measuring swing speed at specialty shops

[sarasube]

recently took my daughter for a new driver.

looking at callaway x2 hot.

first went to golfsmith and swingspeed was measured at 74 mph consistently.

launch angle was about 17 deg + - 1 deg, spin at around 3500. club was set at 9.5 and draw,

this setting was found to be best for carry and roll.

 

then went to pga toursuperstore.

their machine was measuring swing speed at 84 + - 2 miles.

resulting in about the same launch and spin.

carry and roll was also about the same.

 

real confuse as to which store to believe.

both store was using senior flex.

did not try reg flex. as it was suggested that swing speed was not fast enough

would like to find the right shaft.

 

thanks in advance

[GatorNate11]

I think most big box stores tend to jack it up there pretty good. I know using the ones at DSG, you can crank the boost up and hit a PW over 300 yards all day long. I think it just depends on how much they're wanting to sell you that new driver.

[sarasube]

so now it becomes a question of which flex to go with ?

thanks

[Ajlepisto]

Not necessarily true.

What unit were they using? You need to know that.

If it's the box that sits on the ground, called the GC2, then it calculates clubhead speed, so you can't rely on that to pick a shaft flex. They don't "jack it up" like people claim. It's just that a lot of people don't understand how those units work.

It's more important to know what her ballspeed number was. The GC2 uses an estimated smash factor to calculate clubhead speed, and if you mishit the ball, it shows the speed as lower than what you actually swung.

[Ajlepisto]

Put the numbers you know in here to check the data: [url="http://flightscope.com/products/trajectory-optimizer/"]http://flightscope.c...tory-optimizer/[/url]

Why not just take your current driver in there and hit them side by side to check it? That eliminates a lot of the guesswork.

[sarasube]

we did the comparison with her current driver.
actually my jetspeed with an R1 senior shaft.
the X2 hot was longer with an avg of 8-12 yds.
maybe the stock callaway aldila shaft is the difference
compared to the R1 shaft. both in senior flex.
golfsmith has the box on the ground i assume its GC2
pgasuperstore, i have no idea
thanks

[GatorNate11]

[quote name='Ajlepisto' timestamp='1409710402' post='10053797']
Not necessarily true.

What unit were they using? You need to know that.

If it's the box that sits on the ground, called the GC2, then it calculates clubhead speed, so you can't rely on that to pick a shaft flex. They don't "jack it up" like people claim. It's just that a lot of people don't understand how those units work.

It's more important to know what her ballspeed number was. The GC2 uses an estimated smash factor to calculate clubhead speed, and if you mishit the ball, it shows the speed as lower than what you actually swung.
[/quote]

There are pages of threads on here about the jacked up distances on big box store LM's. To say they don't ever jack them up is laughable at best.

[Ajlepisto]

[quote name='GatorNate11' timestamp='1409786405' post='10059643']
[quote name='Ajlepisto' timestamp='1409710402' post='10053797']
Not necessarily true.

What unit were they using? You need to know that.

If it's the box that sits on the ground, called the GC2, then it calculates clubhead speed, so you can't rely on that to pick a shaft flex. They don't "jack it up" like people claim. It's just that a lot of people don't understand how those units work.

It's more important to know what her ballspeed number was. The GC2 uses an estimated smash factor to calculate clubhead speed, and if you mishit the ball, it shows the speed as lower than what you actually swung.
[/quote]

There are pages of threads on here about the jacked up distances on big box store LM's. To say they don't ever jack them up is laughable at best.
[/quote]

Well, I work at a golf store and fit people daily...so I think I have a little perspective.

1. I never said they didn't ever do it. I just shed light on the fact that it's not always as devious as everyone seems to think it is. Everyone thinks they know better, but usually, they're just wrong.

If you knew how the monitors worked, and how people compare clubs on them, you'd know those threads are usually wrong. I see it all the time. People change a bunch of factors and profess the monitors are long/short/not working/whatever.

99.9% of the time it's the person, not the data. We check it regularly. Like I said, if you know how the machines work, you'd know better. Especially the GC2.

