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TC's Day of Club Fitting

Nippon Shafts
great stuff TC! Those are some pretty impressive numbers.
 
Awesome TC. I can attest the KBS' are just sooooooo smooth feeling. Good stuff!
 
arydolphin said:
Great info TC. Just as an FYI, KBS came out this year with R+ and S+ flexes in the KBS Tour shafts, which provide flexes in between their standard R/S/X. It sounds like you'd be a pretty good candidate for S+ if you don't softstep the X-flex. More info here: http://www.kbsshafts.com/kbs_tourseries.php
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I didn't know that man, thanks so much. Sounds exactly what I'm looking for to be honest.

golf4life said:
TC, with those SS numbers you're getting, have you considered giving the B330 or B330-S a shot in your bag?
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I rotate the Tour B330 in the mix every now and then. I do like that ball. I've played with the S but it's way too spinny into and on the greens for my liking.
 
TC said:
I didn't know that man, thanks so much. Sounds exactly what I'm looking for to be honest.



I rotate the Tour B330 in the mix every now and then. I do like that ball. I've played with the S but it's way too spinny into and on the greens for my liking.
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TC, I'm not 100% sure, but the S+ may be more like hard-stepping the stiff as compared to soft-stepping the X. I'm not trying to lead you on the wrong path, as it sounds like you have a great clubfitter there. It's just something else to ask about in terms of which way you want to go with the KBS Tour shafts.

As an aside, I have the KBS Tour in stiff in my R9 irons, and I switched to them from S300s....I liked the lighter weight, and I think the KBS Tour shafts are just smoother and makes it easier to get the ball in the air.
 
TC said:
Well, I decided to spend some money today and spend a couple of hours with my local club fitter and I came away with some very interesting data. A lot of the reason why I wanted to go was to dial in the R11, but more so, to get an idea of what iron shaft works best for me, especially since having the Burner 2.0 irons with the 85 gram steel shafts. I've become fond of the lighter weight shaft but can't help but think, are they the right shafts for me?

R11 Driver

My fitter has a vector launch monitor and for the sake of the testing I used my golf ball that I play on the course with, Bridgestone's Tour B330RX. After warming up, we jumped right into the R11 and the results were quite interesting.

I have a 9* R11, with the Fubuki Alpha 60 Stiff shaft in it. We started out with everything set on standard and I proceeded to hit 12 shots and for my averages we threw out the worst 2 results. Here is what the averages were:

Clubhead speed - 111 mph
Launch Angle - 14.7*
Spin - 2388 rpms
Ball Speed - 162 mph
Carry - 276 yards

I was very pleased with these results and to be honest, never thought that I had that kind of club head speed average. I didn't include any total distance #'s b/c I think they are useless. We did notice that I had a very consistent cut/fade, about an average of 9 yards off of center so he wanted to close the face of the R11 by setting the hosel to "higher"

We then set the loft to higher by closing the face and left the ASP setting on Neutral. These results shocked me more than anything. Again, 12 shots, kicking out the worst 2 and here are my averages:

Clubhead speed - 110 mph
Launch Angle - 15.3*
Spin - 2601 rpms
ball speed - 160 mph
Carry - 281 yards

Fascinating stuff! I increased the spin a bit, increased the launch angle, decreased the clubhead and ball speed but saw an avg increase in carry distance of 4 yards!!!! Booyah!

I still saw a consistent cut/fade, but the average this time was 4 yards. I think I will leave it right here and not touch a thing.

Iron Shafts

I then decided that it was time to find out what sort of iron shaft is best for me. Especially with the Morgan Cup rolling around, I want to make sure that I am absolutely optimized and ready to go for this event.

He does have the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer but not for Left Handers so I did the next best thing: we took the JPX 800 demo head and paired it with a few shafts for the sake of the testing. This was really cool and I walked away with my brain in overdrive.

Again, I used the Bridgestone Tour B330RX golf ball for all shots and a vector was used to gather data.

We started out gathering data from my current 6iron, the Taylormade Burner 2.0. I have the stock, stiff, steel shafts and here's what we found:

ball speed - 127 mph
clubhead speed - 88 mph
launch angle - 24.6*
backspin/side spin - 4100 rpms/-1.1
carry - 201 yards
shot height - 49'

Project X 6.0

ball speed - 123 mph
clubhead speed - 90 mph
launch angle - 25*
backspin/side spin - 5400 rpms/-2.2
carry - 178 yards
shot height - 45'

DG S300

ball speed - 124 mph
clubhead speed - 89 mph
launch angle - 24.3*
backspin/side spin - 4900 rpms/-2.4
carry - 183 yards
shot height - 44'

KBS Tour Stiff

ball speed - 126 mph
clubhead speed - 95 mph
launch angle - 24.1*
backspin/side spin - 6000 rpms/-1.7
carry - 176 yards
shot height - 49'

KBS Tour XStiff

ball speed - 125 mph
clubhead speed - 92 mph
launch angle - 23.7*
backspin/side spin - 4400 rpms/-0.3
carry - 188 yards
shot height - 42'

Nippon NS Pro 950 GH

ball speed - 122 mph
clubhead speed - 93 mph
launch angle - 23.7*
backspin/side spin - 5700 rpms/-1.2
carry - 171 yards
shot height - 40'

The enigma was the Nippon. All of the #'s looked great, except for carry distance. It just didn't make a lot of sense other than it just never peaked as high as some of the others, thus causing a slight decrease in carry distance.

