Bought Some New Irons

[Marty2019]

A couple of months ago, I went to the local Golftec to talk about getting fitted for some new irons.   They sold me on the idea of getting some lessons before they fit me, so I signed up for 10 lessons.   I've had 4 lessons so far, but I was thinking, hey, I came in for clubs, so I asked for them to go ahead and fit me, which they did yesterday.  

They had me hit some shots with my current 7-iron, to measure my clubhead speed, ball flight, distance,etc.  They took some physical measurements, had me stand up straight, measured the distance from my fingers to the floor.  Asked me my height. 

Then they brought out 3 7-irons, a TaylorMade, a Mizuno, and a Ping.  All game-improvement type of irons with regular graphite shafts.  I was a little surprised they didn't recommend a senior shaft, but they told me I was in between a regular shaft and a senior shaft, and according to them, there was too much twisting in a senior shaft, that I should go with a regular shaft instead.   Especially since I had told them in my lessons I was not concerned with adding distance, I was much more concerned with consistency. 

I hit about 8 or 10 shots with each club.   I really liked the ball-striking feel of the Mizuno, but I had better results with the Ping, and it felt almost as good, so I selected the Ping, G-series.   According to the indoor radar, on average, I hit the Ping 7-iron about 10 yards farther than I hit my current Adams Idea 7-iron.  (I bought the Adams irons used, a couple of years ago, for $200.)  The ball-striking impact of the Ping feels a LOT better to me than my current Adams 7-iron, also.  A LOT better.  The Pings are very forgiving, it feels like I'm hitting the sweet spot almost every time. 

So I asked him the price, and he said about $100 per club, $112 with the graphite shafts.  After I came home, I looked up these clubs on the internet, and the price Golftec is charging is pretty much in line with the off the rack prices you see at places like Edwin Watts.   I ordered the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, PW, GW.      Seven irons, $112 each plus tax.

Apparently, according to the results of my fitting, I could have bought the clubs right off the rack and gotten almost exactly the same thing.  It's a Ping G Series with a regular flex graphite shaft, and they said they needed to bend it 1 degree to get the proper lie angle.   I guess I'm a pretty average guy with a pretty average swing speed, average height, average hand size, etc.   But what I did get from the fitting is the peace of mind, knowing that I have clubs that are correct for me.   I think that's important. 

They told me I wouldn't need a senior shaft for another 15 or 20 years.   I told them in 20 years, I'll be 83 years old.  They were a little surprised by that. 

The worst part is, I may have to wait for up to a month to get my new clubs from the factory, due to Christmas season.  

Overall, I feel pretty good about the experience.  They didn't push any particular set of clubs, they let the radar/simulator speak for itself, they asked me how I felt about the different alternatives, and they charged a reasonable price for the clubs. 

 

[boogielicious]

14 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

A couple of months ago, I went to the local Golftec to talk about getting fitted for some new irons.   They sold me on the idea of getting some lessons before they fit me, so I signed up for 10 lessons.   I've had 4 lessons so far, but I was thinking, hey, I came in for clubs, so I asked for them to go ahead and fit me, which they did yesterday.  

They had me hit some shots with my current 7-iron, to measure my clubhead speed, ball flight, distance,etc.  They took some physical measurements, had me stand up straight, measured the distance from my fingers to the floor.  Asked me my height. 

Then they brought out 3 7-irons, a TaylorMade, a Mizuno, and a Ping.  All game-improvement type of irons with regular graphite shafts.  I was a little surprised they didn't recommend a senior shaft, but they told me I was in between a regular shaft and a senior shaft, and according to them, there was too much twisting in a senior shaft, that I should go with a regular shaft instead.   Especially since I had told them in my lessons I was not concerned with adding distance, I was much more concerned with consistency. 

I hit about 8 or 10 shots with each club.   I really liked the ball-striking feel of the Mizuno, but I had better results with the Ping, and it felt almost as good, so I selected the Ping, G-series.   According to the indoor radar, on average, I hit the Ping 7-iron about 10 yards farther than I hit my current Adams Idea 7-iron.  (I bought the Adams irons used, a couple of years ago, for $200.)  The ball-striking impact of the Ping feels a LOT better to me than my current Adams 7-iron, also.  A LOT better.  The Pings are very forgiving, it feels like I'm hitting the sweet spot almost every time. 

So I asked him the price, and he said about $100 per club, $112 with the graphite shafts.  After I came home, I looked up these clubs on the internet, and the price Golftec is charging is pretty much in line with the off the rack prices you see at places like Edwin Watts.   I ordered the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, PW, GW.      Seven irons, $112 each plus tax.

Apparently, according to the results of my fitting, I could have bought the clubs right off the rack and gotten almost exactly the same thing.  It's a Ping G Series with a regular flex graphite shaft, and they said they needed to bend it 1 degree to get the proper lie angle.   I guess I'm a pretty average guy with a pretty average swing speed, average height, average hand size, etc.   But what I did get from the fitting is the peace of mind, knowing that I have clubs that are correct for me.   I think that's important. 

They told me I wouldn't need a senior shaft for another 15 or 20 years.   I told them in 20 years, I'll be 83 years old.  They were a little surprised by that. 

The worst part is, I may have to wait for up to a month to get my new clubs from the factory, due to Christmas season.  

Overall, I feel pretty good about the experience.  They didn't push any particular set of clubs, they let the radar/simulator speak for itself, they asked me how I felt about the different alternatives, and they charged a reasonable price for the clubs. 

 

Thanks for sharing. Getting fit will give you confidence that you are using the right shaft. You won't have to think about it.

[newtogolf]

Congrats on getting fit and good luck with the new sticks when they arrive.  Fortunately you live in Florida so you will get a chance to try them out as soon as they come in.  

I work with a small golf shop and we always talk about how some people feel they wasted their money when they find out after a fitting they don't require some crazy adjustments to the shaft lengths or lie angle.   What most don't realize or appreciate is how different shafts are and how they can impact the way the club feels, the distances they hit and the trajectory.  

When I first got into golf 5 years ago I was buying used clubs online without ever getting fit and I made the game harder on myself.  Almost all the clubs I was buying came with True Temper Dynamic Golf S300  shafts.  At the time, these are the shafts the best golfers seemed to be playing so of course those were the ones I had to play.  

When I met my instructor (who I now do marketing for) he showed me my numbers on his GC2 using the DG S300 versus the shafts that he fit for me which were True Temper XP105 regular flex.  The clubs felt so much better with the right shafts, I increased the trajectory of my ball flight as well as distance.  So while I didn't need the lie angle or length adjusted, so in theory I could buy off the rack, having the right shafts installed was what made the biggest difference.