My Day @ Fuzion Golf in Jupiter, Florida.

Had a fitting session at Fuzion Golf today.

http://www.fuziongolf.com/

For those who do not know who they are, they happen to be one of the premier golf fitting companies here in Florida, the other good one being Hot Stix Golf.

A session of full clubs evaluation with them cost USD$225. It will be a 2 1/2hr full analysis of your game and equipment with a certified PGA professional equipped with clubfitting skills. A SAM Putting Lab session cost USD$100. The 2 bosses have been in the golf industry for 45yrs with one of them, Kevin Walker, being a Golf Digest Top 100 Teacher since 1996.

My appointment with them was scheduled at 1300h. I arrived about half an hr early. 1st person I saw was Richard S. Johnson doing a fitting session with his TM clubs. For those who do not know, He was 91st in the FEDEX cup this year. Small sized guy but packs a punch with his ball striking.



Kevin introduced himself and he told me my session will be with their lead fitter, Dave Donovan. He told me to warm up in the spare booth with the Flightscope and passed me a bag of Pro V1Xs to loosen up.

Decided to just loosen up with my PW and 8i:




After he was done with the pro, Dave introduced himself and began asking questions about my game. It was an interview that spanned over 20min which included:

What is my game like
Scores
Strengths
Weaknesses
Ballflight desired and tendencies
Golf Equipment knowledge
What I would like to achieve

After that, the next 45min was spent checking my whole bag of equipment from Driver to LW.



Measurement of the specs like Lie, Loft, Length and Swing Weight. CPM was measured with the Fujikura Frequency Analyzer.



A graph was charted out to see which clubs were the odd ones out that didn't fit into the bag. Explaination was given to tell me how to improve the setup with options.

After that, off to the Trackman we go! As it has been over an hr, I was allowed to loosen up again. Just to compare results with the Flightscope, used my PW again:







A certain quirk about indoor fitting with the Trackman is that a silver dot sticker has to be used to allow for accurate Ballspeed readings:




Off we went hitting my own clubs. I was pounding ball after ball with it as I was pretty confident that I have my own specs nailed down....How wrong I was.

I was given at least 10-12 different iron clubhead and shaft combos to try out. Around 15-20 balls hit per club. That is at least 200+ balls hit to find out which shaft, head and most important, my feel felt best. This session was the most tiring as it was a mixture of both a golf lesson and a golf fitting. Being a certified teaching professional, he could tell me what caused the pushes, pulls, hooks and good shots. As a bonus, he worked the figures on the system to make me understand and quantify the numbers to mean something to the swing.

After that, we did a Driver fitting. He again asked me what I like in a Driver. I told him I like Titanium heads, traditional shapes and no composite feel. He went off and picked out quite a few combos to try while I warm up w my own driver. I must say that although the Graman Kajiki proto was CPMed to be on a hard side of an 'S' instead of the listed 'X' but on the trackman, the numbers were pretty good with the rpms (2500+). However, Launch Angle was too low (9*).

He corrected swing flaws along the way and because it was a longer club, the faults were magnified and it showed on the readings.
After trying out a few interesting combos with PING's G15 and i15:




which was okay...I told him I didn't like the contact and he went off to find some Titleist equipment. I graduated to the Diamanas in the Titleist heads. I was given the Redboard, Blueboard, Whiteboards to try. in 63S, 63X, 73X. I was also given the Fubuki in X flex and Rombax 75X to try.

What surprised me was the results. A 10.5 head automatically gave me a 10yd extra carry with identical shafts and heads. We tested extensively between the D2 and the D3 and settled on the D3 as the rpms were under 2800 so we do not want extra spin by going to a shallower profile head.

Next came the 3 wood, I humbled found that although I hit the FT tour issue 13* great off the tee. I wasn't getting enuff carry with it due to the launch being only 7*. This gave me huge amounts of roll. I told him I wanted a higher launch with the same head cos I hit it great off the tee. He made me hit a bunch of 3wd combos again and we finally settled on a softer tip shaft with X flex: the Accra Axiv XT 70 M5 giving us the best carry numbers.

The same was done with my Taylormade TP Hybrid. I tried out the Diamana thump 103g hybrid shaft which was just a bullet but launched low becos of the TP head so we again search for a softer tip shaft. Took us a few tries before we settled on the Accra Axiv XH 85 M5. The feel of it was just slightly softer than the thump but carry was so much different.

We checked the time and it was 5.30pm. Wow! 4 1/2hr gone in a whizz. I still had a SAM putting lab session with them and they were supposed to close at 5pm. He told me not to worry about it so he told me to take a short break before getting out my putters.


