Incorrect fitting - Mavrik Driver

[Bstrick]

First post for me.  Looking to get some opinions here.

For reference: I am a 12 handicap.

Got my first ever fitting for a new club being a driver Mavrik.  The fitter at Rodger Dunn put in a Mavrik Sub Zero with Extra Stiff Shaft 60g.  I was averageing 108-109 Club head speed.  I have a positive AoA of about 2.5 to 3.5.  I am not the best ball striker.  I tend to hit the ball in either the center or heel strike.  The Mavrik has blocked out the left side of the course which is fine since my miss is more consistent now; being a light to heavy fade.  My normal iron shape is a light draw, my previous driver was a Nike Vapor in stiff flex and I was battling a two way miss with that club with a lot of ballooning shots. My current swing fault is an aggresive in to out path which I am working on fixing.  After reading some reviews of the driver am now left wonder did I get put into the wrong driver.  Has something like this happen to any one else?

[THEZIPR23]

Why do you think you were put in the wrong driver?

[Bstrick]

1. Hitting the heel strikes is generating some of the excess spin right now so if I can get more center I will lose some of that spin.  Could I be losing distance because of the lower spin? 

2. Since I dont perfectly strike the center every swing could I be losing out on distance with a more tour perfomance head?

[THEZIPR23]

What was spin on good strike? My guess is that he put you in that head because of the heel strikes trying to get the spin down. The sub zero is a reduced spin head, not necessarily a tour performance head. 

[Bstrick]

I was around 2000 rpm when I was getting close to center.  On my heel strikes I was closer to 3000.

[THEZIPR23]

2000 with the info provided is almost perfect. 3k is getting high and why I believe he put you in that head. 

 

Basically you have eliminated the left side of the course, stopped the balloons and when striking the center getting good numbers. Give it some time and see how it does on course but I wouldn't think the fit was bad. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, Bstrick said:

I was around 2000 rpm when I was getting close to center.  On my heel strikes I was closer to 3000.

How did the mavrik compare to your current driver? Did you go in only wanting a mavrik? If not did the fitter have you hit other drivers and how did those compare?

did you hit other shafts in the mavrik?

what information did you gather in reading about the mavrik that has you questioning the fit?

[Bstrick]

4 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

How did the mavrik compare to your current driver? Did you go in only wanting a mavrik? If not did the fitter have you hit other drivers and how did those compare?

did you hit other shafts in the mavrik?

what information did you gather in reading about the mavrik that has you questioning the fit?

The Mavrik SZ is much better for me than the Nike driver it replaced.  I gained about 10 to 15 yards off the tee, my club head speed increased by 3-4 mph with the Mavrik.  The problem with the Nike was that the spin rate was at 3700+rpm, after a shaft change I was still hover around 3000. 

I went in wanting to try the new cobra and mavrik.  After trying both I liked the look, feel, sound of the mavrik more than the cobra.  I then tried a couple different shafts, I started off trying the 60 and I believe the 70 stiff shaft.  The fitter told me that I am right between needing a stiff and extra stiff shaft, which I could see as I was still able to get the ball to draw and fade.  The fitter then swapped in the extra stiff shaft the miss came more to the middle or a fade.  I tried the 60g and 70g shafts; the 70g shaft felt heavy to me.  The 60g felt the smoothest to me.

The information I was reading was that Mavrik has more forgiveness with a little bit higher spin then the Mavrik SZ.  My worry is that with my handicap and ball striking ability that I could be losing distance with the sub zero head.  Also could the combo of the sub zero head and extra stiff shaft block me from hitting a draw with the driver when I need it.  Probably an odd worry to have with my handicap but none the less its a worry for me.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Bstrick

[HardcoreLooper]

Did you hit the regular Mavrik as well as the SZ?

And I'll take a manageable one-way miss with added length over the ability to turn the ball both ways but miss both ways.  Can you draw a three wood?  I know plenty of players better than me that fade their driver exclusively and use a three wood of the tee to hit a draw.

[RickyBobby_PR]

7 hours ago, Bstrick said:

The Mavrik SZ is much better for me than the Nike driver it replaced.  I gained about 10 to 15 yards off the tee, my club head speed increased by 3-4 mph with the Mavrik.  The problem with the Nike was that the spin rate was at 3700+rpm, after a shaft change I was still hover around 3000. 

I went in wanting to try the new cobra and mavrik.  After trying both I liked the look, feel, sound of the mavrik more than the cobra.  I then tried a couple different shafts, I started off trying the 60 and I believe the 70 stiff shaft.  The fitter told me that I am right between needing a stiff and extra stiff shaft, which I could see as I was still able to get the ball to draw and fade.  The fitter then swapped in the extra stiff shaft the miss came more to the middle or a fade.  I tried the 60g and 70g shafts; the 70g shaft felt heavy to me.  The 60g felt the smoothest to me.

The information I was reading was that Mavrik has more forgiveness with a little bit higher spin then the Mavrik SZ.  My worry is that with my handicap and ball striking ability that I could be losing distance with the sub zero head.  Also could the combo of the sub zero head and extra stiff shaft block me from hitting a draw with the driver when I need it.  Probably an odd worry to have with my handicap but none the less its a worry for me.

Increased distance and speed are always nice gains and playing one side of the course and eliminating the other side makes course management even easier.

Well the mavrik sz is a different design than the mavrik so what you are reading is either a combo of people seeing the difference in design between the two, mavrik sz being a bad fit for someone compared to the mavrik.

while it’s nice to be able to work the ball both ways there’s pros with major wins that only hit one shot 

5 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said:

Did you hit the regular Mavrik as well as the SZ?

