Last week I participated in my first-ever driver fitting. It was my first experience using a TrackMan, and it was a pleasant one. After 90 minutes of tinkering around with shafts / clubheads, I was able to see ~ 20 yard gains in the new "fitted" club vs my current driver.

The quote for my new optimized driver was roughly $950. Let's not forget that these places are incentivized to sell you the newest (and most expensive) shaft / club!

I politely declined to purchase the club that they recommended. With your fitting, comes a spreadsheet that includes all of the specifications of your optimized club.

I spent the next couple of days doing some research on golf shafts. My goal was to find one with similar specifications as the one that was recommended to me. Fortunately, I have some very knowledgeable friends who gave me guidance on which specs were key to shaft performance (tip flex, weight). Much like golf clubs, the shafts depreciate in value each year.

I was able to find around five shafts that had the specs I was looking for -- all roughly one to three years old. After some additional eBay hawking, I was able to get a sense of which clubs these shafts were typically found in. In my case, Fujikara's seemed common in TaylorMade drivers.

Next up was a trip to GolfSmith. By knowing what clubs typically have the shafts, it was relatively easy to filter out TM clubs and start there. I was lucky to find ~10 drivers that fit the profile of what I needed. After a few swings with each in the simulator, I selected my favorite, had a new grip put on it, and was out the door for only $40 after tax.

I might not have my fully optimized club, but I'm a lot closer than I was. With $900+ saved, it is well worth it to me.

Hopefully, my experience can help some of you to be resourceful, learn a bit about clubs along the way, and save some money!

hey, great stuff... i want to get the same done.... my dad did something similar and gained a ton of roll with new driver.

can you give us some flavour on your swing? what you were using and what you are now using?

also, did they suggest any changes to your swing? something i've always wondered about fitting is should they really fit you to a mediocre (or worse) swing?.... basically thinking specifically of angle of approach on driver

thanks again!!! p.s. thinking i'm going to go to a place in beaverton, outside portland oregon (redtail name??)

One thing I'd like to add -- I don't mean for my OP to come across to imply these places are trying to rip you off. It's just a function of their inventory being the newest shafts/clubs which come at no discount.

As far as my profile -- I am probably ~ a 3 handicap at the moment.

Current Driver is one one of the older Titleist ones (I think 905s). Not sure what shaft is in it and I don't have the club handy, sorry.

Clubhead speed was around 98 and ball speed was around 150. Smash factor of 1.51-1.52 which is apparently pretty good.

Carry / Total distances were 225/245 respectively with my current driver. I think my launch was around 10 degrees and spin rate was around 3800 (though I may be off on those #s).

After a switch, I was able to get my launch around 12 degrees and spin around 2600. Carry went up to about 245-248 consistently.

They didn't change anything with my swing. I'd estimate that I hit about 70 drivers that day, ~5 with each club combination that was made for me.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

Find any good resources for shaft flex comparisons? I think this is a good route to go for me, because I'm trying to get a 44.5 inch driver this year, and I'm afraid of just taking a hail mary on one expensive shaft vs maybe being able to try out a couple for the same price (and likely same performance).

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but a perfect(maximum) smash factor is 1.5. It's physically impossible for a smash factor to be higher.

So (assuming true) I'm not sure what that means. Either you misremembered or the numbers spit out are not accurate.

BO

Heh, ironically that is the one # I'm 100% certain of because the fitter remarked that 1.51-1.52 was exceptional (and that 1.53 was the absolute ceiling).

That's news to me. Would love to hear if the Trackman experts confirm this.

But yes, if you can't carry it 300+, you are a puss. At least as far as this forum goes! Where's Eman anyway?

BO

I hit some drivers last week on Trackman and got a few 1.51s too, but mostly averaged around 1.45-1.48. (A shame my club speed was only 95!)

It is just the ratio of club speed to ball speed (so 100mph club speed & 150 ball speed = 1.50) so I don't see why 1.50 should be an absolute maximum, although I guess its probably difficult to exceed it by much with compliant clubs & balls.

According to trackman the tour average is 1.49

Tour Smash Factor stats:

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02403.html

Tour best is 1.485

Weird..

Trackman doesn't measure clubhead speed perfectly, it attempts to measure CHS at the center of the driver.

The toe of the driver is moving significantly faster than the center, so it's possible to have the center of the clubhead moving 100 mph, hit the ball off the toe (which is moving at 103+ mph) and get ball speed of 153 mph, leading to a 1.53 smashfactor reading.

this

what was old loft vs new?

any insight on stiffness?... although assume they get really specific

20 yards extra carry on an already good drive is impressive

Both driver heads have 9.5* on them.

Old launch was probably around 10* and new launch is around 12*. With my spin rate / ball speed, I was told that 12-12.5 would be optimal.

I'm not sure on the specifics on the shaft (both have stiff printed on them) but I will say that my ball flight has taken a noticeable change with the new club. Keep in mind that I haven't hit outside yet, so this is all based on shots in the same simulator.

New shot shape definitely seems a lot more piercing with a different type of lift. I'd almost compare it to the first few seconds when you throw a paper airplane, how it sort of just rises (but doesn't balloon). I'm playing for the first time in a few days so I'll be sure to report back with a specific analysis of the difference in clubs.