SAM PUTTING LAB



We got fitted up on the Science And Motion Putting Lab session with the 1st thing being the zeroing of the putter to target with a laser:



After that, the session starts with 10 putts with your standard stroke:





A SAM lab report was printed out to me. Wow, the immense amount of information was astounding. Every detailed was explained to me over the average of my 10 putts - My aim was good but I was cutting across with my stroke and to compensate for that, I was holding the face open so that it would go straight. That causes a 2 way miss because the arms and hands were manipulating the stroke.



The next 1 1/2 hrs was spent correcting my putting path to be more like Stan Utley style. The sensations were so different from the way I have putting over the years so it really took awhile before I could do it properly.

Finally, some good results:





Overall, I must say this has been a very unique and positive experience. It is a real eye-opener for me regarding golf club fitting as it also gives everyone a chance to see how a professional golfer gets fitted.

They are also very customer oriented. What I paid for ($325) to do fitting turned out to be actually a 6hr lesson cum equipment reality check. I highly recommend them whoever is intending on coming here for holidays.

Here are some links of them on The Golf Channel webpage:

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/infuze-game-blair-oneals-big-makeover-webisode-1-12712/?ref=26000&rsec=457

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/infuze-game-episode-2-blair-physical-12849/?ref=26000&rsec=457

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/infuze-game-episode-3-christmas-early-12850/?ref=26000&rsec=457

PS: Don't get too distracted...

Very nice ....

Trust your game will reach the next level ... semi pro level ...

Ya man ....

Better and Better ...

Here are the videos of the SAM. Most rewarding experience:


Before with my crappy slicing stroke


The process of change


Ingraining the feel and sensations

Yo bro, excellent work there and very detailed reporting. If it helps your game, worth every penny. It was great you put onm pic and videos as well, great stuff.
Give you a AAA* grading for your nice report.

Eh... the putter wire, wired to your ... butt ???

Hahahhaha Mr Lam, is that detering you from getting the SAM gadget? I can send MT to counsel you on attaching anything to your butt. It just needs a little practice.

chinchiachun wrote:

Hahahhaha Mr Lam, is that detering you from getting the SAM gadget? I can send MT to counsel you on attaching anything to your butt. It just needs a little practice.

Thanks a lot ... you guys are ever so helpful .. i'm so touched .... the machine look cool and dont need to much space ... DGman should get one ....

Wah... This makes the sport more scientific!! Excellent shots and vids, Rex.

The shots and videos done by TSL i think ....

sibei boomz leh.



so changing equipments according to recommendations?

walau...this is even more detail than my yearly medical checkup....

a thought came into my mind.

I understand that one needs to be at least of some consistency standard to have fitting evaluation to be done accurately.

but of evaluation of such high degree, does one need to be even be more consistent to get more accurate results?

Dem pro!!!

interesting report... and i thought you were in USA for work...
u are one lucky sod.

this is really serious stuff, and as MC pointed, i guess really beneficial for folks who are fairly consistent ball striker and have good knowledge of equipment.
just reading your post was info overload for me, so if i was doing the fitting, i'll prob be too stressed out trying to hit the ball properly. but its really cool to see all the "flight data" and putter path...

btw, who took all your photos and videos? these fitters are v kind to let u take photos and letting you share it over the web.

Haha, Mr Lam, the wire was attached to a small sensor unit hooked on to my right pocket. Considered my butt but the 'sensations' wouldn't be the same though...

I walked in without expectations. I even jokingly asked Dave if I was out of place after seeing the level of players there and he said they do fit people who are 20+ hdcpers and trying to find a better game.

And yes, it helps that you have good equipment knowledge even if your swing is not too consistent. They have tons of GI clubs there to be tried out.

PS, the final choice of irons that gave me the best numbers have made me eat my own words and suck my own thumbs. And surprisingly, it is a muscleback.

Wow. What a FR. This is an eye opener on Science of Club fitting.

So, does this mean, Good bye AP2, here comes ZM?

Great writeup, S70B!

My question is, has this session helped you on the golf course? Afterall, the tests were all done indoors and there was no way to predict actual ball flight.

I suppose fitting creates consistency. And consistency leads to better shots. But the way the club looks at setup, feel on contact, weight distribution, etc, is all up to the individual. So I think the session gives a guideline but not a definitive answer to what clubs you should use.

There is also one aspect that is not covered and that is fatigue. I believe after 4 1/2 hours you would have been drained and putting after that might give different results as compared to putting with a fresh mind.

I still think that the session was great and gave a lot of insight. It looked a lot of fun!

The trackman can be used both indoors and outdoors. They have a mobile van that travels the east coast of CONUS to country clubs for fittings at their ranges. With that, they have a compilation of results with the trackman outdoors and they have noticed very similar and accurate numbers with actual ballflight. I think it justifies for its USD$27k pricetag. If you have the moolah to purchase 1 yourself, you should invest in it as it is the best there is today.

