My second time around - for a fitting.

[cksurfdude]

My first time around was not so good; in fact, kind of an expensive .. ummm .. "learning experience"...

 

1. I did it early in the year.

* Don't do that (unless you play regularly​ over the Winter).

 

2. I did a full bag fitting.

* Don't do that (unless you're in your 20s or a really really good player).

 

3. I hadn't really hit indoors before.

* I struggled with this the _whole_ time; not sure why but with just SO MANY awful shots it was hard to get enough meaningful LM data. If you haven't, find a place to play indoors to feel it out first.

 

4. Didn't have any really specific goals to accomplish.

* For example, am I better off with Shaft A or Shaft B in Club X? Am I better off with Club Y or Club X? Vs. just going in and waiting for the fitter to reveal some hidden truth to you about your setup.

 

5. Felt like I was in a rush to get through the whole bag .. even though we had 4 hours.

* I learned I would be more productive working _one_ area of the bag at a time.

 

 

So...

Today I went to a Club Champion not too far from me for an irons fitting.

 

Not saying the rest of my bag cannot be any better, but through testing, experimentation and a bit of trial and error I seem to have picked and chosen a hybrid and woods, and wedges, that seem to (currently, anyway!) be working ok for me.

 

On the irons, I like the clubheads I have - King F6 (6-PW) - except I'd gotten them with steel shafts and wanted to switch to graphite, probably Recoils. My 5i is a King OS with a Recoil 460 ES - and I like the combo.

 

So I had a few options, such as...

• put Recoils in the current clubheads;

Or,

• get new clubs with Recoils in them.

 

I'd demo'ed the Steelhead XR recently, liked it, though with the Ozik Program 15 in it; a Recoil was n/a at this demo day. I also wanted to try the JPX-900 Hot Metal.

 

So with a defined goal it felt like a fitting session was appropriate to get a guided run through these options .. plus whatever else i hadn't considered that the fitter might recommend.

 

The Club Champion hitting bays have an About Golf sim and for fitting they have a Trackman LM. (Didn't pause to take any pics, sorry.)

 

The basic process was...

1. Warm up, loosen up with my 9i.

2. Start hitting with my 5i, with a Recoil in it, to start to build a baseline.

3. Get a King OS fitting head and start running through different shafts.

 

-- Didn't note the specific models but these included Accra, Fubuki, Ozik, a few others and a few different Recoils. Then we stepped up through shaft weights. All the shafts were mid-/high-launch.

-- Once the candidate shaft was identified - Recoil 807 at 82g vs 460 ES at 64g - we went back to my 5i/460 ES to compare and confirm.

 

And,

-- While the fitter was, of course, looking at the stats I was going by the feel of the strike and the look of the ball flight on the sim screen.

-- Going through different shafts did produce some variance in the LM numbers (and ball flight results) but the stat that really started to differentiate itself and stand out was the Smash Factor .. the Recoil 807 seemed to fairly consistently produce the highest value. That is, it seemed to be the shaft that best helped me "get the clubhead down to the ball".

 

4. Test out different heads, all with the Recoil 807.

 

-- Tried.. F7, King OS, Steelhead XR, Ping G-Max, M2 and JPX-900 HM.

-- Briefly, did not like the F7 (biggest dispersion for me); did like the King OS (good flight, reasonable dispersion, good smash factor); did like the Steelhead XR (tho dispersion was a bit worse and smash a bit lower); did not like the G-Max (even tho hits seemed straightest, distance was down and there was no feel, also kinda not too appealing to the eye); did not like the M2 (nothing special happened and even the fitter remarked a lot of people describe it as "clunky"); did not do well with the JPX-900 (even tho I really really wanted to!).

 

So the King OS it is!

 

The good thing here is I already have one and like it, but importantly it LOOKS like an iron and FEELS like an iron (well, to me at this point in my golfing career anyway).

 

5. Check Length and Lie.

-- Length was tested hitting on the sim again; Lie was tested on a lie board. I had been at -1/2" short and -2° flat but we ended up at 'standard' for both.

 

Then...

We start talking about set makeup and at which iron I'm most comfortable with in my current set .. I was a bit reluctant to go with the OS all the way thru .. and we ended up deciding on a blended set with King OS 5-8 plus re-using my current F6 9i and PW - and all with the Recoil 807.

 

A quick walk over to the display of grips at the end of the wall and after just a few minutes of grabbing a few different things I pick the GP CP2 Wrap (standard). Had tried a midsize one of these and liked the grip, but ultimately not the midsize.

