# Lee Porter - Club Fitting/Flightscope - a review



## jason6r (Feb 13, 2013)

I went to see Lee Porter at Hylands Golf Complex near Chelmsford last Monday (4th Feb) as I wanted to see whether my sticks were right for me and also to get some empirical data on swing speed, smash factor, launch characteristics etc as a baseline for measuring the progress I hope to make this year.

First up, I'd thoroughly recommend him to others who are based nearby - it was Â£100 well spent for  an advertised 3 hours of analysis, advice and club adjustments (Lee actually spent 3 1/2 hours with me and I never felt that I was on the clock as it were).  He's very personable and we kicked off the session 10 minutes early with an in-depth chat about the state of my swing / game, what I perceived to be issues, what I wanted to get out of the afternoon etc.

I knew I was hitting the ball too low on the driver, thus generating too much backspin and killing any roll - what the flightscope demonstrated was how bad my angle of attack was (minus 2* average which is horrendous with a driver) and how my swing had moved from my original in to out arc to an ugly (in my view) out to in, often with a slightly open clubface.  I could see on the screen how I was generating a fade / slice as a result and I was surprised how I ever got to a 14 handicap swinging like this! My swing speed was around 107.8 average but I was poor at converting this to ball speed, having a smash factor of 1.41 on my best drive, the obvious conclusion being that I need to slow the swing down and focus on making better contact.

I know that launch monitors are not the be-all and end-all but it was useful and in my view accurate based on how far I normally hit the ball e,g, 6 iron was measured at 180 carry, 189 total which is consistent with my on course distances.  

Having confirmed that the shafts in my clubs were appropriate for me, Lee adjusted the lie of my clubs to make them 1.5* flatter, adjusted the bounce on my 52* wedge through a "keel" grind to make it less prone to dig in, and really helped me with my putting set up (ball position, stance, grip etc) and I got a huge amount of the time I spent with him.  I'm sure it's not for everyone and I know that there are lots of differing views on custom fitting on this forum, but I came away feeling a lot more confident about my clubs and my game, along with a clear view as to what I need to adjust to get my swing working more efficiently.  Good value for Â£100 in my opinion.

Hope this helps.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 13, 2013)

I agree, good value and sounds really good fun!


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## m9wst (Feb 13, 2013)

Totally agree, i had a fitting 3 days before you went. great experience, no hard sale and explained everything very well. I'll be using him again without a doubt.


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## Foxholer (Feb 13, 2013)

Seems a good session.

How are you solving your Driving AofA issue?


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## Sybez (Feb 13, 2013)

Lee's fantastic and I'm certainly going back more than once this year get setup!


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## jason6r (Feb 13, 2013)

Foxholer said:



			Seems a good session.

How are you solving your Driving AofA issue?
		
Click to expand...

I'm making a conscious (at this time, hopefully it becomes grooved over time) effort to swing the club more smoothly and to visualise the clubhead hitting the ball on the up.  This for me involves having more of a shoulder turn and keeping my right elbow connected to my body more effectively on the downswing, with the club swinging more forward through impact (I had a tendency to finish too far to the left).

So far, so great! I'm more accurate, and have regained my preferred shot shape of a draw.  I can't really comment on driving distance other than to say it doesn't appear to have cost me any yards and I'm hopeful that with firmer fairways in the Spring/Summer, I will get significantly more run upon landing as a result of a combination of the draw, less backspin and longer carry time.


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## jason6r (Feb 13, 2013)

@sybez - I'm aiming to revisit Lee to check progress in April and also in the Summer.  It will be interesting to see how the launch monitor stats have changed (improved hopefully) over time.


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## G1BB0 (Feb 13, 2013)

sounds very good. would be tempted myself and not overly far away. will wait until the weathers a tad warmer and my swing is a bit more consistant :thup:


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## Sybez (Feb 14, 2013)

That the plan Jason!

G1BBO - He's worth the the travel

I'm working on the missus for a half day session... just can't decide whether to assess the top or bottom end of the bag.....


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## jason6r (Feb 14, 2013)

When I phoned him up originally, I was going to book a full day session but credit to him, once we'd chatted through what I wanted to get out of the session and what level I was playing at currently, he advised that I'd be spending unnecessary cash for the full day and steered me towards an afternoon session.  That to me demonstrated his integrity as he was much more interested in ensuring that the session was right for me than taking extra cash.  Impressed.


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## El Bandito (Feb 14, 2013)

Sounds like a really useful afternoon and a nice guy too. Probably a bit far for me, but certainly has me thinking about a bit of research.


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