First Custom Fit, but Not Sure I Agree With it!

[Nick-UK]

Hi guys. I've just been custom fit (1st time!) for some Mizuno 921 Hot Metal Pro irons. I absolutely loved the feel of them, but have some concerns and wanted another opinion before pulling the trigger.

For reference, I'm 5ft11 and have a ~88mph 7 iron club head speed. My wrist to floor measurement is apparently 1-2 degrees upright (35.5"), but I've always played with a standard lie. The custom fitter had me hit a few balls off the lie board and they were all towards the toe (but still flew ~170 yards, pretty straight). The problem is that my bad shots tend to drift left, so going more upright is likely to encourage that further, so the fitter suggested remaining at standard lie.

The other concern is my low spin rate - about 4k). Annoyingly, the fitting centre only had 2 shafts in stiff, so I settled on the dynamic gold s300. Not sure if something else would help increase my spin...?

I'm probably overthinking all of the above, but it's obviously a lot of money to spend on something that isn't quite right. I can't help but feel they've taken the lazy approach of giving me standard everything...

I've technically already paid for them, but the fitter won't actually be ordering until tomorrow, so I still have time to make changes. Any thoughts? 

Cheers

[boogielicious]

21 minutes ago, Nick-uk said:

Hi guys. I've just been custom fit (1st time!) for some Mizuno 921 Hot Metal Pro irons. I absolutely loved the feel of them, but have some concerns and wanted another opinion before pulling the trigger.

For reference, I'm 5ft11 and have a ~88mph 7 iron club head speed. My wrist to floor measurement is apparently 1-2 degrees upright (35.5"), but I've always played with a standard lie. The custom fitter had me hit a few balls off the lie board and they were all towards the toe (but still flew ~170 yards, pretty straight). The problem is that my bad shots tend to drift left, so going more upright is likely to encourage that further, so the fitter suggested remaining at standard lie.

The other concern is my low spin rate - about 4k). Annoyingly, the fitting centre only had 2 shafts in stiff, so I settled on the dynamic gold s300. Not sure if something else would help increase my spin...?

I'm probably overthinking all of the above, but it's obviously a lot of money to spend on something that isn't quite right. I can't help but feel they've taken the lazy approach of giving me standard everything...

I've technically already paid for them, but the fitter won't actually be ordering until tomorrow, so I still have time to make changes. Any thoughts? 

Cheers

What did the lie board show? A more upright lie would theoretically start the ball more left for a right handed golfer. See the thread below. Also, hitting off the toe would tend to move the ball left per the gear effect.

 

[Nick-UK]

31 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

What did the lie board show? A more upright lie would theoretically start the ball more left for a right handed golfer. See the thread below. Also, hitting off the toe would tend to move the ball left per the gear effect.

 

Thanks, I'll take a look. The lie board suggested that it was really far off the toe (like 3 degrees), but it still felt like I flushed the ball (and trackman stats would suggest that was the case too), so I don't know what to think!

If my shot tendency wasn't already towards the left then I'd definitely be pushing more for an upright fitting, but I don't want to risk pushing it further out to the left, just to satisfy the lie board!

[iacas]

Good luck. I'm not a fitter, and I can see both sides of whether being fit for an issue or actually fixing the issue (your left misses) is the better way to go (it depends on the golfer, often). I will say this: you're not going to pick up 2500+ RPM of spin with a shaft.

What was your landing angle? Peak height? Do you have those numbers?

[Nick-UK]

8 minutes ago, iacas said:

Good luck. I'm not a fitter, and I can see both sides of whether being fit for an issue or actually fixing the issue (your left misses) is the better way to go (it depends on the golfer, often). I will say this: you're not going to pick up 2500+ RPM of spin with a shaft.

What was your landing angle? Peak height? Do you have those numbers?

I don't recall seeing a landing angle, but the peak height was 81ft (on the one shot I can remember, anyway!). The lack of spin is obviously a failing of my swing, but I figured I could somewhat compensate (in terms of increasing my chances to hold a green, etc) by encouraging a higher ball flight (hence the shaft dilemma!)...? He gave me no feedback on shot height, so I've no idea if that's considered good or bad!

[iacas]

You don't have access to your full fitting sheet with all of the info?

[Sandy Divot]

Can you try a different fitter? It might confirm your results, or you might get new results. If I had some serious doubts, I would get a second opinion.

[Nick-UK]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

You don't have access to your full fitting sheet with all of the info?

No, I haven't had documentation 🤷‍♂️

58 minutes ago, Sandy Divot said:

Can you try a different fitter? It might confirm your results, or you might get new results. If I had some serious doubts, I would get a second opinion.

I'd agree with you, but I've already paid for the new set. They are also the most reputable fitters in my area, apparently!

[billchao]

Isn’t DG already one of the highest spinning shafts out there?

Normally I’d say don’t worry about the spin number (in isolation), but if you’re hitting 4k rpm with a 7i at a peak height of 81’ I can definitely see a problem with holding greens, especially with the longer clubs.

Is there a reason you went with the Hot Metals instead of the Forged or Tour set if you’re striking the ball close to the sweet spot?

[mohearn]

I'm a bit taller, but also fall into the group where standard just basically fits me. I've tinkered with different, but standard does it.  I guess like a 42L in a suit jacket, huh? But I sorta know what you mean...

