my driver and fairway wood fitting experience

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By fred k

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  1. fred k

    fred k
    falls church, VA

    first off, sorry for the long post.

    so i had my first ever fitting done in anticipation of purchasing a new 910 driver (and maybe fairway wood).  it didn't start off very well as i was a bit tired and not real loose, so i wasn't swinging all that well.  also, i'm not much of a range rat so not being able to stick a tee in the ground was throwing me off some...wish i could afford to fly up to manchester for a fitting!  anyway, i started with my 909d2 10.5 (mft diamana blue) and had okay numbers: 15* launch, 3000+ spin, 220yds total.

    then we went to a 910d2 10.5 with the kai'li r shaft.  wasn't all that bad, but was launching pretty high when i got a good swing on it.  so then it was onto the rip 60 r which brought the launch down significantly, but still high.  so then we fitted a 910d2 9.5, but i still wasn't making all that great contact.

    we switched to a d3 9.5 head (yes, d3) with the rip 60 r shaft.  not sure why, but i was much more confident and was making better contact with it than the d2 head.  so here are the average numbers with the d3 9.5 rip 60 r combo:

    launch - 13.5, spin - 2300, carry/total - 208/238 ss - 86, b2 setting.

    not significantly longer than my 909d2, but it feels better.  as a side note, the rip 60 feels solid.  my fitter was saying that i was loading it great, but it didn't feel 'whippy' like the mft blueboard in my current driver.  i felt like i could go at it more with the rip shaft whereas i sometimes feel like i have to layoff on my current driver to keep from losing it left.

    the fairway wood fitting was very surprising.  my launch on my current miz f60 is lower than the driver i was fitted to.  so my fitter brought out a 17* 910f.  yes, 17*.  when i tagged it, it was going as far as my current 15* wood.  but i still wasn't making great contact.  so he put me into a 17* 910h with the kai'li r shaft (yes, a hybrid).  much more solid contact and the overall distance was about the same as the 910f...and i launched the ball much higher.

    so off to order the driver next week.  i'm going to hold off on the hybrid...although the numbers don't lie, i'm not totally convinced with pulling my 3 wood for a hybrid.

    - fred

  2. Bobby M

    Bobby M
    Naples, FL

    Fred, I hope your fitting was not at the Villages in Fl where mine was? Been a Titleist man my adult life. Now 60 years old I decided to buy a new 910 D2 or D3 and fairway wood to match. I got to the site warmed up ( on mats ) and hit a few drives with my R9. Spin rate was about 2500 and I liked that. Tried a D2 with a couple of different shafts and couldn't get the rate below 3k Now I'm tired and went to the D3. I liked the Diamana ilima 61 reg flex but the spin rate was still higher than my R9. Now the hour was just about up and the fitter shook my hands saying I think we just about have you where you need to be, nice to meet you and started with another victim. I felt like a cow being led to slaughter. Worst experience I have ever had at a fitting. I left there feeling I got shafted and more confused than when I got there. I'll keep the R9 until I can come into and winfall then go the Mass for a good fitting.
  3. fred k

    fred k
    falls church, VA

    bobby,

    mine was at the 1757 club in ashburn, va. 

    i do have to admit, i was kinda thrown off since i'm not much of a range rat and i couldn't find a rubber tee that was short enough.  heck, the guy even took a tee and cut it down for me (which helped a little).  from the driver perspective, it was interesting because we didn't spend too much time with one head or shaft.  heck, my fitter even noticed some things in my swing that were off.  so i got a fitting and a free lesson to boot!

    anyway, he was able to dial the d2 head within 20-30 swings, but wasn't satisfied with the launch so he abandoned the d2 for a d3.  he also thought the actual shape of the 460cc head was throwing me off. 

    right call.  even though the d3 is considered a player's driver, i was able to hit it far better than the d2 - that's probably a result of the vacuous space between my ears..however, my misses with the d3 had a tighter dispersion than the d2. 

    funny you mention the mft ilima.  my fitter put that in the d3 and the launch and spin were so high that the ball went nowhere.  in his terms - the shaft was stalling.  the ball was launching too high and was not rolling out at all.  it just fell out of the sky.  so i wouldn't be too concerned - maybe that shaft was doing the same thing with you.

    as a side note - i was fitted to the aldila rip60 (reg).  well, shut my mouth - i played an nv shaft long ago and thought it was total crap.  swore i'd never play aldila ever again.  but the rip is very responsive and loads consistently without lagging too much during the downswing.  i think it plays a little stiffer than the rating, but not boardy.  i was surprised.

    obviously, once i get the driver, i'll have to mess with it on the course and maybe tweak the settings, but for now, even if i didn't have a great range session, i learned a lot and, in the end, it was money worth spending.

    good luck and i hope you make it up to manchester lane.  i hope to also!

  4. Cath D.

    Cath D.
    Carlsbad, CA

    Bobby M said:

    Fred, I hope your fitting was not at the Villages in Fl where mine was? Been a Titleist man my adult life. Now 60 years old I decided to buy a new 910 D2 or D3 and fairway wood to match. I got to the site warmed up ( on mats ) and hit a few drives with my R9. Spin rate was about 2500 and I liked that. Tried a D2 with a couple of different shafts and couldn't get the rate below 3k Now I'm tired and went to the D3. I liked the Diamana ilima 61 reg flex but the spin rate was still higher than my R9. Now the hour was just about up and the fitter shook my hands saying I think we just about have you where you need to be, nice to meet you and started with another victim. I felt like a cow being led to slaughter. Worst experience I have ever had at a fitting. I left there feeling I got shafted and more confused than when I got there. I'll keep the R9 until I can come into and winfall then go the Mass for a good fitting.

    Hi Bobby,  I spoke with Chris Plummer who is the head over at the Villages.  He would like you to come in for a complimentary fitting with him at your convenience.  His number is:  (352) 753-5310.  Please let us know how it goes.

  5. Ryan Crysler

    Ryan Crysler
    West Palm Beach, FL

    Very good scoop and thank you for sharing.  There is no other way to play Titleist!  You must be fit!

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