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

[Imurg]

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.

Production tolerance
Say, the 6 iron is 2° strong but within manufacturing tolerance and the 5 iron is 2° weak and within the same tolerance - Bingo..you have 2 irons with the same loft

 

[clubchamp98]

Production tolerance
Say, the 6 iron is 2° strong but within manufacturing tolerance and the 5 iron is 2° weak and within the same tolerance - Bingo..you have 2 irons with the same loft

Ok so out of the factory.

 

[Imurg]

Ok so out of the factory.

Yeah.
What should happen, possibly does occasionally but not often enough, is that specs get checked and any adjustments made.
The big manufacturers don't do this often enough.

 

[Parsaregood]

Yeah.
What should happen, possibly does occasionally but not often enough, is that specs get checked and any adjustments made.
The big manufacturers don't do this often enough.

Tbh the place you buy the irons from should do this as a matter of course

 

[MendieGK]

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.

Cheers for posting this. I agree it’s a good thing for us.

I can honestly say, we were wowed by the improvement in robins numbers, I hit his irons before the fitting and they just didn’t go anywhere, even I noticed it.

With regards to stopping the ball now with less spin, he was still spinning it at a good number and his apex was around 38yds. Still high for most people.

There is absolutely no smoke and mirrors in this fitting. We took out some of the shots robin ‘pulled’ with the irons as he was carrying it even further and a pull is quite clearly not his shot - he is a fader.

Happy to answer any questions people may have

 

[garyinderry]

I've watched a bit of his videos.


Pretty sure his old irons where just a set from Ebay he liked the look of. Guaranteed to have wonky lofts and lies.

 

[Tiger man]

Just watched the video and while the numbers looked great in a warm studio off a mat when he was swinging out his shoes. I'd be a bit worried how he would fare taking the set up to the real world with the course taking spin off through grass, moisture, temperatures other than the summer months and him probably not going at the shots 100% like this could see the shaft become a bit much to handle. Could easily see his spin dropping a further thousand and control becoming difficult.

 

[Parsaregood]

I'd much rather see spin numbers around the thousand correlating to the iron number, I use blades for this very reason, much better distance control and less variance out of the semi-rough. I'm sure the guy would fit for these requirements if you asked, you will reduce carry distance but gain much more control in my experience

 

[PJ87]

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????

Is an interesting one

My boss is a long hitter.. anything under 100 yards he struggles with because unless he goes full speed at a shot he struggles

If your lob wedge goes 100 yards what next a super lob wedge? Lol have to learn to play more skillful however that a whole other art surely

 

[Parsaregood]

Is an interesting one

My boss is a long hitter.. anything under 100 yards he struggles with because unless he goes full speed at a shot he struggles

If your lob wedge goes 100 yards what next a super lob wedge? Lol have to learn to play more skillful however that a whole other art surely

I hit my 58 wedge 96 on the fly, a half shot goes 70, anything under that is just feel, I never have a problem gapping. It's just a case of using different length or a different tempo to get the distances. I can also hit a half 52 wedge 90 but obviously with a lower trajectory and less spin than a 58. I only carry a 47 pitching wedge a 52 and a 58. Never found a yardage I feel I cant hit with one of the 3 wedges, although I dont just hit the same shot all the time

 

[Orikoru]

Cheers for posting this. I agree it’s a good thing for us.

I can honestly say, we were wowed by the improvement in robins numbers, I hit his irons before the fitting and they just didn’t go anywhere, even I noticed it.

With regards to stopping the ball now with less spin, he was still spinning it at a good number and his apex was around 38yds. Still high for most people.

There is absolutely no smoke and mirrors in this fitting. We took out some of the shots robin ‘pulled’ with the irons as he was carrying it even further and a pull is quite clearly not his shot - he is a fader.

Happy to answer any questions people may have

No need to thank me, I found the vid really interesting. I also recognised the studio as it's where I did my putting fitting with Ed two and a half years ago.

