Jackal
Active member
My son will be 12 years old this coming Monday. We went to Dicks Sporting goods and had them fit him for a new driver.
A little history on him, he is 5ft-9in, weighs 207lbs, and wears a size 14 shoe. He is strong, not fat, just "Country boy" big!
He has been playing with real "metal" clubs since he was 4. He started going to the course when he was 8.
This past summer he shot a record 40, on 9 holes at our regular course. He usually shoots 43-45, from the gold or white tees. (Only about 15 yards difference).
We took his driver to Dicks, because the pro/fitter asked us to.
They started out with his old RBZ taylormade, and my son hit a maximum of 240-245 yards, ( his normal distance). The pro told us to pick what was in our price range. We picked the R15, Aeroburner, and Jetspeed, because he likes Taylormade. They didn't go any further or straighter than the RBZ.
Then we selected a couple of Callaways. They went a little further, and just as accurate.
We also looked at the Cobra Fly Z and Fly Z+. He was killing them, but had a slight hook. His usual shot shape is a draw. He tried a 10° Fly z+, with a stiff VLCT-St shaft, the weight in the forward position.
He started bombing his drives at 262-267 yards total. This is the club we bought him. It is the bright metallic blue that he absolutely loves.
Before we left the fitter took my sons old driver and hit it about 277 on a good smooth swing. He took the FlyZ+ we were buying and hit it a smooth 288-290. Finally he jumped on a couple of hits and got 315-321 total distance.
He told us that we had built my son a good swing, but he could give him some "tune up" lessons at the local driving range we visit.
I looked up the guys name and he is the assistant pro at one of our private elite country clubs. He also competes in mini tour competition.
The guy wanted us to bring in the old driver to show that he didn't turn up the launch monitor.
He never touched any settings, either. I didn't notice the brand of monitor, but the screen would go to a 370 yard driving range named "Rory". After you hit, it would give a display for about 15 seconds with stats. When it detected you were waving a club in front of the sensor, it went to the range mode.
The fitter told us what many of you on THP say. "There's nothing wrong with Callaway, Taylormade, or any other club. You just happen to hit this Cobra better." Different clubs for different swings.
I want to thank all of you for the info. I was reluctant to get him fitted, but his swing is consistent enough, and it made a huge difference. If we had just ordered a Taylormade off of Ebay, we would have thought 245 was just his max distance.
I may get fitted after New Years, and this spring we will both get tune-up lessons.
Sorry for the long story. Just wanted to share my sons journey.
My sons swing speed is 98 average, the pros was 122-126 when he was getting on it.
Jack
A little history on him, he is 5ft-9in, weighs 207lbs, and wears a size 14 shoe. He is strong, not fat, just "Country boy" big!
He has been playing with real "metal" clubs since he was 4. He started going to the course when he was 8.
This past summer he shot a record 40, on 9 holes at our regular course. He usually shoots 43-45, from the gold or white tees. (Only about 15 yards difference).
We took his driver to Dicks, because the pro/fitter asked us to.
They started out with his old RBZ taylormade, and my son hit a maximum of 240-245 yards, ( his normal distance). The pro told us to pick what was in our price range. We picked the R15, Aeroburner, and Jetspeed, because he likes Taylormade. They didn't go any further or straighter than the RBZ.
Then we selected a couple of Callaways. They went a little further, and just as accurate.
We also looked at the Cobra Fly Z and Fly Z+. He was killing them, but had a slight hook. His usual shot shape is a draw. He tried a 10° Fly z+, with a stiff VLCT-St shaft, the weight in the forward position.
He started bombing his drives at 262-267 yards total. This is the club we bought him. It is the bright metallic blue that he absolutely loves.
Before we left the fitter took my sons old driver and hit it about 277 on a good smooth swing. He took the FlyZ+ we were buying and hit it a smooth 288-290. Finally he jumped on a couple of hits and got 315-321 total distance.
He told us that we had built my son a good swing, but he could give him some "tune up" lessons at the local driving range we visit.
I looked up the guys name and he is the assistant pro at one of our private elite country clubs. He also competes in mini tour competition.
The guy wanted us to bring in the old driver to show that he didn't turn up the launch monitor.
He never touched any settings, either. I didn't notice the brand of monitor, but the screen would go to a 370 yard driving range named "Rory". After you hit, it would give a display for about 15 seconds with stats. When it detected you were waving a club in front of the sensor, it went to the range mode.
The fitter told us what many of you on THP say. "There's nothing wrong with Callaway, Taylormade, or any other club. You just happen to hit this Cobra better." Different clubs for different swings.
I want to thank all of you for the info. I was reluctant to get him fitted, but his swing is consistent enough, and it made a huge difference. If we had just ordered a Taylormade off of Ebay, we would have thought 245 was just his max distance.
I may get fitted after New Years, and this spring we will both get tune-up lessons.
Sorry for the long story. Just wanted to share my sons journey.
My sons swing speed is 98 average, the pros was 122-126 when he was getting on it.
Jack
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