Fitting at Golf MD in KC. What clubs should I try or let them pick?

jjfcpa

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So I'm visiting Kansas City through Sunday and scheduled a fitting at Golf MD after reading some online reviews that were very positive. Naturally, I'm taking my clubs (Callaway Epic driver, Cobra F7 3w, 5w, 3h, and Apex CF 16 irons), but I'm just wondering if I should ask them to fit me in a specific brand or let them come up with what they think will work best for me? In the past I've specified a brand and model and they fitted me for that brand and model. My current clubs, except for the driver, were NOT custom fit. I just ordered what I thought would work best for me. I'm hoping to find out if my selections were correct or need some tweaking.

My clubs seem to be working for me except for a couple of issues.

A slice with the driver that I am slowly getting under control. Swing changes have kept this on the "getting better side".
Woods seem to go right if I hit them at 90% or above. Swing changes do not seem to affect this so I think there's something wrong with them?
Irons are ok, but I'd like to get more distance and better dispersion. Not sure if it's me or the clubs. If there's something that will give me more distance and better dispersion, I'll go for it.

I've had a couple of other fittings and been unimpressed. They just seem to use the static measurements and have me hit a 7 iron and reached a conclusion based on that. I've gradually improved my swing and taken a few lessons to ensure that I'm grooving the correct swing and my consistency has improved greatly. Now I just want to make sure that I'm getting the most I can out of my clubs.

Any suggestions as I get ready for this fitting?
 
I like this place a lot. Mike is awesome and does a tremendous job. I have not used them to get fit to clubs but I have had them fit me to my clubs.

I need to get in there for my new set but he fit the Adams a12OS clubs I got for testing and he did it at a very good price. 5 years ago it was 25 bucks to do the set. If he needed to lengthen or shorten the shafts it was 5 bucks more. Total.
 
Go with what ever works best and completely open to different brands with in your price range.
 
This is interesting. I've never been fit, but have considered it. This place is actually pretty close to my work. I can't afford new clubs but getting properly fit for my irons and driver may be doable.
 
So I went to Golf MD and met Mike Dickerson, the fitter there. What a refreshing point of view. He didn't say this, but I got the distinct impression that unless your clubs are just not good for you, he goes about making them work for you.

I fully expected to go through a fitting process that would select the clubs that worked best for me, and what I ended up with is making adjustments to my clubs in order to get the most out of them. Wow, what a concept. Totally unlike the previous 2 fittings that I've had.

First off, Mike thought my club selection was very good. Didn't want me to change anything. However, after evaluating the irons, woods, and driver, he made changes to all of them that resulted in better performance for me. I'll describe these changes next.

Irons - Apex CF 16 - I ordered these standard except for 1/2 inch shorter. What he found is they needed to be another 1/2 shorter and the lie needed to be 1.5 degrees flatter. He was able to adjust the lie on all my irons and we settled on just choking up on each iron a 1/2 inch or so instead of cutting them down. Currently, my irons have a senior flex shaft and he tried a stiffer shaft to see if it resulted in any better performance... nada. On to the woods.

Woods - Cobra F7 3w, 5w, and 3h - Mike loves the Cobra woods (and driver too). Mike had me hit the woods a few times (5w) and it was obvious that I had the same problem with these. They were about an inch too long. They were all purchased with regular shaft and standard length. He suggested cutting these down and keeping the shaft and grips as is. Said he could do it in about 20 minutes. On to the driver.

Driver - Epic 10.5 degrees with senior shaft - Mike could tell that the length was too long almost immediately... by an inch and a half. I had been fitted for this at Golftec and they cut it down from 45 to 44.25. He suggested cutting it down another inch and a half so I wouldn't have to choke up on it. We tried a different shaft (slight stiffer), but again, no benefit so he didn't recommend changing it.

So when we were done, he had adjusted the lie on all my irons (5i - 9i, PW, AW, SW), cut an inch off the 3w, 5w, and 3h, and cut 1.5 inches off the driver. We accomplished all this within an hour and I was on my way.

