Johnny Mojo Gets Fit

So in preparation for the THPMC 2014, I am having my first ever club fitting. This thread will serve as a place to share the experience and hopefully encourage others who may think that a fitting experience is beyond them. My plan is to go into the this with a totally open mind and be open to any and ALL guidance the fitter passes along.

My fitting will take place here: http://www.felixclubworks.com/

Date: Saturday, May 3rd @ 10:30 a.m.

My buddy, and lightly active THP'r RCGreen will be in attendance to take pics and maybe some video to help document the experience. Thanks Rich!

Goal: Knowledge. We all try to do the best we can at this game. Many of us are quite stubborn, and often take too much time (for whatever the reason) to admit that we need help and seek it out. This year I committed to myself to do everything that I could to represent THP, my team and my sponsor to the best of my ability. One of the components of that commitment is to get every single ounce of performance out of the equipment that my sponsor is graciously providing me. To do that I will get my first ever fitting.

Until I came to THP, I got what I wanted and did the best I could with it, with no regard to how it fit me personally. This changed when I started learning here. THPMC has taken it to the next level.

Current equipment: due to the generosity and willingness to sell stuff :act-up: of people like Jman, Ddec, #Cookie, T2GRN18, DevRickus and SPosey, (Thank you all!) I am gaming the following:

Driver: J40 445 9.5* with PX 5.0
Mashie: M1 with Miyazaki Tour 59R 15.5*. International Flex Code 4422
Hybrid: J40 2 Hybrid 18* with Miyazaki Tour 59R. International Flex Code 4422
J40 4 Hybrid 24* with Miyazaki Tour 59R. International Flex Code 4422
Irons: J40 DPC 5 - PW with DG R300 Shafts
Wedges: J40 52* bent to 50* with KBS Wedge Flex
J40 54* with KBS Wedge Flex

This is what I will be taking into my fitting. As we all do, I have pondered many, many times. Using what I have learned from others here and through trial and error, I DO have a bag in mind. As a tinkerer, I am intrigued to see what is suggested and/or recommended after my numbers tell the tale in the fitting. What I THINK would be best for me based on what I know and feel is the following:

Driver: J40 445 10.5* with PX 5.0 or ???
Fairway: J40 4 Wood 16* with Motore Speeder VC6.2
Hybrid: J40 2 Hybrid 18* with UST VTS Red
J40 3 Hybrid 21* with UST VTS Red
Irons: 4 - PW with UST Recoil 95 F3 Shafts + 1 degree strong loft and -2 degrees flat lie
Wedges: J40 52* bent to 50* with UST Recoil 95 F3 -2 degrees flat lie
J40 54* with UST Recoil 95 F3 -2 degrees flat lie

This is what I am thinking - increased loft in driver= Loft up for success. FW 4 Wood is closely associated with Mashie M1 loft. Hybo shafts are most closely associated with Miyazaki specs. As far as irons are concerned, +1* of loft is just for some added performance (I may be all wet). Recoil rationale is due to weight (DG R300 seems heavy compared to the KBS Tour 90 I came from) and aches and pains I have experienced with the DG's and increased practice and playing for MC prep.

All of this is pure speculation and TOTALLY based on feel and what I know about ME and MY swing/game. As a tinkerer and someone who wants to excell and perform to the best of my ability, it will be interesting to see where this goes. Questions? Let me know, and I'll answer as best I can.

Thanks for looking, hope someone is helped by this experience. Huge thanks to THP and Bridgestone Golf for the tremendous support and opportunity!

JM

So I did actually do a fitting and this will serve as my documentation of the experience. It's been a week and a day because I wanted to get my thoughts together for this.

My fitting was with Scott Felix of Felix Clubworks located at the beautiful Spring Creek Ranch. The facilities are awesome and having played there before, I was excited to do my fitting there. Scott is a Top 100 fitter and my buddy Rich had been very pleased with his experience there. I called to schedule and we discussed the MC and what my goals were.

