Mizuno fitting system?

[sonomajake]

Has anyone tried this out yet? And what have your experiences been with the results?

[TempoIsKey]

I'm curious myself. The Edwin Watts in Nashville is getting one and I'm planning on going down when they get it.

[kleraudio]

Its some little computer they put on the shaft and you take a few swing with it and some numbers pop up. The pro then inputs these numbers into his computer and wallah, you have the correct shaft and head for your game and swing!

This is what the pro down the street from my house told me. He has used it but its not available to us for a couple more weeks. He said its the coolest thing he's ever seen in fitting.

Hope that clears up a little at least!

[verse214]

I'm using one tomorrow at the Mizuno demo day in NJ!

Totally friggin psyched

[TempoIsKey]

I'm using one tomorrow at the Mizuno demo day in NJ!

Make sure to let us know how it goes!

[verse214]

Make sure to let us know how it goes!

I definitely will -- I'm looking to replace my 52's (albeit slowly and steadily) and I would like to get a blended set of 58's and 68's.

We'll see how the demo goes first. There's a chance I might just get a full set of 58's if I don't like the blades (or if the blades don't like me )

[Gezzy72]

I cant wait to try one. I just wonder if its any better than the rest of them

[verse214]

So I just got back from the demo day out in Flanders, NJ. I drove about an hour from NYC to get there but it was definitely worth it. I currently play MP 52's in Project X 5.5 and I have a draw swing that sometimes will hook further left than I like. I've been playing for a year and this has been my first set of irons. As my swing progressed, I always thought that the ball going left was because of the lie of the clubs as I had them bent 1* upright a month after I started playing golf.

So I get to the demo day and warm up and ask the guy to use the "shaft optimizer". It's a "computer"-like thing on a graphite shaft and what looked to be an mp head (didn't look closely enough to see which mp model). Real light club. I hit three balls and the guy writes a bunch of numbers. I forget the order of what is what except for the swing speed (which is the largest number). Other stats included were "toe up", "toe down", "load point", and "release point". My numbers are below:

92, 3, 5,5,7
90,4,5,6,8
93,4,5,5,7

Then he handed these numbers off to his assistant who runs off and throws them in a machine and comes back with suggestions. I got 3 steel shaft suggestions and 1 graphite:

Dynalite Gold XP S-300
Project X 6.0
KBS X Flex
IS2 Tour Spec Stiff (Graphite)

I ended up picking the KBS X Flex and I ordered a blended set of 68's and 58's. While I was hitting with the x-flex, I did not hook the ball at all, whatsoever. It eliminated the left side for me which I had always attributed to lie.

Everyone should go try this...

[verse214]

Just to add to my above post as I was in a hurry writing that:

The shaft optimizer is definitely really cool - regardless of whether it's just a bs selling tool or if it really works. There was someone else there who had similar SS #'s to me but the system suggested a different 3 shafts than mine. I didn't hear his other numbers but they were obviously different from what i churned out.

As soon as I hit the KB tour X-flex, I was in love. It's a little off topic but it played like the "flex" of my PX 5.5's except sturdier (or boardier). I hit both the 58's and the 68's in the kb x flex and the trajectory for the 6 iron for the 68's were perfect - nice and low. Trajectory was a little higher on the mp-58. The 68's are not difficult to hit. I am still getting a 4 and 5 iron in 58's though.

[Ken Smith]

Their new fitting system is a watered-down version of ours. While they record swing timing parameters to determine which shaft to outfit your set with, our fitting chip records acceleration, load pattern, swing speed, and release timing to determine the appropriate frequency, for every club in your bag, to ensure the clubhead returns to straight and square at impact. We have the ability to attach the fitting chip to our clubs or your own, which actually works better since you're used to swinging them.

[verse214]

Their new fitting system is a watered-down version of ours. While they record swing timing parameters to determine which shaft to outfit your set with, our fitting chip records acceleration, load pattern, swing speed, and release timing to determine the appropriate frequency, for every club in your bag, to ensure the clubhead returns to straight and square at impact. We have the ability to attach the fitting chip to our clubs or your own, which actually works better since you're used to swinging them.

