I had a fitting on July 11 with a company called True Spec in Scottsdale. They have other locations around the country and I just wanted to add my review. I have not been fitted in over 10 years and that was done at Ping headquarters. I bought some new Callaway irons in March 2019 and was on a monitor at the golf store for those. I then bought some fairway woods and a driver from Callaway Preowned and have never had them on the monitor. I kept thinking that something was a little off with my driver and that was the reason for me scheduling a fitting. I only was fitted for the driver and it was $125.
When I arrived, I was met by my fitter named Eric. I was nervous and he helped calm me down and told me that they have seen all kinds of swings and to just swing like usual. He asked what kind of balls I used and pulled out 6 Chrome Soft X for me to use. He asked what I wanted out of my fitting. I explained that I felt like I can swing my fairway woods as hard as I want and it not feel wonky, but I feel like I really have to swing my driver easy or I get a nasty hook pop up too often. I have been using 3W off the tee a lot because I am worried about hooking the driver. I told him that I was open to a new driver, new shaft, or no change; I just need to know what is going on. He looked at my driver and said that the head is good (Callaway XR16) and that unless there was something I was dying to have, he could work with me with this driver head. He said he would watch me swing my current driver and if he thought a new driver could add 20 yards and help with dispersion, we would look at it. After watching my swing, I expected him to say that we need to try some of the $600 drivers. He didn't and it was a major positive; I did not schedule a fitting for so long because I was afraid they were going to go all "used car salesman" and fit me into something I didn't really need. He tested my current shaft and said that it is labeled as regular but tests closer to senior flex. He also measured my driver length and said that it is playing at 45 3/4". He felt like that the best chance to make positive changes was to try shorter shafts that were a little firmer. He said to just ignore what was printed on the shafts and we would try out a bunch to see if anything worked better.
Once I warmed up with some really awful worm burners and such (as I said, I was nervous) he told me the plan. He wanted me to swing hard like I knew would bring on the problem shots. We would hit 6 shots with each shaft and throw out the worst one. He did not want to only pick the best shots, but also didn't want to include ones that were out of norm. I probably tried 15 shafts and the print out we kept the top 3 shafts with his recommendation at the end for one specific shaft.
I am going to include the print outs below, but basically, when I swung my driver on what was on the hard, but comfortable side, my swing speed was 102 mph and ball speed was 142.1 with smash factor of 1.39. That was with my current driver settings and shaft (neutral and 10.5). The ball was drawing too much and occasionally hooking. When we switched to the shorter shafts, I lost some swing speed and my smash factor went up slightly to 1.42. The ball was still drawing, but much more manageable.
At the end, he had a recommended shaft but it was going to be $278. He said that he would do it if I wanted, but felt that it was probably not worth the money. This is the second time I was impressed. Remember, I went in willing to buy a new driver and at least expecting to buy a new shaft. He said that we should lower the loft to 9.5 and try my shaft and the top 3 shafts all at 9.5. You can tell by the print out, I am getting tired, because my swing speed on current driver/shaft had now dropped to 100 and the smash factor was 1.40. My driver straightened out considerably. At the end of the day, he suggested I stay with my current driver and shaft and look at trying to find one in a stiff flex and think about shortening it a 1/2". On all of the shots, it is evident that I need to work on finding the center of the club. The print out exaggerates a little to what was actually happening, but almost everything was high toe on my strikes.
When I got home, I ordered a stiff shaft from Callaway Preowned (I can return if needed) and am going to try that out along with a lesson to see if I can find the center more regularly. I like having the option to go back to my current shaft and stay at 9.5 because those numbers were pretty good, but if I can use the stiffer shaft and go back to 10.5, I prefer that ball flight. At 9.5 with my current shaft, I feel like it can go right or left but will be "straighter" on average. If I can get it working better at 10.5 and a firm flex, I would prefer knowing that the ball is predictably going to move left (just don't want the hook).
I recommend this fitter. I was impressed that he didn't care if he sold me anything or not. He just wanted to get me fit for the best shaft for my swing. At some point (next spring), I fully intend to go back with the intention of getting fit for a new driver just because I want one and not because I need it. As far as the numbers go, he said that they mostly looked good. He did explain every number too me, but I don't want to get that specific on this review. He felt like if I can find the center that my smash factor would go up. He also said that the settings were at sea level and that my yardage would be 5-10% farther in real world Phoenix conditions. That seems about right because my Arccos driver smart distance currently sits at 262 yards.