When I arrived he was just finishing up with an earlier session so Rich and I stood around outside his hitting bay and chatted. When it was time to go in, we exchanged pleasantries and he said to start warming up. I grabbed a club (7 iron) and just started swinging easy 50% or less shots and worked my way up to full shots. While doing this Scott was finishing up some things, talking on the phone, texting, instructing his staff in things he wanted done, talking with members who dropped in and generally in the background. I know he was there, because I heard him.

After about 10 or 15 minutes, he asked "So what are we wanting to do here?" I stopped what I was doing and explained again what my goals were and the Morgan Cup experience. I told him that I had assembled a bag in theory and was excited to see what his findings were going to reveal. He grabbed a Ping 6 iron head and screwed it into an Aerotech F4 shaft and had me hit some more shots. At this point I could tell he was focused on what I was doing. After about 20 balls he had me stopp and asked what I thought. Being familiar with the specs of the Aerotechs from doing my research, I said they felt a little too stif for me and I asked if I could hit a F3, which is their R flex equivalent. He said he didn't have one. At that point we hit some more with my 6 iron to establish a benchmark. Obviously, I was longer and more consistent with my club that has a DG R300 in it.

He stopped me again (we are about 30 minutes in) and told me that basically until I addressed my swing flaws, it didnt matter what equipment he suggest, that it wouldn't make any difference. I just sort of stood there and replayed it in my head to make sure I heard it right. When I didn't say anything, he said let me show you and he turned the screen from the Trac Man monitor and played back some shots. My face angle and swing path numbers are all wrong see, and there is no way I can get the proper benefit from any equipment until I address these flaws. At that point he showed that he could hit some draws with my club. He then put down an alignment rod for the target line and another one that was about 20 degrees to the left at an angle and instructed me to address the ball, and to HOOD my 6 iron into alignment with the second rod and swing down the first base line. I was a little concerned, since this was not a lesson that I had scheduled, but rather a fitting. I did as instructed though and hit a handful of balls for him. After each shot he said "better" or "do it again" and would show me my swing path and/or face angle number. What he was trying to do was get me to stop my OTT move. We talked some and went back to it......still hitting my six iron and we are an hour into it at least. I'm hitting hooded six irons like there is no tomorrow and this guy is texting, talking on the phone, selling shafts to local pros who are coming by and going into his shop to show his staff what to do. All the while I am hitting balls and looking at the monitor and getting more and more pissed by the minute.

I should have walked out right then and there. It was like being in a dream where you want to run but but your feet are stuck in the ground, so I just kept hitting balls like a deamon. He sits on his bar stool and keeps giving me instruction, sometimes coming over and guiding my club through the proper path and plane like instructors do. Still hitting my six iron, so I ask what kind of driver shafts would we be looking at to get a feel for. He says I should hit a few of mine for him, so I do.....4 drives and he says that's good, that's all he needed to see and that until I fix my swing, the driver would be the same thing. Back to the six iron while he talks to a buddy who dropped by to say hi. I'm now hitting balls in my regular old swing (which I can't seem to make any longer) and talking to Rich who came with me to take pictures.

We are now well into the second hour and Scott shows back up and says "what kind of equipment do you want?" I started telling him what I was thinking and he went to the Bridgestone site. I had to show him where the custom shaft options were. He asked me if I knew my specs for lie angle. I told him I was at 2* flat generally, and he said I needed to be standard or upright 1* to help get me going left. Keep in mind that I don't even know if he even owns a lie board, because it never came out while I was there. He also informed me that I needed to be short of standard length, which I already kinda know, being a short guy. We start at the top of the bag and go down. Driver - if you go up in loft you will lose distance, so no 10.5 degree for you, use 5.5. I have hit the J40 with both 5.0 and 5.5, so pretty familiar with both shafts. We move to 3w and I tell him I am thinking I want to go 4w because I don't generally get along with.....no, you need a 3W. Go with PX 5.5. Hybrids? I never hit mine for him. He asks what I'm thinking and I say J40 2 and 3 hybrids and he says o.k. But no shaft recommendation. Irons, the Aerotechs are not for you, so go with the PX graphite in 5.0. Wedges? 52 bent to 50 sounds good, but you need the 56 bent to 55 for the added bounce. If you don't like the spinners, then go with PX 5.0. That was about it! He wanted to check the lie angle on my irons, so he took all of them to the back. When he came back he had bent them all to standard. It was time to go and we left with his club and shaft spec recommendations written on a xerox copy of a generic "Club Order" form.

