PGA Superstore Tour Fitting

[scottleo]

I scheduled a Driver Tour Fitting @ a PGA Superstore in Westbury NY this sat and was wondering if anyone can share their experience with this at either this location or other PGA Superstores. Thanks.

[juststeve]

I can't share an experience but I would much rather get a fitting from someone who who primary business is fitting, not selling golf clubs.

 

Steve

[GMR]

I take Steve's point, but all fitters are in some way in the business of selling golf clubs.

 

My personal advice would be if they use aboutGolf as their simulator, run don't walk. The last time I was in a PGASS that's what they had, and having spent a lot of time on that and other launch monitors I can tell you the numbers you get will NOT be accurate if that's what they are using.

[Z1ggy16]

Save your $$, don't do it. I'd rather blindly self fit than spend the $75 or $100 to go there for a fitting.

 

Years ago, I did one. I came in with a 10.5* old driver that I wanted to replace. I wanted to gain some yards and accuracy, and I struggled with a slice. Fitter goes okay... well... oh boy your spin is super high, here let's give you this Callaway Fusion (because it's so forgiving!) in 10.5* but de-loft it down to 9* to help lower your spin. Not only did my spin go up, but my slice got worse because the fitter failed to realize or tell me that my club face was opening due to him lowering my loft, as I do not square up and hover the face prior to hitting. He also put me in a HZRDUS Black 6.5 because I had some decent swing speed but again... boy that spin was too high, better give me a piece of rebar to help lower it. Somebody can fact check me though, I'm not 100% positive the Opti-Fit hosel opens the face when loft goes down. I know my TM adapter definitely does.

 

Yes my swing was causing the slice, but I went in and spend $100 or whatever and it got WORSE. They either don't care and just need to push product out the door or they are lacking the knowledge to properly fit golfers. I should have probably been fit into a 9* head turned up to 11, with a Ping SFT or something along those lines. Dude fit me literally into the exact opposite set up I really needed.

 

I count my lucky stars that guys like Tom Wishon post on here and just overall I Am thankful for the members here who have educated me. Yes, I've become a better golfer since then via lessons and practice, but I think it's absolute BS the way that fitting went looking back on it. Using GC2 with no HMT dots, so strike location nor any club head data was taken...so many questions and variables left unanswered.

 

I suggest you find a Club Champion or even better, go to a Tom Wishon certified fitter. You will get a fitting that's much better.

[scottleo]

Save your $$, don't do it. I'd rather blindly self fit than spend the $75 or $100 to go there for a fitting.

 

Years ago, I did one. I came in with a 10.5* old driver that I wanted to replace. I wanted to gain some yards and accuracy, and I struggled with a slice. Fitter goes okay... well... oh boy your spin is super high, here let's give you this Callaway Fusion (because it's so forgiving!) in 10.5* but de-loft it down to 9* to help lower your spin. Not only did my spin go up, but my slice got worse because the fitter failed to realize or tell me that my club face was opening due to him lowering my loft, as I do not square up and hover the face prior to hitting. He also put me in a HZRDUS Black 6.5 because I had some decent swing speed but again... boy that spin was too high, better give me a piece of rebar to help lower it. Somebody can fact check me though, I'm not 100% positive the Opti-Fit hosel opens the face when loft goes down. I know my TM adapter definitely does.

 

Yes my swing was causing the slice, but I went in and spend $100 or whatever and it got WORSE. They either don't care and just need to push product out the door or they are lacking the knowledge to properly fit golfers. I should have probably been fit into a 9* head turned up to 11, with a Ping SFT or something along those lines. Dude fit me literally into the exact opposite set up I really needed.

 

I count my lucky stars that guys like Tom Wishon post on here and just overall I Am thankful for the members here who have educated me. Yes, I've become a better golfer since then via lessons and practice, but I think it's absolute BS the way that fitting went looking back on it. Using GC2 with no HMT dots, so strike location nor any club head data was taken...so many questions and variables left unanswered.

 

I suggest you find a Club Champion or even better, go to a Tom Wishon certified fitter. You will get a fitting that's much better.

Thanks for the info, there is a Club Champion near me as well....I'll call and look into it.

[SNIPERBBB]

Wouldn't do it.