When I arrived, I was met by my fitter named Eric. I was nervous and he helped calm me down and told me that they have seen all kinds of swings and to just swing like usual. He asked what kind of balls I used and pulled out 6 Chrome Soft X for me to use. He asked what I wanted out of my fitting. I explained that I felt like I can swing my fairway woods as hard as I want and it not feel wonky, but I feel like I really have to swing my driver easy or I get a nasty hook pop up too often. I have been using 3W off the tee a lot because I am worried about hooking the driver. I told him that I was open to a new driver, new shaft, or no change; I just need to know what is going on. He looked at my driver and said that the head is good (Callaway XR16) and that unless there was something I was dying to have, he could work with me with this driver head. He said he would watch me swing my current driver and if he thought a new driver could add 20 yards and help with dispersion, we would look at it. After watching my swing, I expected him to say that we need to try some of the $600 drivers. He didn't and it was a major positive; I did not schedule a fitting for so long because I was afraid they were going to go all "used car salesman" and fit me into something I didn't really need. He tested my current shaft and said that it is labeled as regular but tests closer to senior flex. He also measured my driver length and said that it is playing at 45 3/4". He felt like that the best chance to make positive changes was to try shorter shafts that were a little firmer. He said to just ignore what was printed on the shafts and we would try out a bunch to see if anything worked better.
Once I warmed up with some really awful worm burners and such (as I said, I was nervous) he told me the plan. He wanted me to swing hard like I knew would bring on the problem shots. We would hit 6 shots with each shaft and throw out the worst one. He did not want to only pick the best shots, but also didn't want to include ones that were out of norm. I probably tried 15 shafts and the print out we kept the top 3 shafts with his recommendation at the end for one specific shaft.
I am going to include the print outs below, but basically, when I swung my driver on what was on the hard, but comfortable side, my swing speed was 102 mph and ball speed was 142.1 with smash factor of 1.39. That was with my current driver settings and shaft (neutral and 10.5). The ball was drawing too much and occasionally hooking. When we switched to the shorter shafts, I lost some swing speed and my smash factor went up slightly to 1.42. The ball was still drawing, but much more manageable.
At the end, he had a recommended shaft but it was going to be $278. He said that he would do it if I wanted, but felt that it was probably not worth the money. This is the second time I was impressed. Remember, I went in willing to buy a new driver and at least expecting to buy a new shaft. He said that we should lower the loft to 9.5 and try my shaft and the top 3 shafts all at 9.5. You can tell by the print out, I am getting tired, because my swing speed on current driver/shaft had now dropped to 100 and the smash factor was 1.40. My driver straightened out considerably. At the end of the day, he suggested I stay with my current driver and shaft and look at trying to find one in a stiff flex and think about shortening it a 1/2". On all of the shots, it is evident that I need to work on finding the center of the club. The print out exaggerates a little to what was actually happening, but almost everything was high toe on my strikes.
When I got home, I ordered a stiff shaft from Callaway Preowned (I can return if needed) and am going to try that out along with a lesson to see if I can find the center more regularly. I like having the option to go back to my current shaft and stay at 9.5 because those numbers were pretty good, but if I can use the stiffer shaft and go back to 10.5, I prefer that ball flight. At 9.5 with my current shaft, I feel like it can go right or left but will be "straighter" on average. If I can get it working better at 10.5 and a firm flex, I would prefer knowing that the ball is predictably going to move left (just don't want the hook).
I recommend this fitter. I was impressed that he didn't care if he sold me anything or not. He just wanted to get me fit for the best shaft for my swing. At some point (next spring), I fully intend to go back with the intention of getting fit for a new driver just because I want one and not because I need it. As far as the numbers go, he said that they mostly looked good. He did explain every number too me, but I don't want to get that specific on this review. He felt like if I can find the center that my smash factor would go up. He also said that the settings were at sea level and that my yardage would be 5-10% farther in real world Phoenix conditions. That seems about right because my Arccos driver smart distance currently sits at 262 yards.
