# Belfry Custom Fitting



## GB72 (Dec 30, 2009)

Having been given a voucher as a birthday present, today was the day that I went to The Belfry for a driver custom fitting. To be honest I did not go in there with the full intention to buy but rather to find out whether the driver I had was the best fit for me and also to experience custom fit first hand.

I will be honest and say that the first impression was a bit of a let down. I had come straight from work and was there a bit early and made my presence known at the reception desk. Here I was invited to take a seat and wait half an hour or I could buy buckets of balls at Â£5.00 a go if I wanted to warm up. Having paid for the custom fit and with the possible intention of spending a couple of hundred pounds I thought that they might at least have offered a complimentary range token or 2. Even Direct Golf are willing to hand these out if you are waiting for assistance. 

That aside, the time for my fitting came and the PGA pro took me through to the fitting suit. He took time to assess what I was looking for, what problems I was having with my current driver and was very helpful in explaining what we were looking at. He then let me warm up for a few minutes whilst he put together some possible options. 

Next up I hit a few balls with my current driver. The fitter took plenty of time to explain the stats and where we could look for improvement. Basically we were looking for an increased launch angle, more height in my drives, a slight reduction in backspin and hopefully some increase in ball speed. Also agreed to try some stiff shafts as my regular was now a bit soft for my club head speed. 

Next was the fun part as various drivers were handed to me, tweeked and adjusted until we had a full page of comparitative stats to look at. 

First up was the Taylormade R9. What a disaster that was. However much loft we put on the club I just could not get the launch angle up. Distance was OK but less than my current driver.

Next was the Ping G15. This showed some improvement in all of the areas that we were looking at but not sufficient to warrant any change (the fitters words not mine).

The next option was the Cobra LDZ. I really wanted to love this club and it was the one that I had in mind before I went in. Lovely to look at but another club where the shaft length has been increased to promote distance (again the fitter pointed this out to me and explained why he thought this was generally a bad idea). This produced the longest drive of the day with 212 yards of carry but the dispersion was awful with nearly 35 yards between the 2 furthest balls. 

Last came the Callaway FT-9. The fitter left this until last as he felt I may not want to simply upgrade to the newer version of my own driver. It did, however, feel immediately comfortable at address and the stats backed up this feeling. Launch angle increased by a degree, backspin down slightly and carry was consistantly around 208 yards, 20 yards further than with my current driver. The club head speed was a bit down but this was explained by the fact that I had hit dozens of drives at this stage It was, however, the dispersion figures that struck me, only 9 yards between the 2 furthest balls. That was enough to sell it to me (plus it sounds so much better than the FT-5). 

The only problem is that they do not have the right set up in stock, 11 degree, draw bias stiff Fujikara shaft. Again, however, the fitter was most helpful, he offered to order it for me on Monday when Callaway were back after Xmas but also suggested I may be able to find it cheaper in a sale and could then use my Â£50.00 credit against another club later in the year. 

Anyway, where do I now stand on the endless custom fitting debate? To me this was a very worthy experience. Just seeing that buying a higher loft club will not necessarily increase the launch angle and also seeing the difference the shaft makes means that I would be unlikely to buy off the peg again as I have now seen that the numbers on the bottom of a club mean very little. Was it worth Â£50.00? Yes is the answer. I could easily have wasted Â£250 on the Cobra driver as given enough time at a range at Direct Golf I can convince myself that any club is right for me and it is just not possible to see the disbursement stats from the other end of a crowded range. I also did not feel any of the hard sell that many golf outlets apply. By paying for the custom fit the pro had earned his money for the time spent and thus was not wholly dependent on selling me something (and in fact was happy to point out that my own driver was the second most suited to me).

All I need now is to find somewhere that has the club I want in the right spec so if anyone sees a Callaway FT-9 in an 11 degree draw bias with a stiff Fujikara shaft then please let me know.


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## bobmac (Dec 30, 2009)

Glad you enjoyed it and found it a useful exercise.
It is a great facility with as I remember, 4 custom fitting bays and staffed completely by PGA Pros.
Although AG and Dg have some pros working in their shops, not all staff are.
Good luck in your search for the new driver, I'll keep my eyes open for you.


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## GB72 (Dec 30, 2009)

It was nice to have a massive fully equipped custom fitting bay all to myself.


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## GB72 (Dec 30, 2009)

A quick message to those at GM, can you send The Belfry some copies of the magazine. They had one golf mag to read in the waiting area, a copy of GM from 2006!!!!!


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## pokerjoke (Dec 30, 2009)

just a couple of points having 4 clubs to chose from doesnt seem much choice,and how do you really know the shaft is right 4 you as you havnt hit a ball with that shaft and you were getting tired which was effecting your swingspeed.However i do think being fitted professionally is the way to go especially the driver as its the most unforgiving.when i get to single figures i will definately get fitted for my irons as well. I also think getting the exact club suggested will give you great confidence.Â£50 well spent


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## GB72 (Dec 30, 2009)

I was not limited to 4 clubs but went in with an open mind, did not ask to try anything in particular and went with what was suggested. Not really sure that there were any others that I would have liked to have tried except maybe a couple of the Nike options. 

As for the right shaft, even the fitter admitted that there was a certain degree of trial and error, swapping over shafts to see if there was any improvement. I suppose that it is impossible to try every shaft and head combination so a little trust is needed in the person recommending.


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## pokerjoke (Dec 30, 2009)

Thanks for reply,its interesting to know for future reference.I would not have a clue if my clubs are right for me at this present time all i know is i will not change until im single figures.I believe that quite a low handicap can be achieved without costum fitted clubs,however i think when i get lower custom fitted clubs will help get to the lower single figure.HOPEFULLY


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## Region3 (Jan 2, 2010)

Did you try each club with different shafts, or did the fitter decide which shaft suited you best first then try that one in different clubs?


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## GB72 (Jan 2, 2010)

We narrowed down the heads that worked first then tried them with different shafts.


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