'Comfort level' is a perception to me. All the irons tested were the 6i. What makes a certain club 'comfortable' actually depends on how you hit it the 1st few shots before u will have decided in your subconscious mind that this sort of club 'feels comfortable' or not. If I handed a true blue beginner a muscle back blade 6i to go hit some balls at the range, he/she will not know that it is the club that is difficult to hit and rather, the game is difficult until someone tells them that there are easier to use clubs in the market. The perception will then be locked in by other's input into their brain and trying out easier clubs themselves. They will then consolidate and make the assumption that all MBs are difficult to hit. Much like how people percieve branding to be like Mizuno makes great clubs everytime (which is untrue as there are some duds through trying although much lesser than other brands) or that Titleist clubs are only for better players. That is not the attitude and mindset that you will like to bring to a fitting session as you are stereotyping certain styles of golf clubs in your mind without actually trying it out then.

If you think its good for a guideline only but not definitive answer, I have to disagree with you. Buying clubs off the rack and 'thinking' to oneself that since you are a beginner/intermediate/advance player, you should suit this flex, weight and style of irons, then how do you quantify your feelings? You hit your 6i 150m straight and feels good because you like it and looks good at address but does that mean it cannot feel even better and go even longer with better ballflight characteristics? That is speaking from the experience yesterday because I have always assumed DGX100s suit me to a Tee and CBs are always easier to hit until I tried other shafts and head combos, which I found out that even softer ones can give me a lower ballflight, better carry and even better feel than what I have been used to for the last umpteen years. That is the stereotyping and popularly-overused way the 20th century golfer does and thinks because back then, there wasn't technology to use for the public masses to begin with.

Trackman tabulates raw data, numbers and shot trajectory using radar technology (even the human eye using slow motion video cannot see), to analyse the way you hit balls and the way different shafts and heads affect ballflight. Even the way the ball comes down after hitting its apogee can mean that the tip flex of a certain shaft does not fit you 100%. It helps that the fitter has a great variety of shafts and irons to choose from in the 1st place.

Fatigue level is up to individual. I happen to be someone who understands all the tech jargon he was churning out to me like tip flex, construction of shaft technology etc so he was happy to go further into a different level of making me understand more about my game during the session. It was never meant to be 4 1/2hr because it was oni because we both had an understanding that he does not need to explain the basics of equipment technology, we can concentrate on how to maximise my game with even better equipment and bringing me to try and hit my potential onto the next level. That is a mark of a true teacher and fitter who cares about your game.

End of the day, the most impt thing is that the fitter knows what to make of the numbers and lets you try out as many offerings as possible. It helps that Fuzion Golf are not brand biased as they are armed with a huge selection (which is rare to us Singaporeans) but they make up for it by being pricier with their custom-built clubs that have better QC than factory fittings with after-market orders.

I consider getting a TM but is concerned about the accuracy as i only have 2.5M wide , and 3M depth and 2.5m height ... whats your kind advise ... Thanks ...

Invest in a SAM sir. Much cheaper and will really shave strokes off the game. The results can be astounding and humbling cos the putting stroke is often over-looked.

Plus, he mentioned that Trackman doesn't capture well if your sensor is close to a wall. In a few instances, there wasn't any returns.

Nice report Mr S70B....

Hopefully we can have something similar in Singapore; but I'm not sure how many people are willing to shell out that kind of money for fitting; esp for someone like me who only has a $0.50 swing..

i am so impressed tht i am at lost of words.....

Rex, u r my idol.....

Ssquirrel wrote:

Nice report Mr S70B....

Hopefully we can have something similar in Singapore; but I'm not sure how many people are willing to shell out that kind of money for fitting; esp for someone like me who only has a $0.50 swing..

Eh.... Grandmaster TSS ... don be so humble leh ....

Thanks Sir , will consider .. the SAM look very cool .... and use less space ... wife wont complain that 1/4 of her garden is gone ....

First of all, let me clarify. I'm not dissing this thing at all. On the contrary I think this was a fantastic experience, especially for you, S70B.

S70B wrote:

The trackman can be used both indoors and outdoors. They have a mobile van that travels the east coast of CONUS to country clubs for fittings at their ranges. With that, they have a compilation of results with the trackman outdoors and they have noticed very similar and accurate numbers with actual ballflight. I think it justifies for its USD$27k pricetag. If you have the moolah to purchase 1 yourself, you should invest in it as it is the best there is today.

Yes, I am aware of that. Trackman is popular on the PGA Tour. You get to see it in action on TV. What I meant was most shots done at Fuzion were indoor. So there will be some discrepancies in the actual ball flight.

