Golf fitting! Everything! My experience! Your opinion?

simtaylor17

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Good evening,

I am currently have no official handicap however i go round mainly in the mid 90's. Lowest ever score being 91.

I was using a set of Rogue irons (what are they!), a 15 Degree lofted John Letters Driver, Ben Sayers Hybrid and a Dunlop putter over the last year. This year i want to get my handicap down and start entering competitions and venture on a golfing holiday.

Being 6ft 3 my first port of call this year was to get some new clubs which i purchased last week with my birthday money, and my second port of call getting them custom fit whilst at my golf "MOT" which i did today at a golf megastore.

I was put onto a Vector machine and told to hit some balls as you do, like normal when i was testing my new clubs i would top my shots and send them mostly right of target, i understand this is due to my loft and lie and shaft length etc more than my actual swing. The guy instantly recommended changing 0.5 inch longer and making my lofts more upright. However being the PGA professional he was not, he changed the loft before extending the clubs, (im sure most of you know by extending the shaft length it also increases the lie angle by about 1 degree). Also when i was getting "custom fit" not once did they check my grip thickness. After speaking to my pro and explaining to him everything i went back to the shop and spoke to the manager he said that they will adjust my loft and lie again when i return to the store to pick up my clubs to make sure they are right, the manager also checked my grip and knocked, £20 off the price of fitting which was okay.

During my "MOT" session i was also supposed to get ball fitted, my ball fiting consisted of this conversation. "What ball do you play?" 'Srixon AD333, Srixon Soft Feel, whatever i pick up really.' "I recommend the Bridgestone Fixx as it has a really soft feel to it and the outer core doesnt feel as hard in the winter." 'i play nike clubs so i would like nike balls ideally (i like matching) can you recommend any?' "Seriously i recommend the bridgestones they will suit your swing and get your scores down."

I didn't buy any balls, i wanted to know if you guys have any input on my ball choice?

I asked the guy to check my new driver set-up, started at 11.5 degrees neutral, i hit 3/5 drives dead straight, 2 bad ones that went way right, but this was down to me hitting out the toe. After watching the 5 drives he changed my driver to 11.5 and left, which opened the clubface more. He got me to aim out the toe, it felt weird but i did have a much better ball strike out the middle of the club. But my drives were really inconsistent, like so bad compared to before. To me it seemed like he just changed it for the sake of it. He asked about my new 5 wood and my Hybrid which i said i can hit them well so we left them.

I also purchased 2 Nike VR Forged wedges prior to this session, not once was i asked to hit them either, i had them both re-gripped though, the re-grip was free if you purchased grips from the shop, which i did, however i was charged for them but got the money back when pointing out the offer to the manager, another mistake from the shop.

Not once did i get my putter checked, he just said, "that's a nice putter" I tried about 30 different putters in my local independent pro store, prior to this and purchased a Taylormade White Smoke, which i really really really love. I wasn't to bothered about them missing this area of the "MOT" but he had no intention too.

To me i though the idea of getting custom fit would improve me, but now i am very sceptical about my improvements and worried that i'm just a customer to them, not a golfer.

Sorry about the long first post, i would like your opinion on the matter please.

Next time i buy some irons i think i will just save a bit more money and go to the Ping fitting center in Gainsborough.
 

fundy

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Welcome to the forum

Sadly this sounds like a custom fit only by name, and not by the process they went through and reflects awfully upon what I assume is Direct Golf :(

Its far far better to be custom fitted for the clubs before buying them rather than be custom fitted afterwards and have the clubs altered retrospectively.

A decent custom fit should encompass club head, shaft type, weight and flex, grip type and size, length and lie measurements. Ideally then you'd get a demo club made up as close to this spec as possible and get to hit this before ordering your clubs to your ideal specification.

The driver changes and telling you to try and hit it out of the toe seem very very random and not something Id continue with, if having probs with the driver go and see your pro (and if its an adjustable driver get him to help set it up best for you)

As for the ball fitting, they clearly just wanted to sell you one type of ball rather than finding the best ball for you and explaining why it would improve over what you currently play with. Its a similar enough ball to what you are already playing so you probably wouldnt see much difference
 
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simtaylor17

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Thanks for your quick response.

You hit the jackpot there. However i did purchase the clubs prior to this fitting, as i had tested some out before hand all be it not to my specs though, but i really enjoyed the feel of them in standard form so i assumed they will feel better once custom fit. So i am partly to blame for that i admit.



I am in 2 minds whether to just suck it up and play for the year or sell up my bag, to which i will take a loss and start the custom fit process again and properly.

Absolutely i have learned my driver technique through my own practice and youtube etc, im not a tour pro, a specialist or a custom fitter but i thought why would i aim out the toe of my driver.

Again thanks for confirming my thoughts, srixon soft feel, soft is in the name, they're soft enough.

Thanks again for your help. What are your thoughts on selling up and starting the process again after just paying £70 to get my clubs changed?
I really want to get better and want no excuses to hinder my peformance.
 

fundy

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Its very hard to advise you whats best to do, but if you have doubts over the clubs then it certainly wont help you as you'll constantly be questioning them. Personally I think Id approach a local pro (the club pro if you're a club member), explain the full situation to him and get him to advise whether the clubs are suitable as they are, if not if he can adjust them to be so or whether you should sell and start again. Obviously having to do this will be a very costly exercise which you ideally want to try and avoid if you can
 

HomerJSimpson

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Welcome along. Out of interest where are you based. There are plenty of good fitters around without having to go to Ping HQ (although you'll not regret it if you did) and you may/should be able to try a lot of different manufacturers and shaft options. They will be well use to the taller golfer too and will make proper adjustments accordingly
 

simtaylor17

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Absolutely I am having doubts, I will go speak to my pro on Monday after I've picked the club's up.

If he's not happy then ill be selling the clubs and getting fitted properly with him (I should of done this the first time but I needed a whole new set up so I was trying to keep costs down). I got my irons for £155 which is quite cheap not realising it would cost me another £70 to get them changed. Another £100 and I could of had some brand new pings fitted properly.

I'm sorry to drag this on but it's really got to me. Hopefully I'll go to my pro and everything will be okay. Then I can get on with the game and sort my handicap out.

I'm based in Sutton bridge I'm in the border of 3 counties, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. I play my golf at Sutton bridge and Tydd St Giles. Kings Lynn golf course is about 20 minutes from my house that was in the top 100 courses last year I believe.
 

john0

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With regards to addressing the driver out the toe, next time your setup like this lift the driver off the ground a little so it is in a similar position to impact and then look at where the ball is in relation to the club face.
 

Pin-seeker

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With regards to addressing the driver out the toe, next time your setup like this lift the driver off the ground a little so it is in a similar position to impact and then look at where the ball is in relation to the club face.
Is this how you setup?
 
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