Advice On New Custom Fit Irons

[Vanderetto]

Hi Guys,

Having been a "fairweather" golfer for long enough, I bit the bullet earlier this year and joined a club.

I was given a 20 handicap, and have been playing pretty close to that in the 14 medals I've played this season. My current h'cap is 19.4.

I've been fortunate to have won a few competitions, the main one being our Class 3 Club Championship.

Anyway, I felt I had been playing well, and, having finally joined a club, felt I could justify upgrading my "off the shelf" Slazenger irons I've had for about 6 years.

Last Saturday, the TaylorMade tour bus was at our local range, and I booked an appointment for a custom fitting.

Cut a long story short, I ended up buying a set of Burner Plus irons (4-PW) + a 3 rescue wood. I was more than happy with the shots I was hitting with the demo models at the range.

Anyway, having now tried my new irons at the range, I'm struggling to hit them anywhere near as good as my old Slazengers!! I'm sure you can appreciate how frustrating this is for me.

I'm tall (6'3") and my new clubs are 1" longer with a mid size grip. The "lie" angle was also adjusted by 3 degrees and the shaft is a S-flex.

My question is this: should I be doing anything drastically different to my setup, grip etc with my new clubs than I did previosuly? I'm thinking that I'm sub-conciously thinking my setup needs to be changed because of the extra length and that's why I'm struggling.

I'm finding that I'm hooking quite a number of my short irons and I'm just really struggling with my 4.

It's not every shot I hit I hasten to add, but there just seems to be no consistency.

Apologies for the long (1st post) - any advice/thoughts would be most welcome.

Cheers,
VanDeretto

 

[Vanderetto]

Cheers - I was planning on giving him a visit at some point, but was just wondering if there's anything obvious I should be changing.

It's our clubs closing day Texas Scramble on Saturday, and I'm not sure whether to risk using my new clubs or not.

 

[bobmac]

If I were you I'd go and see your pro and explain whats happening to him. Hopefully, if you bought them from him, he should help you out.

 

[Putting_Green_Pro]

yer risk your new irons because at least you'll have three others on your team to keep you afloat. however on the club side i was the same when i switched from slazengers to titleists. i would recommend that you should go out onto the course on your own, relax and play 9 holes. if you hit a hook or something similar put another ball down take one club more and play and easy, slow swing. For example if you hit a 9i and hook it, take your 8i and hit it say 3/4's until you can hit the full shots. hope you get used to your irons..

 

[Ethan]

It takes a while for new clubs to settle in. The TMs are very different from your old Slazengers, so just get used to the feel and weight. Custom clubs should be fitted to the player, not the player fitted to the clubs.

You can also contact TM who have a fitting centre in Basingstoke. The fitter there is very good indeed.

 

[Vanderetto]

It takes a while for new clubs to settle in. The TMs are very different from your old Slazengers, so just get used to the feel and weight. Custom clubs should be fitted to the player, not the player fitted to the clubs.

You can also contact TM who have a fitting centre in Basingstoke. The fitter there is very good indeed.

Thanks for the reply.

Maybe I'm just being a bit impatient and expecting instantaneous results.

I'll give them a few more weeks and see how I get on.

I'd really like to try them on the course before passing real judgement.

Cheers.

 

[Vanderetto]

yer risk your new irons because at least you'll have three others on your team to keep you afloat. however on the club side i was the same when i switched from slazengers to titleists. i would recommend that you should go out onto the course on your own, relax and play 9 holes. if you hit a hook or something similar put another ball down take one club more and play and easy, slow swing. For example if you hit a 9i and hook it, take your 8i and hit it say 3/4's until you can hit the full shots. hope you get used to your irons..

at least you'll have three others on your team to keep you afloat

Good shout - think I'll risk it !!

 

[Region3]

Surely you bought them because you hit them well when you tried them?

Were they upright and longer when you tested them out?
If not, what's different now to then?

 

[USER1999]

I can't think why it should take any time at all to bed in. If they were fitted to you, they should feel right straight out of the box.

+1" is alot though. Even for someone 6 3. You must stand very upright, which I doubt, if your previous clubs were standard length.

 

[Vanderetto]

Surely you bought them because you hit them well when you tried them?

Were they upright and longer when you tested them out?
If not, what's different now to then?

The clubs were made there and then after the fitter had taken my measurements- I didn't actually hit the clubs I bought (if you see what I mean).

I was hitting the same spec demo clubs fine - that's what's so frustrating.

Like I said, it's not every shot - I think I maybe need to be a bit more patient.

 

[Vanderetto]

I can't think why it should take any time at all to bed in. If they were fitted to you, they should feel right straight out of the box.

+1" is alot though. Even for someone 6 3. You must stand very upright, which I doubt, if your previous clubs were standard length.

The first shot I hit with my new clubs at the range was my 8 iron, which I managed to ping straight onto the practice net about 160 yards away.

Previously, I needed my 6 iron to make this.

I'm just not hitting every shot as consistently as I'd like.

It may be that I just need some time to get used to them.