EXPERIENCE The 2024 Titleist Experience
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I think I saw them in concert a few years ago.
Me coming back into this thread and seeing Big 12 discussion.
I had my Titleist fitting at Oak Brook Golf Club this afternoon with Brad Nelson -- great fitter and really nice guy.
The first thing you need to know: It was 99 degrees and humid today, with a heat index between 110 and 115. The temperature broke the record high for August 27 in Chicago, as measured at O'Hare. The National Weather Service had issued an excessive heat warning.
Why am I telling you how hot it was? Well, because it sort of broke the Trackman. The battery wouldn't hold a charge, and the Jackery that Brad had to charge it wouldn't work, either. There was a long stretch in the middle of the fitting where Brad had to put them both in the shade, let them cool down a bit, then get a bit of a charge.
Obviously this was not in any way Brad's fault -- just a weird thing that happened! But it meant the data I have on all the different options we tried is limited. While the Trackman was on the fritz, we were trying different combos and settings and just going by the eye test to see what was worth getting numbers on.
Anyway, on to the golf.
We started with the driver. My current combo -- Ping G430 Max 10K at 9 degrees, flat, with a Ventus TR Blue 6X that I was fitted for a while ago, before some swing changes -- wasn't flying high enough. I was swinging around 100-102 mph. My best carries were around 237, rolling out to 260ish, but my launch angle was just under 10, and spin was sometimes sub-2000s.
None of that really surprised me. I deloft everything. It's a huge problem, and something I'm working on. I deloft clubs, hit terrible pull-hooks, and then react by hitting swipey fades. But, that's where I was. Brad gave me a tip, which happened to reinforce something I've been working on anyway, to stop me from delofting so much.
Brad started by grabbing a GT3 10 degree head at standard settings, and the HZRDUS Black Gen 5 60/6.5. Best carries were 241-242. We were making some progress, but I didn't love the feel of that shaft.
Next up, Ventus TR Blue 6S in that same GT3 head. I was getting swipey. Brad moved the weight into the far heel position and lofted it up to 10.75, to help me keep plenty of loft on it and protect against that spinny fade. More progress: My longest carries were 246-247 at around the same swing speed, and the ball flight was very clearly higher. However, the dispersion just wasn't great, and it was on me -- the club was doing its job, but my delivery was inconsistent. Brad had me in the Ventus TR Blue because that's what I've been playing, but I've been feeling for a while now that after some swing changes, that just might not be the shaft for me anymore.
I asked if we could try something like Ventus Red. He grabbed the Red 6X, and put me in the same settings -- 10 degree GT3 lofted up to 10.75 with the weight in the heel.
Magic.
My dispersion instantly tightened up. I hit five of my best drives of the day. They were carrying 247, rolling out to 270, with a nice little controlled draw. Peak height was way up from what I'm used to seeing. But the main thing is, instead of fighting the shaft, it just immediately felt like it was working with me. All the measurements of delivery -- club path, face to path, angle of attack, everything -- got much, much more consistent. The stouter handle helped me a lot, since I'm pretty aggressive in transition, and the softer tip helped me with trajectory. It also just felt like cracking a whip, whereas the TR Blue -- while a great shaft for me back when I was fitted into it -- now feels a little too loose in the midsection and too stout in the tip.
Spin was in the high 2000s, but we were using Pro V1X at this point based on me starting from a place of needing higher launch and more spin -- Brad recommended that the move to bring the ball flight down a touch and bring the spin down a touch would be for me to try using Pro V1s. I have a couple boxes at home, so that's what I'll do.
We didn't even need to try the GT2, in Brad's opinion. I was open to whatever driver head he fit me into, but I'll admit I think Titleist's "3" shape is the best-looking driver head on the market, so I wasn't going to argue with what he thought was best for me and what I was seeing work well with my own eyes. Brad liked the adjustability for me. He felt like if I saw the ball flight getting too high, or drawing too much, after playing this driver for a while, I could bump it back down to 10 degrees or slide that weight back toward the middle.
