Who's the lucky M3/M4 testers?

[dufferman]

Thought I might have a chance at this one - short notice, local to me, available Friday... but no email

Who are the lucky ones for the Taylormade fitting tomorrow?

 

[karlcole]

Same as day off Friday for me
And had a felling I’d be lucky, someone’s going to have a great day!

 

[upsidedown]

Having got lucky with the M1 last year , know they'll have a great day.

 

[BubbaP]

Well thank you dufferman. I thought the announcement had been and gone, but after reading this looked at my email to realise one had arrived this afternoon. Some hasty rejigging and I can confirm I am one of the lucky ones. Just popped to hit some balls to calm down

 

[Fore Right!]

Having got lucky with the M1 last year , know they'll have a great day.

Yep would love opportunity to be custom fitted for driver and had everything crossed for this one - even got afternoon work meeting creatively moved not too far away just in case successful. Whoever has got it I'm sure will have a great time

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Well thank you dufferman. I thought the announcement had been and gone, but after reading this looked at my email to realise one had arrived this afternoon. Some hasty rejigging and I can confirm I am one of the lucky ones. Just popped to hit some balls to calm down

It will be wasted on you Iain, I'll give you my specs and you can insist they give you one to match. I'll see you alright mate, I'll buy you a pint :cheers:

Nice one, congratulations :thup:

 

[BubbaP]

It will be wasted on you Iain, I'll give you my specs and you can insist they give you one to match. I'll see you alright mate, I'll buy you a pint :cheers:

Nice one, congratulations :thup:

Ha ha, I thought they were designed for missing the sweet-spot!

Need to make sure the I negotiate A34/M4 etc okay to not miss the slot.

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 17920]

Well thank you dufferman. I thought the announcement had been and gone, but after reading this looked at my email to realise one had arrived this afternoon. Some hasty rejigging and I can confirm I am one of the lucky ones. Just popped to hit some balls to calm down

Nice one Iain :thup: Enjoy.

 

[BTatHome]

Not me, didn't even enter this one, as I'm currently on the Isle of Wight with our school trip all week. No chance of making it, which currently seems the norm for these opportunities!

 

[Lazkir]

Too far saaf for me to bother putting my name in the hat... great opportunity though and gratz to the guys that got it.

Could do with some a bit further north.. Gainsborough isn't too far away, when's the next Ping one?

 

[BubbaP]

Nice one Iain :thup: Enjoy.

Thanks, the irony of the location was not lost on me!

 

[BubbaP]

First off a big thank you to Golf Monthly and TaylorMade for the opportunity. Am rubbish at rembering names, but also thanks specifically to Jake for hosting, Matt the fitter, man from TM and the photographer for all looking after us.

As is customary a bit of a write up follows for those who are interested.
On arrival Chris was already there, and we had actually met and played together on a prior GM day out so that was a pleasant surprise. After a butty and drink we walked through the course over the range. West Hill was looking good.
Chris was up first. He may expand on the details, but he seemed to go through both heads and a number of shafts while Matt refined, and by the end I hope he doesn’t mind me saying but was a bit like a a heavyweight boxer after 12 grueling rounds, looking a little range/driver fatigued. Seemed like Matt found him something to suit though.
Going second I had a chance to do a slower warm up trying to find some consistency ready for my go. When my turn, started off hitting some fairly decent looking shots with my current stick (of course the best two failed to register!). I have historically suffered from a downward angle of attack, but pleasingly (for me) this seemed closer to neutral although I still kept snapping the tees. Matt quickly analysed the data and seemed very confident straight off and put me on a M4 9.5 with a shaft a little longer than my current. He explained the pathing & angles were good and wanted to try and eek some more out. Results were immediately good. He showed me some of the better numbers, but still felt the loft-spin combination (I think that was it) could improve further, and then gave me an 8.5. I wasn’t expecting that! Undeterred off I went and proceeded to hit a set of crackers. As I was in a bit of a rythm Jake handed me back my own driver just to see. Whilst the shots were okay, the difference was clear. Carrying further, and rolling out more with the fitted club.
From memory it was the Tensei white shaft (maybe 60 S), slight shortened (although still a little longer than my current).

 

[BubbaP]

It is said many times the importance of fitting, and today’s experience for me showed just that. I would not have expected the 8.5 loft. I believe I was adding dynamic loft which I guess is a flaw I could improve upon, but I could not argue with the results (today). I tend to think of loft as a friend for accuracy, but I was really accurate with it (today).
For those still reading, a bit of context. I picked up the F6+ in the Autumn partly to have a play with an adjustable driver, not fitted but did have a little dabble on a launch monitor and I reckoned I was going to go with 9.5 & weights forward. I have not played much over the winter but when I did go out, I had played with the settings and had set to 10.5 weights back. Partly curiosity and partly conscious of the boggy conditions and I was not game sharp. On a shortened wet course the results had been good. Had a bit of a dilemma in terms of what to set for today, so left it on 10.5 and centred the weights. Today seemed to indicate my hunch probably was not far off, but also inevitably, not optimum.
For a subjective bit, I have in the past hit some of the previous TM offerings off the shelf and have seen long shots but never felt in control, and that just isn’t my game. If I don’t feel confident of fairway then I am usually hitting a shorter club. The M4 felt nicely weighted, sounded on impact good to me, and I really felt in control of it.
All in all, a great experience and can’t wait for it to arrive. A bit of anxiety in that will my swing by anything similar next week/month, but if I can come close to the fitting stats on course I should be setting up for some decent rounds/holes in 2018.
Cheers

 

[BubbaP]

Couple of quick pics

 

[Deleted member 17920]

Nice write up Iain.

i thought it was all about lofting up so very interesting that you will be getting a 8.5 driver.

 

[BubbaP]

Yup, definitely #loftdown for me.
Just remembered when sldr was new TM were at the club and he had me hitting a 12 head turned down 11.5 to try and counteract my then sling hook.
8.5 on the surface seems crazy with my sub 100 swing. As I said probably mostly correcting my impact, although there is a big ol' weight in the back so perhaps a bit like with the iron lofts strengthening - well I can kid myself with that.
I did tell myself to trust the fitter and monitor!

 

[upsidedown]

Great write up, thanks for sharing .

 

[PJ87]

Yup, definitely #loftdown for me.
Just remembered when sldr was new TM were at the club and he had me hitting a 12 head turned down 11.5 to try and counteract my then sling hook.
8.5 on the surface seems crazy with my sub 100 swing. As I said probably mostly correcting my impact, although there is a big ol' weight in the back so perhaps a bit like with the iron lofts strengthening - well I can kid myself with that.
I did tell myself to trust the fitter and monitor!

I sometimes think I need to loft down a bit, I play 10.5 degree, slow swing indeed however the height I get out of my drives is insane, everyone comments how high they go. mate of mine plays 15 degree driver. 11 handicap and I must present more loft than he does with it because my height is about 10-20 yards heigher than his

anyways great write up and enjoy that club!

 

[Junior]

Glad you enjoyed your day. Sounds fantastic.

I was going to go in for it but I think Cobra clubs and Puma clothes are miles better. :whoo:

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Glad you enjoyed your day. Sounds fantastic.

I was going to go in for it but I think Cobra clubs and Puma clothes are miles better. :whoo:

I was waiting for you to mention something after seeing it on Twitter

Congrats mate - sounds like a great deal. Is it a full bag you are getting

And as for the OP - good choice on the M4 , its what i have just put into the bag with the Tensei Blue Stiff