Long post below. This was meant to be thorough for people who haven't ever gone through a fitting before (like I hadn't) and want to know what is involved. I hope this is useful.
Cliffs Notes: Bought some new Titleist AP1s from Leonard Links after a fitting. Steve knows his stuff and doesn't charge for the fitting if you buy from him. He sells at MAP so I honestly see no reason to buy from Golfsmith, Dick's, Academy, etc. Lots of personal attention, a good thorough fitting process, overall great experience. Detailed description below.
The clubfitter is a guy named Steve Russell. Nice guy, lots of clubfitting awards and certificates on his wall. Top 100 fitter for Taylormade, Ping, Mizuno, Golf Digest, etc. We didn't have too big of a discussion about my game, goals, etc. This is one of a few areas where I think the fitting could have improved, but from emailing he knew about my game and what he thought would be good options. He did ask if there were any clubs I specifically wanted to hit and I said no.
The first thing we did was a static fitting just to give us a place to start. Just told him my height and he measured from my hand down to the floor. For me that meant standard length and lie. He watched me warm up and hit some balls with my own 7 iron (a 2009 Nike VR full cavity). He didn't give me any advice or opinion on my mechanics or swing. Just watched me hit.
Then he gave me a Mizuno club with a swing monitoring device attached and recorded some numbers on about five or six shots. I also hit a couple of swings off a lie board and he verified that standard lie was going to be good for me. We took those numbers, went inside, and he plugged the numbers into the computer to get shaft recommendations. The numbers gave my swing speed, tempo, and a couple measurements of shaft deflection and bending. The computer gave a couple of recommendations for steel and graphite and then we went back outside with a few shafts and some club heads.
The first part of the process was deciding on a shaft. We went from graphite to steel on the same club and he asked me if there was anything about the graphite that I really liked over the steel. I told him no, and he dismissed the graphite shaft pretty quickly, saying that he thought that a steel shaft would be better for me and my swing. Then we moved on to clubheads.
I hit the Nike Covert 2.0, Mizuno JPX EZ, Taylormade Speedblade, Ping G25, Titleist 714 AP1, and Callaway X2 Hot. He had me hit two balls with each club two times through and then asked me to eliminate one. After those two rounds I eliminated the Mizuno and Taylormade. Neither felt very good at impact... all shots, good or bad, all felt pretty clicky and I never had a shot that felt pure even on my good swings. We continued this process and I eventually got down to the Ping G25 and the Titleist AP1. At this point, he had me hit both off the lie board. They were both standard lie, but Steve said what one company calls "standard" might be half a degree different from what another company will call "standard." Basically, in the final showdown he wanted to make sure we were in a fair fight and comparing apples to apples as much as possible.
Really it was a bit of a coin flip at this point. Steve encouraged me to hit some different shots with them (knockdowns, punches, fades, hooks, etc) to see which I liked better. I eventually decided on the Titleists, but it was a tough decision and I could've gone either way.
Then we went inside and picked grips, and decided which clubs I wanted (ended up going 5-52* wedge). He sold them at MAP (which for these was $100/club). This is why I say if you're going to buy new irons, why not buy them from this guy and get some good fitting expertise instead of just trying it out in Dick's Sporting Goods and guessing on your own?
Overall, here are my impressions of the place:
PROS:
- Steve was helpful and knowledgeable. He really knew his stuff and was very patient.
- He didn't at any point try to turn the fitting into a golf lesson. I know my swing is jacked up, but it's the one I play with so interjecting your opinions about it isn't going to help me pick the best golf clubs.
- The technology he was using to help me pick a shaft gave me confidence that I'm getting the right gear.
- The price is the same that you'd pay pretty much anywhere except maybe Discount Dan's.
- The fitting was done outside, so I could see my shots and feel what it's like to hit the club on grass.
- The fitting was free since I bought clubs from him.
CONS:
- I would have felt better if there was a little more thorough of an interview at the beginning about what my goals are, what kind of game I like to play, what kind of courses I play, etc. I don't think that it made any difference for me in the end personally, but if I was a guy that liked to play a specific kind of shot or employed a specific kind of strategy then he might not have known about it.
- There was no launch monitor. The only time I think I might have missed it was at the very end choosing between the Pings and the Titleists. It was really a near coin flip decision. I liked both of them pretty well, but it would have been nice at that point to hit ten shots with each club and look at some numbers to see if one club was giving me a tighter shot dispersion, better spin numbers, etc. For me I don't think it made a difference and I probably couldn't go wrong with either club, but if you're a lower handicapper then those things might make a bigger difference to you.
The next step is for me to look at the rest of my gear. Since I didn't hit with the launch monitor for the irons I assumed that I wouldn't hit with a launch monitor for hybrids/fairways/driver either, but apparently this is not the case. Below, TitanAGGIE09 has said that he didn't use the launch monitor for irons at Leonard Links but did when purchasing his longer clubs. Also, apparently Steve can swap out shafts on the long clubs just like he did with me on the irons. But while I've got the budget in place I am interested in trying a Cool Clubs or Hotstix style fitting. I've got a fitting scheduled on February 8 at Club Champion to look at all the gear in my bag (except irons). They have a really good special going on right now, and I know if I don't at least try this other type of fitting that I'll always wonder.
So the next chapter in my clubfitting experience will be written in a couple weeks. I'll report back on Club Champion and give y'all another thorough review and a compare/contrast of my different experiences.
EDIT: Corrected my assumption about Leonard Links not using a launch monitor for drivers, hybrids, and fairways. Thanks to TitanAGGIE09 for setting the record straight.