So, that was settled.
Driver: GT3 10 degree, standard lie angle and +0.75 loft, weight in H2, standard weight, 45.5", Ventus Red 6X, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
Then we moved on to fairway woods. We'd hit a few different combos during the period where the Trackman was down -- experimenting with the GT2 and GT3 heads, in the 13.5, 15 and 16.5 degree loft options, and trying them off the deck and off a tee.
The GT2 13.5 was eliminated quickly. I loved the size, but I was hitting it too low. Brad said he liked the GT3 better for me again, because of the adjustability -- and I preferred that shape and its feel, too, so I was on board with that. We spent most of our time with fairway woods trying them with a Ventus TR Blue 7S. But toward the end, after we'd realized Ventus Red was the right driver shaft for me, we circled back to fairways and it was the exact same experience -- instantly higher ball flights, with much, much more accuracy.
While we went with 6X in the driver, Brad thought 7S would be a better fit in the fairways. He thought my swing was a little less aggressive there, so we didn't need to bump up a flex. For what it's worth, I think he was right -- 6X felt perfect in driver; 7S felt perfect in fairway woods. No disagreements at all from me with Brad's recommendation on the flex change.
We'd settled on the GT3, but had to figure out the loft. We talked some about whether this club would be used primarily off the tee or off the deck. I've kept stats on this, and found that last year, I used my 3W about 75% off the tee. He said since it's primarily a tee club, he'd recommend 15 degrees. I hit a few off the tee with the Ventus Red 7S, and was on board with that -- they were all flying just as high as the driver, spinning in the mid 3000s (and I bet I could bump it down to the low 3000s with a Pro V1 instead of V1X). On good strikes I was carrying the ball in the 220s, which seemed to gap well from the driver we'd settled on.
Misses were staying remarkably on course. I remember hitting one so low in the heel that I thought I'd just topped it or something, only to watch it launch relatively reasonably, start right and just peel back left -- miraculously, it carried 200 and wound up right on target, and I darn near missed the ball. As much as any of the good strikes, that one -- seeing that I didn't necessarily need the "more forgiving" GT2 head because the GT3 was working for me and protecting my misses really well -- was what sold me.
Fairway wood 1: GT3 15 degree, 1.5 degree upright lie angle, standard loft, weight in H2, standard weight, 43", Ventus Red 7S, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
I also wanted to explore the possibility of a higher-lofted fairway wood. Brad lit up and said "7 wood!" Unfortunately Titleist's fitting set-ups don't have room for every single shaft in the world, so for the most part we were looking at just choking down on 3 wood shafts.
The Ventus TR Blue did produce some incredibly long balls in the GT2 7 wood head. One carried 220. But it's the same story as the driver and the 3 wood: Ventus Red was just much more consistently accurate. The ball was flying to the moon, and carrying 205-210.
This one was easy. I knew my 3 hybrid flew too low and I wanted a 7 wood. Brad agreed it would be the right club for me. We were seeing 16 degree launch angles, which is really high for me. And it fit my gapping perfectly. I do think I'll probably want to get out of the upright lie angle on this one, but I won't argue with where we wound up today until I see how this thing performs on the course.
I'm really looking forward to the next long par 3 I encounter. I feel like I now will have the perfect club, whereas that's been a nightmare for me in the past.
Fairway wood 2: GT2 21 degree, 1.5 degree upright lie angle, standard loft, standard weight, 41.5", Ventus Red 7S, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
I left covered in so much sweat that I'm not sure I'd have been any wetter if you'd thrown me in a pool. I had it better than Brad, though -- some nasty flies were out in force and had been biting his leg all day. I told him we need to schedule something to look at irons next ... but for that one, I'll be looking for a day with a heat index in double digits.
The first thing you need to know: It was 99 degrees and humid today, with a heat index between 110 and 115. The temperature broke the record high for August 27 in Chicago, as measured at O'Hare. The National Weather Service had issued an excessive heat warning.