In the summer a couple of NCAA guys hit at my range. Their drives defy gravity/logic

with your new carry distance and flight trajectory, how much roll did you get for total distance?

Oh my at the first driver launch and spin.

FYI

Optimal launch conditions for your ball speed would be

Overachieving:

>15.5* launch angle

<2250 RPMs

Achieving

15.5-11.5* launch angle

2250-2850 RPMs

Underachieving

<11.5* launch angle

>2850 RPMs

So even with the new driver you are currently at the low end of the "Achievers" range(but better than "Underachieving" with your old driver), and could gain more distance by hitting it higher with less spin. That's why I asked you about the SLDR bc the way it is designed its really the only driver on the market IMO that can enable you to launch it pretty high while keeping the spin rate low.

FTR I went from an 8* R11(with a relatively high ball flight) to a 10.5* SLDR and am going to experiment with even more loft this weekend.

Think its worth it for an 18 handicap to do something like this? I've been waffling on buying new clubs for like 3 years now because I'm not sure it would be worth it.

I would definitely recommend it. I was probably around an 18 when I got fitted a few years back; I had a terrible slice and hit the ball very high, so I kept going to lower lofts on the driver and (of course) continued hitting banana balls.

The place I went to charged like $30 for the fitting (it would have been deducted had I purchased a driver there), and it was worth every cent. They told me I needed a 12*, which just floored me, as I already hit the ball high. Bought a Ping Rapture with a stiff shaft and started hitting fairway after fairway, most of the time straight, sometimes with a baby fade. HUGE difference in my game.

After a couple of years with that driver, I felt that I had improved my swing enough to try for more distance with a lower loft. (Also, while I don't have much of a golf ego, it's a bit rough to hit the exact same driver as your 70-year-old father-in-law.) Now have a 9.5 Ping i15 that I found on Craigslist for $90. Probably should get fitted again sometime in the near future, although I'm happy with the i15.

I would say fitting is well worth it for irons as well.

Lol, I've had a 10.5* Ping G5 for 7 years. This stuff goes way over my head.

I may look into getting new clubs soon. My current bag is:

Ping G10 9.5* driver
Ping G10 14* 3 wood
Cleveland TA7 irons
Cleveland 53* gap wedge
Snake Eyes 60*
Ping Zing 2 putter

I've never been fitted for anything, but was hitting a 10.5* Nike driver 20-30 yards further and with a high cut and some roll when I played with some rentals last fall. My normal ball flight with drivers I hit well is somewhere from a very high dead straight ball to a slight draw with somehow no roll whatsoever (as in I often either plug or backspin drives in damp conditions while others at least kick forward 10-15 yards).

The only thing I wouldn't dump if I changed my bag is my putter unless there is a convincing argument for technology there (I can't imagine there is). I have had this putter since I bought it with my birthday money on my 11th birthday and anything else feels and looks funny to me.

When I got "fitted" 12 years ago for irons the machine gave me completely different ball flights than ones I had ever hit or actually hit so I don't know if I trust them.

Is there a specific type of store you would go to for fitting or are they all the same? Is a PGA Superstore as good as anything? Can you really tell what ball flight and distance are on trackman machines or are they still unreliable? I'm worried about getting fitted then going out and hitting completely different ball flight or distances especially since the roll on my driver has always seemed to be projected as high when I have tried machines and irl I get nothing.

I think anyone can benefit from club fitting provided that you can make consistent contact on a semi-regular basis.

I'm playing my first couple of rounds this weekend. I'll be sure to use the new driver / old driver and report back on the differences I am hopeful to see.

I hit the SLDR 430 today at Dicks for the hell of it since the pro was actually there and he used to be the pro at my club and gave me lessons when I was a kid. First TM club Ive hit in years since I refused to buy their stuff because of how often they released products but if the monitor at Dicks was actually correct, all I can say is WOW. TM hit a home run with this club and I dont like TM. I hit the TP model which is a bit heavier of a shaft in the driver than I prefer so Im going to have to try a lighter shaft. I wasn't even swinging great and was getting a 16* launch angle and spin was pretty consistent around 2200-2500. Had one at 1522 and couldnt believe it but also had some around 2800-2900 but for a miss I think that spin rate is pretty good. Going to hit it next weekend at a demo outside and hopefully they have a Trackman there. I know they will for sure have a flightscope.


Edit: Thought this thread was about something else but I got it confused with a WRX thread. My post isnt necessarily relevant to the topic but everyone should probably check this driver out

This is a pretty cool coincidence: I, too, got fitted this week for a new driver (I'm guessing at a very similar facility). My handicap is right at scratch and my current driver is a Titleist 905T. The guy who fitted me didn't trust the readings we got inside, so we're fitting outside next week.

Quick trip report:

Played twice this weekend with the new driver. I can't believe it took me so long to get fitted for a club.

I brought along the old driver just for some apples-to-apples comparisons and the differences were mind blowing.

The whole ball flight / trajectory on my shots with the new driver is just so much better. The courses were decently firm and I would say that I absolutely picked up atleast 20 yards of carry and, combined with the firm conditions, maybe a total of 30 yards in combined distance.

While the new distance is nice, the biggest thing was the control. The confidence I had was part-performance / part-placebo I'm sure, but it makes the game so ridiculously easy when you can just step up and nail a baby cut down any hole without fear of a miss left.