[This message has been edited by bagger05 (edited 1/28/2014 9:52p).]
Cliffs Notes: Bought some new Titleist AP1s from Leonard Links after a fitting. Steve knows his stuff and doesn't charge for the fitting if you buy from him. He sells at MAP so I honestly see no reason to buy from Golfsmith, Dick's, Academy, etc. Lots of personal attention, a good thorough fitting process, overall great experience. Detailed description below.
The clubfitter is a guy named Steve Russell. Nice guy, lots of clubfitting awards and certificates on his wall. Top 100 fitter for Taylormade, Ping, Mizuno, Golf Digest, etc. We didn't have too big of a discussion about my game, goals, etc. This is one of a few areas where I think the fitting could have improved, but from emailing he knew about my game and what he thought would be good options. He did ask if there were any clubs I specifically wanted to hit and I said no.
The first thing we did was a static fitting just to give us a place to start. Just told him my height and he measured from my hand down to the floor. For me that meant standard length and lie. He watched me warm up and hit some balls with my own 7 iron (a 2009 Nike VR full cavity). He didn't give me any advice or opinion on my mechanics or swing. Just watched me hit.
Then he gave me a Mizuno club with a swing monitoring device attached and recorded some numbers on about five or six shots. I also hit a couple of swings off a lie board and he verified that standard lie was going to be good for me. We took those numbers, went inside, and he plugged the numbers into the computer to get shaft recommendations. The numbers gave my swing speed, tempo, and a couple measurements of shaft deflection and bending. The computer gave a couple of recommendations for steel and graphite and then we went back outside with a few shafts and some club heads.
The first part of the process was deciding on a shaft. We went from graphite to steel on the same club and he asked me if there was anything about the graphite that I really liked over the steel. I told him no, and he dismissed the graphite shaft pretty quickly, saying that he thought that a steel shaft would be better for me and my swing. Then we moved on to clubheads.
I hit the Nike Covert 2.0, Mizuno JPX EZ, Taylormade Speedblade, Ping G25, Titleist 714 AP1, and Callaway X2 Hot. He had me hit two balls with each club two times through and then asked me to eliminate one. After those two rounds I eliminated the Mizuno and Taylormade. Neither felt very good at impact... all shots, good or bad, all felt pretty clicky and I never had a shot that felt pure even on my good swings. We continued this process and I eventually got down to the Ping G25 and the Titleist AP1. At this point, he had me hit both off the lie board. They were both standard lie, but Steve said what one company calls "standard" might be half a degree different from what another company will call "standard." Basically, in the final showdown he wanted to make sure we were in a fair fight and comparing apples to apples as much as possible.
Really it was a bit of a coin flip at this point. Steve encouraged me to hit some different shots with them (knockdowns, punches, fades, hooks, etc) to see which I liked better. I eventually decided on the Titleists, but it was a tough decision and I could've gone either way.
Then we went inside and picked grips, and decided which clubs I wanted (ended up going 5-52* wedge). He sold them at MAP (which for these was $100/club). This is why I say if you're going to buy new irons, why not buy them from this guy and get some good fitting expertise instead of just trying it out in Dick's Sporting Goods and guessing on your own?
Overall, here are my impressions of the place:
PROS:
- Steve was helpful and knowledgeable. He really knew his stuff and was very patient.
- He didn't at any point try to turn the fitting into a golf lesson. I know my swing is jacked up, but it's the one I play with so interjecting your opinions about it isn't going to help me pick the best golf clubs.
- The technology he was using to help me pick a shaft gave me confidence that I'm getting the right gear.
- The price is the same that you'd pay pretty much anywhere except maybe Discount Dan's.
- The fitting was done outside, so I could see my shots and feel what it's like to hit the club on grass.
- The fitting was free since I bought clubs from him.
CONS:
- I would have felt better if there was a little more thorough of an interview at the beginning about what my goals are, what kind of game I like to play, what kind of courses I play, etc. I don't think that it made any difference for me in the end personally, but if I was a guy that liked to play a specific kind of shot or employed a specific kind of strategy then he might not have known about it.
- There was no launch monitor. The only time I think I might have missed it was at the very end choosing between the Pings and the Titleists. It was really a near coin flip decision. I liked both of them pretty well, but it would have been nice at that point to hit ten shots with each club and look at some numbers to see if one club was giving me a tighter shot dispersion, better spin numbers, etc. For me I don't think it made a difference and I probably couldn't go wrong with either club, but if you're a lower handicapper then those things might make a bigger difference to you.
The next step is for me to look at the rest of my gear. Since I didn't hit with the launch monitor for the irons I assumed that I wouldn't hit with a launch monitor for hybrids/fairways/driver either, but apparently this is not the case. Below, TitanAGGIE09 has said that he didn't use the launch monitor for irons at Leonard Links but did when purchasing his longer clubs. Also, apparently Steve can swap out shafts on the long clubs just like he did with me on the irons. But while I've got the budget in place I am interested in trying a Cool Clubs or Hotstix style fitting. I've got a fitting scheduled on February 8 at Club Champion to look at all the gear in my bag (except irons). They have a really good special going on right now, and I know if I don't at least try this other type of fitting that I'll always wonder.
So the next chapter in my clubfitting experience will be written in a couple weeks. I'll report back on Club Champion and give y'all another thorough review and a compare/contrast of my different experiences.
EDIT: Corrected my assumption about Leonard Links not using a launch monitor for drivers, hybrids, and fairways. Thanks to TitanAGGIE09 for setting the record straight.
[This message has been edited by bagger05 (edited 1/28/2014 9:52p).]