Why am I telling you how hot it was? Well, because it sort of broke the Trackman. The battery wouldn't hold a charge, and the Jackery that Brad had to charge it wouldn't work, either. There was a long stretch in the middle of the fitting where Brad had to put them both in the shade, let them cool down a bit, then get a bit of a charge.
Obviously this was not in any way Brad's fault -- just a weird thing that happened! But it meant the data I have on all the different options we tried is limited. While the Trackman was on the fritz, we were trying different combos and settings and just going by the eye test to see what was worth getting numbers on.
Anyway, on to the golf.
We started with the driver. My current combo -- Ping G430 Max 10K at 9 degrees, flat, with a Ventus TR Blue 6X that I was fitted for a while ago, before some swing changes -- wasn't flying high enough. I was swinging around 100-102 mph. My best carries were around 237, rolling out to 260ish, but my launch angle was just under 10, and spin was sometimes sub-2000s.
None of that really surprised me. I deloft everything. It's a huge problem, and something I'm working on. I deloft clubs, hit terrible pull-hooks, and then react by hitting swipey fades. But, that's where I was. Brad gave me a tip, which happened to reinforce something I've been working on anyway, to stop me from delofting so much.
Brad started by grabbing a GT3 10 degree head at standard settings, and the HZRDUS Black Gen 5 60/6.5. Best carries were 241-242. We were making some progress, but I didn't love the feel of that shaft.
Next up, Ventus TR Blue 6S in that same GT3 head. I was getting swipey. Brad moved the weight into the far heel position and lofted it up to 10.75, to help me keep plenty of loft on it and protect against that spinny fade. More progress: My longest carries were 246-247 at around the same swing speed, and the ball flight was very clearly higher. However, the dispersion just wasn't great, and it was on me -- the club was doing its job, but my delivery was inconsistent. Brad had me in the Ventus TR Blue because that's what I've been playing, but I've been feeling for a while now that after some swing changes, that just might not be the shaft for me anymore.
I asked if we could try something like Ventus Red. He grabbed the Red 6X, and put me in the same settings -- 10 degree GT3 lofted up to 10.75 with the weight in the heel.
Magic.
My dispersion instantly tightened up. I hit five of my best drives of the day. They were carrying 247, rolling out to 270, with a nice little controlled draw. Peak height was way up from what I'm used to seeing. But the main thing is, instead of fighting the shaft, it just immediately felt like it was working with me. All the measurements of delivery -- club path, face to path, angle of attack, everything -- got much, much more consistent. The stouter handle helped me a lot, since I'm pretty aggressive in transition, and the softer tip helped me with trajectory. It also just felt like cracking a whip, whereas the TR Blue -- while a great shaft for me back when I was fitted into it -- now feels a little too loose in the midsection and too stout in the tip.
Spin was in the high 2000s, but we were using Pro V1X at this point based on me starting from a place of needing higher launch and more spin -- Brad recommended that the move to bring the ball flight down a touch and bring the spin down a touch would be for me to try using Pro V1s. I have a couple boxes at home, so that's what I'll do.
We didn't even need to try the GT2, in Brad's opinion. I was open to whatever driver head he fit me into, but I'll admit I think Titleist's "3" shape is the best-looking driver head on the market, so I wasn't going to argue with what he thought was best for me and what I was seeing work well with my own eyes. Brad liked the adjustability for me. He felt like if I saw the ball flight getting too high, or drawing too much, after playing this driver for a while, I could bump it back down to 10 degrees or slide that weight back toward the middle.
So, that was settled.
Driver: GT3 10 degree, standard lie angle and +0.75 loft, weight in H2, standard weight, 45.5", Ventus Red 6X, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
Then we moved on to fairway woods. We'd hit a few different combos during the period where the Trackman was down -- experimenting with the GT2 and GT3 heads, in the 13.5, 15 and 16.5 degree loft options, and trying them off the deck and off a tee.
