Wilson Golf Fit AI

[sellemental]

Ever since I first read about it, I've been extremely intrigued about the Wilson Golf Fit AI system.  Kinda seems to good to be true.

Admittedly, I kinda have a soft spot for Wilson and I'm always pulling for them.  Noticed they had a demo event near me recently, but hadn't planned on attending as I am not really looking to purchase new irons at this time.  That is until I read the Dynapower forged iron article this week on MGS,  decided to go ahead and sign up to check those beauties out.  I really like the sales rep (he's been real good to me in the past), saw no one else had RSVP'd at the time, so I went ahead and scheduled.

I arrived a little early and he quickly set me up in an open hitting bay, and inquired what I was looking for.  Made it clear I was really just there to check out the new forged offering, and see what the AI fit was all about.   He suggested I try different shafts out for a while and then we'll do the AI fit.

I warmed up a bit with my 7 iron, and then he was quickly back with the forged fitting iron to try out in the stock shaft.  7-10 swings with that, then onto a different shaft.  Think I tried 4 different shafts with mixed results.  On paper, these shafts would possibly be good fits or ones I had interest in.

Then we did the AI fit.  Took just a few minutes on his phone to answer various typical questions you'd expect, then he handed me the fitting iron with the blast sensor in it, and asked me to take 5 swings.  The fitting sensor in the butt of the club is the only sensor, for those wondering.  Took my time to try and make 5 solid swings.  I'll say 3 were solid, one bad, one ehhh.  So much for that plan, but honestly, pretty typical for a good hacker, as I often refer to myself as.  Stepped out of the bay, he hit the button on his phone, and in less than a minute, it spit out results.  One steel shaft and one graphite shaft selection.  Off he went to build the club.  I play graphite currently, so was back in a minute with that option.

I have to say, it nailed it !!!!   REALLY NAILED IT !!!!!

Other than one extremely bad swing, results were amazing.  All of em, literally.  Felt so good, most hammering the sweet spot (really love the power holes sweet spot feel) on most shots, and still good solid numbers when not hitting it.  I should point out I had tried the same shaft model but at a different weight in the initial 4 shafts before the AI fitting, with probably the worst results out of all of the initial shafts.  Then I switched to the recommended steel shaft setup, and also got phenomenal results.  Slightly shorter, slightly tighter dispersion than the graphite recommendation, but still outstanding.   Really felt the power hole sweet spot explosiveness more with the steel shaft set up, but I attribute that to the fact of the material.

I was very impressed with the system.  Obviously I'm only one example, but it was pretty quick and easy, and my results were frankly incredible.  The only change we made was not doing the recommended 2 up lie angle that was recommended, simply the flat standard setting.  FWIW, he mentioned more than one fitter he has talked to in the past believes they see way too many 2 up lie angle recommendations.

 SO, Is this the future of fittings, can it be expanded to cover any type club, can one be created that is entirely brand agnostic?

Would love to hear what others think or if they've tried it ?

LInk to their fitting page:

https://www.wilson.com/en-us/explore/golf/golf-fit-ai

[BreakfastBall15]

I’m intrigued in the process and going to try and get out to the local shops that have the ai fit. Like you I’m not necessarily in the market for new irons, but I’m also glancing at the Srixon Zx 5 mkii and now the dynapower forged are on my radar as well. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

I will be going into the shop next week to give this a run. Really looking forward to it and happy they cater to both left and right handed players!

[BreakfastBall15]

6 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

I will be going into the shop next week to give this a run. Really looking forward to it and happy they cater to both left and right handed players!

As a lefty, it’s refreshing to see. Can’t tell you how many times I see a club posted online and go look it up and see it right hand only

[GolfSpy_APH]

Just now, BreakfastBall15 said:

As a lefty, it’s refreshing to see. Can’t tell you how many times I see a club posted online and go look it up and see it right hand only

Fellow lefty! You're speaking the truth. 

It's terrible here in Switzerland as well. Most shops don't event carry lefty demos. It's special order only.

[Wheelieb]

I feel like the Mizuno shaft optimizer does something similar. I may be wrong in that regard though. 

[cnosil]

43 minutes ago, Wheelieb said:

I feel like the Mizuno shaft optimizer does something similar. I may be wrong in that regard though. 

similar idea.  Mizuno is just about the shaft and measures a few data points (4).   The Wilson is fitting the head and shaft and in theory measures significantly more data points (12,000) 

Edited February 17 by cnosil

[Owengeorge13]

Looking forward to seeing how this works.

