What Would You Do - Fitting Conundrum

[jwlong410 45]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

Did you hit your driver on their launch monitor? Comparisons need to be made head to head. Launch monitors are great tools but unless you know exactly how they are setup you really can’t compare clubs.

Yep, I agree. That's why I'm going back for a direct comparison! For what it's worth, the visual backed up the data. With my driver I was landing it short of the last green at the range (~275) and with the TS4 I was landing it on and over that same green.

All of this is why I wanted to schedule and do a proper fitting. The original swings were really just enough to make me fully commit to a proper fitting and buying a new driver (if the numbers bore out what I felt/experienced on those swings).

[MDGolfHacker 7,004]

15-20 yards is a big jump on distance!  If you have any doubt, spend $150 and go to a club champion and get fitted for a driver.  They are brand agnostic so they can narrow the best driver head and shaft combo.  If the gains are insignificant, then stick with the Titleist. 

Personally, I'd get fitted properly from Titleist since your are already looking at significant yardage gains.  You can apply any savings from the purchase to a shaft not on Titleist's standard offerings if it gains you more control and distance.

 

MDGolfHacker

[jwlong410 45]

Ok, here were the final results:

910D3: 251 Carry, 267 Total, 3378 RPM, 155.7 mph

TS4: 278 Carry, 302 Total, 2390 RPM, 160.4 mph

Overall I gained 35 yards of total distance and 27 yards of carry with the TS4. In terms of dispersion, they were comparable in terms of horizontal distribution, but the TS4 was more consistent in terms of length. All my TS4 swings were between 288 and 314 total yardage. My 910D3 ranged from 257 to 296 total yardage (carry dispersion was similar but the TS4 was rolling out further because of the less spin and better landing angle).

 

 

I also learned that I was hitting 3 clubs the same distance. My 4I, 816H2 Hybrid, and 3-Wood all carry ~225 yards. The 3-Wood rolls out to 245, the hybrid to 235, and the 4I to 233.

So I also hit a TS3 @ 13.5° as more of a driving 3W. That carried 243 and rolled out to 264 (basically the same as my current driver) so I'm probably going to look at that as a safer option off the tee and for long Par 5s. Then I'll need to decide which of the other three clubs gets pulled, but there's a distinct chance I end up with two "3 Woods" in the bag.

Edited June 26 by jwlong410

[RickyBobby_PR 4,505]

2 hours ago, jwlong410 said:

Ok, here were the final results:

910D3: 251 Carry, 267 Total, 3378 RPM

TS4: 278 Carry, 302 Total, 2390 RPM

Overall I gained 35 yards of total distance and 27 yards of carry with the TS4. In terms of dispersion, they were comparable in terms of horizontal distribution, but the TS4 was more consistent in terms of length. All my TS4 swings were between 288 and 314 total yardage. My 910D3 ranged from 257 to 296 total yardage (carry dispersion was similar but the TS4 was rolling out further because of the less spin and better landing angle).

 

 

I also learned that I was hitting 3 clubs the same distance. My 4I, 816H2 Hybrid, and 3-Wood all carry ~225 yards. The 3-Wood rolls out to 245, the hybrid to 235, and the 4I to 233.

So I also hit a TS3 @ 13.5° as more of a driving 3W. That carried 243 and rolled out to 264 (basically the same as my current driver) so I'm probably going to look at that as a safer option off the tee and for long Par 5s. Then I'll need to decide which of the other three clubs gets pulled, but there's a distinct chance I end up with two "3 Woods" in the bag.

What was your ball speed and angle of attack with the two drivers?

[jwlong410 45]

15 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

What was your ball speed and angle of attack with the two drivers?

Angle of attack was consistently in the -1° to +2° range. I averaged 0.4° with the 910D3 and 1.2° with the TS4.

Ball speed was 155.7 with 910D3, 160.4 with TS4 (club speed was 109.5 with 910D3, 109.0 with TS4).