The GT2 13.5 was eliminated quickly. I loved the size, but I was hitting it too low. Brad said he liked the GT3 better for me again, because of the adjustability -- and I preferred that shape and its feel, too, so I was on board with that. We spent most of our time with fairway woods trying them with a Ventus TR Blue 7S. But toward the end, after we'd realized Ventus Red was the right driver shaft for me, we circled back to fairways and it was the exact same experience -- instantly higher ball flights, with much, much more accuracy.
While we went with 6X in the driver, Brad thought 7S would be a better fit in the fairways. He thought my swing was a little less aggressive there, so we didn't need to bump up a flex. For what it's worth, I think he was right -- 6X felt perfect in driver; 7S felt perfect in fairway woods. No disagreements at all from me with Brad's recommendation on the flex change.
We'd settled on the GT3, but had to figure out the loft. We talked some about whether this club would be used primarily off the tee or off the deck. I've kept stats on this, and found that last year, I used my 3W about 75% off the tee. He said since it's primarily a tee club, he'd recommend 15 degrees. I hit a few off the tee with the Ventus Red 7S, and was on board with that -- they were all flying just as high as the driver, spinning in the mid 3000s (and I bet I could bump it down to the low 3000s with a Pro V1 instead of V1X). On good strikes I was carrying the ball in the 220s, which seemed to gap well from the driver we'd settled on.
Misses were staying remarkably on course. I remember hitting one so low in the heel that I thought I'd just topped it or something, only to watch it launch relatively reasonably, start right and just peel back left -- miraculously, it carried 200 and wound up right on target, and I darn near missed the ball. As much as any of the good strikes, that one -- seeing that I didn't necessarily need the "more forgiving" GT2 head because the GT3 was working for me and protecting my misses really well -- was what sold me.
Fairway wood 1: GT3 15 degree, 1.5 degree upright lie angle, standard loft, weight in H2, standard weight, 43", Ventus Red 7S, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
I also wanted to explore the possibility of a higher-lofted fairway wood. Brad lit up and said "7 wood!" Unfortunately Titleist's fitting set-ups don't have room for every single shaft in the world, so for the most part we were looking at just choking down on 3 wood shafts.
The Ventus TR Blue did produce some incredibly long balls in the GT2 7 wood head. One carried 220. But it's the same story as the driver and the 3 wood: Ventus Red was just much more consistently accurate. The ball was flying to the moon, and carrying 205-210.
This one was easy. I knew my 3 hybrid flew too low and I wanted a 7 wood. Brad agreed it would be the right club for me. We were seeing 16 degree launch angles, which is really high for me. And it fit my gapping perfectly. I do think I'll probably want to get out of the upright lie angle on this one, but I won't argue with where we wound up today until I see how this thing performs on the course.
I'm really looking forward to the next long par 3 I encounter. I feel like I now will have the perfect club, whereas that's been a nightmare for me in the past.
Fairway wood 2: GT2 21 degree, 1.5 degree upright lie angle, standard loft, standard weight, 41.5", Ventus Red 7S, Lamkin UTX standard grip.
I left covered in so much sweat that I'm not sure I'd have been any wetter if you'd thrown me in a pool. I had it better than Brad, though -- some nasty flies were out in force and had been biting his leg all day. I told him we need to schedule something to look at irons next ... but for that one, I'll be looking for a day with a heat index in double digits.
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- #507
Great fitting story. That has to have to you full of confidence.
You are right. It was blazing hot in IL yesterday.
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Duuuuuuuude this is great. Excellent write-up!
Great write up! Love the shaft info. Interesting that you have both GTs for FWs, but the results were clear. Can't wait to see them in action!
I agree, I was a little surprised by the different fairway models as well! For the 7W, of course, the GT2 is the only model available.
