Popular Post jrshields3 Posted March 17, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) Thank you all for your interest in my recent adventure and thank you to My Golf Spy for the opportunity to visit and be fit at the Titleist Performance Institute. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to any of you who want the ultimate in customer service and attention to detail. I was very excited for this visit and rearranged my schedule to make sure it happened. One quick note, Titleist was very accommodating and did more than enough to meet my needs. They also gave me an extra night in the hotel since I was from just upstate. They went way past the extra mile. Okay, now for the fun part. I was scheduled to start my fitting at 9AM on Friday. While I would’ve loved a bright, sunny San Diego day, I got a drizzly, overcast day. That wasn’t going to slow me down, I was too pumped! I was met in the parking lot by Glen, who helped me unload and get situated in the lobby. He led me to the locker room to change and get ready. It was very cool to find a locker with my name plate in it. I changed my shoes, dropped my valuables and met my fitter, Joey. He was with me the whole time and let me know he would watch, listen and make recommendations based on what he saw and heard from my swing, and divots as well as ball flight and trackman numbers. Our first stop was the ball research building. This is where they use Iron Byron to evaluate ball flight and dimple patterns of Titleist as well as competitors. Wedge fitting We started with wedge fitting and a lot of questions. Joey asked why I chose the wedges I currently had at the time and how I used each one. We then went to some full swings where Joey gave me a series of different sand wedges (blind to me as to what I was hitting) to see how each felt and which one performed the best. We then moved into lob wedges and closer to the green. It was at this point that Joey gave me some great information. He gave me an education in leading and trailing edge and asked me to focus on hitting the ground with the trailing edge instead of the leading edge. He said, “You’ll hear that thump that you hear from the tour pros.” It took me a few swings to get the feeling correct, but once I did, I was able to hit the shots that bounce once and stop. After this he revealed that the clubs that fit me best were the exact opposite of what I had in my bag! I tended to go with low bounce because I thought it allowed me to “spin” the ball, but I found most of those shots to roll out. Joey taught me how to use the bounce and make it work to my advantage. He also showed me that using my 54* made those 60 yard shots a lot easier than with my 58*. With that, we switched up my wedges to a 54* S and a 58* D. The gap and pitching wedge would get figured out with the irons. Driver and 3 wood We moved to the full swing area and decided to do the driver fitting and 3 wood. My current driver is a Titleist TS2 8.5* w/ the white PX Evenflow 65 gram shaft. I tend to be a high spin, high ball flight hitter so I have always gravitated for a low spin head and shaft. We tried the TS3 and ended up back at the TS2. We tried the 10.5* head and a heavier shaft and saw a little better flight. But Joey noticed the spin was not dialed in. He moved me back to the 8.5* head and the heavier Mitsubishi Tensei blue shaft. Not only did the ball fly higher but the spin came down. He also changed the weight to the heaviest they had for the TS2. Next up we had to see if we could displace my current 3 wood, Titleist 915 fD 13.5* with a PX Evenflow 75 gram shaft. Once again, we tried both heads and multiple shafts. In my head, I thought for sure the TS3 would be the winner because I like the head size and shape but the TS2 won out. I also went back up in shaft weight to get the feel that suited me best. Joey also added the heaviest weight and we saw a dramatic reduction in dispersion. We settled on the TS2 in 13.5* with the Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 80 grams. Irons and hybrid This was the craziest, most eye opening session of the day. I play Mizuno JPX 919s. I have played ½” over shafts for the past 20 years since it has always helped me get the more upright lie without too much bending. I was hitting my clubs okay, but on this day but my dispersion was all over the place. This is the area I said I have had the biggest issues; getting my approach shots to land closer to the hole or even on the green from 150 yds and further. We started with my 7 iron and when we moved into the Titleist clubs the dispersion remained the same. Joey asked me to trust him and gave me