R.Matthews-Williams does an Orka fitting (video)

[Orikoru]

I know we've had a thread on RMW and probably ones on Orka, but I watched this last night and there were a couple of discussion points to be had I felt. Obviously there are a few Orka fans on this forum, and they come out of this very well, and probably less RMW fans, but I felt he did them a great service here with this video. Suspicions that getting a good deal might have something to do with that, but he does seem genuinely impressed by the process.

'Tis a half hour video, but to summarise the main points:

Firstly, they measure they loft and lie of his current clubs (which I think they later reveal to be TaylorMade) and the lofts are all stronger than what the specs are meant to be, plus the lie angle is slightly off as well. This was a bit of an eye-opener that they were as much as 2.5 or 3 degrees out on loft?? I wasn't a big TM fan anyway but this is a bad look for them. Alex in the video suggests they are not the only manufacturer he finds this with though.

Moving on to the actual custom fit, the difference he gets yardage-wise is staggering. 25-30 yard gains with a club which was actually 1° weaker than his old one?? That's mad, if it's to be believed. Seemingly all it took was bring his spin numbers down. But will he find it harder to stop balls on the green now potentially?

The video gave me a lot of food for thought, and when I replace my irons (probably not for a couple of years realistically) I would really like to do something like this if money allows, but that's a big 'if' for me unfortunately.

 

[Jacko_G]

All clubs, especially forged irons "move" over time, swinging a club into the ground at 80+ mph is obviously going to have an impact on the metal after a while. If he was upgrading from an older set of used Orka (or any other manufacturer) I would expect the same/similar results.

It also shows the benefits of a "proper" custom fit. A proper custom fit like this one can have a positive effect on anyone's game. Good advert for Orka and custom fit.

 

[Imurg]

I did watch it last night and I can't remember if his TMs were fitted to him or not..something tells me they weren't.
So I'd expect Alex to get a decent improvement in everything
Maybe not as much as he got but still a decent amount.
Only problem he has now is that has to tweak both ends of the bag as well.
Costly!

 

[Orikoru]

All clubs, especially forged irons "move" over time, swinging a club into the ground at 80+ mph is obviously going to have an impact on the metal after a while. If he was upgrading from an older set of used Orka (or any other manufacturer) I would expect the same/similar results.

It also shows the benefits of a "proper" custom fit. A proper custom fit like this one can have a positive effect on anyone's game. Good advert for Orka and custom fit.

I'm assuming you haven't watched it, Alex says in the video that lofts may become weaker over time for the reason you mention (repeated hitting), but Robin's irons were actually stronger than they were supposed to be, hence them putting it down to bad manufacturing.

I did watch it last night and I can't remember if his TMs were fitted to him or not..something tells me they weren't.
So I'd expect Alex to get a decent improvement in everything
Maybe not as much as he got but still a decent amount.
Only problem he has now is that has to tweak both ends of the bag as well.
Costly!

I think he stated his previous irons weren't fit, he just bought some blades he liked the look of. As you say, I'd expect a little improvement from the fitting but almost 30 yards is staggering. You are right though, if he's hitting a 7 iron 200 yards he's going to need about 5 wedges now.

 

[patricks148]

interesting, he can obviously hit a ball, but my worry what happens when you are hitting a 7 iron 200 yards, what are you having to do from 100 yards????

 

[Imurg]

interesting, he can obviously hit a ball, but my worry what happens when you are hitting a 7 iron 200 yards, what are you having to do from 100 yards????

3/4 lob wedge?

 

[patricks148]

3/4 lob wedge?

glad i don't hit it these distances we have a couple of short 320 yard holes you really need to be hitting a full shot to stop the ball so would be a 7 iron and 58 deg, mind you i suppose you could reach the green with a 3 wood

 

[Bwgan]

It's a strange one that video, surely you'd be happy with your 7 iron going 175 with more spin? Youd of thought he quite a big gap at the bottom and at the top his 4/5 iron running into his woods?
Cross field is always going on about you need as much spin as possible, the course is forever taking it off. Say that new 7 iron is in light wet rough, you could see it going 220! 😳

 

[Jacko_G]

I'm assuming you haven't watched it, Alex says in the video that lofts may become weaker over time for the reason you mention (repeated hitting), but Robin's irons were actually stronger than they were supposed to be, hence them putting it down to bad manufacturing.


