PXG Iron Fitting Experience

[dlow206]

Some context before I go into the details of the fitting/purchase. Recently, I installed a golf simulator in the garage with a BLP launch monitor. It has really given me the opportunity to work on my swing (had been working on my swing anyway) with feedback on club delivery parameters. Long story short, with lessons/supervision from Monte, my swing path has become more neutral and my AOA has become less steep (was like -7 with a 7 iron before, closer to -4 to -5 AOA now). 

Ok, with that context, have been hitting my JPX 923 HM irons not optimally in my mind. Tend to leave shots out to the right and then some hooks. Swing path generally -1 to +2, so nothing wild from a path perspective, mostly a face angle issue. Also, in the back of my mind, I feel like I could be getting more distance out of the irons, currently carrying about 140 to 145 with a good strike with a 8 iron (bent two degrees weak from Mizuno stock to get the right peak height). Also, had in the back of my mind the question on whether these irons are that forgiving for my strike pattern (miss toe side) because the distance lost seemed to be too much for a toe side strike. 

So I went to a PXG fitting yesterday, have heard great things about the Gen 6 irons and I love the fact that swingweight can be dialed in with the big weight in the back of the head. Swingweighting irons with graphite shafts (i intended to go back to graphite) is a complete pain if the heads don't have an adjustable weight because the tips tend to be narrow on graphite shafts, especially with anything 90ish grams and up. OEMs tend to not offer much swingweight adjustment with graphite shafts, maybe a couple of swingweight points max, but not always even that much. I myself can swingweight graphite iron shafts well, but again, total pain.

My thought going in was I would probably fit into the Gen 6 XP irons, given the XP are the most "forgiving" of the irons. Started the fitting by getting some baseline numbers with my 923 HM 7 iron, was hitting 155 to 158 carry, with that normal right push / push fade miss that i don't like. First tried the Gen 6 XP irons, first shot, instant distance gain, about 172 yards. The XP iron was 2 degrees stronger than my 30 degree Hot Metal 7 iron, but that is a pretty solid distance gain and I wouldn't attribute it all to the loft itself. When increasing distance, you need to make sure you aren't compromising elsewhere (peak height, spin, descent, etc.). With the XP, the peak height was actually higher than the HM and the spin was in an appropriate window.

Was hitting the XP pretty well, but still having some of those rightward misses. Next was to dial in shafts. When through a few different graphite shafts but then ultimately landed on Steelfibers, which I have played in the past. Everything about my swingspeed, not being an aggressive loader of the shaft, etc., meant that on paper, I should probably fit into R flex in Steelfibers. That was my thought, as well as the fitters thought. After some tests, a few blinded to which shaft was in the head, the S flex was significantly better in dispersion with no distance lost, same level of spin, same peak height, etc. So Steelfiber i95 in S was the shaft choice. I really do not know why the S flex led me to deliver the club better, i couldn't consciously feel a difference between the two shafts during the swing except with the R flex having more kick at impact. 

Next, I asked to try the P heads. The 0311 P series is the Player's distance head, XP is the Game Improvement head. The setup was 2 strong in the P to be similiar in loft to the XP. First few shots were solid strikes but slightly left of target. After I hit a few more shots, the L to R dispersion was much better than the XP, and the F to B dispersion was amazing (168, 168, 168 carry in a row). I found the P series to be more forgiving than I thought. Even off the extreme toe still flew 158. I am talking extremely off the toe.

After some back and forth between heads, it was pretty close in performance between the two, but I the dispersion of the P was better and I actually felt more confident with the P. 

One other item i didn't mention is that during the fitting, the fitter helps dial in swingweight by changing the weights in the head. Even a couple of gram difference made a difference in my delivery of the club.

Ultimate order was 0311 P 5 to GW, 2 degrees strong, 1 degree flat, black heads, black i95 steelfiber reserve shafts in Stiff (parallel tip). One note, during the fitting, i was using the i95 CW taper tip version of the Steelfiber, but I like the look of the black steelfiber i95 shafts and they only come in parallel tip. I am confident that the i95 parallel tip will match in performance to the CW for me, because I have played the i95 parallel tip in Stiff in the past with good results. For those wanting to know the difference between taper tip and parallel tip shafts, taper tip shafts are constant weight through the set while parallel tip shafts descend in weight (there are a few exceptions out there where this is not the case). The key point here being that the shafts themselves descend in weight by a few grams, but that doesn't mean that the total weight of the club descends. The total weight of the 9 iron will be heavier than the 8 iron still, for example.

