What happens during a Titleist driver fitting?
By James Savage
As anyone who has done it will know, going for a driver fitting can be quite a daunting experience.
What if I swing it really badly? What if I’m so bad they can’t even fit me? What if I break the head off? Will I have to pay for it?
Maybe that’s just me. But either way, it really doesn’t need to be a traumatic experience.
I’ve been fitted by every brand on the market and have found quite a lot of variation to the process and the outcome.
There’s never really been a definitive guide to how a driver fitting should be done – until now.
Titleist have introduced a driver fitting system called 30 in 30. It involves 30 swings and takes 30 minutes.
I think giving people a bit of a better idea what to expect, and also giving fitters the chance to be a bit more consistent, can only be a good thing for the consumer.
The Titleist 30 in 30 model includes time to get to know the player, a certain number of swings to get the right head and loft, a different number for selecting the right shaft length, weight and flex before getting into fine-tuning the hosel, centre of gravity (CG), head weight and grips.With the SureFit CG adjustability – a moveable weight in the sole of the 917 drivers – it placed even more emphasis on the need to get dialled in.
We caught up with Josh Talge, Titleist’s VP of marketing for golf clubs, to find out more.
“Our research has shown there’s a lot of golfers who after 30 driver swings, are spent – they are tired and can’t swing it consistently any more. The performance nose-dives.
“So we are releasing this to our fitting network as like a minimum standard to say ‘Hey guys, if you’re not doing this, or better, then you’re not fitting’.
“This is the expectation. We don’t want someone going out there taking six swings and being told ‘that’s pretty good’.
“Our philosophy is that we want to fit you like a tour pro.
“Instead of needing a full tour truck now we can set you up with a shaft pack and a fitter and dial you in exactly the same way we would with Justin Thomas or Adam Scott.
“We believe that we need to fit you because our club is great off the rack but if you can give us 30 swings in 30 minutes – we can give you a far superior product.”
Titleist are rolling out their most extensive series of driver fitting and trial events up and down the UK in 2017.
This includes their Titleist Thursdays initiative which will see fitting events taking place every Thursday during the peak golfing season.
Visit the Titleist website to find a fitting or trial event near you.
Equipment: Titleist 917 v Titleist 915 big-hitter testing comparison
Equipment: Titleist 917 driver review
Equipment: Titleist 917 driver tech chat with Steve Pelisek
James Savage
Former equipment editor of NCG. Inconsistent ball-striker and tea-maker.
