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Getting Fit for Clubs with your Gamer Ball

Nippon Shafts
Canadan

Canadan

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Just curious, how many of you guys do this?

I ask because when I go hit on monitors, I usually just hit whatever balls they have in the bay. Obviously shared bays make this harder, as well as open ranges, but I am surprised that getting fit for drivers, irons, and shafts all don't encourage your gamer ball -- especially for spin numbers. I know hitting a brand new Bridgestone B330 (my gamer) is going to act a lot different than the abused Srixon AD-333 that looks like it's been sent through a sand blaster.
 
This is a very valid point. Ive only been fitted once and it was a couple of months ago. Fitting went great as far as lie and all that. However the clubs I were test were 2 degree stronger than my 690.mb's and the distanc3 was shorter. I was confused , I could tell by the sound I was hitting the ball first yet the distance was off. Akmost done with my fitting and I said something to the guy, he said we hardly ever change those ball out so they are worn out. 2 things struck me. 1. I didnt think of this being all into something new and shiny. 2. That he willingly knew this but didnt change them out. I figured it would make sense to help people purchase...
 
I've wondered about this also, and also about the practicality of using your gamer ball when the clubs you are being fitted for come from a different manufacturer. Where I get fitted, they typically have a room for each of the major manufacturers. So when I get fitted for a Callaway driver in the Callawy room, they use Callaway balls. I wonder how they would react if I brought in some Titleists and said I want to be fitted for the driver using the Titleist ball. I assume they would be fine with it, but I've never tried it.
 
Canadan said:
Just curious, how many of you guys do this?

I ask because when I go hit on monitors, I usually just hit whatever balls they have in the bay. Obviously shared bays make this harder, as well as open ranges, but I am surprised that getting fit for drivers, irons, and shafts all don't encourage your gamer ball -- especially for spin numbers. I know hitting a brand new Bridgestone B330 (my gamer) is going to act a lot different than the abused Srixon AD-333 that looks like it's been sent through a sand blaster.
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Very good point Dan.

For the 2012 Morgan Cup when I went to the Callaway Performance Center in Austin for my fitting that was the first thing the fitter asked me was if I knew which ball I wanted to play. Callaway had just introduced the Hex Black Tour and the Hex Chrome that year and when I told him no, he had me hit a few shots with each and told me that I should play the Hex Black and then we proceeded to do the fitting with me hitting all the potential clubs with the Hex Black Tour ball.

As you said, if you go into Golf Galaxy or someplace like that for a fitting you are more than likely going to hit whatever ball they have laying in the bay and a lot of times it's a mix of different balls...so one shot could react different than others.
 
I thought about this very thing this morning when I got fit and completely forgot to take my gamers with me to see what difference it made
 
When Matt was fitted at Golftec earlier in the year they had him use his ball of choice. Then they showed him the difference between a practice ball, his ball of choice, and a premium ball... It was very cool, and informative for both of us.
 
Canadan said:
Just curious, how many of you guys do this?

I ask because when I go hit on monitors, I usually just hit whatever balls they have in the bay. Obviously shared bays make this harder, as well as open ranges, but I am surprised that getting fit for drivers, irons, and shafts all don't encourage your gamer ball -- especially for spin numbers. I know hitting a brand new Bridgestone B330 (my gamer) is going to act a lot different than the abused Srixon AD-333 that looks like it's been sent through a sand blaster.
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Interesting. Makes me wonder why they didn't consider this when I got fitted. What they did do is give me a sleeve of Callaway Chrome+ to take home with me.
 
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T2GRN18 said:
When Matt was fitted at Golftec earlier in the year they had him use his ball of choice. Then they showed him the difference between a practice ball, his ball of choice, and a premium ball... It was very cool, and informative for both of us.
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I love that. Educating on the difference is very very cool of GolfTec.
 
Canadan, I know this is a question that many people ask. I've been told by 2 different fitters that the spin rate on the ball during a fitting session will differ for the balls that are used. They both said that if the fitting uses the same "better" quality ball, that the balls are relatively new, and the same model of ball is used, the difference in spin rates are about negligible. My two fitting sessions where a Trackman was used were done using Titleist NXT and Pinnacle balls. The fitting sessions were about a year apart and I don't think that mattered very much, but my numbers from the Trackman were about the same.
When I've gone and hit in the golf store monitor bay's I've gone primarily only to get a feel for the contact and the shaft. I do pay attention to the launch angle in those bay's but I don't give much credit to the rest of the data, especially the distance numbers.
I wish that I could trust the bay monitor data more than I do. That would make it easier for me.
My last fitting was done without a Trackman. The guy watched me hit balls from a outdoor bay, and recorded some launch and spin rates with a device that I hadn't heard of before. The fitting was completed and his recommendations were mainly based on the launch angle and the flight of the golf ball as it left the bay and flew out into the range. The quality of golf balls used then was acceptable but not great. The majority of balls that I hit were good quality Pinnacle's. I've been satisfied with the results this far.
 
