Need 2nd Opinion

[freshmanUTA]

Hey guys, I went through a minor fitting today, just to see which shafts performed best for me in my irons. At the end of the day i came out with the best performance from the KBS Tour S+ Shaft, and the Dynamic Gold X:100 Shaft. Closely followed by the Project X 6.0. The only difference was the Dynamic gold had a bit lower flight, which i don't think I prefer, so I'm probably going with the KBS tours. 

Side note, I had the best performance(Distance + Accuracy) with the Nike Vapor Pro Combo, but a tad better accuracy with the Nike Vapor Pro irons, so if you could also tell me if I'd be insane to give up 5 yards on average(not mishits of course) of distance for more accuracy. Almost 80 percent of the 25 swings I took with both were centered, or at least close enough not to affect the performance. The guy doing the fitting said those numbers were some of the best he's ever seen but I think he's just full of it, I'm not a pro or anything so I'm sure there are people more consistent.

Anyway, the guy doing the fitting said that most people playing the more "Blade-like" irons, which is what the Pro Combos are considered, want more piercing ball flights because they're not looking to get the ball airborne. What are the benefits of having a high ball flight over a low ball flight? The irons i use now are in the middle between where the KBS's and the X100's were, so I'm not sure what I'd gain from either shaft. Am I best sticking with my gut and going for the higher launching KBS, or would i be better with the X100's. 

 

Also, I'm not sure what the differences(If any) in distances were between the shaft.

[SavvySwede]

25 minutes ago, freshmanUTA said:

Hey guys, I went through a minor fitting today, just to see which shafts performed best for me in my irons. At the end of the day i came out with the best performance from the KBS Tour S+ Shaft, and the Dynamic Gold X:100 Shaft. Closely followed by the Project X 6.0. The only difference was the Dynamic gold had a bit lower flight, which i don't think I prefer, so I'm probably going with the KBS tours. 

Side note, I had the best performance(Distance + Accuracy) with the Nike Vapor Pro Combo, but a tad better accuracy with the Nike Vapor Pro irons, so if you could also tell me if I'd be insane to give up 5 yards on average(not mishits of course) of distance for more accuracy. Almost 80 percent of the 25 swings I took with both were centered, or at least close enough not to affect the performance. The guy doing the fitting said those numbers were some of the best he's ever seen but I think he's just full of it, I'm not a pro or anything so I'm sure there are people more consistent.

Anyway, the guy doing the fitting said that most people playing the more "Blade-like" irons, which is what the Pro Combos are considered, want more piercing ball flights because they're not looking to get the ball airborne. What are the benefits of having a high ball flight over a low ball flight? The irons i use now are in the middle between where the KBS's and the X100's were, so I'm not sure what I'd gain from either shaft. Am I best sticking with my gut and going for the higher launching KBS, or would i be better with the X100's. 

 

Also, I'm not sure what the differences(If any) in distances were between the shaft.

1. Some people like the look of a low ball flight.
2. Little easier to control distance with the shorter clubs.
3. Less influenced by wind.

The biggest factor to consider is the spin numbers. The lower launching shafts tend to also create less spin. You need to find that sweet spot where you can stop the ball on the green but also get max distance out of your irons. I spun the ball too much with my old irons and my fitter got me into KBS C Taper 130's in X flex which launch lower and with less spin than X100's.
 

[onthehunt526]

@freshmanUTA I agree on all three points Savvy made about low flight.

Here's my take with high ball flight:

1. Stops much faster when you need it too...

2. Your carry will be further, with longer irons...

3. All ball flight for a better player is well relatively high...

What's the difference between your apex with the X100 vs KBS?

One thing you could have done, if you like the FEEL of the X100 and want to make the trajectory higher, is to soft-step the X100 to make it feel like a Strong Stiff... 

