Fittings, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Golfspy_CG2]

I want to hear everyone's experiences that they may have had on fittings. Particularly if you had an outdoor vs indoor fitting for the same product within a short period of time, on how they went and the differences between the two.   

 

So as some may have read, I was one of the members chosen for the JPX 900 Iron Testing.  I'll be reviewing/testing the Hot Metal version.   

 

We were even more fortunate that Mizuno was allowing us to send in our own specs and choose from anything on it's current custom offerings.   So wanting to make sure I got properly fit irons for the test, so i could give solid accurate feedback, I wanted to go get fit by a certified Mizuno fitter who used the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer, see the pretty cool video of how they use it  here. http://golf.mizunoeurope.com/blog/mizuno-challenges-6-golfers-to-the-swing-dna-iron-test/

 

So settle in this might get wordy....Even for me...HA

 

I first called a place I had been fit before that has a reputation as one of the better fitters in the area.  Of course he was off until Tuesday (this being Monday, and having a case of the "I want it now!!", I called a second place that I had heard of but never been to.   They said come on down anytime today, so that's what I did.

 

INDOOR FITTING

 

In short this one was a very nice golf independent golf shop in the area, it has survived the glut of Big Box stores the past 15 years and has a very loyal local following.   I was met by a young man who took me over and explained the process.  Sounds good.   Having watched the above and several other videos on Mizuno's Swing DNA system, I pretty much knew what he was saying.

 

Well, in short it didn't go well at all.  

• The Shaft Optimizer kept dying after every shot, so they had to charge it have me hit a shot and repeat
• The computer software wasn't working correctly, it didn't save all the info so the fitter said, he could probablyy remember the numbers from the 3 balls (the ones we had to wait 5 minutes between) and entered them manually
• Lastly, my swing was way off, I struggled to hit two consistent shots back to back.  not that I was looking for perfect shots, but they didn't have some shafts in 1" over so I had to go with 1/2 in some which was tough to adjust to.

All that said, I don't blame the young man at all, he himself was very frutstrated by things not working and just having conversation with him, I could tell he knew how to fit and knew his stuff.   he was also very patient with me struggling to put solid shots together.

 

Well the recommendations that we got from the Optimizer based on his memory 

• Project X LZ 5.5
• Nippon Modus Tour 105 Stiff
• Dynamic Gold R300

We hit all those and I immediately eliminated the DG based on it feeling to heavy.   I currently have the Modus 105, so those felt familiar and the Project X LZ felt good as well.  We went to look at the numbers and the only ones that saved were the PX, and he said I was getting too much spin and too high of flight on those.

 

So his recommendation was the Modus 105.  Which I was fine with as I have them in my 565/765.   But all these shots were hit in a small bay that had no more than 6 to 8 feet of flight before hitting the net.  Impossible to tell what the true flight was.   Also a big thing I wanted to get right was what length he thought I should play as I've been alternating anywhere from 1/2 to 1" over depending on the OEM.   He took my knuckle to floor measurement.  Also for the lie, he was using lie tape and the lie board, but instead of leaving a mark like it usually does, half the tape was ripping off, so to me I didn't think it was giving a true indication of if the lie was correct or not.

 

So instead of a print out of what everything was, he scribbled down on a piece of paper what the recommendations were.  Now, again not all of this was his fault, as they had some technical issues.  But at the very worst, I know OEM's provide fittings sheets, that he could have taken the time to at least compelte that as much as possible. 

 

For this I paid $45

 

Outdoor Fitting

So the more I thought back on that, the less satisfied and 100% convinced that i had gotten the best information possible.  So I went ahead and called my first choice and set an appointment for the following day.

 

This is at a very nice range and was conducted outside in the private fitting/lesson area.  I had worked with Jon before so he knew a bit about my game and we didn't' have to go through my profile or game ability.   We got right to it.

 

The Mizuno Shaft optimizer worked brilliantly from the start and he plugged the numbers into I-Pad.   They spit out the following options.

• KBS C-Taper Lite 110 S
• Project X LZ 5.5 
• TT XP 115 S

Honestly these options surprised me a bit, as I've always tended to play shafts between 95 to 105 grams, as my driver SS is in the low 90's and my iron ss in mid to upper 70's.   However, Jon mentioned and has been pointed out during my Driver fitting last year, I have a very strong and fast move down, so a bit stiffer and more stable shaft suits me.  

