Without a launch monitor, how would people actually know the best driver/shaft for them?

[cutchemist42]

Can you get properly fit for a driver without the hard numbers created through a fitting? 

(Also maybe a side topic, but a little gripe of mine is how much Trackman/launch monitors is used in YT vids or equipment suggestion now, when there are still large amounts of the golf population that will never have access to a launch monitor.

Edited October 18, 2017 by cutchemist42

[Kalnoky]

Do you have an outdoor range where you can demo clubs? I think when you see a good ball flight you'll know it right away. 

 

[Lihu]

7 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

Can you get properly fit for a driver without the hard numbers created through a fitting? 

(Also maybe a side topic, but a little gripe of mine is how much Trackman/launch monitors is used in YT vids or equipment suggestion now, when there are still large amounts of the golf population that will never have access to a launch monitor.

Static fitting, but dynamic is going to be tough.  YT videos typically use GC2. At least the British ones.

Many shops have LM as well. If you can't get to one, then you'd need to test them all out on the driving range or something?

[saevel25]

7 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

Can you get properly fit for a driver without the hard numbers created through a fitting? 

What I would really miss is ball speed data. No way to optimize a driver with out knowing ball speed. Two clubs might product identical shots in terms of ball flight, but one might go further on average because it has 1 mph more ball speed.

It might be harder for high handicap golfers just because of the variability in ball strike. It's tougher to weed through the bad strikes to get were a club would benefit them.

[NM Golf]

Tough to do. You can do a decent fitting good enough for most of us by just learning what good ball flight looks like. I have been on enough launch monitors to get a decent idea what I am looking for as far as the way a ball launches and acts in the air. Still nothing beats getting hard numbers.

[1badbadger]

It can be done...I mean, before launch monitors were common we had to do it without them.  But it's SO much better now.  Launch monitors take a lot of the guesswork out of it, so you get a more accurate fitting in less time.  Much more efficient.

There are things that you can determine when seeing launch monitor numbers that a lot of players wouldn't realize by simply testing on their own.  One aspect I've mentioned before, which is many players feel they launch the ball too high because their ball climbs, peaks, and drops almost straight down with very little roll-out.  When they see this, they move to a lower lofted driver, or they tee the ball lower, and do all sorts of other things to lower the flight.  99 times out of 100 (or more) they are not hitting the ball too high...they are over-spinning it.  Quite often the adjustments they make to lower the ball flight makes the problem worse.

But when you can see the numbers, it's obvious that the launch is too low and spin is too high.  Here is an example:

[MarvChamp]

I like this topic. Those of us who started the game before there were such things as launch monitors trackman, Etc went to get advice from a knowledgeable Pro and from a good club Builder. They would watch Us swing. They would watch the ball flight. They would ask us what we perceived and what we felt. And we went with all those things. I don't know that we suffered too terribly. - Marv