[juspoole 1,252]

Those are pretty good numbers, but for me I'd still want to know if the club was truly best suited to my game.  

Since you had a 910 still in the bag, it seems like you are stronger than most at putting aside the shiny object.  I think if you are confident in the TS4 - go for it.  However, it seems like you are questioning it a bit.  If you tackle those answers now with a fitting, you won't be looking back a year from now and still thinking what if......

[jwlong410 45]

17 minutes ago, juspoole said:

Those are pretty good numbers, but for me I'd still want to know if the club was truly best suited to my game.  

Since you had a 910 still in the bag, it seems like you are stronger than most at putting aside the shiny object.  I think if you are confident in the TS4 - go for it.  However, it seems like you are questioning it a bit.  If you tackle those answers now with a fitting, you won't be looking back a year from now and still thinking what if......

So I ended up going and hitting a few other drivers (not a fitting, but hit them all with the low spin, low launch shafts to match the EvenFlow White in the TS4). I absolutely hated the feel of the Cobra (it felt... clanky?!). The Ping G410 LST was ok, dispersion was good but it wasn't as long and it didn't have the same "buttery" feel as the TS4. The only one that made me thing about it was the ST200G. I liked that driver a lot, and the adjustability made it interesting. I had comparable distance on that one to the TS4 and a little worse dispersion. I suspect that one could be a viable option for me, but the TS4 was $150 cheaper.

The only drivers I didn't hit that I was curious about was the SIM and the Mavrik Sub Zero. That said, I'm not wure the weighting of the SIM heads make a ton of sense for my swing and the Mavrik Sub Zero would be $150 more than the TS4. So all in all, I feel pretty good about moving forward at this point. Getting comparable/better numbers for $349 instead of $499 makes it a much easier decision for me.

[juspoole 1,252]

4 minutes ago, jwlong410 said:

So all in all, I feel pretty good about moving forward at this point. Getting comparable/better numbers for $349 instead of $499 makes it a much easier decision for me.

Certainly understand.  I usually go with pre owned to save a few bucks myself.  I had the TS3 for a while and it was fair, but always seemed to line up a bit closed to my eye.  Hitting the MavRik SZ better than I have anything ever so far.  Part of that is the Ventus shaft as well to be fair.

Best of luck with the TS4!

[RickyBobby_PR 4,505]

12 hours ago, jwlong410 said:

Angle of attack was consistently in the -1° to +2° range. I averaged 0.4° with the 910D3 and 1.2° with the TS4.

Ball speed was 155.7 with 910D3, 160.4 with TS4 (club speed was 109.5 with 910D3, 109.0 with TS4).

So the distance gains came from several factors. Improved ball speed and launch characteristics especially spin. That’s a good improvement 

[jwlong410 45]

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

So the distance gains came from several factors. Improved ball speed and launch characteristics especially spin. That’s a good improvement 

Killing spin was a huge part of it, probably the majority of the gains. I do think that I was getting better ball speed and flights on off-center hits. When I caught it really good, the TS4 was maybe ~6% better than my current driver. When I mishit it, it was maybe ~15% better (from spin reduction and better ball speed on off-center hits).

 

2 hours ago, juspoole said:

Certainly understand.  I usually go with pre owned to save a few bucks myself.  I had the TS3 for a while and it was fair, but always seemed to line up a bit closed to my eye.  Hitting the MavRik SZ better than I have anything ever so far.  Part of that is the Ventus shaft as well to be fair.

Best of luck with the TS4!

The Evenflow White shaft was a huge part of it, I think. I hit it with a bunch of shafts and the Evenflow felt incredible and the ball came off like a rocket every time. I wouldn't have even consider buying it with the HZRDUS or Diamana shafts I hit it with. It's amazing how the right shaft/head combination can make such a massive difference.