Can't wait to get the iron set. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

I still am rocking my OG 0211s and love them, especially them being moi matched. Enjoy the new sticks!

[dlow206]

One added thought on the rightward miss, I believe I have come to a conclusion why it happens besides the obvious answer of open face. And why it was more severe with my HM and PXG XP than the P series.

The answer is offset. Now, i am not saying that the offset in of itself impacted by club delivery and caused me to deliver the face more open.

What it is, is an alignment issue that affects me personally with how I align clubs with varying levels of offset. I have found that what my brain/vision interprets as squarely aligned at setup with more offset clubs is actually open and when actually square, looks closed. With less offset, I can better see square and my brain better interprets that it is in fact aligned square. 

Now, why not just focus more on setup to make sure the more offset club is aligned actually square? It does work sometimes to straighten out my ball flight, but its not consistent. I believe my brain doesn't fully trust that what looks like closed is square. 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Proof that the notion of bigger heads or whatever else is more forgiving needs to die and that forgiveness comes in terms of launch characteristics 

Also proof that flex labels and stuff and what people need based on perceptions of how smooth or aggressive they need, or how they load also needs to die and that it comes down to what shaft feels good and provides proper weight.

Also why pushing for fittings is why so many of us do it

 

[Rickp]

As soon as I can convince SWMBO I need new PXG irons In all over it.  
Maybe for my 77th birthday.

[dlow206]

4 minutes ago, Rickp said:

As soon as I can convince SWMBO I need new PXG irons In all over it.  
Maybe for my 77th birthday.

They were silly good for me. I have owned and hit many irons and there has been nothing like these PXG irons for me. I just can't believe how far I was hitting them without trying to really go after them. 120 + ball speed with a 7 iron is uncharted territory for me. 

[Rickp]

1 hour ago, dlow206 said:

They were silly good for me. I have owned and hit many irons and there has been nothing like these PXG irons for me. I just can't believe how far I was hitting them without trying to really go after them. 120 + ball speed with a 7 iron is uncharted territory for me. 

Not only that they look great.  I’m very happy with PXG 0311 driver and 5 hybrid.   Irons next up.

[cksurfdude]

Just catching up on this... Good stuff @dlow206!!

In encouraged by your positive results - in a funny confidence, I have an iron fitting scheduled for tomorrow .. specifically to try the Gen 6s .. first .. and then Cobras and then whatever the fitter suggests.

Have been demoing other irons but want to "officially" see what might work better for me vs the 0211s. If nothing is better enough to justify switching, then see if the 0211s should be adjusted in any way.

[dlow206]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:15 PM, cksurfdude said:

Just catching up on this... Good stuff @dlow206!!

In encouraged by your positive results - in a funny confidence, I have an iron fitting scheduled for tomorrow .. specifically to try the Gen 6s .. first .. and then Cobras and then whatever the fitter suggests.

Have been demoing other irons but want to "officially" see what might work better for me vs the 0211s. If nothing is better enough to justify switching, then see if the 0211s should be adjusted in any way.

Let me know how the fitting went.

This was from tonight

 

 

[cnosil]

6 hours ago, dlow206 said:

 

 

My dumb fitting question if the day.  Saw you Instagram where you said you got your 7 iron AoA under 7 and based on screenshot it appears to be about 3.   Is that what you were targeting and do you have a list of “ideal” AoA or is it more based on you other numbers?  I ask because I am closer to 7 with mine.  

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

My dumb fitting question if the day.  Saw you Instagram where you said you got your 7 iron AoA under 7 and based on screenshot it appears to be about 3.   Is that what you were targeting and do you have a list of “ideal” AoA or is it more based on you other numbers?  I ask because I am closer to 7 with mine.  

Somehow in the 3-6° range.

as Monte says work on making a good swing and aoa takes care of itself.

Think of making a neutral path swing and you will have a good aoa with both driver and irons

If we look at his path he’s at 2.56° in to out. Being 1-3° in to out is optimal. 
 

