Club Fitting

[CharlieB]

I started a topic before pertaining to my Ping G15 irons. I was given a lot of good advise, so I went in to see a PGA professional for a check on my fitting. The golf course that I went to is the largest retailer in Wisconsin. They have a shop where they can make most alterations, plus they have a great reputation.

We started off with me hitting some balls with my seven iron. Then he put the tape on the sole of the club and I hit quite a few balls off of the marking board. This showed that my yellow dot are a little to upright for me, but not completely to blue.

He then put a piece of tape on the top of my grip to mark one inch down. Then he put white tape on the face of the club. He had me take my grip at the bottom of the tape, or one inch short. He also told me to move farther away from the ball. He again had me hit quite a few balls. I was hitting dead center on the face, plus the ball flight on the monitor was much farther and straighter. Prior to him making these changes I was hitting closer to the hosel and many times shanking the ball.

His recommendation was to shorten all my clubs by one inch. My driver was shortened to forty-four inches last year with great success.

I left my clubs there to be shortened like was recommended. I am really nervous about my decision. I’m looking for opinions from players who have experience in this area....Please!

[ShawnSum]

1 hour ago, CharlieB said:

I left my clubs there to be shortened like was recommended. I am really nervous about my decision. I’m looking for opinions from players who have experience in this area....Please!

Why are you nervous about something that you have seen first hand produce better results for you?? I'm about to get fitted soon and I'm HYPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

[CharlieB]

It worked on the screen, will it work on the course, driving range? If it doesn’t work, have I taken all of the value out of my clubs? He is changing my G15 four Wood, my three Callaway Diablo Hybrids and my new  Vokey wedges. He said they all should be changed. The 6-7-8-9 were the ones I could not hit. Will I now have a problem with the ones that weren’t a problem?

I read a article last night that stated, you should never cut down shafts without adding swing weight back in.

[jimnm]

I don't think you should worry too much. Especially since the ball flight monitor showed an improvement. And the contact tape on the face also showed improvement in your strikes.

If your swing weight needs to be adjusted, there is always lead tape. Or your club builder may be able to add weight using tungsten powder down the shaft. My builder was able to do that when needed for my irons. I believe he added the powder then placed a cork down the shaft to hold it in place. He told me my irons have a pocket in them that is made specifically for adding tungsten powder to adjust the swing weight. I'm not sure if all irons have this. This option allowed me to have progressive swing weights throughout my irons without having to use any lead tape.

[Adam C]

If it worked well when you gripped them down, then you do not need to worry about changing the swing weight. Gripping down vs. cutting down will give you the same SW to within 1 point. Too many people put too much emphasis on SW and they're being some perfect swing weight. If they don't feel too light when you gripped down, they won't be too light if you cut them down.

As far as value goes, yes cutting them down an inch will lower the value some if you tried to sell them as you have reduced the number of potential buyers, but the fact is that golf clubs lose value so quickly, the difference will be minimal unless you are talking current or 1 model previous clubs.

[CharlieB]

I don’t understand how shortening the clubs length moves the impact point on the club face, or was that due to having me move back further from the ball?

[Rip62]

I just was fitted for new irons and they were shortened by a half inch. I used them for the first time yesterday and the first thing I noticed was how much better my accuracy was.

[70sSanO]

I would think shortening the shaft is to improve the lie.  Moving you away from the ball is probably due to your downswing causing the club face to be further from you at impact.

Whether it is caused by your hips, or you just swing more of an outside path, or ???, I don’t know. Moving you away from the ball seems to help.  I have seen others with a similar impact issue line up the ball closer to the toe to help adjust to get a center impact, but I wouldn’t go that route.

John

[dennyjones]

On 7/24/2019 at 4:19 PM, CharlieB said:

I was hitting dead center on the face, plus the ball flight on the monitor was much farther and straighter. Prior to him making these changes I was hitting closer to the hosel and many times shanking the ball.

This should squelch all of your doubts!   You'll be fine.   

[CharlieB]

Thanks for all of your replies, they give me some hope that I will be able to hit my irons again. I just hope that I haven’t lost yardage on my 4W-3,4.5 Hybrids. I really had them dialed in and hit them straight. He insisted that if I was hitting the irons off center, I too was hitting all my clubs off center. That is why he told me to cut them all. I’m 75 Yo, so distance is probably never going to be in my future, but controlling the direction will help me to getting back to playing bogey golf, and that is my goal. I was once a 14 handicap player, but age and arthritis has taken it’t toll. I have been experiencing scores from 97 to 106 this year.