 

Also he had irons in 1" over...THANK YOU!! So I didn't have to try and adjust my set up.  Overall I was hitting the ball pretty solid with a few loose shots here and there, but certainly enough for him to see my natural tendencies (and also based on seeing me previously)

 

The LM numbers between the C-Taper Lit and XP 115 were very close.  Although to me the C-Taper Lite was much easier to swing, yes the 5 grams probably made a big difference.  But I felt like I could feel the shaft getting through the swing more efficiently (loading better?)

 

But one of the biggest things in the fitting came with the length and lie measurements.   He used the same method of Lie measurement, with the tape on the sole, except these stayed in tact and showed I was hitting the ball flush in the center of the sole, with a 3 degree upright shaft.  Interesting that I have been only going 2 degrees, but we noticed a slight reduction in my fade when we went from the 2 degree to 3 degree lie.   He also mentioned to me that mizuno uses a 1/2 degree flatter lie as standard than most OEM's.  So I was really going to need to add that to my spec.

 

For length, the same thing with Mizuno, it's standard 6 iron is 1/4" shorter than most OEM.  So when I measured 1" over on his PING fitting chart, we made that 1 1/4 inch for Mizuno.

 

So factoring in the extra inch gives another degree upright, he gave me complete different specs than the previous fitter, who just gave me 1" over and 2 Up.

John actually wrote out the exact specs 38 1/4" 6 iron length and 63.5 degree lie. 

 

 BTW, I never would have thought I'd be in a C-Taper shaft at 110 grams...HA  I tried the regular C-Tapers a couple years ago and it was like swinging a 2x4.   I did a lot of reading on these C Taper lites, and they were perfectly placed between the Tour 90 and C Capers from what I read.   

 

I have had the KBS Tour 90 before and liked them a lot, but at times felt I hit them a bit too high.  So these should give me more of a mid flight, which I'm excited about.  

 

I left there so much more confident that I was properly fit and that I'm getting the best shaft for me for these irons.    

 

For this I paid $0.00.  

 

I explained to John why I was getting the irons and that I wouldn't' be buying them there, and again offered to pay for his time and the fitting.   He said, "Not at all!!  Sounds like a great opportunity with Mizuno.   Let me know how they work out for you. 

 

 

So if you're still with me, let's hear what you like and don't like about indoor and outdoor fittings.  And if you've ever had two completely different experiences back to back like that. 

[dadivots]

Good post.

I like this John guy who realizes a bit stiffer with the driver is the way to go.

Outdoors and finding Confidence, what could be better?

Sounds like you got a really good one.

[Golfspy_CG2]

Good post.

I like this John guy who realizes a bit stiffer with the driver is the way to go.

Outdoors and finding Confidence, what could be better?

Sounds like you got a really good one.

The other thing he's a big proponent of is going with the shortest shaft you can comfortably handle at address,  when it comes to longer clubs like hybrids, FW and Drivers.

 

  During my FW fitting with him earlier this year, I was trying to decide between a 5W or 3 hybrid.   I was getting good distance with the 5W but would hit an occasional fat shot.   He took it back from me without saying what he was doing and then handed it back.   I was hitting every shot flush not fat ones at all and getting pretty much the same distance, and even more on a few.   The big change?   He put a 7w shaft in the 5w head.   Still had the mass of the 5w but more control with the 42" inch shaft.

 

I reported back to him yesterday that after two months in the bag, it has almost become my favorite club.  I know I'm going to get 185 to 190 yards with a nice high consistent flight out of it every time.

[yungkory]

I'm doing my second-ever fitting today (I was also fortunate enough to be selected for the Mizuno test) so I'll report back on the indoor vs. outdoor fittings. My Epic fitting was outdoor on the range and I've been myna birding about it on the forums ever since. If you've never heard of a myna bird, they like to sit in circles with each other and squawk very loud to the point that they're annoying.

 

The tester I'm going to is a Golf Digest Top 100 so I'm hopeful, but I still think there's nothing like seeing your ball flight go through actual air and land on grass.

[Severtheties]

I think I'd prefer an outdoor fitting. With that being said - I've only ever had indoor fittings and they don't bother me. My latest fitting for the Mizuno test was actually done by Theoo so if they don't work out we can all blame him.

 

But in all seriousness we played the don't look at it and just hit it game. It worked because I basically ended up in the complete opposite shaft that I thought I would. The numbers didn't lie though. It was really a clear choice. I'm going to keep the rest of this for my review but it should be interesting.