a club that felt like a PW and asked me to hit that. It took me a few swings to get used to the length, but the results were amazing! I was hitting consistent shots to the target. When we looked at the numbers, I was hitting a greater distance but with a significantly tighter dispersion. He told me these were ½” short! He then told me Titleist specs are a ½” shorter than Mizuno specs, in essence, I was hitting a club 1 ½” shorter! The crazy thing was the distance and ball speed were the same. We then did a quick re-check with the 3 wood and the driver and came to the same conclusion. We also found out I no longer need the upright lie as my swing has evolved. This takes out some of my most prominent misses, the hook to the right (I am a lefty). With that settled we moved to the 5 iron and tried multiple heads. We settled on the T200 with the Nippon Modus 120 in a stiff. My current set are the same shafts but in an x stiff. I am realizing my age… The 4 iron was all over place! I am not a great long iron hitter to begin with, but I was not hitting anything further than I was hitting the 5 iron. With that we made a move I did not want to do, go to a hybrid to replace my 4 iron. Joey could see that was not something I was going to easily adapt to and showed me the ways to make it work. The 21* hybrid filled the gap and landed soft. I had to admit it worked (I didn’t want to admit it but the numbers didn’t lie) and now we had to fill the gap between that and the 3 wood. We looked at the lower lofted hybrid and 5 wood and settled on the 5 wood. I had a better angle of descent and would hold greens easier with it. With that, her is my “What’s in the Bag”, 2020: Driver: TS2 8.5*w/ Tensei Blue 75 gram stiff @ 44.5” 3 wood: TS2 13.5* w/ Tensei Blue 80 gram stiff @ 42.5” 5 wood: TS 2 18* w/ Tensei Blue 80 gram stiff @ 41.5” Hybrid: TS2 21* (I apologize, I do not remember the shaft) @ 39.5” Irons: T200 5- PW w/ Modus 120 stiff shafts – ½” GW: SM8 48* F grind SW: SM8 54.10 S grind LW: SM8 58.12 D grind I once again want to thank My Golf Spy and Titleist for this great opportunity. The Performance Institute is like Disneyland for a golfer. Everyone should go at least once. I will have pictures as soon as they upload to my computer. Edited March 17, 2020 by jrshields3 PMookie, tony@CIC, HardcoreLooper and 10 others 9 4 Quote Driver: Cobra Aerospeed 9.0*/ Project X Hzrdus 65 xstiff Fairway: Titleist TSi2 13.5*/Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour Spec 85 x stiff Hybrid/ Driving Iron: Titleist U505 3 iron 20*/ Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke 90 x stiff Irons: Cobra Forged Tec 4-PW/ KBS C Taper stiff hard stepped once Wedges: Vokey SM9 50*F/ KBS C Taper x stiff Wedges: Vokey SM8 54*D/ TT DG s200 Wedges: Vokey Hand Ground 58*T/ TT DG Tour s400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Monterey 35" Ball: Titleist Pro Pro V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berg Ryman Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 @jrshields3, that bounce swing thought is a great! I think I'm going to be stealing that one. Also these different spec measurements are crazy to me. jrshields3 and sirchunksalot 2 Quote In a Hoofer Lite bag TSR2, 10 degrees, A1 setting, Fujikara Speeder NX Blue 50-S Stealth, 15 degrees, VA Composites Nemesys 70-S E722, 19 degrees, Oban Devotion 80-S JPX 921 Hot Metal Pro 4-P, Nippon 950GH Stiff Flex CBX Zipcore 50* (bent to *49) and RTX Zipcore Tour Rack 54* (bent to *55), DG 115 Spinner, Tour Issue Staff Model TG 60*, Dynamic Gold 120 S300 SIK Golf Flo-C Tour B-XS (2022 Model) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palvord Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 What a heck of a change it sounds like you went through @jrshields3. Really interested to hear how it helps your scores on the course. The swing thought on how to more effectively use the bounce for wedge shots is fantastic. I'll see if I can incorporate that. jrshields3 1 Quote In my Ultralight Stand Bag: Driver: Rogue 10.5° - LH - Project X EvenFlow 60 Stiff Woods: King F9 - LH - 3/4 Wood - Atmos Blue TS 7 Stiff King F9 - LH - 5/6 Wood - Atmos Blue TS 7 Stiff Irons: King F9 - LH - 5-GW - KBS C-Taper Lite Stiff Wedges: King Black - LH - 52° 56° 60° - KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 Stiff Putter: - Impact No. 3 Ball: Maxfli TourX Rangefinder: LX5 Watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daviddvm Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 12 hours ago, jrshields3 said: Thank you all for your interest in my recent adventure and thank you to My Golf Spy for the opportunity to visit and be fit at the Titleist Performance Institute. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to any of you who want the ultimate in customer service and attention to detail. I was very excited for this visit and rearranged my schedule to make sure it happened. One quick note, Titleist was very accommodating and did more than enough to meet my needs. They also gave me an extra night in the hotel since I was from just upstate. They went way past the extra mile. Okay, now for the fun part. I was scheduled to start my fitting at 9AM on Friday. While I would’ve loved a bright, sunny San Diego day, I got a drizzly, overcast day. That wasn’t going to slow me down, I was too pumped! I was met in the parking lot by Glen, who helped me unload and get situated in the lobby. He led me to the locker room to change and get ready. It was very cool to find a locker with my name plate in it. I changed my shoes, dropped my valuables and met my fitter, Joey. He was with me the whole time and let me know he would watch, listen and make recommendations based on what he saw and heard from my swing, and divots as well as ball flight and trackman numbers. Our first stop was the ball research building. This is where they use Iron Byron to evaluate ball flight and dimple patterns of Titleist as well as competitors. Wedge fitting We started with wedge fitting and a lot of questions. Joey asked why I chose the wedges I currently had at the time and how I used each one. We then went to some full swings where Joey gave me a series of different sand wedges (blind to me as to what I was hitting) to see how each felt and which one performed the best. We then moved into lob wedges and closer to the green. It was at this point that Joey gave me some great information. He gave me an education in leading and trailing edge and asked me to focus on hitting the ground with the trailing edge instead of the leading edge. He said, “You’ll hear that thump that you hear from the tour pros.” It took me a few swings to get the feeling correct, but once I did, I was able to hit the shots that bounce once and stop. After this he revealed that the clubs that fit me best were the exact opposite of what I had in my bag! I tended to go with low bounce because I thought it allowed me to “spin” the ball, but I found most of those shots to roll out. Joey taught me how to use the bounce and make it work to my advantage. He also showed me that using my 54* made those 60 yard shots a lot easier than with my 58*. With that, we switched up my wedges to a 54* S and a 58* D. The gap and pitching wedge would get figured out with the irons. Driver and 3 wood We moved to the full swing area and decided to do the driver fitting and 3 wood. My current driver is a Titleist TS2 8.5* w/ the white PX Evenflow 65 gram shaft. I tend to be a high spin, high ball flight hitter so I have always gravitated for a low spin head and shaft. We tried the TS3 and ended up back at the TS2. We tried the 10.5* head and a heavier shaft and saw a little better flight. But Joey noticed the spin was not dialed in. He moved me back to the 8.5* head and the heavier Mitsubishi Tensei blue shaft. Not only did the ball fly higher but the spin came down. He also changed the weight to the heaviest they had for the TS2. Next up we had to see if we could displace my current 3 wood, Titleist 915 fD 13.5* with a PX Evenflow 75 gram shaft. Once again, we tried both heads and multiple shafts. In my head, I thought for sure the TS3 would be the winner because I like the head size and shape but the TS2 won out. I also went back up in shaft weight to get the feel that suited me best. Joey also added the heaviest weight and we saw a dramatic reduction in dispersion. We settled on the TS2 in 13.5* with the Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 80 grams. Irons and hybrid This was the craziest, most eye opening session of the day. I play Mizuno JPX 919s. I have played ½” over shafts for the past 20 years since it has always helped me get the more upright lie without too much bending. I was hitting my clubs okay, but on this day but my dispersion was all over the place. This is the area I said I have had the biggest issues; getting my approach shots to land closer to the hole or even on the green from 150 yds and further. We started with my 7 iron and when we moved into the Titleist clubs the dispersion remained the same. Joey asked me to trust him and gave me a club that felt like a PW and asked me to hit that. It took me a few swings to get used to the length, but the results were amazing! I was hitting consistent shots to the target. When we looked at the