Buddy got fitted - here are the irons they gave him. Your thoughts?

Luchnia

You will never conquer golf.
Joined
Jan 8, 2020
Messages
5,937
Reaction score
3,945
Location
Virginia
Handicap
14.5
My buddy got fitted Monday and here are the irons that finally set in with him - Cobra F9 Speedback. His fitting took about two hours. These irons look nice and have some great reviews (sort of remind me of my Mavrik Max irons). I think they will be great for him especially being game improvement type irons.

They spec'ed him out with the KBS 90G Tour shafts which should be decent for him although I am not sure on the shafts yet. Time will tell. They also gave him a wood or hybrid, but I don't remember the type, but he said he hit it very well during the fitting.

He struggles big time with the driver so they gave him the Mini-SLDR Taylormade which I am not sure if it will work or not, but I am hopeful. The thing is I am really excited he got these irons, because the irons he has (some cheap junky 200.00 set) are a nightmare and I have constently told him to get some better irons.

Anyone use these and have any comments about them?

1593689488797.png
 
I have the One Length F9 version.

Very nice and forgiving club. Distance is good. Lofts are a bit jacked, but not too much.
 
Looks like he got fit into a really nice set of irons.
 
A Mini-SLDR? He must have been having a perfect strike day. Weren’t they notorious for being about as forgiving as Clint Eastwood? Yes- on the screws it was a monster, but if not....
 
My buddy got fitted Monday and here are the irons that finally set in with him - Cobra F9 Speedback. His fitting took about two hours. These irons look nice and have some great reviews (sort of remind me of my Mavrik Max irons). I think they will be great for him especially being game improvement type irons.

They spec'ed him out with the KBS 90G Tour shafts which should be decent for him although I am not sure on the shafts yet. Time will tell. They also gave him a wood or hybrid, but I don't remember the type, but he said he hit it very well during the fitting.

He struggles big time with the driver so they gave him the Mini-SLDR Taylormade which I am not sure if it will work or not, but I am hopeful. The thing is I am really excited he got these irons, because the irons he has (some cheap junky 200.00 set) are a nightmare and I have constently told him to get some better irons.

Anyone use these and have any comments about them?

View attachment 8951430
I don't know about F9 but I can tell you the one length F8 have been eye opening for me....coming from an old set of irons (not "junky" - just an older set of Callaways) the new technology/forgiveness in the F8's have massively improved my striking - constant feel of "sweet spot" contact - better trajectory - distance - etc. I think your friend will like these....I'd be interested to see what he thinks of the mini SLDR.....
 
A Mini-SLDR? He must have been having a perfect strike day. Weren’t they notorious for being about as forgiving as Clint Eastwood? Yes- on the screws it was a monster, but if not....
I have a SLDR Driver and I fully agree. When you hit it dead center it is massive, but with his game I would have never given him a Min SLDR, but would give him something with more forgiveness. I loaned him an F9 Speedzone and he did pretty good with it, but he has some swing issues with the driver that needs fixing first.
 
I have a SLDR Driver and I fully agree. When you hit it dead center it is massive, but with his game I would have never given him a Min SLDR, but would give him something with more forgiveness. I loaned him an F9 Speedzone and he did pretty good with it, but he has some swing issues with the driver that needs fixing first.
The mini SLDR doesn’t play the way the actual SLDR driver does. It is forgiven and a lot of that is probably related to the shorter shaft length and higher lofts. Plus the mini spins at respectable numbers for average swing speeds. That said, putting him in a Forgiving 460cc driver with a shorter shaft would probably had been a better long term option.
 
I find these kinds of threads interesting because they offer a lot of insight from all kinds of perspectives. I find they offer me a lot of great ideas and things to consider when I'm in the market. It's great to be able to tap into the enormous amount of wisdom here, but I've come to the conclusion that what ultimately matters is what your buddy thinks of the results of his fitting. In two hours, he should have had a pretty good idea of what was working. For me, I consider a club purchase to be a significant and not easily reversible event. My success rate has improved with the following approach:
  • Realize there are many good clubs out there, especially today
  • Many will be surprising: some good, some less good
  • Try as many clubs as you can - see first two bullets
  • If you're a high capper like me, come back a second time and re-try the top few clubs you liked best the first time. This is especially true if the initial results were something unusual - like a mini-SLDR driver.
I know it makes me somewhat of a pain as a customer, but I buy clubs at the same place, they know my process, and they know when I come in to look for a new club, as opposed to just trying a club, I'm highly likely to buy.
 
If he likes long, straight and in the fairway, he will LOVE the F9 irons
 
The mini SLDR doesn’t play the way the actual SLDR driver does. It is forgiven and a lot of that is probably related to the shorter shaft length and higher lofts. Plus the mini spins at respectable numbers for average swing speeds. That said, putting him in a Forgiving 460cc driver with a shorter shaft would probably had been a better long term option.

Okay- but even so, after getting fitted for those long and forgiving irons, he might be disappointed he's 30 yards further back in the fairway hitting a driver with 13 or 14* loft and a shorter shaft. IF he nails one. BUt- on the flip side- with the jacked lofts these days he might be hitting the same club anyway!!! :cool:
 
I've never hit them but it sounds like he had a right proper fitting and things should go well for him. Be sure to update on how they perform on the course for him.
 
I've never hit them but it sounds like he had a right proper fitting and things should go well for him. Be sure to update on how they perform on the course for him.
Will do.

We plan to go out early tomorrow and give them a whirl before it gets so hot here. He wants to hit a few on the range and then play a round and see how it goes. I am sure he is excited to try them out. He has probably been staring at them each night when he gets home from work.

He has really been struggling and I am wishing the best for him and I think this fitting was a great step forward.
 
A Mini-SLDR? He must have been having a perfect strike day. Weren’t they notorious for being about as forgiving as Clint Eastwood? Yes- on the screws it was a monster, but if not....
SLDR was crazy good if you never missed the center of the face. Never hit the mini version but I think it is much more forgiving and just happens to share the name.
 
I'm a bit confused about why someone would be fitted into new irons, but then a Driver that was made in 2014. I would think that the fitter would be able to find a driver that would be more recent, and offer more forgiveness.

I love my SLDR driver, 3 wood, and hybrid, but they're definitely not forgiving.
 
Here is an update. Friday was the first day out with the new irons and my buddy did really well with a 104 on a course that he rarely ever gets better than 110. It was like a different game for him. He was really connecting well with those new irons and getting good ball compression.

He hit the mini-SLDR farther and straighter than he hits his driver which did surprise me and now I kind of see why the fitter went with that for now, but I still don't think I would have fit him with that club. The fitter also gave him a Ping 4 22 (wood?) which fits him good too. He was really hitting that club well. I think his irons are a perfect fit for him and will be good for a number of years once he gets the hang of them.

He wanted to go out again yesterday, but was not good at all and he completely disintegrated with a 113. He struggled almost the entire game with his swing and could not make solid ball contact. He lost 9 or more balls yesterday - lost track. When he did hit them well they were fantastic shots. He just got more frustrated the more he played and could not get settled down.

It will take some time but he will get it figured out and I know he understands the problem isn't the clubs, but his swing fell apart. He will just have to work at it to see what works the best for him.
 
Back
Top