My 1st club fitting!!!

[oooasdf]

I went to do my 1st club fitting in my life. It was great, I tried:
1. Taylor Made CGM Max Steel #6
2. Taylor Made CGM Max Graphite #6
3. Taylor Made Burner XD Steel #6
4. Mizuno MX-950 #6

After hitting almost 65 balls, the person told me, Taylor Made CGM Max Graphite is the best fit for me “NOW” because the ball has more speed, distance, back spin, and higher launch angel when I use it.

The person told me, nothing will go wrong if I chose one of these four iron sets, but I want the one that need a little lower handicap than I am now(38), so I can be better…

I am more confused after I did club fitting. I heard graphite is for old people, I believe I will be better, but just need more time to practice… I still have no idea which iron set I should get!!!! I need a little suggestion...

[Nick_Abendroth]

Do you by chance know all the speed, distance, back spin, and higher launch angle that you were hitting with that club? and yes you will be able to hit a graphite shaft alittle faster seeing they are alittle lighter and alittle more flex in it. The most important specs are your spins and launch angle. i believe you want your backspin for a 6 iron to be around 3500 and sidespin under 600. launch angle for a 6 iron is around 21* to 22*. and no graphite is not always for old people.

[CosmosMpower]

When I was a 38 handicap I could barely put the clubhead on the ball solidly half time time. I don't know how you got reliable repeatable numbers at a club fitting. Now at 20 I'm still a bit worried to go get fitted as I don't know if my swing is consistent enough from one day to the next.

[Dent]

Club fitting is a great experience. Glad you could have that..

I haven't had my first yet, but will in about a week or so!

[rcpilot]

I thought that fitting was making the club length fit your size. Goes to show how little I really know about this game.lol

[HansMoleman]

When I was a 38 handicap I could barely put the clubhead on the ball solidly half time time. I don't know how you got reliable repeatable numbers at a club fitting. Now at 20 I'm still a bit worried to go get fitted as I don't know if my swing is consistent enough from one day to the next.

Same here

[Nick_Abendroth]

the only thing that would change if you would have a better consitent swing would be the loft/lie angle... lengthening and shortening will not change as you progress with a better swing...

[Guest]

I am a very cynical about club fittings. They will try to sell you what they have in stock regardless whether it is right for you. Heaven forbid that they actually take measurements and explain how their fit is right for you.

I went for club fittings at multiple places back in 1987, and they were all the same. Maybe I picked the wrong places, but what a bunch of used car salesmen!

Despite my obvious need for something different (I am 6-6, with a sleeve length of 37-in), all fitters tried to push off-the-shelf and expensive sets on me. They all told me to bend at the waist and the knees, and everything is fine. They all said that longer shafts would make accuracy impossible. If that were true, then those 5-10 shrimps should play with peewee clubs. Imagine the accuracy! Jerks.

Being an engineer, I calculated the proper shaft length increase for me, and I recently bought a set of clubs with 4-in longer shafts with standard lies. What a difference! My back doesn't hurt after a bucket of balls, and I no longer hit a boatload of fat and thin shots. The bucket today was 100% solid shots, which never ever ever happened with my "fitted" clubs.

Caveat emptor!

[Nick_Abendroth]

I am a very cynical about club fittings. They will try to sell you what they have in stock regardless whether it is right for you. Heaven forbid that they actually take measurements and explain how their fit is right for you.

Wow 4" over... wow that is alot to put on a club. How high do you hit the ball... but hey whatever works works right.

[CG031]

Are you comparing what happened in 1987 to now? Do you realize how much has changed in golf technology since then?

[PLAYHOUSE]

Congrats on your club fitting experience, cgb max is a super forgiving and easy club to hit. I'm curious why they offered you only TM clubs during the fitting?

[Bourbon and Coke]

I am a very cynical about club fittings. They will try to sell you what they have in stock regardless whether it is right for you. Heaven forbid that they actually take measurements and explain how their fit is right for you.

I'm willing to guess your calculation is wrong on many levels. I've got a buddy playing +1.5" and 1 degree upright at 6'5". I'm not saying that's right for everyone, but unless you have T-rex arms (37" shirts aren't) or the least athletically-postured swing ever, you've got the wrong size.

It shouldn't be too difficult to determine what's right for you in a fitting with some impact tape in terms of LLL. For what it's worth, my fitting was nothing of the sort. He started me at standard LLL and quickly shifted me away to something he could order for me. It sounds to me like you weren't fitted as much as you were demoing clubs for a salesman.

[oooasdf]

Are you comparing what happened in 1987 to now? Do you realize how much has changed in golf technology since then?