I wish I would have read this before I got fitted for my clubs and driver. I have never thought of this until I read the post but it does seem logical that it would make a difference.


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That's a very good point Captain Dan, I've always just hit whatever balls they had. Should be interesting as I begin my new journey and will keep this in mind! Thanks for the reminder. Will be interesting to see what difference there is, especially off mats. To get a real feel, I imagine I would need to see some numbers off grass.
 
I sure would if I could get them back... i only use outdoor ranges to get fit for clubs, as i don't find indoor monitors as fulfilling. But, still, i would definitely imagine it would help. Then again, the whole "are you playing the right ball for you" comes back into play..
 
I did.
More important on the longer clubs such as driver in my opinion.

I think there are some that chase certain numbers with the shaft, and while I understand it, there are other factors at work.

To keep this on pace, getting fit for your driver without using your game ball would not be all that worthwhile.
 
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JB said:
I did.
More important on the longer clubs such as driver in my opinion.

I think there are some that chase certain numbers with the shaft, and while I understand it, there are other factors at work.

To keep this on pace, getting fit for your driver without using your game ball would not be all that worthwhile.
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Do you ever see open range fitters down there take nets with specific balls to their fittings?

I'm really not sure I've ever seen it here, nor have I ever heard a fitter talk about any differences in golf balls as I've gotten fit.
 
Canadan said:
Do you ever see open range fitters down there take nets with specific balls to their fittings?

I'm really not sure I've ever seen it here, nor have I ever heard a fitter talk about any differences in golf balls as I've gotten fit.
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Absolutely. Quite a few of the higher end facilities have it. I did mine at Grand Cypress and used my own ball.
Although I am not as die hard about having to do it outside as others are.
 
From my experience hitting balls at the PGA Tour Super Store I would highly recommend hitting your gamer. I have not been fitted there but I regularly hit balls on their simulators during the winter months. I have found that with the balls they provide my numbers are off as much as 20 yards. I bring my used gamers to practice with and see much more accurate numbers.
 
I would imagine that there are not many places that would let you use your gamer ball at outdoor fittings. Either you're going to get the benefit of seeing your ballflight but lose your gamer balls on a driving range, or you hit into a net outside and lose the ballflight aspect of things. Indoor fittings make it much easier to use your ball of choice.

I was able to use tour level balls at Cool Clubs in Scottsdale a few years ago. FWIW, the fitters out there thought that the spin rate between different tour level balls was only about 200-300 rpm depending on which ball was used. The difference between those balls and "range rocks" would be much more pronounced.
 
I usually get fit indoors on a LM so I always have my gamers and use those every time.

I think it makes a huge difference to just using whatever is available rather than what you always play. I am guessing that you normally don't just use some random golf ball you find every time you golf, so why would you use something other than what you are used to using. In order to really know if a certain combination of club and shaft really work for you and your swing you should use what you are used to. Most people overlook the fact that the golf ball plays a major roll in how much it affects the golf shot. I can understand if you are in an open range and have really no choice as to which golf balls you use, but if you can, you should use your normal ball you use for every round.
 
I know a guy that owns a golf store and he's an incredibly good fitter. He's the only person I know of that asks people what balls they normally play and then fits them using them. It makes perfect sense but I've never heard of anyone else doing this.
 
SaffaClint,
It's great to have an excellent fitter available especially when they can do outdoor fitting, and using a ball that's yours or very similar to yours. Seeing the real ball flight and maybe collect some data like launch angle and spin rate would be ideal to me.
 
I used my gamer ball to get fit for my set of clubs.
 
When I had my fitting at Golftec they had a cabinet full of sleeves of golf balls and they pulled whatever sleeve you choose out for the fitting. I had meant to bring some with me but in my excitement had forgot, but it was nice they had them for you.
 
When I did my fitting earlier in the year, I brought my gamer. I wasn't sure what they would have and glad I brought the ball I was using. We also went through at the end what other balls would be a good option. If you are serious enough to do a fitting it makes sense.
 
Hi. I perform 2 fittings a week. I use their gamer balls for fittings only with 1 % of my customers. Why?
Because for 99% the information about the swing, club, fit, ball striking ability, swing plane, A of A, launch angles, launch direction, shaft flex, length, lie lift and every other thing about fitting a golf club, doesn't matter to the ball. How I choose to fit your club doesn't change based on which ball you play. What if you change golf balls to the next generation ball? Are you going to get refit for new clubs?
I fit golf balls also. A lot of my guys change balls based on atmospheric condition and temperature.
We don't refit them for clubs.
 
I had never thought about this. In some sense to me it makes sense to use your normal gamer ball, but then that isn't going to change the way you swing to matter that much with the fitting of the clubs themselves I would think.
 
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