[dlow206]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

My dumb fitting question if the day.  Saw you Instagram where you said you got your 7 iron AoA under 7 and based on screenshot it appears to be about 3.   Is that what you were targeting and do you have a list of “ideal” AoA or is it more based on you other numbers?  I ask because I am closer to 7 with mine.  

No specific targeted numbers for path and AOA numbers. My work with Monte has been focused on a few areas over the last year, mainly around backswing, tilts, etc.. 

When I got my launch monitor, using some of the numbers has helped as a directional diagnostic. When my path starts getting towards the -5 for example, that for me tells me im starting to go back to my old swing because when im working on the things monte has me working on and i execute those well, my path tends to more neutral or a bit to the right as an example.

similar idea with AOA, no specific number to chase, just a directional diagnostic. For me 7 down with a 7 iron combined with factors in my old swing didn’t work well for me but may work just fine for others. Sometimes, when practicing, if i start to see some extremes, like a positive AOA with a 7 iron, it helps me know what is going on, for me that occurs when ball placement starts to creep too far forward or if the placement is where i intended, im not getting back pressure to my left side.

[fixyurdivot]

On 4/16/2023 at 11:10 AM, dlow206 said:

Some context before I go into the details of the fitting/purchase. Recently, I installed a golf simulator in the garage with a BLP launch monitor. It has really given me the opportunity to work on my swing (had been working on my swing anyway) with feedback on club delivery parameters. Long story short, with lessons/supervision from Monte, my swing path has become more neutral and my AOA has become less steep (was like -7 with a 7 iron before, closer to -4 to -5 AOA now). 

Ok, with that context, have been hitting my JPX 923 HM irons not optimally in my mind. Tend to leave shots out to the right and then some hooks. Swing path generally -1 to +2, so nothing wild from a path perspective, mostly a face angle issue. Also, in the back of my mind, I feel like I could be getting more distance out of the irons, currently carrying about 140 to 145 with a good strike with a 8 iron (bent two degrees weak from Mizuno stock to get the right peak height). Also, had in the back of my mind the question on whether these irons are that forgiving for my strike pattern (miss toe side) because the distance lost seemed to be too much for a toe side strike. 

So I went to a PXG fitting yesterday, have heard great things about the Gen 6 irons and I love the fact that swingweight can be dialed in with the big weight in the back of the head. Swingweighting irons with graphite shafts (i intended to go back to graphite) is a complete pain if the heads don't have an adjustable weight because the tips tend to be narrow on graphite shafts, especially with anything 90ish grams and up. OEMs tend to not offer much swingweight adjustment with graphite shafts, maybe a couple of swingweight points max, but not always even that much. I myself can swingweight graphite iron shafts well, but again, total pain.

My thought going in was I would probably fit into the Gen 6 XP irons, given the XP are the most "forgiving" of the irons. Started the fitting by getting some baseline numbers with my 923 HM 7 iron, was hitting 155 to 158 carry, with that normal right push / push fade miss that i don't like. First tried the Gen 6 XP irons, first shot, instant distance gain, about 172 yards. The XP iron was 2 degrees stronger than my 30 degree Hot Metal 7 iron, but that is a pretty solid distance gain and I wouldn't attribute it all to the loft itself. When increasing distance, you need to make sure you aren't compromising elsewhere (peak height, spin, descent, etc.). With the XP, the peak height was actually higher than the HM and the spin was in an appropriate window.

Was hitting the XP pretty well, but still having some of those rightward misses. Next was to dial in shafts. When through a few different graphite shafts but then ultimately landed on Steelfibers, which I have played in the past. Everything about my swingspeed, not being an aggressive loader of the shaft, etc., meant that on paper, I should probably fit into R flex in Steelfibers. That was my thought, as well as the fitters thought. After some tests, a few blinded to which shaft was in the head, the S flex was significantly better in dispersion with no distance lost, same level of spin, same peak height, etc. So Steelfiber i95 in S was the shaft choice. I really do not know why the S flex led me to deliver the club better, i couldn't consciously feel a difference between the two shafts during the swing except with the R flex having more kick at impact. 