Edited March 17, 2016 by onthehunt526

[Mike Boatright]

Shaft fitting is primarily a head weight,swing speed and cg ratio mix basically you can figure it out from there. For instance say your wanna play a callaway x2 hot iron you love them, but they just feel like you cant control em. You could get a dg x-100 super light to bring the ball down which is essentially lowering the spin. In combination with that shaft and the low cg boomer head you then could get good very playable results for most good players swinging 85 mph in that head. The scratch blade may or may not weigh less but I will assume it does allowing you to option for say a weaker shaft such as a basic reg flex in a higher weight 120 grams. The higher cg on the blade in combo with that shaft will also produce about the same results with maybe a bit more control if your a good enough ball striker. The elites opt for dg gold x-100 usually tour versions weighing 130 grams and blades because they swing it very fast maybe 100 mph with a 6 so the numbers come out good for em. Another thing to consider is to have multiple flexes throughout your set by design. As mentioned higher shots are the choicest of the best players in the world so you could get a s flex in your 3-4 then reg flex in a 5-6-7 iron and a pure x flex dg-300 130 grams in the 8-9 because they already have high loft and are for control.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Mike Boatright

[iacas]

6 hours ago, Mike Boatright said:

Shaft fitting is primarily a head weight,swing speed and cg ratio mix basically you can figure it out from there.

I don't think that's really true at all. What experience have you had fitting irons? What do you even mean by "CG Ratio Mix"?

[onthehunt526]

On 3/17/2016 at 9:29 AM, iacas said:

I don't think that's really true at all. What experience have you had fitting irons? What do you even mean by "CG Ratio Mix"?

Erik is absolutely right, shaft fitting has little to do with headweight at all. Swing speed is part of it usually for a flex reading, but tempo is another ingredient in the mix. Preferred ball flight, kick point, the feel you're trying to achieve.

When I had my dynamic fitting in December and February, my fitter and I didn't talk much about headweight. It was more SWING WEIGHT in regards to weight. And it wasn't a real technical discussion, either. It was more does this shaft/head combo feel light/heavy/just right...

@freshmanUTA feel is a big ingredient on a shaft fit... if your Launch Monitor numbers are good for what YOU'RE GAME NEEDS, ask yourself a question or two.

1. Which shaft/head combination gave me the ball flight that is good for my game?

2. Which shaft/head combination had the best feel?

3. Which shaft/head combination is best for my game going forward?

I'll be honest, when I went for my iron fitting I had the fitter print out my results with 3 different iron heads and a couple different shafts before I made my final decision.

My final cut was the EXI, TaylorMade PSi, and the Titleist 716 AP2, I had the data and how the different clubs felt and the Exotics EXI won on the head side.

The shafts were between the KBS Tour 105 and the Project X 6.0. Both are great shafts and the numbers were very similar between the two. What made me choose the KBS Tour 105 was I could feel the transition slightly easier than with the Project X...

So ask yourself those questions, if you can get a fitting report from a launch monitor... it will seriously help, You won't have to spring to a decision right away, you can actually sit down and have the facts in front of you. 

(If they can't print it off, they usually can e-mail it. I like a paper copy, so I can circle and highlight the numbers.) 

[freshmanUTA]

So I went back in today to settle on shafts and.....

I was fitted for Nike Vapor Pro Combo with Project X 6.0 shafts at 1° upright and 1° weak lofts.

It would cost 1099$ plus 249$ to have them custom built for me. However, I found the clubs online brand new with stock shafts, lie, lofts, for 800$. I found a reputable store on eBay selling 3-aw project X 6.0 shafts for 150$ after taxes. the store would charge 35$ to change lie and loft as well as 139$ to install the shafts. that makes it 1,125$ roughly to put the shafts in the irons.

Would it be worth buying the stock set then buying the shafts after I get the irons and having them installed?

[kpaulhus]

I would have Nike do it, IMO. Im sure there are a ton of reputable guys on eBay and I buy gear from eBay all the time....but not when it comes to assembling irons and whatnot.

[freshmanUTA]

28 minutes ago, kpaulhus said:

I would have Nike do it, IMO. Im sure there are a ton of reputable guys on eBay and I buy gear from eBay all the time....but not when it comes to assembling irons and whatnot.

I meant that Golf Galaxy would build them. Sorry for the confusion there

[kpaulhus]

Oh, then you should be ok.