My True Spec Custom Fitting Experience

Stetson1887 · December 19, 2018

Note: I’m not going to get too much into the numbers but focus more on the experience

I’ve been swinging the same clubs for 6 years.

Driver: Callaway mini driver; 43” Mitsubishi shaft

3 wood: Mizuno with an extra stiff unknown shaft

Hybrids: 3,4, and 5 Callaway with stock shafts but all different bend profiles and frequencies

Irons: AW-6 iron with KBS c-taper lite shaft

Over those 6 years I’ve seen my handicap drop from a 15 to a 10. The better I became, the more I felt like I was fighting my clubs. Additionally, my game has really stalled at a 10 handicap with driver inconsistency and missed GIR being the main contributor to my lack of progress (data derived from my Arccos app). Before my upcoming 12 month deployment, I thought it would be cool to get custom fit while i still have a consistent swing, and then, at the end of 12 months, reward myself with a nice gift. I’ve went through a fitting before at Club Champion in Atlanta and did not enjoy the experience at all. At the conclusion of that fitting, i felt rushed, confused, and convinced my fitter was a sociopath (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and just say he had a bad day).

My closest True Spec fitting location is in Pine Needles Golf Club near Pinehurst, NC. Pine Needles is a beautiful private golf club with an immaculate practice facility. After checking in, the greeter took me and my clubs to a separate 200 sq ft building on the practice facility where I met my fitter, Ryne. True Spec at Pine Needles uses a indoor to outdoor facility with trackman (complete with heater thank the heavens because it was about 50 degrees). We spent about 5 minutes discussing my goals. I narrowed it down as follows:

-I no longer wanted the sensation of fighting my clubs

-I wanted to ensure my distance gapping was correct as we were doing a full bag fitting

-Accuracy was more important than distance to me. If somehow I lost 7 yards on my drive but gained considerable accuracy then that would be fine. (Turns out this wouldn’t be needed and was a fundamental misconception on how i thought the fitting would work).

-Outside of those request, I indicated to my fitter that the rest was on him.

After this discussion, I went to warm up with a few clubs, while Ryne took the rest of my clubs to measure length, get shaft frequencies, and familiarize himself with my current setup.

Upon returning, Ryne helped me to understand why I felt like i had been fighting my clubs. In his words, my irons were the stiffest he had ever seen, my 3,4, and 5 hybrids had radically different shaft frequencies, and my 3 wood and driver were almost the same lengths with radically different shafts. Basically, i was having to drastically change my swing per club type which naturally creates huge swing inconsistencies throughout a round. In his words, i had been making the game much harder than it already was and I was about to see huge improvements.

Before we began, I indicated that Iliked the idea of having a uniform brand throughout my bag. As True Spec is a agnostic golf fitter, he quickly stopped me and simply asked that I have a open mind and relayed that I would be shocked at how different heads and shafts felt across club types.

Onto the fitting...

We started with irons. I took about 10 swings with my current 6 iron to get a baseline. I hit several different brands with different shafts from the shaft lined wall...we quickly narrowed it down to Titleist AP3 and Miura IC-601. I hit both very well but i couldn’t get over the feeling of the Miura. It just felt so soft and smooth. Ryne also increased the length of my iron by 1” with a softer bend profile on the shaft. I never felt so comfortable over the ball. I was mesmerized by the ball flight, feeling, and comfort as I hit shot after shot. Normally, i open my club face at address to help neutralize my club face at impact due to inside swing path. The Miura irons already had offset so it wasn’t necessary here. The whole setup was very confidence inspiring. I didn’t gain any distance with the new setup but the ball launch and consistency were a huge improvement.

At this point, it became apparent what the newest golf club heads, with the newest shafts could do for a the feel of my golf game. This was truly a high end luxury experience. At no point did we even talk about my swing. Ryne simply fit the clubs to my swing and let the results speak for themselves. Overjoyed at the iron fitting, it was time for driver...

I haven’t swung a real driver in 5 years. My current bag has a Callaway mini driver. This was a limited edition release by Callaway that has a very small head and shorter shaft. I put this in my bag to try and mimic a 3 wood feel for more consistency off the tee box. I think the only thing I actually accomplished was losing distance.

I hit Taylor Made M4, Titleist TS3, Callaway Rogue, and Ping G400. Over several minutes, we quickly narrowed the driver down to a TS3, and Ping G400. Several shafts and swings later, it was clear the feel of the G400 with the newest Oban Airburst shaft was the winner. The consistency was better than i have ever experienced hitting a driver. I consistently carried 265 and all of my shots were right together in a tight little group down the fairway. I picked up 35 yards of carry with tighter dispersion. I was shocked. I dream every night about how smooth those swings felt.

Once the driver was determined, we simply stepped down the 3 and 5 wood using Oban shaft and Ping head, while upping the shaft weight to create that consistency i was looking for. These clubs felt the exact same as hitting the driver. I dare say I was perfect with them with the same adrenaline pleasing affect I felt with the driver.

Lastly, to fill the gap between 5 iron and 5 wood we tested a Titleist 4 hybrid with same shaft as above...same results...

New Club recommendations:

Driver: Ping G400 with Oban Airburst 65 04

3 and 5 wood: Ping G400 with Oban Isawa Red 75 04

Hybrid: Titleist 818 H1 21 degree with Oban Isawa Red 70 04

Irons: Miura IC 601 Satin with KBS tour

Bottom line is that I couldn’t have imagined a better fitting result. I was skeptical after my strange Club Champion experience but the results and experience speak for themselves. If you choose to do a high end club agnostic fitting I recommend the following:

- Go in with a open mind. Let the fitter do his job and the clubs choose you. At one point, i was simply swinging what he put in my hand without looking at the brand or shaft. My results were drastically different from one shaft and head to the next...when you have the right combo, it is a undeniable feeling of golf nirvana and for anyone who has gone through this experience, you know what I’m talking about.

- Bring a small snack or eat a big breakfast. You will be swinging a lot and will need the energy.

- Don’t over-swing during warmup, just get loose. You will be swinging a lot and don’t want to burnout too soon.

- The whole process took about 3 hours. I finished the driver, iron, and hybrid fitting in about 2 hours. The fitter determined that i didn’t need new wedges or putter but basically gave me a 45 min putting lesson and flattened my putter shaft to help accentuate my stroke. If you were to go through all of that, i imagine it would take about 4 hours.