[null]

Like you, I did an indoor fitting on the shaft optimizer first to find the shaft for my Mizuno 900 Tour testing.  This led me to the Project X LZ 6.0.

 

Now I have always hated PX Steel shafts, so this was a surprise to me, but the numbers didn't lie, and the shaft didn't feel too bad, so that was what I was going with.

 

However hitting into a net didn't sell me entirely.  I went to my instructor/fitter today to verify my findings and he let me hit the different combos outside.  Seeing the ball flight outside was incredible and it reminded me why I will only ever get outdoor fittings.  I was fit for my last two drivers outdoors, and now my irons and it's just so reassuring to see actual ball flight.

 

I will save the details for the testing thread, but the outdoor fitting confirmed the findings of the shaft optimizer.  Sure I could have gone with what the indoor fitting spit out, but I would have always had a slight doubt in my mind because I hadn't seen the ball flight.  Now that I have seen the ball flights outside, I am 100% confident in the setup I am getting, and that makes a huge difference!

[TBT]

I've had 2 fittings but both have been indoors, I've always wanted to do an outdoor fitting.

 

John sounds like a great guy and I'm sure you'll use him for everything in the future.

[Golfspy_CG2]

I agree jukes, outside is so much better, and if outside can be combined with a trackman or Foresight, all the better.   I have a good friend who's an instructor/fitter and now lives in Fl, he is very old school.   He believes in trackman as a validation of what his eyes are telling him.   But he'd rather do a fitting outside with no technology than inside with all the bells and whistles.  he said he can tell from the swing and ball flight, what is  happening and fit from there.    He's not naive enough to think a LM would help with really polish or nail it down completely. 

 

Oh, I guess I should have saved my long winded experience for the Stage 1.....LOL  Or maybe not, it'll probably be long enough anyway...HA

[Golfspy_CG2]

I've had 2 fittings but both have been indoors, I've always wanted to do an outdoor fitting.

 

John sounds like a great guy and I'm sure you'll use him for everything in the future.

Yep, no doubt will.   I had been considering lessons from Golftech, but I may decide on him for those as well.   when I got there to start the fitting, he was finishing up a lesson with a true beginner next to me.   I was watching and listening out of one eye and ear to that session.  I liked his approach. 

[StrokerAce]

It was February...in Rhode Island...typical snowy NE winter and a fresh 6 inches of beautiful white powder fell overnight....

 

Choice A - cancel my scheduled outdoor fitting and go with an indoor one; 

Choice B - keep my outdoor fitting/damn the snow to all hell;

 

I went with B and I will always go with B.

 

I don't see how people do fittings indoors; I understand that the machine (Trackman/GC4/etc.) can "read" things and you can "feel" the club, but like what has been said already, you really want to see the ball for yourself.  You don't want to see a computer representation on a monitor.  Granted - the results might be exactly the same but golf is such a mental game that I just don't think you'd get to that 100 percent comfort/satisfaction level until you hit the ball outside and see the ball fly and land.

 

About the only fitting I can see doing indoors is for a putter...

 

BTW - how would someone do a wedge fitting indoors?  Wouldn't the ball launch over the screen?

[null]

Fitting advice for those going for fittings:  hit about 60-100 balls or play 18 prior to your fitting.  You don't want to go into a fitting completely fresh - my instructor/fitter (and Michael Breed) is a big believer in getting fit into shafts that you will feel comfortable swinging on the 18th hole, not just the 1st hole.  I got my fitting today after playing 18.  

 

The few times I have gone for pseudo-fittings without playing or hitting a lot of balls before hand, the fitters always had wanted to fit me into 120g+ xstiff shafts because of my swing speed.  The problem was, once I would make the turn I would feel like I couldn't load the shaft correctly without really going after it.  It is important to find the shaft that gives you the proper feel and performance when you aren't fresh!

[Golfspy_CG2]

One thing that I can add that an indoor fitting might have over the outdoor is the quality of balls.    In the indoor you are probably using a tour level or premium ball that will give true spin numbers.   Outside depending on the range or course, you're probably using a two piece range ball, which may or may nto be a limited flight ball.

 

At my 917 Driver fitting last year at Pinehurst, the fitter asked me if I preferred ProV or Prov1x for the fitting.  Yes Please!!  But, that is certainly the exception.