I'm a 10 handicap and can be an inconsistent ball striker -- I went in thinking I'd need every ounce of forgiveness they had available. But in the driver and 3W, the additional adjustability of the sliding weight seemed to actually make more of a difference for me than the inherent differences in forgiveness just in the overall shapes/designs of the heads. (I'm not sure if I'm phrasing that in a way that makes sense? But hopefully folks get what I mean.)
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That makes sense. Tough to say where you were hitting the club face with your trackman on fire in the corner
but do you hit the face all over or is there a consistent miss?I can send a few off the toe now and then but usually find the heel and that moveable weight at the H2 position makes a huge difference.
Hahaha, yeah exactly, with the Trackman melting it was hard to tell!That makes sense. Tough to say where you were hitting the club face with your trackman on fire in the corner
I can send a few off the toe now and then but usually find the heel and that moveable weight at the H2 position makes a huge difference.
So with fairway woods, I'm actually relatively consistent in terms of center-face contact (which is the opposite of driver, where I take full advantage of every single mm available) ... but my misses are probably 2/3 heel, 1/3 toe. With the weight in H2, those heel strikes were shockingly good. I think I mentioned one earlier where I struck it so far into the low heel that I felt like I nearly missed the ball, and I somehow only lost about 15-20 yards of carry and it just geared back right onto the target line. That one was stunning to me.
The G3 is surprisingly forgiving. I never took much notice of adjustability for drivers years ago, but after a lesson earlier in the year and this fitting, It is a big deal. I think this is a big proponent for an outdoor fitting since you can feel a miss hit and see the ball stay on an ok line at an ok distance.
A few of us have adjusted our current drivers to the new GT3 settings to test out and seem to have good if not great results thus far. Throw in the hole by hole breakdowns of Hidden Creek and those misses staying in play will be an even bigger deal.
Sorry I wasn’t on yesterday to help support Big 12. I was sweeting my you know what off. However work is complete unless there is a major blowup.
It’s time to shift focus the our trip to Hidden Creek to play some awesome new GT equipment.
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Going through the breakdowns @echico has been posting has brought up some ponders. Some of the holes posted have been much tighter looks off the tee than I’m used to at my home course, and I’m excited to see how the shiny new GT stuff performs for me down there. That “good miss” that Joey talked about during my fitting can be a terrible one depending on the hole layout!
T-minus 2 hours until my fitting and all Experience members know what they'll be rocking at Hidden Creek.
This has been the longest day.
This has been the longest day.
Excellent write up. Looks as if you are set for a great event. Love the details of your fitting.
Look forward to what you are fit with. The wait will be worth it. When fitter got mine right we both said that’s it.
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2 more hours to ponder
. What’s on the wish list?
What distances will you need to cover between driver and longest iron/hybrid?
2 more hours to ponder
I've gone back and forth on this so many times that I think I'm fully in the "let the fitter decide" place which is exactly where I should be. The 3W slot in my bag is very up for grabs for whatever fits, be it another tee option or something for those 215+ shots. There's a couple different setups we could go with depending on what else gets kicked out of the bag I think.
To answer @dAS0 more specifically, my current driver averages in the 230-260 range, and my 4 hybrid is right around 195. So there's a healthy gap in there, but the UW does a great job with a 205ish average and a long of 230 according to the incomplete stats in my Garmin. I had been thinking the UW was locked, but I'm open to trying anything. Who knows, maybe the UW stays and we try 7 wood to replace the hybrid (I doubt this, but it's certainly an option if the fitter wants to try it.)
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Good details! Glad you found something that works! Can't wait to see the results at the Titleist Experience!
Today after work I traveled to Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor NY for my Titleist Fitting with Matt Stasiak. First, this was not a course I have ever been to even though it's less than 30 minutes away and I will be remedying that ASAP. Absolutely beautiful looking course and practice facility. I arrived and headed towards the range.
It was at this point I got overexcited and promptly forgot to continue taking pictures throughout the process.