 

So finally its off to the computer to enter everything in and generate the Build order and send it off to Chicago (their main build shop); then (obviously) pay the bill (where I tried not to look at the numbers, which I had a feeling would be large, just sign .. .. while keeping in mind the overriding rationale here that I will soon have a set of clubs made just for me and that should work well .. _for me_!).

 

And as the nice young man starts explaining about their "Performance Guarantee" I jokingly cut in: 'that means I shoot in the 70s from now on, right?'....

 

Anyway, funny thing of all this is...

The "answer" was literally right in front of me before I went into the fitting...

 

I already have a King OS (5i) .. which I like .. with a Recoil in it (460 ES) .. which I like .. and, fyi, both were self-selected .. and really like the combo; hit it (usually) well but had kinda thought 'hmm wonder if this shaft is a touch light for me?'.

 

Ha, well, live and learn!

 

---

 

* Update:

After a brief email exchange with the fitter I decided it made more sense to fill out the new set all the way through; ie. make the 9i and PW King OS/Recoil 807 like the 5-8.

 

Basic rationale is I went through the fitting to try and identify something that should (quote-unquote) work better for me. So, out with the old and in with the new!

---

[Jiro]

Nice write up on your fitting experience.

 

 

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[cksurfdude]

Nice write up on your fitting experience.

 

 

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Thanks! Yeah, this time it was worth it

[Kenny B]

Nice job!  I agree about not doing the entire bag.  When I got my Ping i20 irons back in 2012, I also did hybrids and FW, but I was out of gas when it came to the driver.  I ended up going back 3 months later for it; 240 mile drive.

 

I want to hear about the results when you get out to play a few times.

[wbealsd]

Nice job!  I agree about not doing the entire bag.  When I got my Ping i20 irons back in 2012, I also did hybrids and FW, but I was out of gas when it came to the driver.  I ended up going back 3 months later for it; 240 mile drive.

 

I want to hear about the results when you get out to play a few times.

I've got a similar drive for fittings in the Twin Cities, so if I were to get a full bag fitting, I'd stay overnight and split the fitting over a couple of days.  Simply taking 3-4 swings each with a variety of head/shaft combinations is like like playing 2-3 rounds back to back.  

[StrokerAce]

sounds like fun!  a little surprised you went back indoors after your prior experience but sounds like they may have been set up differently...

 

also (from prior fitting experience) a bit surprised they used your 5i as your baseline (". Start hitting with my 5i, with a Recoil in it, to start to build a baseline.")

usually the lofts are so jacked up on the newer irons that the 5 is more like a 4.

now that I think about it maybe this was because you had the shaft you liked in it?

 

congrats on the fitting!  Sounds like a lot of fun and you'll get to keep that "long" signature as well !!    

[cksurfdude]

 

 

I've got a similar drive for fittings in the Twin Cities, so if I were to get a full bag fitting, I'd stay overnight and split the fitting over a couple of days. Simply taking 3-4 swings each with a variety of head/shaft combinations is like like playing 2-3 rounds back to back.

Oh, yeah! on that last part - I was sweating my scrawny butt off in there!

[cksurfdude]

Nice job! I agree about not doing the entire bag. When I got my Ping i20 irons back in 2012, I also did hybrids and FW, but I was out of gas when it came to the driver. I ended up going back 3 months later for it; 240 mile drive.

 

I want to hear about the results when you get out to play a few times.

Thanks, Kenny! Waiting time about two weeks

 

the way-ay-ting is the haaardest part

[cksurfdude]

 

 

sounds like fun! a little surprised you went back indoors after your prior experience but sounds like they may have been set up differently...

 

also (from prior fitting experience) a bit surprised they used your 5i as your baseline (". Start hitting with my 5i, with a Recoil in it, to start to build a baseline.")

usually the lofts are so jacked up on the newer irons that the 5 is more like a 4.

now that I think about it maybe this was because you had the shaft you liked in it?

 

congrats on the fitting! Sounds like a lot of fun and you'll get to keep that "long" signature as well !!

Thanks! And, Yes - different place this time, these guys have a sim so had something to look at / aim at. Last place was an indoor studio with a net and an aiming stick; sorta white-grey walls and florescent lights. They'd used a Foresight LM but it was only displayed on a PC screen in the back corner.

 

Seems the best setup would be to have both indoor sim and outdoor range available, but I guess that's _not_ common.

 

On the 5i - yes, it had a Recoil in it and I'd mentioned I liked hitting that club. The other tester heads were 6i.