[Mr_Theoo]

I've done both indoors and out. Both to me were good fittings. Only difference to me is hitting range balls compared to the balls I actually play.

[yungkory]

Well, here's my $.02 after my first indoor fitting, and 2nd fitting overall. TL;DR version - $75 well worth it, I am just as happy as my outdoor one, even if I didn't get to see the ball flight for my own eyes, and it was computer simulated.

 

The Mizuno swing DNA thing is pretty bang on. If you're unfamiliar, you swing this shaft (with your preferred head attached) that has a sensor on it. The shaft is really light and feels weird at first, so I was instructed to take some practice cuts with it until I got comfortable. I thought it was too light and that I'd have some artificial numbers - but it was nearly identical to what Trackman was saying during my warm-ups.

 

Despite the fact that you can't see your ball fly out to the range, like Mr_Theoo said, you get to hit real balls vs range rocks, and you still know when you hit a good shot vs. a poor one. Well, at least I can feel it off the face of these forged irons that I'm gaming, and that I just tested. The mishit balls also show variation on Trackman as well, so that was pretty comforting to me, since I was a skeptic. This is probably my favorite part about playing forged irons, but I'll save that for the review.

 

In all, I'd still rather be fit on the range, but the guy I worked with today is a top 100 fitter and now I know why. The whole process was electrifying - for lack of a better word. Felt like a kid in a candy shop, and there were no repercussions for gorging. I still stand by my previous statement - no matter how poor you think your swing is, you should get fit for clubs. You wouldn't run a mile in ill-fitting shoes - why play 18 with the wrong sticks?

[cnosil]

Over the years,  I have gone through several "fittings."  Most were many years ago while we were still in the days of epoxied shafts and you only got to try what was in the various bags.  when I was iron shopping a few years ago,  I went through several fittings to see what might work for my swing.  These were done indoors on different launch monitors and the manufacturers included Ping and Mizuno.   Results were pretty much the same for the various tests and I picked a set of clubs based on what I could find that matched the specs.    Most everything else has been self fit based on my evaluation of numbers on launch monitors.    I personally don't have a preference between indoor and outdoor but it is nice to actually see a real balls flight.

[Rickp]

I want to hear everyone's experiences that they may have had on fittings. Particularly if you had an outdoor vs indoor fitting for the same product within a short period of time, on how they went and the differences between the two.

 

So as some may have read, I was one of the members chosen for the JPX 900 Iron Testing. I'll be reviewing/testing the Hot Metal version.

 

We were even more fortunate that Mizuno was allowing us to send in our own specs and choose from anything on it's current custom offerings. So wanting to make sure I got properly fit irons for the test, so i could give solid accurate feedback, I wanted to go get fit by a certified Mizuno fitter who used the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer, see the pretty cool video of how they use it here. http://golf.mizunoeurope.com/blog/mizuno-challenges-6-golfers-to-the-swing-dna-iron-test/

 

So settle in this might get wordy....Even for me...HA

 

I first called a place I had been fit before that has a reputation as one of the better fitters in the area. Of course he was off until Tuesday (this being Monday, and having a case of the "I want it now!!", I called a second place that I had heard of but never been to. They said come on down anytime today, so that's what I did.

 

INDOOR FITTING

 

In short this one was a very nice golf independent golf shop in the area, it has survived the glut of Big Box stores the past 15 years and has a very loyal local following. I was met by a young man who took me over and explained the process. Sounds good. Having watched the above and several other videos on Mizuno's Swing DNA system, I pretty much knew what he was saying.

 

Well, in short it didn't go well at all.

• The Shaft Optimizer kept dying after every shot, so they had to charge it have me hit a shot and repeat
• The computer software wasn't working correctly, it didn't save all the info so the fitter said, he could probablyy remember the numbers from the 3 balls (the ones we had to wait 5 minutes between) and entered them manually
• Lastly, my swing was way off, I struggled to hit two consistent shots back to back. not that I was looking for perfect shots, but they didn't have some shafts in 1" over so I had to go with 1/2 in some which was tough to adjust to.

All that said, I don't blame the young man at all, he himself was very frutstrated by things not working and just having conversation with him, I could tell he knew how to fit and knew his stuff. he was also very patient with me struggling to put solid shots together.

