Fitting numbers - can you explain them to me?

[kregan]

After years of playing I finally had a fitting with my instructor from years ago. This was a fitting at the range with ball striking involved. He watched the flight of the balls, measured my hands, and wrist height, and we did impact tape on a lie board with my current irons TM LT 2005's.

From the fitting carts he had me try Ping i20's I think, Jpx-800, and a Titleist iron of some sort.

Hit the Pings horrid

Hit the Jpx800 pretty well but not as far as nice as the LT's

Titleist, not much better then the Ping's

We both agreed that the LT iron fit great and saw no advantage in new irons.

So for my own curiosity can you explain what the tempo, toe down, kick angle and release factor numbers mean?

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6 iron numbers:

Clubs head speed:90
Tempo:6
Toe down:5
Kick angle:3
Release factor:4

Your club length should stay the same but perhaps soft stepping the X100 shafts will improve the feel and playability of the irons. (Try a Dynamic Gold SL or Dynalite Gold SL  in the 2 iron). Your clubs are 2 degrees upright, which works fine for you.

Since you hit a 5 wood so well. I don't think you need a 2 hybrid. Maybe a 3 hybrid if your not too consistent with the 3 iron.

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[mvmac]

Those are all specific to the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer fitting system.  Here's what I found

Quote:

Head Speed - rather obvious, maximum head speed value during the swing.

Tempo - This measured what kind of transition you have on a scale of 1 to 9 (one being the smoothest and nine being the quickest). Think of Ernie Els' swing vs. Nick Price. No number is better than the other, just personal tempo.

Toe Down - As it sounds, this is how much the shaft bends down towards the ground during the swing (again, on a one to nine scale). This won't have a big effect on lie angle, but possibly a slight one. This is why we recommend one you find the proper shaft, that you use the lie fit club to take a lie angle measurement WITH THAT SHAFT.

Kick Angle - The amount the shaft bends forward (towards the target). This helps us to determine the proper bending profile of the shaft for you. For example, if you need something with a stiffer mid section, etc.

Release Factor - When in the swing the shaft itself actually released the head. For a couple of extreme examples, think of Sergio Garcia and David Toms. Sergio releases VERY late, and thus needs a firmer tipped shaft. Toms releases earlier, and so he can use a softer tip to deliver more power to the ball.

You shouldn't think like "I need to lower my kick angle" or "I need to raise my release factor" or anything like this. None of these are swing faults, they just require different bending profile shafts to give you your best results.

[kregan]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Those are all specific to the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer fitting system.  Here's what I found

Very good iinfo!

Thank you