numbers, I was hitting a greater distance but with a significantly tighter dispersion. He told me these were ½” short! He then told me Titleist specs are a ½” shorter than Mizuno specs, in essence, I was hitting a club 1 ½” shorter! The crazy thing was the distance and ball speed were the same. We then did a quick re-check with the 3 wood and the driver and came to the same conclusion. We also found out I no longer need the upright lie as my swing has evolved. This takes out some of my most prominent misses, the hook to the right (I am a lefty). With that settled we moved to the 5 iron and tried multiple heads. We settled on the T200 with the Nippon Modus 120 in a stiff. My current set are the same shafts but in an x stiff. I am realizing my age… The 4 iron was all over place! I am not a great long iron hitter to begin with, but I was not hitting anything further than I was hitting the 5 iron. With that we made a move I did not want to do, go to a hybrid to replace my 4 iron. Joey could see that was not something I was going to easily adapt to and showed me the ways to make it work. The 21* hybrid filled the gap and landed soft. I had to admit it worked (I didn’t want to admit it but the numbers didn’t lie) and now we had to fill the gap between that and the 3 wood. We looked at the lower lofted hybrid and 5 wood and settled on the 5 wood. I had a better angle of descent and would hold greens easier with it. With that, her is my “What’s in the Bag”, 2020: Driver: TS2 8.5*w/ Tensei Blue 75 gram stiff @ 44.5” 3 wood: TS2 13.5* w/ Tensei Blue 80 gram stiff @ 42.5” 5 wood: TS 2 18* w/ Tensei Blue 80 gram stiff @ 41.5” Hybrid: TS2 21* (I apologize, I do not remember the shaft) @ 39.5” Irons: T200 5- PW w/ Modus 120 stiff shafts – ½” GW: SM8 48* F grind SW: SM8 54.10 S grind LW: SM8 58.12 D grind I once again want to thank My Golf Spy and Titleist for this great opportunity. The Performance Institute is like Disneyland for a golfer. Everyone should go at least once. I will have pictures as soon as they upload to my computer. Damn I want to do this...if I survive the pandemic! jrshields3 1 Quote SpeedZone Pars and Stripes 9.5* Driver 14gm weight in back, VENTUS Blue 6-R set to +1* draw. 14.5* Fairway, 18.5* Fairway, 22.5* Fairway. All with Tensei CK Blue R set to +1* draw. 816H1 27* Hybrid w/ Diamana Blue Board 70 HY Stiff Shaft SpeedZoneONE 5 + 6 KBS Tour 80 R SpeedZoneONE 7, 8, 9 KBS Tour 90 R SpeedZoneONE P, G, S KBS Wedge King Black ONE 60* VO8* True Temper Dynamic Gold Black Lamkin Crossline Cord Connect Black Mid-size plus 2 wraps Special Select Newport 2 34" Matador grip -ProV1x Align XL All in a Masters Staff Bag or SpeedZone stand bag #COBRACONNECT CHALLENGE 4 The ONLY One Length Contestant! Tested Prototype Balls Tour B RXS Tested:Black Cat irons 5 - PW UST Mamiya Recoil Graphite Regular +0.5" 1* upright BirdieBall Outdoor Putting Green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrshields3 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 13 hours ago, Berg Ryman said: @jrshields3, that bounce swing thought is a great! I think I'm going to be stealing that one. Also these different spec measurements are crazy to me. 2 hours ago, palvord said: What a heck of a change it sounds like you went through @jrshields3. Really interested to hear how it helps your scores on the course. The swing thought on how to more effectively use the bounce for wedge shots is fantastic. I'll see if I can incorporate that. The use of the bounce could be the greatest tool I use from the sessions! I will definitely update as soon as I get my new clubs and have a chance to try them out. The measurements are crazy but I trust the process and the numbers and tighter dispersion were fantastic. palvord and Golfspy_CG2 2 Quote Driver: Cobra Aerospeed 9.0*/ Project X Hzrdus 65 xstiff Fairway: Titleist TSi2 13.5*/Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour Spec 85 x stiff Hybrid/ Driving Iron: Titleist U505 3 iron 20*/ Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke 90 x stiff Irons: Cobra Forged Tec 4-PW/ KBS C Taper stiff hard stepped once Wedges: Vokey SM9 50*F/ KBS C Taper x stiff Wedges: Vokey SM8 54*D/ TT DG s200 Wedges: Vokey Hand Ground 58*T/ TT DG Tour s400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Monterey 35" Ball: Titleist Pro Pro V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fixyurdivot Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Great write up, thanks for sharing! I'm amazed at the change in shaft length - seems HUGE. One has to wonder if you were fitted by a handful of OEM staff whether that would be the trend. Keep us posted on how the new