Continued........

This was not what I expected in a fitting. This was my splurge for the MC. I sold a set of irons to shell out some serious coin for this (embarrassed to say how much) and basically got some sort of jacked up lesson.

Upon leaving, I went straight to the driving range and started trying to find my normal swing. The session was terrible and I left very frustrated. The next day I walked off the course after nine holes. Basically, this guy told me that my swing was bad and that equipment was not going to help until I fixed it. My first mistake was believing him! I have been playing golf for a long time. I may not be the model swinger of a golf club, but my swing repeats and as long as that is happening then a GOOD fitter should be able to help someone find equipment to maximize that swing. It seems to me that unless you have a really good swing, or are a member of the club, Scott Felix is not going to be able to work with what you have to be able to fit you. It is because of this that I would not recommend a fitting at Felix Clubworks.

I would like to thank my tour rep (JB) and Freddie for working with me on this issue. I talked to Freddie and he asked me for some driver numbers. It was at that point that I realized that I didn't get any sort of summary from the track man data either. I went to EW and they were kind enough to let me get some driver and six iron swings. I took that data and discussed it with both Freddie and JB. Both guys were extremely patient with me as I asked questions and bounced ideas off of them and I really believe we put together a bag that will allow me to succeed in July. My teammates were really supportive and talked me off the ledge too. Thanks Hackers!

I'm a better person for this, and the good lessons are the most expensive I guess. Below are some pics that Rich took for me. Nice place, but I will not be going back.

See all of those fitting carts back there? We didn't use them.


Some Trac Man data


Studio Photo


Me and Scott Felix



The following Monday I met with my instructor and he got me unscrewed. I spent the week out of town and didnt touch a club until yesterday and played decent. I cannot believe I let this guy get in my head to the extent that he did. I want to win even more now, and when I bring home my cup, I am gonna send him a picture of what a crappy swing can do with fitting suggestions from people who care. Even if they aren't top 100 fitters.

Im gonna go practice now.

JM

Nice Johnny! I am excited to see how it turns out man!

Can't wait to hear about your fitting Johnny.

JM are you looking at the 12* driver?

Looking forward to hearing about your experience, and the tools you will be using to take down the other four squads come July.

Look forward to hearing about your experience. Should be fun I bet!

Looking forward to seeing how your fitting goes JM.

Good luck bud


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice JM. Go into this with an open mind and let the fitter guide you through it. Have fun with it. Yes, you will learn a good bit from a good fitting, and your game will be better for it. Good luck, buddy.

Tadashi70 said:

JM are you looking at the 12* driver?

Click to expand...

No question about it Freddie and I have spoken with my fitter about what is available to me. He knows the lofts that are available and the only reason I listed 10.5 is because that is what I am thinking. I WILL explore ALL options with him though. After the loft experience that Dan Nd #Cookie had at Taylormade, I look at loft much differently. I also answered your shaft question in the other thread as well.

JM

Looking forward to hear how it goes, JM!

I'm looking forward to video Richie takes lol

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

bigtazz53 said:

I'm looking forward to video Richie takes lol

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

#BabyGap Perspective!

JM

Can't wait to hear how you do sir. Going to be great to follow.

Will love to follow along and see what you end up with JM


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enjoy your fitting this weekend the bag looks really solid by the way.

Can't wait to follow along Johnny. Enjoy it and take in that fitting knowledge like a sponge!

I'm looking forward to your experience. That place looks sick BTW.

Very cool, man. Subscribing to this one!!

Very nice JM! Can't wait to follow along. Plan on going to my first ever real fitting in 2015.

Nice JM, looking forward to following your process!

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

pumped to hear how it goes! fittings are definitely a unique experience as it is completely revolved around you. like others have said, go into it with an open mind and you will LOVE the results you get! have an awesome fitting!

Have fun! Trust the process and you will be pleased!

Looking forward to your results JM I just got all the info back on my fitting and I'll be posting a thread about that soon.