Fitted irons vs buddies irons not fitted or Suited for me

[Jchez444]

So the last 2 rounds I’ve tested something with pretty interesting results. I am a 9.8 hcp currently with the worst part of my game is iron play. My irons are custom fit to me with full fitting jpx 919 hot metal 5-G.

last 2 rds out of the 18 holes I would play 2 balls for the back 9 with my irons vs my senior buddies which in no way should fit me. Graphite reg shaft rogue X, also for his ball I would only use his 5 iron off the tee no driver. And his irons for each round was 4 shots better then mine. And the shot difference worked out perfectly as they were all due to greens in regulation. This baffled me, the ease of hitting them was insane. Yes I know the lofts are stronger and I was a club to club in half longer but with more height. Granted the greens were soft but had no issue holding. I’ve always been fit and play at 2 degrees flat with kbs 110 stiff and his were standard off the rack. I guess is getting fit fully necessary or r these clubs so forgiving standard loft n lie doesn’t effect results. I’m so intrigued that I might even get a set and do a long term test. Has anyone switched or has done a similar test

[revkev]

Jchez444 - welcome to the forum!!!!

 

I'm a strong proponent of fitting but having written that there are fitters and there are fitters.  Why did your fitter put you in the hotmetals?  What brands does he carry?  Is he extremely Mizuno bias (why not they make great clubs but perhaps none are ideal for your particular swing.)  I once had a teacher who also sold clubs - he was good teacher but he wanted to fit me into new Mizunos - I agreed that I needed new irons but told him those didn't fit my budget - we ended up in Wilson C100's with a very nice upgraded shaft - they were a very good fit for me - I made sure that I took an active part in my fitting and knew what I wanted to see numbers wise from my irons.  I wasn't getting bamboozled. 

 

As I recall we had some interesting results for those who were selected for the Ping G410 test both in regards to shaft type, flex and lie (a couple of guys were stunned by the lie that they ended up with.)

 

How often have you been fit?  Do you know whether you have a shallow or steep AoA with your irons?  Sometimes a shallow approach means even a better player should be fit into GI to super GI irons (it took me a while to learn that I belong to that group.)  I will be interested to see additional responses here.

[TwoCoatsOfWax]

You mention the shaft but what make/model iron were your friend's clubs?  Maybe they are simply easier to hit than yours.  Who knows.  I thought the JPX 919HM were pretty forgiving clubs themselves.  Lots of factors can come into play especially since you weren't hitting driver for "his ball".  I am making the assumption that you hit driver with "your ball" here.  Two 9-hole rounds is a small sample size so it could also be variance.  Play a couple full rounds (incl. driver) replacing your irons with his to get a better comparison.  Last year, I bought a set of knockoff one-length irons and did some similar things.  Fun stuff.

Fittings:  I'm of the opinion that while helpful, fittings aren't necessarily the silver bullet some make them out to be.