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Going for my first official "ball fitting" later this afternoon

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jlukes

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What should I expect? Should I bring my own clubs? Getting it done by a friend that works at a Golf Galaxy.
 
I can tell you what you should look for.

Go in with a completely open mind.

Try every ball imaginable and ask to not know what they are and tee them up with white side only showing.

Make sure the driver swing is very important because it is the most violent swing and will cause the biggest impact to the golf ball

Dont limit yourself to tour only golf balls.
 
Give some feedback on this my father in law and I were thinking about doing it but not sure if it was worth it.
 
JB said:
I can tell you what you should look for.

Go in with a completely open mind.

Try every ball imaginable and ask to not know what they are and tee them up with white side only showing.

Make sure the driver swing is very important because it is the most violent swing and will cause the biggest impact to the golf ball

Dont limit yourself to tour only golf balls.
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I agree 100%...go in there with an open mind. You will be surprised what you find out.
 
Keep us up to date on this. What is your current ball? Great tips JB.
 
+1 to what JB said. Don't be surprised if the best ball for you is the least expected one. I recently went through an open range ball fitting with launch monitor, etc. with Srixon and the Trispeed was much better for me than all their other balls, even their premium balls. We're talking 16 yards longer than the lady ball and 11 yards longer than the Z-Star. I want to go through similar ball fittings with other companies when I get the opportunity. They are really enlightening.
 
I would take your own clubs. I wold think you would not want to change anything else other then the ball. More to think about. Plus you might be going home $700 poorer plus new balls.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I will definitely update this post later this evening with my experience and results.

For some background, my favorite two balls over the past 6 years have been the NXT Tour and Taylor Made TP Red. With the TP Red being discontinued, I thought that it would be best to get a ball fitting before I threw money at some new balls or reverted back to the NXT Tour.

My swing speed averages around 108 MPH and I have a pretty steep downswing, so I know that I want something that will minimize the spin off the driver. I also find feel around the greens most important, especially when taking 1/2 and 3/4 shots and putting.

I'll be bringing my own clubs (listed below). Can't wait to see how it goes.
 
Where does one get this done? Golfsmith? Golf Tech?
 
KellyBo said:
Here's a link to Bridgestone's ball fitting schedule

http://www.bridgestonegolf.com/product/ball-fitting/schedule/us

Looks like ball fittings are done at a lot of the bigger golf stores around the nation as well as demo days done at courses all over.
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If I'm not mistaken, a Bridgestone fitting will only fit you with the best Bridgestone ball for your game. If you get it done by a store (neutral third party), you will be fitting for a ball across all major brands.
 
jlukes said:
Thanks for the advice guys. I will definitely update this post later this evening with my experience and results.

For some background, my favorite two balls over the past 6 years have been the NXT Tour and Taylor Made TP Red. With the TP Red being discontinued, I thought that it would be best to get a ball fitting before I threw money at some new balls or reverted back to the NXT Tour.

My swing speed averages around 108 MPH and I have a pretty steep downswing, so I know that I want something that will minimize the spin off the driver. I also find feel around the greens most important, especially when taking 1/2 and 3/4 shots and putting.

I'll be bringing my own clubs (listed below). Can't wait to see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Looking forward to your update. Haven't been to a ball fitting yet. Have a driver fitting scheduled for Monday and my first visit to a TPI certified golf fitness instructor on Tuesday.
 
jlukes said:
If I'm not mistaken, a Bridgestone fitting will only fit you with the best Bridgestone ball for your game. If you get it done by a store (neutral third party), you will be fitting for a ball across all major brands.
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You're right. I would rather be fitted for all of them. I only had the Srixon fitting and would love a neutral one. Wonder if there is a cost involved at the store? Anyone know?
 
highscoreinky said:
Looking forward to your update. Haven't been to a ball fitting yet. Have a driver fitting scheduled for Monday and my first visit to a TPI certified golf fitness instructor on Tuesday.
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I had a driver fitting about 2 weeks ago. Old driver was a Taylor Made r5 dual. A couple of friends in the industry told me that I should check out the D2 and G15. Went and hit those, put up some decent numbers on the launch monitor, but then the rep handed me an r11.