 

Tried it twice, not sure why I went back the second time but it really wasn't a fitting, no shaft changes just off the rack clubs hit this, hit that and which did you like?

 

I wouldn't do a fitting that wasn't outside hitting off grass.

[wfwp]

Not much of a fitting experience. More about using the launch monitor to sell a club, and little effort to find the best fitting specs.

 

 

(Tom Wishon is the founder of Tom Wishon Golf Technology for details about Tom:

http://wishongolf.com/about-twgt/who-is-tom-wishon/)

 

"Level 1 Fitting. The fittings offered by any pro shop or retail golf store in which only a couple

of the 13 key fitting specs are included and each one only for a limited range in fitting options –

and this would be only for one or a handful of the clubs in the set, not for all 14 clubs. An

adjustable driver with the adjustable hosel piece that only offers a +/- 1.5* change in the lie

and face angle + a selection of R or S within one shaft model. This might be considered to be

better than no fitting at all where the clubs are strictly bought off the rack, but in no way does

it constitute a fitting for maximum game improvement. Not even close. AKA the “phantom

fitting” as I would call it – you think you got fit but it was chiefly smoke and mirrors."

 

 

http://mcnixgolf.com/go-low/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/4_Levels_of_Custom_Clubfitting.pdf

[madeinguam81]

I recently won a Driver fitting at PGASS in a tournament raffle. Since I wasn't in the market for a driver but was in the market for irons, they let me do an Iron fitting instead which had the same retail price.

 

Personally, I had a really good experience. I was playing Mizuno JPX 900 Combo Set (4&5 Hot Metal, and 6-PW 900 Forged) and the fitter had me hit those first. We tried multiple iron heads and shaft combinations and I ultimately settled on TM P790 (4-PW) with Ctaper Lite Stiff shafts. He recommended not to get the lies adjusted at the factory but to get stock lies and have him adjust throughout the set after I received them - which I really liked.

 

He gave me a quote for the set at retail price and I told him I'd have to think about it. Since it was a premium fitting where you have the fitter's dedicated time for about 90 minutes, I didn't feel any pressure to spend any money.

 

I ended up getting the irons through a club pro friend and I brought them back to the fitter. Even though I didn't get the irons there, he adjusted the lies throughout the set for free and for his time, I gave him a $20 tip.

 

These irons are insanely long and forgiving. They have the same lofts as my old Mizunos but this new TM head + a properly fitting shaft = clubs that are 1 1/2 clubs longer than before. They're seriously that much longer.

 

For what it's worth, the launch monitor they used in the "Tour Fitting Van" hitting bay was different from the rest of the bays. We used the GC Quad, which I'm told is more accurate.

[GMR]

I wouldn't do a fitting that wasn't outside hitting off grass.

I'd have to agree, especially for a driver. I have a sim setup in my garage and have had numerous people over to hit on it. A couple have been able to replicate their outdoor distances with their irons, but not a single one has yet been able to get the same kind of ballspeeds they get outside with a driver. Even I, who have extensive experience playing indoor golf and own the darn thing, get about a 5% dropoff in ballspeeds with my driver inside vs. outdoors unless I'm consciously reminding myself to let loose and swing free, but it really requires me to force myself to go at it. It's just a completely different experience hitting into a net or screen yards away from your position than it is letting loose on a ball when you're trying to get it out there 250-300 yards, and if you end up having that issue during a fitting with no reference point you are going to be fitted incorrectly.

 

And before anyone asks, yes I have verified the ballspeeds on the unit outdoors and no my garage is not a super-confined space, at least no more than the hitting bays at PGASS (it's 1400 square feet and has 14-ft ceilings).

[jut111]

totally agree. I've hit a lot of balls indoors, and still can't make a decent driver swing inside.

[J13]

Club Champion is much much better then PGA superstore tour fitting.

[PreppySlapCut]

Also, being on Long Island, the conversation for me would start and end at Pete’s Golf in Minneola.

[Hehateme]

If you can't hit the ball consistently you need a lesson not a fitting. There are people in SOME retail stores that have years of experience and countless hours learning how to fit for clubs, you just have to get to the correct person. WRXers (not everyone) crack me up when I read that the only way to get fit is to go pay club champions and the like, as if making the ball go where it should is like nuclear science.