[idontnoh 12]

On 6/26/2020 at 12:11 PM, jwlong410 said:

Killing spin was a huge part of it, probably the majority of the gains. I do think that I was getting better ball speed and flights on off-center hits. When I caught it really good, the TS4 was maybe ~6% better than my current driver. When I mishit it, it was maybe ~15% better (from spin reduction and better ball speed on off-center hits).

 

The Evenflow White shaft was a huge part of it, I think. I hit it with a bunch of shafts and the Evenflow felt incredible and the ball came off like a rocket every time. I wouldn't have even consider buying it with the HZRDUS or Diamana shafts I hit it with. It's amazing how the right shaft/head combination can make such a massive difference.

Just bought a TS4 and was browsing when I saw this thread. The Evenflow White is amazing and I can't wait to find some time to take my TS4 onto the course. 

[jwlong410 45]

On 10/14/2020 at 5:54 PM, idontnoh said:

Just bought a TS4 and was browsing when I saw this thread. The Evenflow White is amazing and I can't wait to find some time to take my TS4 onto the course. 

It's working out ok for me (ignore the crappy PW - I had a really fluffy lie in the first cut)!

[idontnoh 12]

1 hour ago, jwlong410 said:

It's working out ok for me (ignore the crappy PW - I had a really fluffy lie in the first cut)!

Happens to us all. Great drive.

 

[HAC 48]

On 6/18/2020 at 1:54 PM, cnosil said:

You were basically fit for the driver from a specific manufacturer. They took their lineup and found the best combination for you. You can go get another fitting and maybe find something better or maybe the titleist will come out on top.

 

What “gain” would make another fitting worthwhile to you? Is 5 more yards worth the cost? How about narrowing dispersion by 5 yards?

 

I’d probably go with the Titleist

I went for a fitting a couple of weeks ago for new wedges and the fitter gave me a couple of tips on my swing during the fitting. Since then, I have gained distance on my driver and five wood and consistency on all clubs.  So, there can be many benefits to a fitting.

[Tarheelvolvo 513]

4 minutes ago, HAC said:

I went for a fitting a couple of weeks ago for new wedges and the fitter gave me a couple of tips on my swing during the fitting. Since then, I have gained distance on my driver and five wood and consistency on all clubs.  So, there can be many benefits to a fitting.

@HAC is 100% correct. During my driver fitting I found out that my ball placement in my stance and tee height needed a serious adjustment to match the newer clubs (was hitting an old Titleist 975D before). Not only did the fitter set me up with the correct head/shaft combo for my swing type, but also aligned my stance, ball height/placement, and gave pointers on my swing a bit so I could hit a driver better and more consistent! A recent trip to the range confirmed the adjustments are working and was bombing it with a tighter dispersion than I had ever seen with the 975D.

[DevilDog29 72]

I have 2 thoughts here:

1. If the TS4 gave you the numbers you are looking for then buy it and enjoy
2. If you have a feeling you can get more out of other drivers then go get fit for a driver. 

I see a lot of people that go with the second option and try to squeeze every inch out of their game. I went in to get a fitting and I was seeing minimal gains versus my current driver. In this case I just kept my current driver to save the money. Just weight your options. 

[HAC 48]

On 10/29/2020 at 10:33 PM, Tarheelvolvo said:

@HAC is 100% correct. During my driver fitting I found out that my ball placement in my stance and tee height needed a serious adjustment to match the newer clubs (was hitting an old Titleist 975D before). Not only did the fitter set me up with the correct head/shaft combo for my swing type, but also aligned my stance, ball height/placement, and gave pointers on my swing a bit so I could hit a driver better and more consistent! A recent trip to the range confirmed the adjustments are working and was bombing it with a tighter dispersion than I had ever seen with the 975D.

You agree with me because I also am a Tar Heel.  UNC class of 1977.

[fixyurdivot 7,544]

I would get fitted and test other drivers... otherwise you will be forever wondering whether the others are better.