Comments on: Much fitter now

By: Mike G

Mike G — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:20:17 +0000

About a month ago I got fitted out for a new set of irons. I have been playing seriously for 4 years and had been using a standard set of Mizuno MX 25′s which I was actually very satisfied with. But after quite a bit of urging from my coach who felt I had now got to the stage where the standard fit clubs were holding me back I eventually caved and went for the fitting. As I am 6”3” and apparently have short arm length for my size they needed to add some extra length to the clubs. They also adjusted the lie angle by 3 degrees to make the shaft more upright and set me up with thicker grips than the standard. I also tried a variety of different shafts to get one that gave the best results for my swing.

Whilst it did take me a little while to get used to the changes I can say that now I definitely feel a lot more comfortable in my set up position. When it comes to my actual shots I have added a bit of distance but wouldn’t say its a massive difference. The 2 areas where I do notice big improvement is 1) the trajectory of my shots is now much better. 2) I find that on average I feel like I am getting much better ball contact and am much more consistent. I hit less bad shots and the bad ones aren’t quite as bad as they used to be.

So overall I can say the results are positive and I am glad I made the investment. But if I were going to advise anyone, especially if you are working on a limited budget then I would say the priority should be to really work on your swing, if you are going to spend money spend it on a good coach before forking out for an expensive set of new clubs.

Ask yourself where is the greatest value…the swing or the equipment? Afterall I am pretty confident Tiger would still be able to beat any of us whilst using a standard off the shelf set of clubs.

Mike

By: williamevanl

williamevanl — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:20:18 +0000

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff139/jaridyard/Screenshot2009-11-14at185651.png

Honestly though, it’s all over the internet. Just google PGA average yardages per club or something similar. There’s a whole world of people out there that discuss this stuff every day.

Some of it’s from trackman at various events. You can also just look up individual golfers Tiger as an example:
Driver: 285 yards (of carry)
3 Wd: 265 yards (of carry)
2 Iron: 245 yards
3 Iron: 230 yards
4 Iron: 220 yards
5 Iron: 208 yards
6 Iron: 190 yards
7 Iron: 172 yards
8 Iron: 158 yards
9 Iron: 142 yards
Pitching Wedge: 128 yards
Sand Wedge: 106 yards
Lob Wedge (60°): 92 yards

People get held up on the yardages but it has almost nothing to do with anything. The real magic is the quality of contact and control they have on each shot. Tiger hits his pw 128 with more control than Dan could ever imagine.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:06:01 +0000

The stats posted by William probably aren’t far off. You have to realize that the amount of PGA Tour Pro’s is relatively small and that the distance gaps between players is also relatively small. What makes these guys good is their mental fortitude and repeatable golf swings. Hence the reason why Luke Donald is ranked (seemingly) low on driving distance, but able to claim the #1 World Ranking.

On to the subject of club fitting…

Club fitting is something I would love to be able to afford one day. Over the past few years I have slowly upgraded my sticks (used clubs off globalgolf though) and seen a dramatic improvement. But a fully custom set tailored to my swing would help drive those numbers way down. Glad to hear Dan got properly fitted and I’m looking forward to see what comes from it.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 01:20:08 +0000

William, Where are you getting these distance averages? On the PGA Tour website, through June 19th, Nick O’ Hearn is ranked 184th with an average of 264.6. With a 268.9 average, Chris DiMarco is ranked 179th.

Interestingly, Luke Donald is ranked 178th in driving distance (269.4) but according to the World Golf Rankings he’s the #1 player in the world…

By: williamevanl

williamevanl — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 21:36:33 +0000

Average on PGA tour.
Driver……………269 yards
3-wood………….242
5-wood………….229
15/18 hybrid……224
3-iron……………211
4-iron……………203
5-iron……………193
6-iron……………182
7-iron……………171
8-iron……………159
9-iron……………147
PW………………135 yards

By: Todd

Todd — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:11:06 +0000

Sounds like the way to do it. Hitting off a lie board into a net 5 feet in front of you never told me much

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 13:58:07 +0000

Discouraging news from the East Coast. For over 10 years I’ve played with clubs that were fitted by one of the best in the business — a national award-winning guy in Greenwich, CT, Jacques Intriere. Why discouraging? Because I can’t blame the tools…