sticks work out. jrshields3 and sirchunksalot 2 Quote G410 Plus, 9 Degree Driver G400 SFT, 16 Degree 3w G400 SFT, 19 Degree 5w ZX5 Irons 4-AW Glide 2.0 56 Degree SW (removed from double secret probation ) ER5v Putter (Official Review) AI-One Milled Seven T CH (Official Review) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirchunksalot Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Excellent write-up and I love the photos! Thank you for sharing your experience, and I'll also thank you for the advice on the trail edge with the wedges. That's a big part of my game I've been focusing on and will have to give it a try either at the range, or here at the house. Sent from my SM-N975U using MyGolfSpy mobile app jrshields3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reesedw Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 @jrshields3, What a great write up. As someone who struggles with wedges.. The tip about trying to hit the ground with the trailing edge sounds intriguing to me.. I will be trying that tip for sure.. thanks sirchunksalot and jrshields3 2 Quote Dave- Follow me on twitter @GolfCrazyWA and on Instagram @GolfcrazyWA WITB: Cobra Ultralite Cart Bag Titleist TSR3 Hzrdus Black 65g shaft Cobra F8+ 3wd Hzrdus Red 65g shaft Cobra 3 hybrid Rogue Pro 75g Shaft Cobra 4 hybrid Rogue Pro 75g Shaft Cobra F8 irons 5-GW KBS tour 90 stiff shafts Cobra King Black Wedge 54* Cleveland RTX Zipcore Wedge 58* Snake Eyes Viper Putter. Ball: Taylormade TP-5X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfspy_CG2 Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 Great stuff James. The guys there really know there stuff. As I have said to you before, I could easily have spent a 1/2 day at the wedge area. My trip back out there next month was just postponed. I am bummed as I was going to go through another fitting for the SM8's. But the silver lining is, I may be back out there about the time something new is coming for the summer!! The iron fitting thing is exactly what I ran into with my PING, I was playing them 1/2 over and not making real clean contact. We tired everything from 1/2 over to 1/4 inch SHORT, and ended up at standard. So far I've had them out for a couple partial rounds and am hitting them very well. Good luck with your new sticks, it's a great looking setup on paper. Of course full set of pics will be expected...well appreciated when they come in. Speaking of Pics, who tooks those pics? Was it someone from Titleist or a guest of yours? Really quality shots! sirchunksalot and jrshields3 2 Quote G430 Max 10K TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 SM10 48F/54M and58K S159 48S/52S/56W/60B Select 5.5 Flowback 35" ProV1 Play number 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrshields3 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 On 3/19/2020 at 12:46 PM, Golfspy_CG2 said: Speaking of Pics, who tooks those pics? Was it someone from Titleist or a guest of yours? Really quality shots! Thanks and I will definitely be posting a shot of all the new sticks! The pics were taken by Scottie Warman, find him on Insta @scottiewarman. He works in the marketing department and is a really great guy. Golfspy_CG2 1 Quote Driver: Cobra Aerospeed 9.0*/ Project X Hzrdus 65 xstiff Fairway: Titleist TSi2 13.5*/Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour Spec 85 x stiff Hybrid/ Driving Iron: Titleist U505 3 iron 20*/ Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke 90 x stiff Irons: Cobra Forged Tec 4-PW/ KBS C Taper stiff hard stepped once Wedges: Vokey SM9 50*F/ KBS C Taper x stiff Wedges: Vokey SM8 54*D/ TT DG s200 Wedges: Vokey Hand Ground 58*T/ TT DG Tour s400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Monterey 35" Ball: Titleist Pro Pro V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrshields3 Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Woods and wedges arrived! Irons come in tomorrow. My plan is to get to the course this and try these bad boys out! cnosil and sirchunksalot 2 Quote Driver: Cobra Aerospeed 9.0*/ Project X Hzrdus 65 xstiff Fairway: Titleist TSi2 13.5*/Fujikura Pro 2.0 Tour Spec 85 x stiff Hybrid/ Driving Iron: Titleist U505 3 iron 20*/ Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke 90 x stiff Irons: Cobra Forged Tec 4-PW/ KBS C Taper stiff hard stepped once Wedges: Vokey SM9 50*F/ KBS C Taper x stiff Wedges: Vokey SM8 54*D/ TT DG s200 Wedges: Vokey Hand Ground 58*T/ TT DG Tour s400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Monterey 35" Ball: Titleist Pro Pro V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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