In the end, and to my complete surprise, he highly recommend that I get the KBS Tour XStiff, soft stepped. He noticed that I prefer the weight of the lighter shafts (Nippon/KBS) but that I just need the stiffness I was getting from the Xstiff. Even though I didn't have the option to demo it, he also thought that the S300 XP's, hard stepped, would be a great option but to me, the KBS' felt very, very smooth.

I have to tell you guys, this was an eye opener for me. I would highly recommend everyone try to find someone who is knowledgeable and who is outfitted with this type of technology and go find out what works best for you.

Thanks for reading.
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Great writeup TC. I wish we had something like that around here. Curious as to why he just didnt adjust the ASP to closed rather than giving you more loft? It goes back to an R11 question, how come he did that?
 
Great info TC. I'm going to get fitted as well and seeing your results here has me chomping at the bit a little more.

You are hitting it well and your distances look great buddy. Keep it up.
 
biggsy said:
Great info TC. I'm going to get fitted as well and seeing your results here has me chomping at the bit a little more.

You are hitting it well and your distances look great buddy. Keep it up.
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Hey lets keep that smack talk in the right thread ok.
 
Love to read info like that. Great recap, buddy. Any reason why you didn't put the Kusala in the R11 to see what numbers you were getting?
 
Cool stuff, TC. There's a lot I don't know about golf clubs.

Kevin
 
Great stuff TC! I can only wish for those type numbers.
 
coolbreeze said:
Hey lets keep that smack talk in the right thread ok.
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Actually, I was being serious. Having played with him a couple of times, those are good numbers and I know he's been playing and practicing because the numbers are going up. He's doing well.

Great info in that post, I really want to get a fitting now.
 
biggsy said:
Actually, I was being serious. Having played with him a couple of times, those are good numbers and I know he's been playing and practicing because the numbers are going up. He's doing well.

Great info in that post, I really want to get a fitting now.
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I knew you were being serious, I was a poor attempt at sarcasm about the serious, nice comment.
 
wow, you are KILLING that driver. nice job!!
 
Great numbers TC!
 
Amazing write up and lots of great info TC. Bringing the game on and off the forum this year! :D

It's really got me thinking. Looks like your s/s numbers aren't too far away from mine, but I'm not seeing results quite like that. Trying to convince myself to be patient while I work through swing changes is difficult, but if I can do that, I'd love to get a fitting and some data like this put down.
 
So I get in my email this morning the Platinum Experience from GG. I know it's indoors and all but does anyone think this is worth it? Seems like you get an awful lot for $150
 
Chunkylover77 said:
So I get in my email this morning the Platinum Experience from GG. I know it's indoors and all but does anyone think this is worth it? Seems like you get an awful lot for $150
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I have not been, but I can tell you, I would not spend it right now CL. You are about to go to a demo day and try out hundreds of products. No reason getting a full fitting if something else jumps out at you in 2 months.
 
JB said:
I have not been, but I can tell you, I would not spend it right now CL. You are about to go to a demo day and try out hundreds of products. No reason getting a full fitting if something else jumps out at you in 2 months.
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Just imagine how much more value you'd get out of it after a demo day that gives you the chance to test so many clubs and shafts, and gives you a clear idea of what you want and need. /jealousy.
 
the_paulo said:
Amazing write up and lots of great info TC. Bringing the game on and off the forum this year! :D

It's really got me thinking. Looks like your s/s numbers aren't too far away from mine, but I'm not seeing results quite like that. Trying to convince myself to be patient while I work through swing changes is difficult, but if I can do that, I'd love to get a fitting and some data like this put down.
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Paulo, when you say you aren't seeing similar results, yet we have similar swing speed #'s (I assume), can I ask what ball you were using when you had a session on the launch monitor? The balls that they had there to use were just not good. I was adament that I use the ball I use on the course.
 
TC said:
Paulo, when you say you aren't seeing similar results, yet we have similar swing speed #'s (I assume), can I ask what ball you were using when you had a session on the launch monitor? The balls that they had there to use were just not good. I was adament that I use the ball I use on the course.
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Good point. I was using some practice-type Wilson balls. I honestly didn't think of that.

Although I do think the symptoms run a little deeper. I can't remember my launch and spin numbers, so they will no doubt be working against me too.
 
the_paulo said:
Good point. I was using some practice-type Wilson balls. I honestly didn't think of that.

Although I do think the symptoms run a little deeper. I can't remember my launch and spin numbers, so they will no doubt be working against me too.
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I hear ya man. I guess the one thing that really hit home with me, is that the R11 is indeed a low spin driver. It's quite good for me in that regard. However, just by tinkering with some of the settings, you can achieve more/less spin, just like that. It's a driver that one really needs to take somewhere and get optimized perfectly. B/c when you do, you see what can happen. I have to tell you, I cannot wait to get it back on the course. Just knowing that how I have it setup now, is best for me, that can make a world of difference once I get it on the golf course.
 
TC said:
I hear ya man. I guess the one thing that really hit home with me, is that the R11 is indeed a low spin driver. It's quite good for me in that regard. However, just by tinkering with some of the settings, you can achieve more/less spin, just like that. It's a driver that one really needs to take somewhere and get optimized perfectly. B/c when you do, you see what can happen. I have to tell you, I cannot wait to get it back on the course. Just knowing that how I have it setup now, is best for me, that can make a world of difference once I get it on the golf course.
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Hmmm... Ponder ponder.


From the iPhone.
 
Thainer21 said:
Hmmm... Ponder ponder.


From the iPhone.
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If you went through a proper fitting with this driver, it could be very, very good for you junior. I have no doubt about that.
 
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