Actually, the Mizuno system does check swing timing parameters as well including the load pattern and release timing as i described in my previous post.

If I were in Kansas, I probably would stop by your place and take a look Also, if you're checking it for every club in a player's bag - does that mean that my 5 iron will have project x's and my 8 iron will have dynamic golds? i don't see what use there is in checking it for every iron.

[Ken Smith]

Actually, the Mizuno system does check swing timing parameters as well including the load pattern and release timing as i described in my previous post.

We actually record swing profile data for six swings with a 3-iron, 5-iron, and a 9-iron, for a total of 18 swings. We then vet/analyze the data to determine the appropriate frequency slope for your swing load and unload timing. The biggest difference is that Mizuno vets their information to determine a brand of shaft (that they stock) along with a flex designation. We don't care what brand of shaft we use as long as it will accomodate your slope, but we do use that shaft throughout the set. Our fitting system truly takes all the guesswork out of fitting. I cover this in some detail in this post on my blog: http://kcgolfclubs.blogspot.com/2009...mechanics.html .

[Action]

Their new fitting system is a watered-down version of ours. While they record swing timing parameters to determine which shaft to outfit your set with, our fitting chip records acceleration, load pattern, swing speed, and release timing to determine the appropriate frequency, for every club in your bag, to ensure the clubhead returns to straight and square at impact. We have the ability to attach the fitting chip to our clubs or your own, which actually works better since you're used to swinging them.

Cool! You going to be in Ca. soon? I plan on being at a Mizuno fitting at the end of Nov.

Thanks Jack

[plugged]

Is it possible to do this remotely, i.e., send the monitor and instructions to someone, get them on the phone as they make their 18 swings, and then they send the monitor back? This would be a great service. I know I would gladly pay upwards of $100 to get this type of information.

[Clambake]

We actually record swing profile data for six swings with a 3-iron, 5-iron, and a 9-iron, for a total of 18 swings. We then vet/analyze the data to determine the appropriate frequency slope for your swing load and unload timing. The biggest difference is that Mizuno vets their information to determine a brand of shaft (that they stock) along with a flex designation. We don't care what brand of shaft we use as long as it will accomodate your slope, but we do use that shaft throughout the set. Our fitting system truly takes all the guesswork out of fitting. I cover this in some detail in this post on my blog:

Ken, I checked out your link above - I enjoy looking at the science of the golf swing and clubs and like to be open to new ideas. But I have a couple questions on what you claim. As you explain the shaft physics, you admit that "This basic understanding goes against the general shaft selection of the golf club industry.". Looking at your resume, you have a strong education in law enforcement and are clearly advancing in that career (congratulations, and kudos for your honorable career path!), but I see nothing about golf experience, or engineering, or physics. Yet you are touting shaft fitting theories that by your own admission are opposite from the industry, which is filled with engineers and physicists. I frankly don't see the credentials here that warrant you're challenging Mizuno's fitting system. I'm not trying to be an a$$ or anything here, but you chose this post to claim that Mizuno is a "watered down" version of your system and to pitch your product, so I'd just like to understand better the validity behind those claims.

[plugged]

Ken, I checked out your link above - I enjoy looking at the science of the golf swing and clubs and like to be open to new ideas. But I have a couple questions on what you claim. As you explain the shaft physics, you admit that "This basic understanding goes against the general shaft selection of the golf club industry.". Looking at your resume, you have a strong education in law enforcement and are clearly advancing in that career (congratulations, and kudos for your honorable career path!), but I see nothing about golf experience, or engineering, or physics. Yet you are touting shaft fitting theories that by your own admission are opposite from the industry, which is filled with engineers and physicists. I frankly don't see the credentials here that warrant you're challenging Mizuno's fitting system. I'm not trying to be an a$$ or anything here, but you chose this post to claim that Mizuno is a "watered down" version of your system and to pitch your product, so I'd just like to understand better the validity behind those claims.

