Should I get Fitted for a Driver?

rony · April 11, 2006

Hello, I'm new, (1st Post): I am turning 65 this summer. I play to a 12. I hit every club well and straight with a slight draw. I have never been fitted for a club, have only had off the rack or hand-me-downs, and as I turn 65, I want to treat myself to a new Driver. I have spent most of my life it seems, putting 4 children through college, and I am not a wealthy man. I'm 5'7"/145lbs, and the only area which I feel I should do better in is my driving distance. I only carry my driver 215 yards (Launcher Comp 460 10.5* w/Senior flex which was given to me by a friend. What baffles me is that I hit my 3 wood (Callaway BB 15*) 200 yards. My 3 wood has a regular flex and is 43" long. My driver has a senior flex and is 45" long. All the rest of my clubs are reg flex. It would appear that there is something wrong with this picture! SHOULD I GET FITTED AND GET ON A LAUNCH MONITOR? The club fitter I talked to here in Long Island, (Pete's Golf Shop, Mineola, NY) has a very good reputation and has been written about by many club makers and magazines. He told me it will cost $150.00 for him to give me the "works", and he will let me take any clubs which he will recommend with various shafts, loft, lie, flex, length, etc, to the range and even out on the course to hit and play them and.......If I buy a new driver from him, he will give me back $75.00 towards that new driver. I don't even know what my swing speed is. As a former college baseball player and 35 years of tennis, I just play golf fairly well due to natural athletic ability. I don't know anything about all the new technical inovations. What do you think folks......Should I do it and/or is it worth it? Thank you so much for any input. Rony - Long Island, NY

r_master78 · April 12, 2006

welcome! :) as for getting fitted, I would highly recommand it. especially if the fitter is reputable as you say he is. you don't necessary need to get on the launch monitor to get fitted. I got fitted for my driver with swing speed radar (for approximate what flex I should get) and a good fitter who knew what to look for in a ball trajectroy to maximize distance. I'd recommand getting fitted outside (like at the range) rather than indoors. hope you find a good driver! :cheesy:

krgolf · April 12, 2006

By all means get fitted for a driver.The launch monitor is the best device for fitting. It doesn't have any bias to what IT thinks you need or what the proprietor might have in stock. Look around for a demo day in your area, many companies will post them on their web sites and any good businessman who is holding one will advertise it locally.DO NOT PAY $150.00 to get fitted. That's way to much and probably a ploy to sell a house brand.Make sure to take you driver along with you to the demo day so base line measurements can be taken for you new road map to more distance.

Good Luck

Bushy · April 12, 2006

Absolutley get fitted for your driver !! My new driver was fitted on a launch monitor and I am now hitting 260 - 270 with a nice draw the disdance is nice but I love the consistent shape of the shot.

The driver is the most fun club in the bag so you should grab all the benefits you can, so yes get fitted and good luck!

( $150 sounds massive ) shop around, go to a demo day they are usually free and you can try all the shaft and loft combos !

phil75070 · April 12, 2006

By all means get fitted for a driver.The launch monitor is the best device for fitting. It doesn't have any bias to what IT thinks you need or what the proprietor might have in stock. Look around for a demo day in your area, many companies will post them on their web sites and any good businessman who is holding one will advertise it locally.DO NOT PAY $150.00 to get fitted. That's way to much and probably a ploy to sell a house brand.Make sure to take you driver along with you to the demo day so base line measurements can be taken for you new road map to more distance.
Good Luck

Unless the guy is talking driver and irons, I agree, $150 is excessively expensive. I went to a "high end" fitter and they charge $85 for a driver OR iron fitting, so $170 for both. That $150 is the kind of pricing a Hotstix in Arizona charges. Oh, and the guy i went to for the $85 had just about every shaft you might want to try, including top end Diamana's, Fuji's, Accra's, etc.

taylormadefan · April 12, 2006

I agree that getting fitted is worth it. It will help your enjoyment of the game.

$150 for just a driver is a little steep, will he also fit your irons for that price too?

If he's crediting $75 back to you then it's not so bad of a deal. However, check with others to make sure that he's not just going to push $300 graphite shafts on you and $60 iron shafts.

There's a clubfitter in Houston who has a good reputation, and charges $100 for putter - driver fitting. However, he pushes Fujikura speeders, Diamana, Tour concept and Project X iron shafts, and doesn't even carry standard DG X100.

While there's nothing wrong with the brands mentioned, a good clubfitter should offer shaf selections at different price points since there are great shafts made by companies like Grafalloy, Accuflex, and Harrison that are just as good as any of the other stuff out there.

