Launch Monitor and Fitting Irons

Hey everybody. I'm going to be building a new set of irons (well not me, but a club fitter), and after buying 3 sets in as many years, it's finally dawned on me that I need to get properly fit to get the most out of my equipment.

I've called a clubfitter in the area, and described to him I wanted to build clubs. He doesn't do this full time, but rather just as a hobby. He does MOI match clubs, so he's certainly a notch up on the cut and gluers of the world (i.e. ME!!). However, when I asked about about the use of a launch monitor, he said you don't need a launch monitor to fit irons. Is this true? Is there information that's useful when using a launch monitor for fitting irons?

Would I shortchange myself getting fit without a LM?

He did concede that a LM is very useful for the driver, and maybe fairways.

Hackzaw,

I agree with your clubfitter one hundred percent.

Why is that, gas_can?

shortgame85,

There's a myriad of reasons. Shaft fitting is done easily based on swing style, and it is easy to test and demo different shafts in different heads. Things like angle of attack, path, and face contact are easy to measure with impact tape on the sole and face. Furthermore, most of the time, people come in with an idea of the club they want to purchase, it's never happened that someone walks in with the desire to purchase a Ping G5 and walks out with a set of MP-67's. Pick a category of irons that fits you, then go in and demo. There's not that much difference play and performance wise between different brands of clubs in the same category (game improvement, blade, players cavity, etc). An iron is an iron, they all pretty much work the same. Just pick the ones that fit your eye the best. With driver heads there are so many different centers of gravity, which relate to different launch angles and spin rates that people often come in looking for one brand and walk out with the complete opposite because what they wanted simply did not fit them.

I suppose my thought (and remember, I've never been properly fit before), was that there must be an "ideal" set of launch conditions. So for each iron, you're more or less striving to achieve a desired set of values in launch angle, spin, and ball speed, which over all translate to a specific distance. I've never used a launch monitor before, but wouldn't you be able to have someone swing each of their clubs, and if any adjustments are necessary, the launch monitor would indicate these.

It would be kind of a quality control check. You know you'd have consistent spacing between irons.

Do any clubfitters out there use a launch monitor for fitting irons?

Hackzaw,

This is a great question and I am very glad you asked it. There is no ideal set of launch conditions for irons, some people are steep with high spin, others are shallow with low spin, but they all end up working some how. Even with the driver, there is no one "perfect" set of launch conditions, there are many variations that work. I was at Ping's facility in Phoenix last weekend getting some info since I've been struggling with fitting the Rapture. I was talking with the Ping employee about Bubba Watson and he mentioned that his launch angle numbers are so high (in the eighteen degree range) that any other player with ball speeds that high would be losing distance, but Bubba puts such an ascending blow that he is able to keep the spin very low and produce incredible carry yardage. This may blow your mind, but given a consistent swing, all irons launch at roughly the same trajectory no matter what their centers of gravity are. Blades have a higher center of gravity but weaker lofts so the ball gets up in the air, game improvement irons have lower centers of gravity but stronger lofts to keep the ball down a bit, and players cavities fall somewhere inbetween. There is already consistent spacing between irons in the OEM lofts. Launch Monitors are a fitting tool, nothing more. They are not the be all end all answer to fitting. Unless you are using a doppler radar system, distance measures are estimations, not measurements, so you're not obtaining a real world answer to your question. If distance gaps need to be tweaked that is easy to do with loft changes. Spin rates again are notoriously inaccurate on luanch monitors often coming in at 800-600 rpms higher than stated. Any set of irons I sell comes with the demand that the player returns after a month so we can make sure the lofts and lies are where the player wants and they have feedback where it counts - on the golf course, not in Vector's software. If someone demands to get on the launch monitor, I'm more than happy to oblige, but I'd much rather they took some demo six irons with me for a week and went to the range and course to see what they thought in the real world, not computer models.