After chatting with Matt a bit while warming up, discussing generalities as well me explaining the awesomeness that is THP, we got down to work. First up was driver. I am currently playing a TaylorMade Sim2 Max 10.5º (Matt said it was his favorite TM head. Apparently he used to do fittings for TM a few years back) with a Fujikara Ventus TR Red 6 S. I explained I had been fit into the shaft last year but already had the head at that point. We talked some about my misses and what I hope to see. I explained that my miss used to be predominately a slice, due to an over the top move and not closing the face, but lately I have been getting the face closed resulting in either straight flight or a left pull. Ideally I would like to see some tighter dispersion, more distance, and less spin. I tend to have a negative attack angle and can get super spinny. I told him that's why I've been playing Left Dash and AVX and after a few swings he said "yeah, Left Dash is exactly the ball for you." I bemoaned Left Dot not being an option. He agreed. After a few swings with my gamer it was very apparent my best swing was not with us and the slice was showing up. We were also using hard as a rock range balls, so he mentioned to not really pay attention to carry numbers on their own, but just in relation to each other.
Not great, but gave us something to work with. He grabbed a Ventus Red 6S out of the rack, put it in a GT2 head and it was time for the fun to start. I took a few swings with the GT2, and it felt good. Definitely felt fast. But I was having a little trouble controlling it. It also looked a touch big to my eye. So he popped the Ventus into a GT3 head. I put it down and immediately commented how good it looked behind the ball. Took one swing with it, dead center contact, crisp, fantastic sound, and a slight fade down the middle that went farther than any shot up that point. Matt immediately said "THAT was a golf shot, but a little low." So he swapped the 9º for a 10º and had me hit another. Even better flight. "Let's find a shaft and dial it in."
As he was looking at what shaft to grab, he asked if I had any preferences. I said whatever he thought would do the best job and I was willing to hit anything. From there he asked about how my swing had changed since the fitting that put me in the Ventus, and I mentioned it had gotten smoother, with more intentional tempo at the top. He let out a knowing "mmhmm" and grabbed a Tensei 1K Blue 6 S. This got the spin down a bit and flight was good, but carry was a little short. Next up was Ventus Blue 6 S. Another decent fit, but the Tensei felt better to me and Matt thought we could do better. Next was a Graphite Design AD UB 6 S. This was even better, but I felt like I was losing the head a bit, and therefore launch was a little low and the slice was back. Well, it was more pronounced, it never really left. After one hit with the UB Matt told me to give it back. He handed it back, said "this is gonna be it," and I gave it a rip. Immediately I knew he was right. I could track the head the whole way, got a bit more launch, but it still leaked a bit right. This was the shaft, now we just needed to fine tune. Up until that point we were just hitting in A1 and N on the GT3 weight track. He made a few adjustments and handed it back. I purposely didn't ask what he did as I wanted to not bring and preconceived ideas into the swing. What resulted was easily the best couple shots of the session. Carry was up almost significantly, launch was up, and spin was hovering in the 2200 rpm window (again, with rock hard range balls). And the slice was now just a fade, and there were a couple pulls, a sign I was getting the face closed. We had our driver. Matt explained that we had gone up to A3, so added 1.5º of loft and brought it upright because I was setting up with the toe a bit flat. He also added +4 weight to the weight track and moved it to H2. I had immediately noticed the head had felt heavier and was bringing some more stability. Matt explained that when he was fitting TSR he rarely messed with adding or subtracting weight, but weight changes in GT were providing significant gains depending on the player. Possibly because of the new materials weight. I said that was one of the things I was most excited to ask Josh, Stephanie, and Jacqueline about, and he mentioned he was a touch jealous about how much cool knowledge we were going to have access to. It was time to move on to fairway woods. But first, the final specs for driver:
I took this while he was making the SureFit and weight adjustments:
Sadly it was the last photo I took, but Matt said he was going to try to send me the full TrackMan Report.
It was at this point I got overexcited and promptly forgot to continue taking pictures throughout the process.