I suppose I have one question about Orka, since you offered - why are they so secretive about pricing? No guidance on the website for that, not even a ballpark figure.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Happy to answer any questions people may have

Sam, what are the basic figures you'd hope to get for a 7 iron fitting (besides the spin rate of 6k) such as launch angle, apex height , amount of run out, for a club speed of 90mph?

 

[Imurg]

I would say it's tricky to accurately give prices as it will depend on the head/shaft/grip combo you have
The shops will sell you a basic head/shaft/grip at a certain price and there may be no upcharge for shafts or grips bit then there may be..
With Orka there is a head at price 'X' plus whatever shaft you have at whatever that costs plus whatever grip you have at whatever that costs.
They're not cheap but they're not extortionate either. - probably somewhere in the £120-140 per club range.

 

[r0wly86]

Agree with Imurg, if you go to a club builder where you have no standard set and you build the set to yourself the variations are wide and so very difficult to put a price on. A range would be too wide to bother with. Also as most builders don't carry a lot of stock with them, they will order in shafts etc and usually from the USA so prices can vary depending on exchange rates, steel rates etc.

My wife got a set of the CTis which is I believe the cheapest head in Orka's range. 5-SW with Jiskei IT50 graphie shafts and Champkey grips which came to £660 inc. VAT. Although we got them from a third part club builder and not ORKA themselves so may have been cheaper through them.

My clubs admittedly not Orka, but probably about the same price point as their RS10MB came to £1010 inc. VATfor 4-PW with Nippon shafts.

Not cheap, but value for money in my eyes if you were to buy an OEM set at those prices you are getting much more for your money from Orka and you know the clubs are built for you, not just slightly altered

 

[UlyssesSky]

I would say it's tricky to accurately give prices as it will depend on the head/shaft/grip combo you have

They could still simply put "from xxx GBP per club" on their website. Or give the price of a "typical" head/shaft/grip combo and explain that the final price may vary depending on the individual set-up.

I don't like it when companies don't have public price lists for their products. Kind of turns me away tbh. Most companies do that so you have to actively approach them because they know that once you're in a conversation with them they have a much higher chance of selling you their stuff.

 

[Jacko_G]

Unit price per head.

£X for these shafts
£X for this shaft
£X for these grips etc etc

Can always add a disclaimer re extra work and prices are guide only.

 

[patricks148]

They could still simply put "from xxx GBP per club" on their website. Or give the price of a "typical" head/shaft/grip combo and explain that the final price may vary depending on the individual set-up.

I don't like it when companies don't have public price lists for their products. Kind of turns me away tbh. Most companies do that so you have to actively approach them because they know that once you're in a conversation with them they have a much higher chance of selling you their stuff.

agree, if there is no shaft upgrade costs what the problem, i'd imagine as you say would put plenty off with no price, as the old saying goes "if you have to ask you can't afford it"

 

[r0wly86]

Unit price per head.

£X for these shafts
£X for this shaft
£X for these grips etc etc

Can always add a disclaimer re extra work and prices are guide only.

The number of shafts and grips available is very large. It would get quite complicated to put it on a website.

Nippon have 20 different steel shafts alone, if they stick Hiskei and KBS you would be giving pricing information for 60+ shafts, add in grips which again is a massive area of choice, and you would be in excel spreadsheet territory.

 

[r0wly86]

agree, if there is no shaft upgrade costs what the problem, i'd imagine as you say would put plenty off with no price, as the old saying goes "if you have to ask you can't afford it"

there is no upgrade as there is no standard. That's the point of Orka and other boutique brands that they build the club to you, they don't start with an off the shelf and adjust. There is no "off the shelf" option

 

[patricks148]

there is no upgrade as there is no standard. That's the point of Orka and other boutique brands that they build the club to you, they don't start with an off the shelf and adjust. There is no "off the shelf" option

but if they are not charging you extra for shafts , why not be able to put a price "from" at least you would have a starting point rather that no idea?