 

Well the recommendations that we got from the Optimizer based on his memory

• Project X LZ 5.5
• Nippon Modus Tour 105 Stiff
• Dynamic Gold R300

We hit all those and I immediately eliminated the DG based on it feeling to heavy. I currently have the Modus 105, so those felt familiar and the Project X LZ felt good as well. We went to look at the numbers and the only ones that saved were the PX, and he said I was getting too much spin and too high of flight on those.

 

So his recommendation was the Modus 105. Which I was fine with as I have them in my 565/765. But all these shots were hit in a small bay that had no more than 6 to 8 feet of flight before hitting the net. Impossible to tell what the true flight was. Also a big thing I wanted to get right was what length he thought I should play as I've been alternating anywhere from 1/2 to 1" over depending on the OEM. He took my knuckle to floor measurement. Also for the lie, he was using lie tape and the lie board, but instead of leaving a mark like it usually does, half the tape was ripping off, so to me I didn't think it was giving a true indication of if the lie was correct or not.

 

So instead of a print out of what everything was, he scribbled down on a piece of paper what the recommendations were. Now, again not all of this was his fault, as they had some technical issues. But at the very worst, I know OEM's provide fittings sheets, that he could have taken the time to at least compelte that as much as possible.

 

For this I paid $45

 

Outdoor Fitting

So the more I thought back on that, the less satisfied and 100% convinced that i had gotten the best information possible. So I went ahead and called my first choice and set an appointment for the following day.

 

This is at a very nice range and was conducted outside in the private fitting/lesson area. I had worked with Jon before so he knew a bit about my game and we didn't' have to go through my profile or game ability. We got right to it.

 

The Mizuno Shaft optimizer worked brilliantly from the start and he plugged the numbers into I-Pad. They spit out the following options.

• KBS C-Taper Lite 110 S
• Project X LZ 5.5
• TT XP 115 S

Honestly these options surprised me a bit, as I've always tended to play shafts between 95 to 105 grams, as my driver SS is in the low 90's and my iron ss in mid to upper 70's. However, Jon mentioned and has been pointed out during my Driver fitting last year, I have a very strong and fast move down, so a bit stiffer and more stable shaft suits me.

 

Also he had irons in 1" over...THANK YOU!! So I didn't have to try and adjust my set up. Overall I was hitting the ball pretty solid with a few loose shots here and there, but certainly enough for him to see my natural tendencies (and also based on seeing me previously)

 

The LM numbers between the C-Taper Lit and XP 115 were very close. Although to me the C-Taper Lite was much easier to swing, yes the 5 grams probably made a big difference. But I felt like I could feel the shaft getting through the swing more efficiently (loading better?)

 

But one of the biggest things in the fitting came with the length and lie measurements. He used the same method of Lie measurement, with the tape on the sole, except these stayed in tact and showed I was hitting the ball flush in the center of the sole, with a 3 degree upright shaft. Interesting that I have been only going 2 degrees, but we noticed a slight reduction in my fade when we went from the 2 degree to 3 degree lie. He also mentioned to me that mizuno uses a 1/2 degree flatter lie as standard than most OEM's. So I was really going to need to add that to my spec.

 

For length, the same thing with Mizuno, it's standard 6 iron is 1/4" shorter than most OEM. So when I measured 1" over on his PING fitting chart, we made that 1 1/4 inch for Mizuno.

 

So factoring in the extra inch gives another degree upright, he gave me complete different specs than the previous fitter, who just gave me 1" over and 2 Up.

John actually wrote out the exact specs 38 1/4" 6 iron length and 63.5 degree lie.

 

BTW, I never would have thought I'd be in a C-Taper shaft at 110 grams...HA I tried the regular C-Tapers a couple years ago and it was like swinging a 2x4. I did a lot of reading on these C Taper lites, and they were perfectly placed between the Tour 90 and C Capers from what I read.

 

I have had the KBS Tour 90 before and liked them a lot, but at times felt I hit them a bit too high. So these should give me more of a mid flight, which I'm excited about.

 

I left there so much more confident that I was properly fit and that I'm getting the best shaft for me for these irons.

 

For this I paid $0.00.

 

I explained to John why I was getting the irons and that I wouldn't' be buying them there, and again offered to pay for his time and the fitting. He said, "Not at all!! Sounds like a great opportunity with Mizuno. Let me know how they work out for you.

 

 

So if you're still with me, let's hear what you like and don't like about indoor and outdoor fittings. And if you've ever had two completely different experiences back to back like that.

Your buddy John seems to be the real deal and is all over customer service.