After chatting with Matt a bit while warming up, discussing generalities as well me explaining the awesomeness that is THP, we got down to work. First up was driver. I am currently playing a TaylorMade Sim2 Max 10.5º (Matt said it was his favorite TM head. Apparently he used to do fittings for TM a few years back) with a Fujikara Ventus TR Red 6 S. I explained I had been fit into the shaft last year but already had the head at that point. We talked some about my misses and what I hope to see. I explained that my miss used to be predominately a slice, due to an over the top move and not closing the face, but lately I have been getting the face closed resulting in either straight flight or a left pull. Ideally I would like to see some tighter dispersion, more distance, and less spin. I tend to have a negative attack angle and can get super spinny. I told him that's why I've been playing Left Dash and AVX and after a few swings he said "yeah, Left Dash is exactly the ball for you." I bemoaned Left Dot not being an option. He agreed. After a few swings with my gamer it was very apparent my best swing was not with us and the slice was showing up. We were also using hard as a rock range balls, so he mentioned to not really pay attention to carry numbers on their own, but just in relation to each other.
Not great, but gave us something to work with. He grabbed a Ventus Red 6S out of the rack, put it in a GT2 head and it was time for the fun to start. I took a few swings with the GT2, and it felt good. Definitely felt fast. But I was having a little trouble controlling it. It also looked a touch big to my eye. So he popped the Ventus into a GT3 head. I put it down and immediately commented how good it looked behind the ball. Took one swing with it, dead center contact, crisp, fantastic sound, and a slight fade down the middle that went farther than any shot up that point. Matt immediately said "THAT was a golf shot, but a little low." So he swapped the 9º for a 10º and had me hit another. Even better flight. "Let's find a shaft and dial it in."
As he was looking at what shaft to grab, he asked if I had any preferences. I said whatever he thought would do the best job and I was willing to hit anything. From there he asked about how my swing had changed since the fitting that put me in the Ventus, and I mentioned it had gotten smoother, with more intentional tempo at the top. He let out a knowing "mmhmm" and grabbed a Tensei 1K Blue 6 S. This got the spin down a bit and flight was good, but carry was a little short. Next up was Ventus Blue 6 S. Another decent fit, but the Tensei felt better to me and Matt thought we could do better. Next was a Graphite Design AD UB 6 S. This was even better, but I felt like I was losing the head a bit, and therefore launch was a little low and the slice was back. Well, it was more pronounced, it never really left. After one hit with the UB Matt told me to give it back. He handed it back, said "this is gonna be it," and I gave it a rip. Immediately I knew he was right. I could track the head the whole way, got a bit more launch, but it still leaked a bit right. This was the shaft, now we just needed to fine tune. Up until that point we were just hitting in A1 and N on the GT3 weight track. He made a few adjustments and handed it back. I purposely didn't ask what he did as I wanted to not bring and preconceived ideas into the swing. What resulted was easily the best couple shots of the session. Carry was up almost significantly, launch was up, and spin was hovering in the 2200 rpm window (again, with rock hard range balls). And the slice was now just a fade, and there were a couple pulls, a sign I was getting the face closed. We had our driver. Matt explained that we had gone up to A3, so added 1.5º of loft and brought it upright because I was setting up with the toe a bit flat. He also added +4 weight to the weight track and moved it to H2. I had immediately noticed the head had felt heavier and was bringing some more stability. Matt explained that when he was fitting TSR he rarely messed with adding or subtracting weight, but weight changes in GT were providing significant gains depending on the player. Possibly because of the new materials weight. I said that was one of the things I was most excited to ask Josh, Stephanie, and Jacqueline about, and he mentioned he was a touch jealous about how much cool knowledge we were going to have access to. It was time to move on to fairway woods. But first, the final specs for driver:
I took this while he was making the SureFit and weight adjustments:
Sadly it was the last photo I took, but Matt said he was going to try to send me the full TrackMan Report.
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