BOOM. Was hitting ropes with much less shot dispersion than the other two. I was sold. Ordered an r11 online and it got delivered on Tuesday. R11 wasn't even on my radar, but it setup the best, felt the best, and performed the best for me.
 
Great topic. I also will be having my first real ball fitting sometime this spring (I hope). Got fit online and looking forward to the real deal outdoors so I can see the results. Good replies.
 
I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts after the ball fitting. I've been playing Pro v1 for probably 8-10 years now because it's the only ball i can stick on my local greens. I've considered trying out some new ones this year, mostly b/c of the price of pro v1's.

I'd like to know what they monitor when your trying out the balls. Launch angle, spin rate, what clubs they have you use, etc.
 
Nice post jlukes. I've been thinking about updating my driver. Do you know the cost for a driver fitting? Can you ask your friend what they normally charge for a ball fitting? Thanks in advance.

jlukes said:
I had a driver fitting about 2 weeks ago. Old driver was a Taylor Made r5 dual. A couple of friends in the industry told me that I should check out the D2 and G15. Went and hit those, put up some decent numbers on the launch monitor, but then the rep handed me an r11.

BOOM. Was hitting ropes with much less shot dispersion than the other two. I was sold. Ordered an r11 online and it got delivered on Tuesday. R11 wasn't even on my radar, but it setup the best, felt the best, and performed the best for me.
Click to expand...
 
Well just had a nice reply typed out and it disappeared into the internet abyss when I hit reply, so here we go again...

Just got back, it was a great experience and a quick one at that. You don't actually hit different balls. First, you hit about a dozen range balls on the monitor with YOUR driver. Once you do that, they take your average swing speed, launch, angle, and ball RPM. I had:
114MPH
12.6 deg
2900 RPM

After you finish your swings, they ask you a few simple questions that you answer with a sliding scale (0 to 100).
Do you prefer Accuracy or Distance?
Do you prefer to roll the ball or spin the ball around the green?

I answered 70% accuracy, 30% distance and 20% roll, 80% spin

Once that was done, with a click of a mouse, a list of 80 balls was generated for me -- with the Srixon Z Star on top.

The great part about the list is that it lists the numbers that you would put up with each ball. Were there some balls that put up better distances than the Z Star? Yup, some by as much as 15 yards. However, based on my preferences, the Z Star is optimized for my game.

Not sure how much it would cost, as I got it free, but I can't imagine it would be more than $15 -- if they charged you at all. Same goes for driver fitting.

Overall it was a great experience. With all of the different balls on the market, it can be a bit overwhelming. This process eliminates all of the thinking and research involved. Sure, you still might want to read up on a specific ball's durability, but the fitting definitely steers you in the right direction as far as the best type of ball for your game?

The best part of the day? They still had a bunch of 2010 Z Star's on sale for $25, so I grabbed 4 boxes!
 
pickemfootball said:
Nice post jlukes. I've been thinking about updating my driver. Do you know the cost for a driver fitting? Can you ask your friend what they normally charge for a ball fitting? Thanks in advance.
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Like I mentioned above, shouldn't be any charge for either. If there is, it's minimal. I went with my friend and he got a driver fitting. He tried the D2, G15, and R11. R11 put up the best numbers, and then the rep started playing around with the setup on the R11 to optimize his numbers. Really cool experience.
 
There is a TM demo day this weekend at the golf galaxy by me. I will be trying the R11 driver and Fairway woods. If all goes well I will be leaving with both of them! I was thinking about trying a ball fitting too. So i look forward to your experience, hearing what you have to say, may help me.
 
jlukes said:
Like I mentioned above, shouldn't be any charge for either. If there is, it's minimal. I went with my friend and he got a driver fitting. He tried the D2, G15, and R11. R11 put up the best numbers, and then the rep started playing around with the setup on the R11 to optimize his numbers. Really cool experience.
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Our local Golf Galaxy charges $19.99 for a ball fitting.
 
Interesting. Hope the new ball works well for you !
 
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