Next, I asked to try the P heads. The 0311 P series is the Player's distance head, XP is the Game Improvement head. The setup was 2 strong in the P to be similiar in loft to the XP. First few shots were solid strikes but slightly left of target. After I hit a few more shots, the L to R dispersion was much better than the XP, and the F to B dispersion was amazing (168, 168, 168 carry in a row). I found the P series to be more forgiving than I thought. Even off the extreme toe still flew 158. I am talking extremely off the toe.

After some back and forth between heads, it was pretty close in performance between the two, but I the dispersion of the P was better and I actually felt more confident with the P. 

One other item i didn't mention is that during the fitting, the fitter helps dial in swingweight by changing the weights in the head. Even a couple of gram difference made a difference in my delivery of the club.

Ultimate order was 0311 P 5 to GW, 2 degrees strong, 1 degree flat, black heads, black i95 steelfiber reserve shafts in Stiff (parallel tip). One note, during the fitting, i was using the i95 CW taper tip version of the Steelfiber, but I like the look of the black steelfiber i95 shafts and they only come in parallel tip. I am confident that the i95 parallel tip will match in performance to the CW for me, because I have played the i95 parallel tip in Stiff in the past with good results. For those wanting to know the difference between taper tip and parallel tip shafts, taper tip shafts are constant weight through the set while parallel tip shafts descend in weight (there are a few exceptions out there where this is not the case). The key point here being that the shafts themselves descend in weight by a few grams, but that doesn't mean that the total weight of the club descends. The total weight of the 9 iron will be heavier than the 8 iron still, for example.

Can't wait to get the iron set. 

Hey Derrick, I haven't seen much activity from you of late... nice to hear from you!  Absolutely no surprise on the GEN6 XP's.  I hit these over a month ago at a demo day here albeit gingerly as my back has been limiting me a bit. Having hit most almost every new offering at previous demo days over the winter, and having zeroed in on the Cobra ForgeTec X as my #1 option to replace the ZX5's, I was stopped in my tracks.  The 0311 XF with the KBS 75 TGI were every bit equal.

The fitter knew I was not able to really turn on the ball and asked if I would like a complimentary iron fitting at the Westgate store in Glendale.  I just went there yesterday and hit that same set-up.  Like the Cobra's, they are quite strong lofts but amazingly my LA, Peak Height, and DA was very close to the ZX5's... only average carry was +12 yards.  I also tried the 0311 P with that shaft and they were nearly identical numbers but dispersion not quite as tight.  Fitter said he see's this quite a bit and unless the customer clearly is able to consistently move the ball left and right, always steers them towards the XF.  

So now I have two make/models to think about .  Let us know how you like the PXG's... maybe an unofficial review? 

[dlow206]

12 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Hey Derrick, I haven't seen much activity from you of late... nice to hear from you!  Absolutely no surprise on the GEN6 XP's.  I hit these over a month ago at a demo day here albeit gingerly as my back has been limiting me a bit. Having hit most almost every new offering at previous demo days over the winter, and having zeroed in on the Cobra ForgeTec X as my #1 option to replace the ZX5's, I was stopped in my tracks.  The 0311 XF with the KBS 75 TGI were every bit equal.

The fitter knew I was not able to really turn on the ball and asked if I would like a complimentary iron fitting at the Westgate store in Glendale.  I just went there yesterday and hit that same set-up.  Like the Cobra's, they are quite strong lofts but amazingly my LA, Peak Height, and DA was very close to the ZX5's... only average carry was +12 yards.  I also tried the 0311 P with that shaft and they were nearly identical numbers but dispersion not quite as tight.  Fitter said he see's this quite a bit and unless the customer clearly is able to consistently move the ball left and right, always steers them towards the XF.  

So now I have two make/models to think about .  Let us know how you like the PXG's... maybe an unofficial review? 

I didn't notice a whole lot of difference between the XP and P except the P dispersion was better, so that's why I went P. Distance was within the same realm, given two specifics:

- P heads two degrees strong
- Same shaft length in both heads. I believe stock XP comes about 0.5" longer, but my fitting was apples to applies using the same length shaft in each

[cksurfdude]

On 5/13/2023 at 1:22 AM, dlow206 said:

Let me know how the fitting went.

Unfortunately not well. Quite poorly, in fact... Long story short I prob shudda just rescheduled but the only things I got out of the fitting were (1) confirmed that my 0211s are off spec and need to be adjusted, and (2) I damaged, kinda badly, my right wrist