I forgot to mention, they let me chose any iron as “Control Club,” I choose TM CGB Max… The guy made me hit 20-25 balls, the computer analyzed the data and then gave a report suggesting two graphite irons: TM CGB Max graphite & Mizuno MX-950 graphite…

I hit about 10-15 balls with each iron it suggested. The guy asked me few questions like, “Accuracy & distance, which one you preferred?”, then the computer generated the final report by comparing the results from TM CGM Max Steel, TM CGB Max graphite, & Mizuno MX-950 graphite. Computer suggested me TM CGB Max graphite. I don’t really like graphite, so I asked him to let me try TM Burner XD. After hit another 10-15 swings, computer still suggested TM CGB Max graphite is still the best choice for NOW. I don’t think I will buy graphite iron set, I think I will get TM CGB MAX Steel R. I will do another club fitting after my swing is consistent (maybe 5 years later, hahaha)

[Bourbon and Coke]

I forgot to mention, they let me chose any iron as “Control Club,” I choose TM CGB Max… The guy made me hit 20-25 balls, the computer analyzed the data and then gave a report suggesting two graphite irons: TM CGB Max graphite & Mizuno MX-950 graphite…

Wait, you're basing this solely on a computer?

Did you check your length or lie at all? Are you positive you need standard clubs? If you aren't making a majority of swings with impact tape, the other numbers really don't matter, in my opinion. You're a 36 handicap, so the question of distance vs. accuracy is moot. Focus on making good contact and the rest will come. Which irons felt better when you made center-sole, center-face contact? Those are the irons you need, not whatever the computer spits out based on a consistency-free golf swing.

[oooasdf]

Wait, you're basing this solely on a computer?

They didn't do any length checking or impact tape thing, they "forgot" to do mine last time... I am going back this weekend...

[Guest]

I'm willing to guess your calculation is wrong on many levels. I've got a buddy playing +1.5" and 1 degree upright at 6'5".

I'll bet a paycheck that 1.5 inches is the longest they offer. If they offered longer extensions, then I bet his clubs would be longer (unless he has very long arms.) IMO, an upright lie adjustment is a terrible way to fit a club to someone.

Please consider this argument: 1) Assume that Golfer-X has the perfect stance and swing. 2) Golfer-X is a normal-sized person who plays standard clubs. 3) Assume that Shaq wants to swing the same way as Golfer-X, and Shaq is 20% bigger than Golfer-X in every way. If you took an 8x10 photo of Golfer-X and an 8x10 photo of Shaq, they would be identical (you would have to move back to photograph Shaq to make him fit.) 4) In order for Shaq to look like Golfer-X in the photo, Shaq's clubs would have to be 20% longer. Anything shorter would require Shaq to bend more than Golfer-X. A different lie angle changes the swing path from the "perfect" Golfer-X path to a different one. If the perfect swing requires a certain lie angle, then why force Shaq to a different angle? Another poster suggested that 1987 was a long time ago, and things have changed. Maybe that's true, but if the club fitters don't have "very long" test clubs, then they cannot really "test fit" someone very tall. Lie angle is a personal preference, not something that should be automatically increased for tall golfers. Please let me know if you have ever seen a club fitter that has such a wide range of shaft sizes to test. I've poked my head into pro shops a few times over the years, but I've never seen x-long shafts. For me, the longer shafts don't hurt my accuracy at all. The gain in accuracy from having "normal" knee bend, waist bend, lie angle, etc., outweights the loss in accuracy from longer shafts. Just my observation... if it helps a fellow tall guy, then great. Your mileage may vary

[Stacey_E]

There are SOOO many factors for a great clubfitter to take into account. Too many for me to want to type. But truely, and please this is no knock at all, to a beginner with a 30s handicap, the idea is to get the club that will help eliminate the negatives more than accentuate the positives. I'm not sure you can get a lot of accurate stats at this points, so I wouldn't sweat those too much. We all start out somewhere, and you will change clubs many times as your handicap drops. What you want to do with the ball now is far different than what you will want to do with the ball as a 5 handicap.

I've never hit the CG Max but these sound like good clubs for you. And by going with a good brand name, you will hold the resale value of these clubs quite well when you change down the road.

[oooasdf]

There are SOOO many factors for a great clubfitter to take into account. Too many for me to want to type. But truely, and please this is no knock at all, to a beginner with a 30s handicap, the idea is to get the club that will help eliminate the negatives more than accentuate the positives. I'm not sure you can get a lot of accurate stats at this points, so I wouldn't sweat those too much. We all start out somewhere, and you will change clubs many times as your handicap drops. What you want to do with the ball now is far different than what you will want to do with the ball as a 5 handicap.

Very good point, thank you