We sent three players of vastly differing abilities to TaylorMade’s performance centre at The Belfry to find out how a custom fitting can transform their games
ow many of us can say we have genuinely considered having a custom fitting?
The likelihood is you know someone that has had it done and can’t recommend it enough, but you’ve never quite got round to doing it yourself.
And why would you? You know exactly what’s wrong with your game. Can’t find the fairway with your driver? Just tinker with the settings or, even worse, buy a new one.
We sent three players of differing abilities but similar mindset to the TaylorMade National Custom Fit Centre at The Belfry to meet fitters Matt Byrne and Dan Morris see what they could do for their games.
We will then track the trio for the season ahead to keep an eye on how they’re getting on…
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“With my irons, I’m looking for a bit more dispersion and a better quality of strike.
“I hit my driver quite high so I’m looking for something that will fly a little lower and have a bit more run-out.”
What the fitter had to say
“Hannah’s a good player so it’s about looking at what could transform her game over the next five years.
“Comfortable is the key word here, we wanted to get into something that is a little heavier in the shaft. Her actual dispersion was maybe not as good as it was with her own driver but that’s all about taking a new concept to the practice ground, working with it, improving her game and gaining more distance.
“Hannah has had a set of irons that she has had for a long time and she was just looking for something that will give her a little more distance. So we moved into P760s, they felt good, sounded good. Again, based on club speed, based on trying to get her to that next level of performance, it would be fair to say that the irons outperformed her current product.
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“She currently works with 50-, 54- and 58-degree wedges which is something that we’ve stuck with. Generally speaking, when you have someone who performs at a high level the you’re looking at those marginal gain so that was definitely key.
“She has gone with a Spider X putter with a double bend, I think she’ll find when she gets out on the greens that her longer putts and shots that don’t quite come out of the centre of the blade will finish a lot closer to her intended target.
“TP5x is an incredible golf ball for controlling spin, if you want to manage your spin and get your spin down there isn’t ball out there that will challenge it, in my opinion. I’ve seen so many golfers struggle with high spin go into that ball and improve.”
After the fitting
“My current driver was really accurate, but I wasn’t getting that maximum distance out of my swing because I still had a regular shaft.
“So Matt’s given me a stiffer shaft which will take time to get used to and bring the accuracy down to the same dispersion as my current driver, but I was getting a lot more distance and less spin which gives me more run-out. My carry improved from 213 yards to 221 yards while my total was up from 235 to 244.
“I was definitely seeing a lot more accuracy and straighter shots with the irons there.”
Name: James Hall Age: 33 Handicap: 8 Golf Club: Okehampton
Before the fitting
“I’ve never been custom fitted but I’m looking for a bit more consistency all round really.
“I’d say that it’s been down to not having the right clubs for me, so consistency and a bit more distance is what I’m looking for.”
What the fitter had to say
“James struggled losing the golf ball right with his driver and crucially for him, he wanted to be playing more from the fairway, so we actually moved straight into the M6. Ultimately the driver was much more suited for him than the one he was currently gaming, and the by-product of that was that he got much more distance.
“Because he struggled with his driver, he like the protection of having a strong lofted 3-wood in the bag, which we kept with M6. He was actually seeing better distance and finishing results with the Rocket 3-wood than with his own driver.
“Ultimately, what James wanted out of the iron fitting was a little bit more distance, so it was very much a straight shoot-out between the P790 and P760. We didn’t actually go into the P760 at all because the performance was so good in the P790.
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“It’s funny when you come to putters, personal preference really does take prevalence even over performance sometimes, but if it looks good for the golfer then generally the performance will come on the back of that. James very much liked the look of the midnight blue at address, so we went 34 inches in that.
“The importance of custom fitting for all golfers was there to see from James. He was using a current product out there, he went a little bit shorter, we closed the club face by 4 degrees on the driver compared to what he’s already got, and the performance showed real positivity.
“Crucially for James is golf ball recommendation. Because he sees the ball high and we’d lost a bit of spin with the P790 the TP5 was a great recommendation for him. It launches a little bit lower than in our TP5x and just spins that little bit more especially in the mid and short iron shots.
After the fitting
“It was really good and really beneficial. The guys are so knowledgeable, and I was blown away by the amount of information they can give you.
“When getting custom fitted you get to try different shafts which you wouldn’t normally do in the shop and the options aren’t available when you buy them off the shelf.
“I have been a bit guilty of just going to 3-wood when I have been under pressure to get it in play. Now, with the driver I’ve been custom fitted for, I’ll be using that a lot more on the tighter shots and when I need to score well it will give me that bit of extra distance.
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“It showed in the fitting. My old driver was averaging 246 yards on the Trackman, while the M6 got me up to 270.”
What James was fit into
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (10.5°, Evenflow Blue 65 stiff shaft, -1” shorter, FCT set higher)
Fairway wood: TaylorMade M6 Rocket (3-wood, Evenflow Blue 65 stiff shaft, standard length)
Hybrids: TaylorMade M6 (3, standard stiff shaft, standard length)
Irons: TaylorMade P790, (4-PW, standard lie, DG 120 stiff shafts, standard length)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG Chrome (50°, 54° and 58°, standard bounce, 1° flat lie, DG 120 stiff shafts, standard length)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X (Blue/White, 34”)
Grips: Golf Pride multicompound (black/white, +1 extra layer)
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
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Name: Alex Perry Age: 36 Handicap: 14 Golf Club: Scarcroft
Before the fitting
“I just want to find fairways and greens and if I can get some clubs that are going to help me do that then that is the goal really.”
What the fitter had to say
“The key with Alex was keeping it simple. He always typically uses a 5-wood, but we’ve put an M6 7-wood in there as well. We were looking at areas in the bag that he doesn’t already have and trying to cover those off. Again, making sure the profile of the shafts suit how he wants it to feel at impact is absolutely key.
“The M6 irons were made for Alex in the sense that they are very easy to use, and off-centre shots are forgiving, and on-centre strikes are very fast.
“With a gap wedge, a 50-degree wedge if you like, we’ve gone with the generic M6 wedge because we can get the same shaft in, the same length, we’ve put the same grip on, we’ve got mid-sized grips on throughout the whole bag, and we get the same lie angles in there. For Alex it is a case of if pitching wedge is too much, I’m going to hit the gap wedge and it’s not going to feel much different.
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“Alex actually looked at an Ardmore putter are three different necks in that putter design and straight away he’s picked out the design that suited his eye. Length will be key for him as well as he’s very tall, so he’s gone for something that he liked the feel of.”
“I would say that price is a key element to his ball choice. You don’t want to sacrifice performance, but we’ve got a Project A golf ball that’s at a slightly lower price point than our TP5 and TP5x, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a premium golf ball. It’s a little bit lower in compression and for Alex, he could probably benefit from a little bit more spin on his iron shots and that will be something that will assist his game.
“Three very different golfers but all have benefitted from taking some time and looking at their performance in slightly different ways.”
After the fitting
“I was hitting the driver about 10 yards further and seemed to be keeping it under control, which is always nice.
“The 7-wood is a new one for me. My fitter said it would suit me and I’m more than happy to listen to his expertise.
“I’m happy to have filled that gap and excited to get out there and see how it works on the course because I was hitting it very nicely on the range.”
What Alex was fit into
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (D-Type, 10.5, standard length, Proforce V2 Red stiff shaft, standard length, FCT set to higher)
Fairway woods: TaylorMade M6 (D-Type, 5 and 7, standard stiff shaft, standard length)
Hybrids: TaylorMade M6 (4-5, standard stiff shaft, standard length)
