Macster
Journeyman Pro
I know a lot of you also applied for the fantastic opportunity to visit Titleist Custom fitting centre for the GM feature on Driver fitting, and as I was one of the hugely fortunate 3 to be invited, I thought I'd share what I can of the experience for all of you.
Last Tuesday morning was a cold start, with lots of freezing fog to contend with during my 2hr+ drive drive down to Brampton, and I must admit, at one point I thought there was no way we'd be able to tell much about the flight of any of our Drive's !
However, by the time I arrived at 11.15am, the sun was shining and it was a great day.
Peering around the 2 end bays, I introduced myself to Paul O'Hagan from GM, and whilst the other 2 lucky winners were finishing off their fitting, I grabbed a bucket of 30 balls and started to warm up.
I'm not a keen 'range' practiser, usually finding that mats brings out the worst of my swing, but perhaps feeling inspired by what was to come, I strangely found myself hitting my shots quite cleanly, starting with a wedge, then an 8, a few with a 5 iron, and finally, with huge hopes for the day, my G5 driver.
I think I hit 3, which all flew as well as I can possibly hit, and I decided to stop right there, so as not to use up all my good ones !
After a few GM photo's on the putting green, I was introduced to Paul, - one of Titleist's expert fitters, and a brief chat ensued about general swing etc, and then Paul strategically placed stickers all over my G5 and set up the Launch monitor etc, and left me to hit 1 or 2 more to get comfortable - not easy when you have a small and select audience scrutinising every aspect
After each shot, the data was there to see, Clubhead speed, Ball Speed generated, Angle of Launch, Swing Path, Sidespin generated, Backspin generated, and finally the most important bits, Carry Distance & Landing Point.
Difficult to argue with any of it, and I was encouraged by the good points, mainly in my Launch angle and uber-consistent Clubhead Speed of 100mph, altho I did slip a 99 and a 101 mistakenly too.
So, on to the 909's, and immediately Paul handed me the D2, with the first of possible shafts secured.
Paul was already able to deduce that the D2 was the one for me, mainly, as he later explained, because the DComp helps launch the ball higher, which I didnt need, and I suspect the D3 wouldnt give me the forgiveness that perhaps my off centre shots would require.
You think you 'middle' the ball quite regularly .....right ? Not that hard is it ?
Wrong.
I hit the ball quite well on the day, averaging I think 240/245 carry off the tee, with a little bit of flight irregularity.
However, the data showed that most of my shots were certainly not off the 'sweet' spot, and the 2/3 that I did were noticeable.
So the D2 it was.
We tried maybe 5/6 shafts, ranging from Stiff to 'Regular', (which I couldnt hit at all), some with firmer tips, some with firmer mid-sections, and the rest
I cant recall.
All the way through, Paul kept discussing the data, comparing shots against shots, flights against flights, and every combination of, and taking into account how the shaft felt to me with each shot.
He also went to great length in setting up my preferred Tee height, to the point of breaking the long wooden Titleist tees down to insert into the standard rubber mat tees, until I felt it was my usual height.(I dont tee particularly high with a Driver)
Now I have to admit, perhaps January isnt the best time of the year to be fitted, as my swing was perhaps a little inconsistent in some respects, but regardless of that, it was clear to us that one shaft stood out in providing me with a tighter dispersion pattern than some of the others.
This was the Graphite Desogn YSQ 65-G S-Flex
The longest Drive I hit was with a shaft that was also the most inconsistent, so that was discounted.
Most of the shafts tried gave me perhaps 4/5 more yards, not a great deal you may think, but with Pauls expertise, I'm hoping that my consistency with the Big Fella will be improved, meaning those pesky little shots to get back in play will be minimised.
Lets face it, off 11, all I need is 2 shots saved to reach my dream of Single figures, and that could well be provided by that consistency Paul has tried to help me find. Time will tell.
