Matt Fisher and Pete Wlodkowski
take you through a Performance Fitting Center
session.
There’s absolutely no denying the professional
success of True
Temper products and its customization
process.
PGA Tour stars like Tiger Woods, Jason
Dufner,
Matt Kuchar and
Bubba Watson are just a small sampling of
players who have won
while using one
of True Temper’s shafts or brands.
And the success, while no doubt linked to the
players’ collective
talents, can also be connected with the terrific
custom fitting
process available to
players week in and week out on Tour.
Like most golf brands, True Temper has an
array
of tools available
for its tour players. The goal? To make sure
the
shaft is optimal
and ideal for the
players’ clubs and swings. The great news for
you is that that
customization process is available to you
through
True Temper’s
network of
Performance Fitting
Centers.
PERFORMANCE FITTING CENTER »
|
At their most basic form, Performance Fitting
Centers are an elite
network of certified professionals, who
provide
excellence in the
golf retail and
custom fitting industry.
But, to a player like you --- the avid core
golfer,
who cares a ton
about your game --- True Temper’s network of
Performance Fitting
Centers are
the perfect place to get professionally fit for
the
right shafts that
will fit your game and make it more
consistent.
Not convinced? Just ask our
Player Staff Program, or better
yet,
the six ‘chosen
ones’
that went through a True Temper
Performance Fitting as part
of our recent examination of the network.
All six players are members of
amateurgolf.com
--
- just like you.
And again, just like you, these low
handicappers
and competitive
golfers are
always on the lookout for top-notch
equipment,
techniques and
products that will keep their games in top
shape.
GOALS AT THE OUTSET OF THE
PROJECT
The group, as well as amateurgolf.com, had
plenty of goals heading
into the project.
For us, we wanted a fair and objective look at
the process and to
learn and hear about it in detail from our
group
of
chosen testers.
For the testers, they were interested in seeing
if
they were playing
the right shafts (in either their irons or woods)
and if they weren’t,
which ones
would help improve flight and overall
consistency
in their games.
The varying goals and overall concerns of
each
player that goes
through a Performance Fitting Center fitting is
very important to
the professional
conducting the fitting session.
“I really enjoyed it and learned a lot,” said
Player
Staff member
Ed Donlin, who had his fitting
conducted at
Leat
h
erman Golf Center in Charlotte, NC.
“Curtis (the fitter) went out of his way to
assist
me. He spent
almost two hours with me and that was just
two
woods and two
hybrids.”
“David Butler was great,” said member
Keith
Schwartz, referring to David of
Butler Golf in Northern
California.
“He took the time
over coffee to get
into detail about me and my game before we
hit
a ball. He also
specced my current driver to a level of detail I
did not know.”
THE FITTING PROCESS
When it came time to get down to business,
each fitter went about
it their very own way while still adhering to
the
qualifications of a
True Temper
Performance Fitting session, including the use
of
True Temper’s
proprietary ShaftFit Pro software. Note
that
consumers can use the company's free
version,
ShaftFit.com, but the Pro version is a much
more
detailed program available only to fitters in
the
company's network of Performance Fitting
Centers.
All fitting sessions began with the players
generating a baseline for
comparison. They would hit their own clubs to
determine impact,
launch, flight
and distance.
Most fittings included a test of shafts similar
to
that the player was
already hitting and those the fitter knew would
help benefit the
player their
personal goals.
“Once I was warmed up, David had me hit 6
balls
with my current
driver (eliminating and re-hitting any result
that
was outside of the
norm) to
establish a performance baseline on the
computer,” said
John Scholtz, who also visited
with David of
Butler Golf. “Then David
examined my club -
checking for length, head loft, frequency
rating,
and swing weight.
“What we found, was that even though this
club
was a “tour
preferred” model with a specific shaft, the
shaft
characteristics
were not accurate
and not a good fit for me.”
That’s the great impact of a Performance
Fitting.
Many players
want to simply play the best and latest model
(be it driver, irons or
shafts). But for
many players, including low handicappers and
even scratch players,
sometimes best isn’t always the right fit. The
PFC process
determines your best
fit based on your goals and swing, leading to
much more
consistency in your game.
Most fitters rely heavily on True Temper’s
ShaftFit Pro, the software
that receives data and helps in the
determination
of potential fits
depending on
your circumstances.
“I was impressed with the software we used in
terms of showing
and comparing the data collected,” Schwartz
said. “Combined with
the visual
feedback from the hitting simulator, it was
easy
to see the results
from the different shafts. In the end, it was
clear
what shaft had
reacted best
to my swing.”
For member
Trey Kemp, who was fit at
Bob’s
Golf Shop in
Kennedale, Texas, the
special attention to his game was key to
getting
the right fit.
“My fitting experience was great,” he said.
“Before my fitting I
talked with Bob Birch the fitter and he asked
what irons I was
playing now and what
shafts. I told him Mizuno MP-32 irons with
True
Temper Dynamic
Gold X-100 shafts. Bob said that he had
several
MP-32 6 irons and
he would put
a different True Temper Shaft in each for me
to
try. Several days
later I showed up for my fitting and he had
five
different shafts set
up for me
with MP-32 6 irons for me to try out.”
THE END RESULT
The members of of testing group had their
choice
to be fit for
either irons or woods. And the feedback, when
balanced against
their overall golf
goals at the outset of the project, have been
great.
“Overall my hope was more consistency with
my
irons,” Kemp said.
“Playing in the winds down in Texas,
trajectory
is
a major part of
the game for
me so hopefully the new DG Pro shafts will
help
improve my
shotmaking.”
“I’m sure that dialing in the specifics with my
irons and scoring
clubs will help my consistency and accuracy,”
said
Matt Fisher, who was fitted at
Fair
wa
y Golf in San Diego, Calif.
“At the time of writing this, I have had the
opportunity to play the
new shaft configuration for five rounds,
including
three tournament
rounds,”
Scholtz said. “What I have found so far was
that the dispersion
has been tighter. The other thing that is nice
to
see is that when I
do a good
swing on it, the carry distance has added
about
five yards, but the
ball spins a lot less and rolls out an additional
15
yards from my
previous
driver.”
The proof is in the numbers and in the visual
(on
the scorecard!)
for our members.
Have you had the opportunity to be fit at a
True Temper
Performance Fitting Center? Or have you been
hoping to schedule
one? Leave your
thoughts and questions in the comment
section
below.