I think he stated his previous irons weren't fit, he just bought some blades he liked the look of. As you say, I'd expect a little improvement from the fitting but almost 30 yards is staggering. You are right though, if he's hitting a 7 iron 200 yards he's going to need about 5 wedges now.

Nope I didn't watch it as I can't think of anything more boring than watching another person getting CF!

 

[Orikoru]

It's a strange one that video, surely you'd be happy with your 7 iron going 175 with more spin? Youd of thought he quite a big gap at the bottom and at the top his 4/5 iron running into his woods?
Cross field is always going on about you need as much spin as possible, the course is forever taking it off. Say that new 7 iron is in light wet rough, you could see it going 220! 😳

I see what you mean, he did say that getting less height was something he wanted to get out of the fitting though. He didn't even particularly want to hit it further, that somehow just happened organically, by reducing the spin I guess. It seems like more of a 1st world problem than I'll ever have to face thankfully.

 

[fundy]

Alex doing what Alex does

 

[GB72]

I know, first time I went to see Alex he basically gave me a lesson and was willing to send me in my way with no charge (I wanted new irons so did end up buying a set)

 

[r0wly86]

When I got my clubs built the builder, who is master club builder, was very clear that the shaft is the most important thing in the club. The club head for all intent and purposes is there just to compress the ball. Although of course there will be some difference in the club heads, the shaft is king.

So he could make the lofts softer and get better distances, if the new shafts were perfect for his size and swing

 

[UlyssesSky]

Firstly, they measure they loft and lie of his current clubs (which I think they later reveal to be TaylorMade) and the lofts are all stronger than what the specs are meant to be, plus the lie angle is slightly off as well. This was a bit of an eye-opener that they were as much as 2.5 or 3 degrees out on loft?? I wasn't a big TM fan anyway but this is a bad look for them. Alex in the video suggests they are not the only manufacturer he finds this with though.

Got this from my teaching pro, who got it from a callaway rep: the manufacturing tolerance of all the big manufacturers is about 5-6%. So for iron lofts, this means you can easily have about 2° deviation from the stated specs.

 

[MendieGK]

Anyone notice another bald guy in the video? 😂

 

[Orikoru]

Got this from my teaching pro, who got it from a callaway rep: the manufacturing tolerance of all the big manufacturers is about 5-6%. So for iron lofts, this means you can easily have about 2° deviation from the stated specs.

I find that very odd. My 6 and 7 irons are only 4° apart so in an extreme example you could have two irons the exact same loft.

 

[UlyssesSky]

I find that very odd. My 6 and 7 irons are only 4° apart so in an extreme example you could have two irons the exact same loft.

Yep, that could acutally happen.

I experienced something similar with the length of my irons. They were supposed to be 0.5" longer. When I went for a Putter Fitting at a fitter/club builder, he offered to check the specs of my irons for free. Most of the lofts were off, even though not that much. But all shafts were longer than they should be, in some cases by almonst another 0.5"...

 

[fundy]

I find that very odd. My 6 and 7 irons are only 4° apart so in an extreme example you could have two irons the exact same loft.

When Alex first checked my original irons I had 2 irons that had 1 degree between them and then i think an 8 degree gap to the next one! Not one of the irons was the exact loft it shouldve been

Getting them rechecked at the end of the summer always worth doing too if you have forged irons

 

[patricks148]

When Alex first checked my original irons I had 2 irons that had 1 degree between them and then i think an 8 degree gap to the next one! Not one of the irons was the exact loft it shouldve been

Getting them rechecked at the end of the summer always worth doing too if you have forged irons

Yes, i remember posting on here some time ago when i had my MP 62 checked and had two irons of almost the same loft, as you say they were forged, not sure its such an issue with cast irons

 

[clubchamp98]

I find that very odd. My 6 and 7 irons are only 4° apart so in an extreme example you could have two irons the exact same loft.

How would one get stronger and one get weaker?
Can understand lofts moving but would think they would both go the same way in normal use.
Maybe one for the experts.