So instead of trying to fit into new clubs, he fit me into MY clubs, but I felt like I just got new clubs. I can't say enough about Mike and his straight forward approach to making YOUR clubs work for you. He took one look at my clubs and validated that I picked some good clubs and then went about making sure that they would provide the best performance.

My next set of clubs will be purchased through Golf MD even though he's 160 miles from where I live.

By the way, if Mike would have charged me $ 300 for a full bag fitting (as quoted on his website), I would have felt that I got my monies worth, but Mike didn't do that. He charged me $ 50! I was blown away. That was the cost for the fitting and the adjustment to clubs and it was all done within about an hour.

If you need a fitting and in or around Kansas City, go see Mike and you'll be truly impressed with his approach and expertise.
 
I wondered if this was what he would do. He does a great job.
 
Good to see you came away with an great experience.

Always good to see suggestions by the fitter other than "buy new stuff"
 
Great write-up, thanks for posting. I've been wanting to get a fitting for lie angle since my swing has changed quite a bit since I was fit for my irons. Looks like I found a great local option.
 
Great Service and thanks for sharing. Your experience has me contemplating the 3 hour ride up that way next time I'm looking to be fit.
 
I may have to check this place out on my next visit to KC. Sounds like a great experience.
 
On thing I should add is don't look for a lot of equipment, this is truly a fitters store with shafts hung all over the wall and a couple of hitting bays. I think Mike focuses on no frills fitting and he does it very well. Even the store location is in a low overhead warehouse district, but that's probably why his prices are so much less than the big box stores.

BTW, Mike mentioned to me that PXG approached him about being the ONLY fitter in KC to offer PXG. He has fit a number of golfers with PXG and said they will add one club to your distance, but they aren't for everyone. I'm sure my skill set is not ready for that kind of move.
 
This is great to hear and I think exactly what I need. I cannot afford to be fit into a new set of clubs and would really like to be fit into my existing clubs for a reasonable price. The nice thing is that this location is about 10 minutes from work for me.

As soon as I can get past this issue with my hip, I will definitely be checking him out.

Thanks again for letting us know about your experience. I would have never known about this place if you hadn't.
 
I wanted to provide an update to my club fitting.

As with new clubs, things are not always roses and lollipops. On my first round, I could not hit with the driver (Callaway Epic) cut down 1.5 inches (43" length, was originally 44.5). I tried it three times and chunked it left, pulled it left and out of bounds, and then hit it about 50 yards into the ground. Played the rest of the 9 hole round using my 3w (Cobra F7) instead of my driver. It had been cut down 1 inch but I didn't seem to have any problems with it off the tee.

After I finished the round, I decided to try to hit one more tee shot with the driver. I adjusted my address position to get a little closer and more erect and hit one further than I ever have with this driver. Sweet-spot heaven!

Played another round last night (9 holes) and didn't have any problems with the driver after adjusting my address position. Hit 7 of 7 fairways. Driver issue seems to be solved.

The woods did not present any problems after they were all cut down 1 inch. Seems to have cured my slight fade with these and now they are more directional and seem to hold their line really well.

I am choking up on my irons about a 1/2 inch and the most dramatic effect is that they are LONGER. Wow, as Mike had stated, don't believe that you will be shorter with a shorter shaft, so choking up may make you longer if you hit the sweet spot more often and this appears to be exactly what's happening. In fact, even on mishits, my shots are longer because I think my club head speed has increased. As Mike stated, a shorter shaft may mean more control over the club which may lead to more club head speed.

I can tell this may take a few rounds for me to adjust to these changes, but after just 18 holes, I can feel some very positive results. Had me worried, but the confidence is returning.
 
Played another 9 holes today and all I can say is Mike Dickerson is a genius.

My drives have been longer and more controlled than ever. My woods no longer slice and are straight and long, and my irons are performing the way that I felt they should have. When you get to the point where you feel you have the right clubs in the bag, you are in a very good place. I no longer feel like I have to chase after clubs because mine aren't working.

I know my swing couldn't improve that much, so it has to be the fine tuning that Mike did that is making all the difference.

BTW, the 9 holes on the course today was an all time low of 40. I couldn't be happier and that was the best $ 50 I've ever spent on golf.
 
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