What to look out for when buying irons??

Grey Fox

Hello everyone,

I plan to upgrade my irons very soon and was looking for advice, mostly on the fitting side of things. My current set was bought off the shelf and I never really bothered with getting custom fit as I was playing recreationally at the time. I am now fairly serious about and want to make the most of my next set.

Have my eye on Mizuno MP-52's and found a shop that has them and can custom fit them. Are some places better for fitting than others? I've heard that some golf shops that do custom fitting might not be qualified to do it.

What questions should I ask? I am fairly clueless when it comes to lie angles and all that, I'm sure it's not that complicated but I just want to get it right and maybe some of you guys could help me out.

P.S. I believe you can buy drivers and 3-woods off the shelf without getting fit for them, is that correct??

Thanks for your help folks.

thewing

Go to fore golf in naas

Grey Fox

Anyone else wanna help me out on this one?

Trampas

Give us an idea where you are based.

I went to fore golf in naas and no complaints

waterville72

Howya.
The concept of fitting revolves around matching a golf club to your individual technique in order to achieve the correct trajectory, direction and distance on your shots. What has to be remembered is that the golfer's technique varies from shot to shot and the higher the handicap the greater the variance.
Tom Wishon( fitting legend) actually identifies 28 different adjustments that can be made to a golf club. In my very humble opinion there are four that you need to worry about
Shaft Length
Lie Angle
Shaft Flex
Grip Thickness.

Any store with a launch monitor and staff trained in fitting will be able to determine the correct lie, length, flex and grip thickness. Where have you been for the mp 52s. Did they offer a fit? Sounds like you are lowish hcap if you want mp 52s. Good choice in my opinion.

PhilipMarlowe

Played with a friend of mine yesterday who had shiny new mp52's.... great looking clubs.
If you are worried about getting them customised by someone not properly qualified to do so, then allay your fears by going to someone who is qualified... and who specialises in it, as recommended above.

Grey Fox

waterville72 wrote: »

Howya.
Where have you been for the mp 52s. Did they offer a fit?

A golf shop in Portlaoise, I asked the guy do they custom fit and he was like, "well if you want to we can have you take a few swings and then we'll have to send the clubs down to Wexford". I don't know why he has to send them off, prob to get them bent to my spec. the shop has a net and a little box/machine near the tee part that measures clubhead speed and I don't know what else.

Licksy wrote: »

If you are worried about getting them customised by someone not properly qualified to do so, then allay your fears by going to someone who is qualified... and who specialises in it, as recommended above.

How do you know if they're qualified, should they have certificates?


Thanks for your replies.

searay

I recently had a fitting with Fore Golf in Naas who are highly regarded. It cost €100 and they recommended just 1 change to my current set - going for a higher loft hybrid because the current one was too close in distance to my woods. Personally I felt it was money very well spent because I feel more confident in my clubs now. You get to hit whatever you're going to buy and you can see yourself whether they make a difference.

I'd recommend them.

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Grey Fox wrote: »

A golf shop in Portlaoise, I asked the guy do they custom fit and he was like, "well if you want to we can have you take a few swings and then we'll have to send the clubs down to Wexford". I don't know why he has to send them off, prob to get them bent to my spec. the shop has a net and a little box/machine near the tee part that measures clubhead speed and I don't know what else.

Their sister shop is in Waterford, thats where the clubs would possible be sent.

The guy who runs the shop has alot of experience as he used to work at tour events.

Regards
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searay

That sounds odd to me. I understood that once they determine what clubs suit you they order them directly from the manufacturer be it Mizuno, Taylormade or whoever. The manufacturer fits the shafts to them.

Whoever fits them for you should explain why the particular specs suit you and you should be pretty confident that they will before you order. Your description of a box near the tee wouldn't fill me with confidence.

I've also heard that the Athlone Golf Academy in Kiltoom has started custom fitting but I haven't used them.