[Golf2Much]

6 hours ago, sellemental said:

The only change we made was not doing the recommended 2 up lie angle that was recommended, simply the flat standard setting.  FWIW, he mentioned more than one fitter he has talked to in the past believes they see way too many 2 up lie angle recommendations.

@sellemental, it's funny you mentioned the too many 2 degrees up comment.

  This week we had visit by a Srixon representative.  We don't get too many that venture all the way down US1.  I was at the course and he looked lonely, so I stopped in to try out the ZX4 MkII irons (I actually hit them pretty well).  As we finished, I mentioned that I used to be 2 degrees up.  To took back the iron, adjusted to 2 degrees up and gave it back.  My first several shots were hooks!  His response was "Hooking the ball..what a surprise!  I can't tell you how many people say they are 2 degrees up and aren't!"

Edited February 17 by Golf2Much

[sellemental]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

similar idea.  Mizuno is just about the shaft and measures a few data points (4).   The Wilson is fitting the head and shaft and in theory measures significantly more data points (12,000) 

I tried the shaft optimizer a couple years back, like cnosil says, similar, but not.  Results were interesting, but not as much as I was hoping for I guess.  Exactly the attitude that particular fitter had about it to interestingly.

What I'm really desperately waiting for is a driver shaft/ head optimizer or AI fitting.  Maybe I'd be able to find a decent driver swing again, LOL !

[jbern]

14 hours ago, sellemental said:

Then we did the AI fit.  Took just a few minutes on his phone to answer various typical questions you'd expect, then he handed me the fitting iron with the blast sensor in it, and asked me to take 5 swings.  The fitting sensor in the butt of the club is the only sensor, for those wondering.

So the AI fit is a stand-alone club? This type of fitting is very interesting to me! I’d love to hear about the tech behind the sensor. I guess I have to try to find a demo event near me! 

[sellemental]

8 hours ago, jbern said:

So the AI fit is a stand-alone club? This type of fitting is very interesting to me! I’d love to hear about the tech behind the sensor. I guess I have to try to find a demo event near me! 

That is correct, it is a standalone club.  It is a "standard" Wilson Iron with a standard stock steel shaft, and a Blast Motion Sensor in the butt of the handle.   The sensor takes the data from your 5 swings, plugs it into their algorithm, and spits out your recommendation results.

We hear from all the OEM's how they took thousands and thousands of swing data points, plugged it into their AI whatever to create all the latest and greatest equipment for all of us, which is cool.

I say KUDOS to Wilson for taking it to the next step creating a tool that drills right down to each individual directly.  We're always told the key to getting proper equipment is get fit.  What's better than easy, simple, quick, and accurate fittings for everyone?

[HikingMike]

On 2/17/2024 at 7:36 AM, sellemental said:

Ever since I first read about it, I've been extremely intrigued about the Wilson Golf Fit AI system.  Kinda seems to good to be true.

Admittedly, I kinda have a soft spot for Wilson and I'm always pulling for them.  Noticed they had a demo event near me recently, but hadn't planned on attending as I am not really looking to purchase new irons at this time.  That is until I read the Dynapower forged iron article this week on MGS,  decided to go ahead and sign up to check those beauties out.  I really like the sales rep (he's been real good to me in the past), saw no one else had RSVP'd at the time, so I went ahead and scheduled.

I arrived a little early and he quickly set me up in an open hitting bay, and inquired what I was looking for.  Made it clear I was really just there to check out the new forged offering, and see what the AI fit was all about.   He suggested I try different shafts out for a while and then we'll do the AI fit.

I warmed up a bit with my 7 iron, and then he was quickly back with the forged fitting iron to try out in the stock shaft.  7-10 swings with that, then onto a different shaft.  Think I tried 4 different shafts with mixed results.  On paper, these shafts would possibly be good fits or ones I had interest in.

Then we did the AI fit.  Took just a few minutes on his phone to answer various typical questions you'd expect, then he handed me the fitting iron with the blast sensor in it, and asked me to take 5 swings.  The fitting sensor in the butt of the club is the only sensor, for those wondering.  Took my time to try and make 5 solid swings.  I'll say 3 were solid, one bad, one ehhh.  So much for that plan, but honestly, pretty typical for a good hacker, as I often refer to myself as.  Stepped out of the bay, he hit the button on his phone, and in less than a minute, it spit out results.  One steel shaft and one graphite shaft selection.  Off he went to build the club.  I play graphite currently, so was back in a minute with that option.

I have to say, it nailed it !!!!   REALLY NAILED IT !!!!!