In the meantime, and until the weather picks up, I will caress my newly arrived 909D2 10.5*, and would like to thank GM enormously for what was a great experience, and all at Titleist for their great help & hospitality.
I cant wait for the Season to start
Last Tuesday morning was a cold start, with lots of freezing fog to contend with during my 2hr+ drive drive down to Brampton, and I must admit, at one point I thought there was no way we'd be able to tell much about the flight of any of our Drive's !
However, by the time I arrived at 11.15am, the sun was shining and it was a great day.
Peering around the 2 end bays, I introduced myself to Paul O'Hagan from GM, and whilst the other 2 lucky winners were finishing off their fitting, I grabbed a bucket of 30 balls and started to warm up.
I'm not a keen 'range' practiser, usually finding that mats brings out the worst of my swing, but perhaps feeling inspired by what was to come, I strangely found myself hitting my shots quite cleanly, starting with a wedge, then an 8, a few with a 5 iron, and finally, with huge hopes for the day, my G5 driver.
I think I hit 3, which all flew as well as I can possibly hit, and I decided to stop right there, so as not to use up all my good ones !
After a few GM photo's on the putting green, I was introduced to Paul, - one of Titleist's expert fitters, and a brief chat ensued about general swing etc, and then Paul strategically placed stickers all over my G5 and set up the Launch monitor etc, and left me to hit 1 or 2 more to get comfortable - not easy when you have a small and select audience scrutinising every aspect
After each shot, the data was there to see, Clubhead speed, Ball Speed generated, Angle of Launch, Swing Path, Sidespin generated, Backspin generated, and finally the most important bits, Carry Distance & Landing Point.
Difficult to argue with any of it, and I was encouraged by the good points, mainly in my Launch angle and uber-consistent Clubhead Speed of 100mph, altho I did slip a 99 and a 101 mistakenly too.
So, on to the 909's, and immediately Paul handed me the D2, with the first of possible shafts secured.
Paul was already able to deduce that the D2 was the one for me, mainly, as he later explained, because the DComp helps launch the ball higher, which I didnt need, and I suspect the D3 wouldnt give me the forgiveness that perhaps my off centre shots would require.
You think you 'middle' the ball quite regularly .....right ? Not that hard is it ?
Wrong.
I hit the ball quite well on the day, averaging I think 240/245 carry off the tee, with a little bit of flight irregularity.
However, the data showed that most of my shots were certainly not off the 'sweet' spot, and the 2/3 that I did were noticeable.
So the D2 it was.
We tried maybe 5/6 shafts, ranging from Stiff to 'Regular', (which I couldnt hit at all), some with firmer tips, some with firmer mid-sections, and the rest
I cant recall.
All the way through, Paul kept discussing the data, comparing shots against shots, flights against flights, and every combination of, and taking into account how the shaft felt to me with each shot.
He also went to great length in setting up my preferred Tee height, to the point of breaking the long wooden Titleist tees down to insert into the standard rubber mat tees, until I felt it was my usual height.(I dont tee particularly high with a Driver)
Now I have to admit, perhaps January isnt the best time of the year to be fitted, as my swing was perhaps a little inconsistent in some respects, but regardless of that, it was clear to us that one shaft stood out in providing me with a tighter dispersion pattern than some of the others.
This was the Graphite Desogn YSQ 65-G S-Flex
The longest Drive I hit was with a shaft that was also the most inconsistent, so that was discounted.
Most of the shafts tried gave me perhaps 4/5 more yards, not a great deal you may think, but with Pauls expertise, I'm hoping that my consistency with the Big Fella will be improved, meaning those pesky little shots to get back in play will be minimised.
Lets face it, off 11, all I need is 2 shots saved to reach my dream of Single figures, and that could well be provided by that consistency Paul has tried to help me find. Time will tell.
In the meantime, and until the weather picks up, I will caress my newly arrived 909D2 10.5*, and would like to thank GM enormously for what was a great experience, and all at Titleist for their great help & hospitality.
I cant wait for the Season to start
