing was pretty cool -- they have a jacket you can get into, but Thomas said they use that mostly for lessons.  This one had sensors on the club shaft and the club head - they get the computer to pick up the ball, and then it traces your swing.  You can actually view the swing - club only - over and over again from any angle imaginable.  And it captures a crap-ton of data. Will post pictures soon...

[fozcycle]

Cool Barb.........Golftec uses a similar setup for their lessons.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Some detailed responses to your questions.  These are the transcripts...

 

1. Head or shaft for a 85-90 swing speed player:

 

"If you swing 85 to 90, the head's so important.  To get the right launch, I'm going to change the head.  At that point, I don't even care what the shaft is. I can't imagine that the first thing I would do with that swing speed would be to change the shaft.  It's the head all the way.  The shaft may come later, but head first."

 

2. Strong 3-wood as a replacement for a driver: 

 

"If the guy has a steep angle of attack, all for it.  It has a shorter shaft – 43” compared to 46”.  46” drivers just aren't good for most people.  But if you have that steep angle of attack, a 3 wood is better for that than a driver, because a driver will spin like crazy and go nowhere.  If the 3 wood fits you, it's lights out."

 

3. When do yo know when you find "the club?"

 

"When I know? I can hear it.  The sound coming off the face when he flushes one – it came off faster that with the previous club, you just know at that point.  But you can see it in their eyes.  As soon as he hits that club, it's like “oh.”  When you hit that 73 Pro, the look you had was “this is gonna work.”  I can hear the sound off the face because it's coming off faster every single time, but it's usually a mutual thing.  They look at it and go “what is this? It's the greatest club ever!” That's when we have found the specs.  We're getting all the stars to line up and we've found it from a fitting perspective.  It's fun.  Like anything in life, when you find that moment, you feel good."

[Mr_Theoo]

Can't wait to hear the video from this session. Sounds like it was a blast!

[Tinkering]

Any more info from this? As stated in another thread, I've had terrible fitting experiences so I'm very interested.

 

Thanks!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Yo Snake -- here's the first part of the fitting experience - the driver portion:

 

CLICK HERE! 

 

Hybrid Fitting Experience is HERE

[Tinkering]

Awesome, thanks man.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Awesome, thanks man.

 

Didn't write up the iron fitting - we didn't spend a ton of time on it. Did have an iron fitting at Wilson HQ last month - will prepare a write up on that experience in the next few days.  One thing I can say about fittings - if the fitter is logical and explains things well, you do feel a sense of confidence in the equipment.  "Junk," the fitter at Wilson, watched for a while, used some impact tape and suggested I try a flatter lie angle.  We eventually settled on 2* flat, which surprised me, but the number and the impact tape didn't lie!

[wbealsd]

"Junk"

 

Good name for a club fitter.

[mr_divots]

"Junk"

 

Good name for a club fitter.

Or a porn star...?

 

Looking back at the numbers, the toe droop reading is very interesting/confounding to me.

49.05mm is about 1.97 inches. It would be hard to hit anything with that much toe droop if that means how much the head dips by that measurement. How much do those Gears "pod" sensors weigh?

I'm not sure I could swing with those on the club, honestly.