Other than one extremely bad swing, results were amazing.  All of em, literally.  Felt so good, most hammering the sweet spot (really love the power holes sweet spot feel) on most shots, and still good solid numbers when not hitting it.  I should point out I had tried the same shaft model but at a different weight in the initial 4 shafts before the AI fitting, with probably the worst results out of all of the initial shafts.  Then I switched to the recommended steel shaft setup, and also got phenomenal results.  Slightly shorter, slightly tighter dispersion than the graphite recommendation, but still outstanding.   Really felt the power hole sweet spot explosiveness more with the steel shaft set up, but I attribute that to the fact of the material.

I was very impressed with the system.  Obviously I'm only one example, but it was pretty quick and easy, and my results were frankly incredible.  The only change we made was not doing the recommended 2 up lie angle that was recommended, simply the flat standard setting.  FWIW, he mentioned more than one fitter he has talked to in the past believes they see way too many 2 up lie angle recommendations.

 SO, Is this the future of fittings, can it be expanded to cover any type club, can one be created that is entirely brand agnostic?

Would love to hear what others think or if they've tried it ?

LInk to their fitting page:

https://www.wilson.com/en-us/explore/golf/golf-fit-ai

This is awesome, I'm glad you posted about it. I remember reading the MGS article. Well let me dig that up and link it. I was hoping to hear more about it. I have a feeling this will be a big part of the future of club fitting. It's a natural fit for AI/ML with plenty of data out there from people swinging and launch monitors/sims and everything. Sensors in a club make a lot of sense. It should really follow that it will be able to fit you so you will hit better (than if you were in suboptimally fit equipment). 

I see Wilson lists some Golf Discounts in their locator for Golf Fit AI. And there happens to be a new one going up in my town actually, so maybe that will have it.

[JohnSmalls]

Anyone have a chance to test the new FitAI system yet?

[tigerpill]

Have not. Read about it. I'm not sure what it really brings to the table. Seems limited based on what I read. 

[HikingMike]

3 minutes ago, tigerpill said:

Have not. Read about it. I'm not sure what it really brings to the table. Seems limited based on what I read. 

To me it seems like it would be a quick and accurate way to get a good fit based on your swing compared with zillions of other real people's swings and their ideal outcomes, and it has fantastic potential. I need to check for this at the place I want to visit. I don't know if they carry any Wilson.

[tigerpill]

On 2/17/2024 at 12:51 PM, BreakfastBall15 said:

I’m intrigued in the process and going to try and get out to the local shops that have the ai fit. Like you I’m not necessarily in the market for new irons, but I’m also glancing at the Srixon Zx 5 mkii and now the dynapower forged are on my radar as well. 

Put money on you loving the ZX5s.

[tigerpill]

Just now, HikingMike said:

To me it seems like it would be a quick and accurate way to get a good fit based on your swing compared with zillions of other real people's swings and their ideal outcomes, and it has fantastic potential. I need to check for this at the place I want to visit. I don't know if they carry any Wilson.

I guess I was thinking 5 swings wasn't enough, but maybe with the 10s of 1000s of swings they have collected the AI is pretty good. I wouldn't rule out trying it. I am somewhat old fashion in my thinking. Want to see it fly and have someone tweaking things for me. 

[BreakfastBall15]

23 minutes ago, tigerpill said:

Put money on you loving the ZX5s.

I got to hit a demo gen 1 zx5 and it was phenomenal. Going to do a fitting in a few weeks to try out a bunch of stuff but those are the leader in the clubhouse 

[tigerpill]

1 hour ago, BreakfastBall15 said:

I got to hit a demo gen 1 zx5 and it was phenomenal. Going to do a fitting in a few weeks to try out a bunch of stuff but those are the leader in the clubhouse 

I love the Srixon irons. I will say the Wilsons have caught my eye. I was fit for my Srixons in March of 22'. I was excited when I heard they were doing them in black, only to find out not for the lefties!  I'm eager to see if they do anything new in 2025. I have also considered a mix set with the ZX7 or even 4s. I didn't hit the others in 22'. Fell in love with the 5s instantly.

[BreakfastBall15]

12 minutes ago, tigerpill said:

I love the Srixon irons. I will say the Wilsons have caught my eye. I was fit for my Srixons in March of 22'. I was excited when I heard they were doing them in black, only to find out not for the lefties!  I'm eager to see if they do anything new in 2025. I have also considered a mix set with the ZX7 or even 4s. I didn't hit the others in 22'. Fell in love with the 5s instantly.