MrParr1Noid · April 12, 2006

rony

From your description of your game, and your distances, it sounds to me like you are doing just fine. I would, however, suggest you go someplace to get a putter fitting, this might be the fine tuning your scoring needs.

As you made reference to being 65, I feel that is getting pretty darned old to be playing golf, gardening is a real good sport for folks your age. :) Maybe some Jr. will take you under their wing and teach you how to hit the long ball and to play faster and keep up and not ruin their day of golf. :cheesy:

Mac :cheesy:

rony · April 12, 2006

Well that was very nice receiving those replies to my inquiry, and thank you all very much. As the general concensus was; yes get fitted, I called Pete's this afternoon and I can provide you with an update. The price for just a Driver fitting is $100.00, not $150.00. The higher price is for a fitting for 14 clubs. They will credit $50.00 toward any club or re- shaft purchase. They instructed me to bring my current Driver, wear comfortable shoes and clothing as I will be swinging on the monitor for over an hour! They stressed that there may be nothing wrong with my present Driver, and that after the launch monitor session and fitting they may just recommend a different shaft or possibly nothing at all. They are one of only 6 club makers on Long Island, (Almost 4 Million people.....3.999999 Million who play golf), that are puring (SP??) certified, whatever that means. They carry every shaft known to the golfing world, as well as most after-market head components, and of course all the major OE Mfgs. club sets. They mentioned that they have been in business for over 30 years and will never try to sell customers un-needed clubs and/or shafts unless their evaluation from the fitting and launch monitor tells them that new (Whatever) will improve performance. I am in sales and have been all of my working life, so I'll take that at face value, but they seem to be honest people. I have talked to many excellent golfers in the area who have had their clubs made by these people. All this being said, I made the appointment for next week, (They had every session booked until next Wednesday at 2:00 PM.) They do fittings from 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM M-F and until 3:00 PM on Sat. Busy shop. If you would like, I'll give you another up-date after the session. Once again thanks to those of you who replied and also for the welcome to the forum. I found this forum because I love to read Sirshanksalot and send them frequent E-Mail questions. They always reply promptly and they are very nice people. Have a good evening. Rony - Long Island, NY

ACF · April 12, 2006

You cannot beat a proper fitting for clubs. Shaft and loft selection is important. Let us know if you need any shaft help / suggestions to prepare for your dynamic fitting...

rony · April 22, 2006

Update on the Driver Fitting/Launch Monitor. Well I had my session at Pete's Golf Shop. It was fun and I learned some interesting things. My swing speed is 95 MPH, Ball speed was 140, My launch angle with my hand-me-down driver was 18* which according to them was way too high and costing me distance. The Monitor said I was hitting the ball about 220 yards, pretty much in the middle or slightly left of center of the fairway. I hit balls for close to an hour and they checked everything but my boxer shorts. I ended up with (On their recommendation), a Graphite Design YS-6+ R350 Regular Flex), Re-Gripped with smaller Golf Pride Grips, and the Shaft was cut to 44.5". They told me that they wanted my Launch Angle to come in around 14*, The Senior Flex on my old shaft was absolutely NG for my swing speed, the size of my hands called for smaller grips, and they cut 1/2 inch off of the shaft, (I am 5'7"). I took it to the range, and my first drive with this new shaft was 325 Yards! :golfer: I'm just kidding. I haven't even hit the club yet because the weather here on Long Island went from 3 weeks of 65* to 40* and pouring! I'll let you know if it was worth it!

TheHomez · May 24, 2006

Update on the Driver Fitting/Launch Monitor. Well I had my session at Pete's Golf Shop. It was fun and I learned some interesting things. My swing speed is 95 MPH, Ball speed was 140, My launch angle with my hand-me-down driver was 18* which according to them was way too high and costing me distance. The Monitor said I was hitting the ball about 220 yards, pretty much in the middle or slightly left of center of the fairway. I hit balls for close to an hour and they checked everything but my boxer shorts. I ended up with (On their recommendation), a Graphite Design YS-6+ R350 Regular Flex), Re-Gripped with smaller Golf Pride Grips, and the Shaft was cut to 44.5". They told me that they wanted my Launch Angle to come in around 14*, The Senior Flex on my old shaft was absolutely NG for my swing speed, the size of my hands called for smaller grips, and they cut 1/2 inch off of the shaft, (I am 5'7"). I took it to the range, and my first drive with this new shaft was 325 Yards! ;) I'm just kidding. I haven't even hit the club yet because the weather here on Long Island went from 3 weeks of 65* to 40* and pouring! I'll let you know if it was worth it!

Rony,

Any updates as to the results of the fitting???