My experience with fitted clubs

First off, a little information about myself. I'm 6 feet tall, about 155 lbs. Currently I'm probably playing around a 12 handicap. Up until now I've been playing a set of Ping G2 blue dot's that I picked up off a friend. They seemed to work fine for me and I consider my iron play the strongest part of my game. However, I was losing a few strokes a round due to thinned and fat shots. I have always wanted to upgrade to some nicer irons while getting fitted at the same time, but couldn't afford spending almost $1,000.

This weekend I came across an incredible deal on some Mizuno MP-67 irons and snatched them up, and also got fitted for them at the same time. I found out the stock lie was absolutely perfect for my swing (should have gotten black dots!), although they had to be lengthened by an inch. I instantly noticed a difference even swinging the demo club.

I finally hit the range tonight and...wow. Talk about a HUGE difference. I was worried that my swing wasn't consistent enough to hit blades, but I was a laser show out there. That extra inch made a world of a difference, my swing felt much more natural and less forced. I'm assuming this is because I wasn't as hunched over as before. I worked my way up through the clubs while hitting two buckets of balls and I was literally laughing at how easy they were to hit. I'm convinced that even adding an inch to my old G2's would have produced similar results.

So, for those mid to high handicappers who haven't been fitted for clubs yet. Go do it as soon as possible! It'll make you realize that sometimes...it probably is the club

Are you going from fitted or off-the-shelf clubs?

I had off the shelve but as it turns out reg length and lie are perfect for me. The big difference was the flex. I was true temper (r) and now Project X 6.0 which is very stiff. On the launch monitor I loved the feel. I was torn between the 5.5 and the 6.0 but in the end I chose the 6 as I just keep getting better and longer with my irons. Fitting pro said that in the end the 6 would give me a bit more workability as it relates to trajectory.

This is where I noticed the biggest difference. I struggled at times with my 4-6 because I was addressing the ball too close to my stance, and now it's much easier to make solid contact with the ball.

I think a properly fitted club should sit on the heel, toe slightly up. The reason being that the shaft will bend when you swing and throw the toe down. If you've got a set of clubs that have too low angle on the lie at adress, once you start swinging them, the toe will come even more down and cause trouble.

Here's an example. At adress the angle is 23º, at impact the shaft has bowed and it's 19º. The toe comes first and block the club way open to 4º right after impact.

There were times with my Ping G2's that I would fade the ball, even though the contact felt and sounded perfect. I was worried I was mishitting the ball and the forgiveness of the club wasn't providing me the feedback. After hitting longer clubs I can only remember a few shots that could be considered a fade.