The fact the blackouts were available for lefties still stings

[Josh Parker]

1 hour ago, tigerpill said:

I love the Srixon irons. I will say the Wilsons have caught my eye. I was fit for my Srixons in March of 22'. I was excited when I heard they were doing them in black, only to find out not for the lefties!  I'm eager to see if they do anything new in 2025. I have also considered a mix set with the ZX7 or even 4s. I didn't hit the others in 22'. Fell in love with the 5s instantly.

I have Srixon's and so many manufacturers leave us Lefties out of a lot of choices.  I wanted the Utility Iron in a 2 and they don't offer it.  Also was really interested in the Z forged II's and not available.  

I will say it has gotten a lot better over the years but still a long ways off.  The Wilson Staff MB/CB look awesome but no left handed yet.  I'm hoping that changes.

[sellemental]

Seems like you lefties have hijacked my thread !  TOTALLY KIDDING !!  

I'm actually a lefty also, but golf right handed.  Natural progression from baseball, and more so a two handed backhand in tennis.

I empathize with you all !

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, tigerpill said:

I guess I was thinking 5 swings wasn't enough, but maybe with the 10s of 1000s of swings they have collected the AI is pretty good. I wouldn't rule out trying it. I am somewhat old fashion in my thinking. Want to see it fly and have someone tweaking things for me. 

5 swings is the max you should take.  This plays out in a fitting as well;  fitters should only let you take 3 to a max of 5 swings with a club to prevent you from changing your swing to make the club work.   The Wilson fitting system; like the mizuno shaft optimizer, has you take a few swings and they measure aspects of your swing.  Those results are compared against what others were fit into to give you a starting point. Then you hit the recommendations and see of the work and feel.   One of the potential advantages is that it helps reduce the number of swings you need to take to get fit which means you are not fatigued when you get to the end of your session.   You like old fashion;  this means you have a fitter who sees you swing and gets numbers from a launch monitor or ball flight and then based on experience gives you something else to try which continues until you get to a good combination.   The Wilson system is no different except the knowledge is stored in a larger more comprehensive database and not in someone's head so you get to the good combinations faster. 

Edited March 5 by cnosil

[Josh Parker]

25 minutes ago, sellemental said:

Seems like you lefties have hijacked my thread !  TOTALLY KIDDING !!  

I'm actually a lefty also, but golf right handed.  Natural progression from baseball, and more so a two handed backhand in tennis.

I empathize with you all !

Haha. 

I served left handed and switched to right on the follow thru for that exact reason in tennis. 

[Owengeorge13]

10 minutes ago, cnosil said:

5 swings is the max you should take.  This plays out in a fitting as well;  fitters should only let you take 3 to a max of 5 swings with a club to prevent you from changing your swing to make the club work.   The Wilson fitting system; like the mizuno shaft optimizer, has you take a few swings and they measure aspects of your swing.  Those results are compared against what others were fit into to give you a starting point. Then you hit the recommendations and see of the work and feel.   One of the potential advantages is that it helps reduce the number of swings you need to take to get fit which means you are not fatigued when you get to the end of your session.   You like old fashion;  this means you have a fitter who sees you swing and gets numbers from a launch monitor or ball flight and then based on experience gives you something else to try which continues until you get to a good combination.   The Wilson system is no different except the knowledge is stored in a larger more comprehensive database and not in someone's head so you get to the good combinations faster. 

I’m assuming the matrix of shafts available from the fitting system is limited to what Wilson/mizuno has available?  Is either fitting system brand agnostic for shafts?

[cnosil]

5 minutes ago, Owengeorge13 said:

I’m assuming the matrix of shafts available from the fitting system is limited to what Wilson/mizuno has available?  Is either fitting system brand agnostic for shafts?

I would assume that if covers stock and upcharge shafts that you can order from either Wilson or Mizuno.  Wilson and Mizuno don't make shafts so yes it is brand agnostic.   I don't know how many shafts the Wilson recommends but the Mizuno system gives you three recommendations.  Also,  if you are using a fitter,  they should be able to recommend other shafts that match the profile of the recommendations if you are against the recommendation. 

[JohnSmalls]

2 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

The Wilson Staff MB/CB look awesome but no left handed yet

They are both available for lefties through the custom order part of Wilson's website (as of a couple of days ago)

[Josh Parker]

Just now, JohnSmalls said:

They are both available for lefties through the custom order part of Wilson's website (as of a couple of days ago)

Good to know!  I had just looked but wasn't under the custom option. 

[JohnSmalls]

1 minute ago, Josh Parker said:

Good to know!  I had just looked but wasn't under the custom option. 

You got it!  I was building a dream set the other day.  Can confirm they had lefty options in stock then