Here's how I'd look at it. Definitely those are good clubs, it's not that they're fitting you into some strange edge case.  The S300 are solid quality shafts, again, not some fancy $$$ custom. And as far as the lie, maybe better to stay standard, and see if that works and then if it's really just not working, always the option to tweak the lie later. Can you talk to the fitter, and just say your worried about the lie, and get an agreement from them to tweak it if you decide to later. Would that help you feel more comfortable with the whole thing.

FWIW and I know just anecdotal, one of the best players in my league just got those irons, loves them.

 

[Shorty]

If you are of average height and build, with average clubhead speed, and you somehow think that Dynamic Gold 300 shafts - probably the most popular/common shafts for decades - are an issue for you, you might need to look elsewhere. You have a swing/impact issue. Not a shaft issue, in my opinion.

The other thing is that not all the greens you play on are necessarily amenable to  low shots holding them - you have to be able to hit it high unless they are soft. Yours  is simply a garden variety version of why certain players can and can not win at Augusta. Equipment isn't going to drastically alter the characteristics of your ball flight if certain fundamentals are not in place.

[Nick-UK]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

Isn’t DG already one of the highest spinning shafts out there?

Normally I’d say don’t worry about the spin number (in isolation), but if you’re hitting 4k rpm with a 7i at a peak height of 81’ I can definitely see a problem with holding greens, especially with the longer clubs.

Is there a reason you went with the Hot Metals instead of the Forged or Tour set if you’re striking the ball close to the sweet spot?

I wasn't aware of DG being a higher spinning shaft - I'd just assumed that because it was a very common shaft it was pretty average spin. That's definitely good to know though.

I did hit the forged but found I lost quite a bit of distance. Clearly I'm not good enough for them at this point.

26 minutes ago, Shorty said:

If you are of average height and build, with average clubhead speed, and you somehow think that Dynamic Gold 300 shafts - probably the most popular/common shafts for decades - are an issue for you, you might need to look elsewhere. You have a swing/impact issue. Not a shaft issue, in my opinion.

The other thing is that not all the greens you play on are necessarily amenable to  low shots holding them - you have to be able to hit it high unless they are soft. Yours  is simply a garden variety version of why certain players can and can not win at Augusta. Equipment isn't going to drastically alter the characteristics of your ball flight if certain fundamentals are not in place.

I agree, but if there's a particular technology that helps increase spin, why would I not go for it?

I believe my swing speed is quite a bit faster than "average", but I'm fully aware that the low spin is a result of my rubbish swing. I wasn't suggesting it wasn't the right shaft, I was simply looking for another opinion. The above definitely makes me feel better about the DG now anyway!

[Nick-UK]

1 hour ago, mohearn said:

I'm a bit taller, but also fall into the group where standard just basically fits me. I've tinkered with different, but standard does it.  I guess like a 42L in a suit jacket, huh? But I sorta know what you mean...

Here's how I'd look at it. Definitely those are good clubs, it's not that they're fitting you into some strange edge case.  The S300 are solid quality shafts, again, not some fancy $$$ custom. And as far as the lie, maybe better to stay standard, and see if that works and then if it's really just not working, always the option to tweak the lie later. Can you talk to the fitter, and just say your worried about the lie, and get an agreement from them to tweak it if you decide to later. Would that help you feel more comfortable with the whole thing.

FWIW and I know just anecdotal, one of the best players in my league just got those irons, loves them.

 

I really appreciate this post, thanks a lot. Maybe standard everything will turn out to be the best for me after all, it's obviously just a bit frustrating to hear after going for my first custom fitting! I'm definitely happy with the heads though, and I'm pleased to hear your opinion on the s300, so hopefully the lie angle confusion will work itself out. The only question is - how will I ever know if it's resulting in dodgy shots, or if it's simply a bad swing (as I have no basis for comparison)!?

[iacas]

Without real information from your fitting, the advice you get here is going to be quite limited.

[Shorty]

1 hour ago, Nick-uk said:

 

I agree, but if there's a particular technology that helps increase spin, why would I not go for it?

Because at your level of golf it's like thinking that a shaft change is going to help you move the ball from left to right or right to left like Bubba Watson.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that golf is about golf equipment.

Look at the WITB videos of the top players on Youtube. The majority of them have little or no interest in the shafts they use. They pretty much know they work, don't change them much and in many cases have to look at the shafts to be able to tell with certainty what they are.

[iacas]

50 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Look at the WITB videos of the top players on Youtube. The majority of them have little or no interest in the shafts they use. They pretty much know they work, don't change them much and in many cases have to look at the shafts to be able to tell with certainty what they are.

Huh?

All the best players in the world might not know much about their equipment (but again, there are some who do), but they're not playing any old shaft. They're playing a shaft that is fit very carefully for them. They care very much what shaft they have, but many simply trust their equipment folks to have given them the right thing.

[Shorty]

11 minutes ago, iacas said:

Huh?

All the best players in the world might not know much about their equipment (but again, there are some who do), but they're not playing any old shaft. They're playing a shaft that is fit very carefully for them.

Never denied that. 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Never denied that. 

Some of them know and care quite deeply. Your statement is wrong.