I would definitely go to him. I had an indoor fitting 2.5 years ago and felt very uncomfortable with the results. Something wasn't right. I'm going in the fall to a different fitter that specialize in Titleist but has good connections to the Mizuno rep.

I'm waiting on the fitting for 2 reasons I want to C how the Mizuno testing works out with u guys and Titleist 718's will be coming out.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[MDGolfHacker]

I want to hear everyone's experiences that they may have had on fittings. Particularly if you had an outdoor vs indoor fitting for the same product within a short period of time, on how they went and the differences between the two.

 

So as some may have read, I was one of the members chosen for the JPX 900 Iron Testing. I'll be reviewing/testing the Hot Metal version.

 

We were even more fortunate that Mizuno was allowing us to send in our own specs and choose from anything on it's current custom offerings. So wanting to make sure I got properly fit irons for the test, so i could give solid accurate feedback, I wanted to go get fit by a certified Mizuno fitter who used the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer, see the pretty cool video of how they use it here. http://golf.mizunoeurope.com/blog/mizuno-challenges-6-golfers-to-the-swing-dna-iron-test/

 

So settle in this might get wordy....Even for me...HA

 

I first called a place I had been fit before that has a reputation as one of the better fitters in the area. Of course he was off until Tuesday (this being Monday, and having a case of the "I want it now!!", I called a second place that I had heard of but never been to. They said come on down anytime today, so that's what I did.

 

INDOOR FITTING

 

In short this one was a very nice golf independent golf shop in the area, it has survived the glut of Big Box stores the past 15 years and has a very loyal local following. I was met by a young man who took me over and explained the process. Sounds good. Having watched the above and several other videos on Mizuno's Swing DNA system, I pretty much knew what he was saying.

 

Well, in short it didn't go well at all.

• The Shaft Optimizer kept dying after every shot, so they had to charge it have me hit a shot and repeat
• The computer software wasn't working correctly, it didn't save all the info so the fitter said, he could probablyy remember the numbers from the 3 balls (the ones we had to wait 5 minutes between) and entered them manually
• Lastly, my swing was way off, I struggled to hit two consistent shots back to back. not that I was looking for perfect shots, but they didn't have some shafts in 1" over so I had to go with 1/2 in some which was tough to adjust to.

All that said, I don't blame the young man at all, he himself was very frutstrated by things not working and just having conversation with him, I could tell he knew how to fit and knew his stuff. he was also very patient with me struggling to put solid shots together.

 

Well the recommendations that we got from the Optimizer based on his memory

• Project X LZ 5.5
• Nippon Modus Tour 105 Stiff
• Dynamic Gold R300

We hit all those and I immediately eliminated the DG based on it feeling to heavy. I currently have the Modus 105, so those felt familiar and the Project X LZ felt good as well. We went to look at the numbers and the only ones that saved were the PX, and he said I was getting too much spin and too high of flight on those.

 

So his recommendation was the Modus 105. Which I was fine with as I have them in my 565/765. But all these shots were hit in a small bay that had no more than 6 to 8 feet of flight before hitting the net. Impossible to tell what the true flight was. Also a big thing I wanted to get right was what length he thought I should play as I've been alternating anywhere from 1/2 to 1" over depending on the OEM. He took my knuckle to floor measurement. Also for the lie, he was using lie tape and the lie board, but instead of leaving a mark like it usually does, half the tape was ripping off, so to me I didn't think it was giving a true indication of if the lie was correct or not.

 

So instead of a print out of what everything was, he scribbled down on a piece of paper what the recommendations were. Now, again not all of this was his fault, as they had some technical issues. But at the very worst, I know OEM's provide fittings sheets, that he could have taken the time to at least compelte that as much as possible.

 

For this I paid $45

 

Outdoor Fitting

So the more I thought back on that, the less satisfied and 100% convinced that i had gotten the best information possible. So I went ahead and called my first choice and set an appointment for the following day.

 

This is at a very nice range and was conducted outside in the private fitting/lesson area. I had worked with Jon before so he knew a bit about my game and we didn't' have to go through my profile or game ability. We got right to it.

 

The Mizuno Shaft optimizer worked brilliantly from the start and he plugged the numbers into I-Pad. They spit out the following options.