[golfer2b2000]

On 7/24/2019 at 4:19 PM, CharlieB said:

I started a topic before pertaining to my Ping G15 irons. I was given a lot of good advise, so I went in to see a PGA professional for a check on my fitting. The golf course that I went to is the largest retailer in Wisconsin. They have a shop where they can make most alterations, plus they have a great reputation.

We started off with me hitting some balls with my seven iron. Then he put the tape on the sole of the club and I hit quite a few balls off of the marking board. This showed that my yellow dot are a little to upright for me, but not completely to blue.

He then put a piece of tape on the top of my grip to mark one inch down. Then he put white tape on the face of the club. He had me take my grip at the bottom of the tape, or one inch short. He also told me to move farther away from the ball. He again had me hit quite a few balls. I was hitting dead center on the face, plus the ball flight on the monitor was much farther and straighter. Prior to him making these changes I was hitting closer to the hosel and many times shanking the ball.

His recommendation was to shorten all my clubs by one inch. My driver was shortened to forty-four inches last year with great success.

I left my clubs there to be shortened like was recommended. I am really nervous about my decision. I’m looking for opinions from players who have experience in this area....Please!

I have shortened, and lenghtened numerous sets of clubs. I love to play, but I feel like I can't leave anything alone. I feel that there is no real right length to have. It's whatever works for you. About three weeks ago, I lenghtened a set ot Titleist AP 1's by two inches. Actually I was going to just lenghtened them by one inch, but figured what the heck. Why not for shits and gigles try two inches for a couple rounds. If I don't like them just take the grips off, and cun an inch off of them.

Two things that must be considered when you either lenghten, or shorten them is the flex, and the weight of the club. By adding two inches to mine, the shafts are really soft, and the swingweights are very high. The bottom line is this. The added length has made me try not to hit the ball as hard, and really does control my tempo.

 As of now I am going to keep them at two inches long, and I am only 5'6" tall. There is only one person that they have to fit, and it is myself...

[freshmanUTA]

I wonder if you might have been better off not getting them shortened, but instead just gripping down that extra distance for all shots. You may have just found a comfortable spot on the grip. 

[CharlieB]

I thought of that, but I would think that it would be hard to always come back to that exact position, especially as the clubs get shorter? I’m really not a good golfer, but I do want to give myself the best opportunity to be better.

[golfer2b2000]

I myself do not like just choking up on a golf club except for times when you had no option. Two things that you have to remember is when you cut down a club. You adversley affect the flex of a shaft, and the swingweight. It seems like people anymore don't pay any attention to this. I think that swingweight is very critical. I want to be able to feel the ball coming off the clubface in a way that you hardly notice it. This is very hard to explain, and if you do not consistantly hit the ball it the sweet part of the club, you probably will not understand what I am saying. The shaft during the swing has to be able to flex. Cutting a shaft down will stiffen the flex. Maybe not greatly but it does, and it might even make the shaft stiff enough that when you hit a ball, you will not like the feel that you get.

 When I change my irons from one set to another I am not looking for a set of clubs that will lower my score, or hit the ball farther, but I am looking for is a club that I can strike the ball more pure, and consistantly. I am trying to keep my overall shot desperation smaller, which in fact normally will lower your score. Closer shots to the pin, or green will always lead to better chances to make pars, or birdies.

 I play with shafts that are longer than normal. I have the ability as far as a clubmaker to experiment with this. You say that you are not a good golfer, but that really doesnt have anything to do with it.You still want to be able to strike the ball, and have it feel good, and go in the direction you were planning it to go. It's a feeling of achievement.

 Try playing with the clubs that you have shortened. You can always have them lenghtened, but it usually is much more expensive to have this done.I find that most people play with a shaft that is usually too stiff. Because of the length of my clubs I know that mine are very weak, and I can even feel this when I waggle the club some. But to me this doesn't matter as long as my shot pattern stays within a reasonable area.

 I hope this helps you...

[CharlieB]

Played with my shortened clubs today. I stuck the ball straighter, longer, plus much more consistently in the center of the face. I am happy with all of the irons being shorter, except for my Vokey wedges. They really feel different and not in a good way. Now if I just could have putted!