Honestly, a lot of people post about retail shops and are so obviously incorrect in their stories or assumptions that it just snowballs. I'd be happy to explain how the monitors work to you, or you could google them. The machine at GS is the Foresight GC2. I use one daily as well. It calculates clubhead speed, which is why I said you can't rely on that. You can also "jack up" the system...but thing is, that applies to ALL clubs hit on it. You have to go in manually each time and change the boost setting if you were trying to scam people. It's tedious and obvious to restart it each time, so chances are, it's not happening.

But you're free to believe what you want. If you read her initial post, you'd see that the only factor changing was clubhead speed, the launch and spin and distances were similar. So, explain how that would be a scenario like the one you assumed?

Moral of the story is...if you doubt the accuracy of the system, take in the club you are using to compare it to and do it side by side. Even if the numbers are off, you'll at least see the difference.

[sarasube]

ajlepisto,

thanks for responding.
so if GC2 uses calculated clubhead speed, then how would you know
what shaft flex to recommend. on GC2 avg swingspeed was about 74 mph on senior flex aldila shaft

[Ajlepisto]

[quote name='sarasube' timestamp='1409826402' post='10061953']
ajlepisto,

thanks for responding.
so if GC2 uses calculated clubhead speed, then how would you know
what shaft flex to recommend. on GC2 avg swingspeed was about 74 mph on senior flex aldila shaft
[/quote]

Simple answer is, don't use swing speed to determine shaft flex. This is flawed...but lots of people still do it, including those at golf shops.

Instead, I would have her hit two shafts in that range, say a senior and a womens and maybe even a regular, and see which is more consistent. Also, ask her which feels best to her. There will be a weight difference, and she will probably notice.

I'd say hit 2-3 shots with each, no more, including bad ones, and then look at the averages, including which she prefers. The shaft really isn't as big of a deal as it seems, as long as it fits reasonably. If it's way off, then it can be an issue, but you'd probably know that straight away.

For example, I can hit either a stiff or an extra stiff, and my clubhead speed falls into the "xstiff" category. The swing speed measurement is just a really, really rough guide. A good fitter would know how to use these to account for spin and ballspeed and launch.

Do you know what her ballspeed was? If you go again, take the average ballspeed numbers, spin and launch like you did. Then ask her how the different flexes felt. You can probably tell which is too heavy and stiff because she will start to struggle to maintain control of the shaft, especially in the backswing. They tend to get heavier as they get stiffer.

You can send me a PM if you want more specifics.

[Ajlepisto]

Also, what direction were the shots curving, and what was her carry distance? And how old is she?

[RRFireblade]

How old is she and how often do you plan to upgrade equiptment?

[sarasube]

she is 15 and very petite.
forgot to mention that club was set to draw as her primary miss is a push.
ball speed was around 110 mph. X2 hot driver will carry her through high school
carry was averaging 165-170. but not much rollout.

thanks

[Ajlepisto]

Her launch is good. With her ballspeed, you're not going to do much better than that.

You are maybe losing a few yards with the spin. It's a LITTLE high. You could afford to get it down to the 3000 range and still carry the ball a similar distance and get a lot more rollout than you're getting now.

Going to a slightly stiffer shaft may reduce that a tad. The only way I'd know for sure would be to have her try it.

Also, check where she is hitting it on the face. If she's tending to hit it on the heel of the driver, or low on the face, that will make a difference as well.

[RRFireblade]

[quote name='sarasube' timestamp='1409851441' post='10064323']
she is 15 and very petite.
forgot to mention that club was set to draw as her primary miss is a push.
ball speed was around 110 mph. X2 hot driver will carry her through high school
carry was averaging 165-170. but not much rollout.

thanks
[/quote]

Well, my question was directed at whether the likelihood was that if she young, she might out grow a weaker shaft and if finance is any issue, you may consider err on the stronger side. A few yards here and there right now is not going to impact her scores hardly, if at all, a may even be made up by lesser dispersion.

[sarasube]

settled on senior shaft for now and change to reg flex next year if she gets faster.
great thing about adjustable club.

thanks