• KBS C-Taper Lite 110 S
• Project X LZ 5.5
• TT XP 115 S

Honestly these options surprised me a bit, as I've always tended to play shafts between 95 to 105 grams, as my driver SS is in the low 90's and my iron ss in mid to upper 70's. However, Jon mentioned and has been pointed out during my Driver fitting last year, I have a very strong and fast move down, so a bit stiffer and more stable shaft suits me.

 

Also he had irons in 1" over...THANK YOU!! So I didn't have to try and adjust my set up. Overall I was hitting the ball pretty solid with a few loose shots here and there, but certainly enough for him to see my natural tendencies (and also based on seeing me previously)

 

The LM numbers between the C-Taper Lit and XP 115 were very close. Although to me the C-Taper Lite was much easier to swing, yes the 5 grams probably made a big difference. But I felt like I could feel the shaft getting through the swing more efficiently (loading better?)

 

But one of the biggest things in the fitting came with the length and lie measurements. He used the same method of Lie measurement, with the tape on the sole, except these stayed in tact and showed I was hitting the ball flush in the center of the sole, with a 3 degree upright shaft. Interesting that I have been only going 2 degrees, but we noticed a slight reduction in my fade when we went from the 2 degree to 3 degree lie. He also mentioned to me that mizuno uses a 1/2 degree flatter lie as standard than most OEM's. So I was really going to need to add that to my spec.

 

For length, the same thing with Mizuno, it's standard 6 iron is 1/4" shorter than most OEM. So when I measured 1" over on his PING fitting chart, we made that 1 1/4 inch for Mizuno.

 

So factoring in the extra inch gives another degree upright, he gave me complete different specs than the previous fitter, who just gave me 1" over and 2 Up.

John actually wrote out the exact specs 38 1/4" 6 iron length and 63.5 degree lie.

 

BTW, I never would have thought I'd be in a C-Taper shaft at 110 grams...HA I tried the regular C-Tapers a couple years ago and it was like swinging a 2x4. I did a lot of reading on these C Taper lites, and they were perfectly placed between the Tour 90 and C Capers from what I read.

 

I have had the KBS Tour 90 before and liked them a lot, but at times felt I hit them a bit too high. So these should give me more of a mid flight, which I'm excited about.

 

I left there so much more confident that I was properly fit and that I'm getting the best shaft for me for these irons.

 

For this I paid $0.00.

 

I explained to John why I was getting the irons and that I wouldn't' be buying them there, and again offered to pay for his time and the fitting. He said, "Not at all!! Sounds like a great opportunity with Mizuno. Let me know how they work out for you.

 

 

So if you're still with me, let's hear what you like and don't like about indoor and outdoor fittings. And if you've ever had two completely different experiences back to back like that.

John's a great guy. He works with my daughter for the junior PGA clinic. I like to see my ball flight so I prefer an outdoor range, but it's all for naught if you have a terrible fitter. I also like to see numbers so I can associate what I see with the numbers. Hard to do when it's only flying 15 ft into a net. Being a lefty, fitting is much more critical.

 

MDGolfHacker

[Golfspy_CG2]

John's a great guy. He works with my daughter for the junior PGA clinic. I like to see my ball flight so I prefer an outdoor range, but it's all for naught if you have a terrible fitter. I also like to see numbers so I can associate what I see with the numbers. Hard to do when it's only flying 15 ft into a net. Being a lefty, fitting is much more critical.

 

MDGolfHacker

Maybe your daughter and I can get a 2-1 deal.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Camcmart]

The other thing he's a big proponent of is going with the shortest shaft you can comfortably handle at address, when it comes to longer clubs like hybrids, FW and Drivers.

 

During my FW fitting with him earlier this year, I was trying to decide between a 5W or 3 hybrid. I was getting good distance with the 5W but would hit an occasional fat shot. He took it back from me without saying what he was doing and then handed it back. I was hitting every shot flush not fat ones at all and getting pretty much the same distance, and even more on a few. The big change? He put a 7w shaft in the 5w head. Still had the mass of the 5w but more control with the 42" inch shaft.

 

I reported back to him yesterday that after two months in the bag, it has almost become my favorite club. I know I'm going to get 185 to 190 yards with a nice high consistent flight out of it every time.

I need to get a fitting by this John guy. Sounds like a real stand up guy that sure knows how to fit golfers to their best club option!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Golfspy_CG2]

I need to get a fitting by this John guy. Sounds like a real stand up guy that sure knows how to fit golfers to their best club option!

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Yep definitely knows his stuff. He used to be a fitter for Callaway.