I did a Google search on their Fit Chip system and it comes from a company called Lotus Golf, which apparently was in fact started by a structural engineer. They show the Fit Chip device and it looks very interesting.

However, that being said, alarm bells went off when I started reading further and found out Lotus makes their own brand of shafts/clubs. This makes anything they recommend highly suspect. "Oh, our system shows that none of the equipment from the major club makers will fit your swing perfectly. Lucky for you, however, we make a set of clubs that do match your swing."

[Action]

I did a Google search on their Fit Chip system and it comes from a company called Lotus Golf, which apparently was in fact started by a structural engineer. They show the Fit Chip device and it looks very interesting.

That is kind of what i was reading in to it-Mizuno is no good ours is better LOL

Jack

[Ken Smith]

Ken, I checked out your link above - I enjoy looking at the science of the golf swing and clubs and like to be open to new ideas. But I have a couple questions on what you claim. As you explain the shaft physics, you admit that "This basic understanding goes against the general shaft selection of the golf club industry.". Looking at your resume, you have a strong education in law enforcement and are clearly advancing in that career (congratulations, and kudos for your honorable career path!), but I see nothing about golf experience, or engineering, or physics. Yet you are touting shaft fitting theories that by your own admission are opposite from the industry, which is filled with engineers and physicists. I frankly don't see the credentials here that warrant you're challenging Mizuno's fitting system. I'm not trying to be an a$$ or anything here, but you chose this post to claim that Mizuno is a "watered down" version of your system and to pitch your product, so I'd just like to understand better the validity behind those claims.

Plugged,

Thanks for you questions/comments. You're right, at least as far as my professional career goes. However, I have been fitting golf clubs for more than ten years now. I didn't turn that passion into a business, though, until 2006, when I went back to school for a master's degree in business administration. In a nutshell, that's the long and short of it. When I began writing a business plan to launch my new venture, I teamed with Perfected Golf Group to enhance our fitting model. Just like everybody else, I had always relied swing speed as a base line for shaft flex, yet I could never quite achieve the results I was looking for without a lot of trial and error. That's when I met Lloyd Hackman, the founder of Perfected Golf Group. After using his patented Fitting Chip technology for dozens and dozens of fittings, I was sold. I had never seen such consistency without countless hours of trial and error. The accelerometer took all the guesswork out of the equation and indiscriminately provided a unique frequency slope for every golfer's swing. And to my surprise, swing speed had absolutely nothing to do with determining a golfer's shaft flex, at least not in the way the industry uses it. After a number of conversations, Lloyd allowed us to be the very first OEM manufacturer to utilize his patented fitting technology. One of the greatest attributes of this fitting technology, is that we can send the Fitting Chip to a customer, who can then attach it to their own clubs and basically conduct the swing frequency analysis at their leisure. They would then send it back to us to download, analyze and vet for results unparalleled by any other dynamic fitting. As far as shafts go, we use OEM shafts in the majority of our fittings. There are instances, though, where we cannot find OEM shafts soft enough to fit certain swing profiles. When we stumble onto that issue, we share that with the customer and either get as close as we can with an OEM shaft, or move to graphite manufactured by Rapport, and distributed through Kent Sports. They make graphite shafts specifically for Perfected Golf Group. They are extremely high quality shafts, but I still prefer to shaft all of our clubs with steel. I spoke to Lloyd two days ago about Mizuno's new Shaft Optimizer, and he advised that he had already contacted Mizuno's legal department about infringing upon his patent in a number of ways. We are still the only authorized OEM manufacturer allowed to utilize this technology. The biggest difference, however, is the end product. Mizuno's system is set to recommend three different shafts, along with a flex designation, while ours computes a frequency slope. We have found that only about 10% of golfers actually fall into the standard Brunswick slope of 4-5 CPMs. The biggest majority of golfers will be closer to a 2 CPMs slope, but some are actually higher. We also don't rely on any one manufacturer's flex designations, because as we all know, there are no standards. One company's recommended flex designation may start at 240 CPMs, while they next may be 280 CPMs. I know that's a long post, but hopefully that clarifies a few of your questions. Ken