 

Oh, the 5i loft on the King OS is 23°.

[Honest Wes]

I had a good experience with Club Champion. Different iron head than what I wanted. New heads and Steel Fiber I80 shafts got me 19 yards over my iron set. Fitter could not put anything together that worked better than the driver I had. He didn't try to "sell me something". Same with putter and wedges. I split the fitting over 2 days because I was worn out after the iron fitting. 4 hours straight? I probably would have ended up ladies' weight heads with buggy whip shafts.

 

 

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[Brjpool]

I think doing a whole bag is good but you have to do it the right way. You may do a whole bag but you need to do a driver, woods, irons, wedges and putter independently without product bias

 

 

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[cksurfdude]

I had a good experience with Club Champion. Different iron head than what I wanted. New heads and Steel Fiber I80 shafts got me 19 yards over my iron set. Fitter could not put anything together that worked better than the driver I had. He didn't try to "sell me something". Same with putter and wedges. I split the fitting over 2 days because I was worn out after the iron fitting. 4 hours straight? I probably would have ended up ladies' weight heads with buggy whip shafts.

 

 

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Oh yeah - had also tested the SteelFiber i80 but it didn't work as well for me....

[cnosil]

Thanks for the detailed write up.   Would love to go do a fitting just to see how close to ideal I have my clubs.   

[cksurfdude]

Thanks for the detailed write up. Would love to go do a fitting just to see how close to ideal I have my clubs.

Thanks! Maybe I should have elaborated a bit more, but even before the warm-up we started with me giving him a brief background on where I was at with my game and with the current irons, what I had just demo'ed the prior weekend and what I'd hoped to get out of the fitting - not at all to tell the guy how to do his job, but just so he understood a bit about me. I think it helped "guide" us both to .. hopefully! .. a good outcome.

[djahubes]

I've used club champion. They are solid. As an aside, it is insane to do an entire bag in one go round. You get tired and the results are skewed. CChamp recommended 3 separate sessions for the entire bag and it worked out great

 

 

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[cnosil]

Thanks! Maybe I should have elaborated a bit more, but even before the warm-up we started with me giving him a brief background on where I was at with my game and with the current irons, what I had just demo'ed the prior weekend and what I'd hoped to get out of the fitting - not at all to tell the guy how to do his job, but just so he understood a bit about me. I think it helped "guide" us both to .. hopefully! .. a good outcome.

 

I got that out of your review.   I an interested in finding out if I have the right combo's in my bag or if there is equipment that could be better.   Would like to narrow the dispersion  on my iron shots.  i tried some irons and really liked the shaft and the results on the launch monitor and would like to do a detailed fitting like you went through to evaluate.   I have heard club champion does a christmas discount promotion so I may be going that route.  

[cksurfdude]

I got that out of your review. I an interested in finding out if I have the right combo's in my bag or if there is equipment that could be better. Would like to narrow the dispersion on my iron shots. i tried some irons and really liked the shaft and the results on the launch monitor and would like to do a detailed fitting like you went through to evaluate. I have heard club champion does a christmas discount promotion so I may be going that route.

Yeah, you'd be able to get a lot more benefit out of a fitting than I did.

 

For this fitting I wasn't able to find a discount code or sale, but I have seen a few of their banner ads online and also a print ad in a local area golfing mag.

[cksurfdude]

Brief update:

Got the new sticks and brought them to the range and to the course one time each so far. I think there may be some tweaking to do on the 6i and 5i - possibly make them a bit lighter - but the 7i down to PW feel great and seem to be working pretty nicely

[StrokerAce]

Brief update:

Got the new sticks and brought them to the range and to the course one time each so far. I think there may be some tweaking to do on the 6i and 5i - possibly make them a bit lighter - but the 7i down to PW feel great and seem to be working pretty nicely

 

how do you make the irons lighter outside of changing the shafts?

does Club Champion do that for you for free since you've been fit there?

[cksurfdude]

how do you make the irons lighter outside of changing the shafts?

does Club Champion do that for you for free since you've been fit there?

The second question: yes; can bring them in for "free lifetime adjustments" under their performance guarantee (which I teasingly asked if it meant they guarantee I shoot even par from now on...).

 

The first question: good question! But.. not sure! That's an @MmmmmmBuddy or @KennyB question.

 

But I _think_, or guess actually, they'd need to pull the shaft and remove some extra weight the club builder put in to increase the swing weight as per the fitter's order?

 

Another way is if they'd added hot melt into the head, maybe there's a way to remove some of it. Again, not sure....