And I'll take a manageable one-way miss with added length over the ability to turn the ball both ways but miss both ways.  Can you draw a three wood?  I know plenty of players better than me that fade their driver exclusively and use a three wood of the tee to hit a draw.

I’m with you on wanting to know if regular mavrik was hit. I’m also in the give me a one way miss and not have to worry about the other side of the course. 

[JonMUSC08]

Its easy to second guess if something else could have been better. I did it last year when I got the M6 bc the Rogue was a good 10yds longer BUT I hit the M6 WAY more consistent. The rogue was all over the place on mishits.

If you're hitting the SZ consistent and know where the ball will go more often than not, then its the right fit. Hitting more fairways will help your game much much more than getting 5 more yards. Take a quick lesson and make a slight adjustment to your swing and the Mavrik will work even better.

Mishits will always be higher spin but if your center strikes are low 2000's then its great.

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, JonMUSC08 said:

Its easy to second guess if something else could have been better. I did it last year when I got the M6 bc the Rogue was a good 10yds longer BUT I hit the M6 WAY more consistent. The rogue was all over the place on mishits.

If you're hitting the SZ consistent and know where the ball will go more often than not, then its the right fit. Hitting more fairways will help your game much much more than getting 5 more yards. Take a quick lesson and make a slight adjustment to your swing and the Mavrik will work even better.

Mishits will always be higher spin but if your center strikes are low 2000's then its great.

Shots high in the face will have less spin than middle and low on the face will have more. 

[Bstrick]

11 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said:

Did you hit the regular Mavrik as well as the SZ?

And I'll take a manageable one-way miss with added length over the ability to turn the ball both ways but miss both ways.  Can you draw a three wood?  I know plenty of players better than me that fade their driver exclusively and use a three wood of the tee to hit a draw.

I hit the standard mavrik then the sub zero. 
 

My normal three wood shape is a light draw off the tee right now. So probably right that I could just use the three wood off the tee. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 minutes ago, Bstrick said:

I hit the standard mavrik then the sub zero. 
 

My normal three wood shape is a light draw off the tee right now. So probably right that I could just use the three wood off the tee. 

What were the results of the standard mavrik compared to both your old driver and the sub zero?

[cnosil]

Reading through your comments it sounds like a good fit. More consistency than the old driver. Mishits always create havoc so work on better contact....that is my problem as well.

[trentyoung33]

From your comments, I think the SZ was a better fit than the standard Mavrik. It sounds like with the ideal strike, your numbers are very good, and with heel shot mishits, the SZ will help to keep the spin number down. If you went with the standard Mavrik, those heel shots would spin very high and you'd likely lose distance.

I would definitely take a one way miss over being able to consistently shape the ball both ways, as others have said.

[BMart519]

With your clubhead speed and positive angle of attack, I dont think you have anything to worry about in terms of losing distance. As other have mentioned, the sub zero will help to keep your heel strikes more manageable with lower spin. The only downside to the subzero model is if you start hitting high toe misses and the spin is so low that it causes knuckle balls that tend to hook and drop quickly. I experienced this demoing a non sub zero draw version of the Epic Flash. The moral of the story is focus on good contact since the numbers you have provided indicate you will get strong performance from the Mavrik SZ.

[jayjay0808]

2 hours ago, BMart519 said:

With your clubhead speed and positive angle of attack, I dont think you have anything to worry about in terms of losing distance. As other have mentioned, the sub zero will help to keep your heel strikes more manageable with lower spin. The only downside to the subzero model is if you start hitting high toe misses and the spin is so low that it causes knuckle balls that tend to hook and drop quickly. I experienced this demoing a non sub zero draw version of the Epic Flash. The moral of the story is focus on good contact since the numbers you have provided indicate you will get strong performance from the Mavrik SZ.

I agree with this 100%. My ss is right with the original poster and your miss is my exact, low heel. The Sub Zero is what offered me the best on my most common miss and best strikes. I dont tend to hit high toe so low spin was not a concern. 

[Rtracymog]

If you’re heeling the ball often, did you try a shorter shaft? That could help with the heel miss. Don’t forget if you see the ball falling out of the sky early, try adding some loft.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Bstrick]

I was able to put a lot of range time over the last 3 weeks since picking up the mavrik sz. I was able to get my path straightened out which has greatly improved my contact. The last two days at the range I was checking my contact and it much more centered. This is the best I felt with a driver in my hands since picking up golf again 2 years ago. No more seconds guessing the fitting. 

[GolfSpy BOS]

On 2/16/2020 at 12:35 AM, Bstrick said:

I was able to put a lot of range time over the last 3 weeks since picking up the mavrik sz. I was able to get my path straightened out which has greatly improved my contact. The last two days at the range I was checking my contact and it much more centered. This is the best I felt with a driver in my hands since picking up golf again 2 years ago. No more seconds guessing the fitting. 

good to hear you gained confidence with what the fitter recommended!  When I was being fit for a new driver I tried to not pay attention to what the fitter was doing and just trusting what he said/did.  Its not always easy, but with the multiple fittings I've had they haven't been wrong yet.

[canam13]

On 2/12/2020 at 5:37 PM, trentyoung33 said:

From your comments, I think the SZ was a better fit than the standard Mavrik. It sounds like with the ideal strike, your numbers are very good, and with heel shot mishits, the SZ will help to keep the spin number down. If you went with the standard Mavrik, those heel shots would spin very high and you'd likely lose distance.

I would definitely take a one way miss over being able to consistently shape the ball both ways, as others have said.

I would have to agree with this as well.

Sounds like you work out the mishits in the face area and all is well. Good luck with the new Mavrik, the Sz is a great head.