S70B wrote:

'Comfort level' is a perception to me. All the irons tested were the 6i. What makes a certain club 'comfortable' actually depends on how you hit it the 1st few shots before u will have decided in your subconscious mind that this sort of club 'feels comfortable' or not. If I handed a true blue beginner a muscle back blade 6i to go hit some balls at the range, he/she will not know that it is the club that is difficult to hit and rather, the game is difficult until someone tells them that there are easier to use clubs in the market. The perception will then be locked in by other's input into their brain and trying out easier clubs themselves. They will then consolidate and make the assumption that all MBs are difficult to hit. Much like how people percieve branding to be like Mizuno makes great clubs everytime (which is untrue as there are some duds through trying although much lesser than other brands) or that Titleist clubs are only for better players. That is not the attitude and mindset that you will like to bring to a fitting session as you are stereotyping certain styles of golf clubs in your mind without actually trying it out then.

Fair enough.

S70B wrote:

If you think its good for a guideline only but not definitive answer, I have to disagree with you. Buying clubs off the rack and 'thinking' to oneself that since you are a beginner/intermediate/advance player, you should suit this flex, weight and style of irons, then how do you quantify your feelings? You hit your 6i 150m straight and feels good because you like it and looks good at address but does that mean it cannot feel even better and go even longer with better ballflight characteristics? That is speaking from the experience yesterday because I have always assumed DGX100s suit me to a Tee and CBs are always easier to hit until I tried other shafts and head combos, which I found out that even softer ones can give me a lower ballflight, better carry and even better feel than what I have been used to for the last umpteen years. That is the stereotyping and popularly-overused way the 20th century golfer does and thinks because back then, there wasn't technology to use for the public masses to begin with.

Definitely, buying clubs off the rack is not the way to go. Let's establish that. You may or may not be aware that I recently switched out of my cast iron sets for customized sets as well. Off the racks just don't work as well.

When I talk about feel, I mentioned "feel on contact". Please don't take it too far. I am only referring to that moment of impact when you hit the sweet spot on the club. I am not talking about things like "I feel I am a XXX-Stiff flex". I think whoever says that is b$$$$hit.

I agree with you on the point of streotyping and the "popularly-overused way (of) the 20th century golfer". Marketing played a big role in this.

What I would like to say is that the fitter has opened up a whole new world of options for you. From what you said, you seem to have shut out softer flexes before. Now, he has introduced softer flexes to you. Options are good when you are out of ideas. But options are not good when you have something that is working because they force you to reconsider.

New equipment always give the player a new perspective. Whenever I get a new equipment, I ALWAYS rave about how good it is, how much research I've done before getting it, the price, etc etc. Bring it on the course and the flaws jump at me like a T-Rex hunting for it's prey (pun intended! Just a joke, no offense!)

I have never been a person who likes changes - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". To me, clubs are like tools or weapons on the golf course. Whichever you deem most suitable, use it. A new tool may help, but may not be always the case. It really depends on the situation and the individual. The most definitive answer to whether the new club works or not is to bring it to the course. If you shoot lower scores with it, great! If you can hit 9 more types of shots with it, lagi better! No matter how many tools you have, it's still 14 in the bag. So choice is important.

S70B wrote:

Trackman tabulates raw data, numbers and shot trajectory using radar technology (even the human eye using slow motion video cannot see), to analyse the way you hit balls and the way different shafts and heads affect ballflight. Even the way the ball comes down after hitting its apogee can mean that the tip flex of a certain shaft does not fit you 100%. It helps that the fitter has a great variety of shafts and irons to choose from in the 1st place.

Trackman is a fantastic equipment. Period. No arguments about it.

S70B wrote:

Fatigue level is up to individual. I happen to be someone who understands all the tech jargon he was churning out to me like tip flex, construction of shaft technology etc so he was happy to go further into a different level of making me understand more about my game during the session. It was never meant to be 4 1/2hr because it was oni because we both had an understanding that he does not need to explain the basics of equipment technology, we can concentrate on how to maximise my game with even better equipment and bringing me to try and hit my potential onto the next level. That is a mark of a true teacher and fitter who cares about your game.

True teacher, great fitter, excellent equipment. 3 components to make you a better golfer!

S70B wrote:

End of the day, the most impt thing is that the fitter knows what to make of the numbers and lets you try out as many offerings as possible. It helps that Fuzion Golf are not brand biased as they are armed with a huge selection (which is rare to us Singaporeans) but they make up for it by being pricier with their custom-built clubs that have better QC than factory fittings with after-market orders.

I think Fuzion Golf is going in the right direction. With technology and state-of-the-art equipment, players improve a lot more within a shorter period of time. We, Singaporeans, wouldn't be seeing Fuzion anytime soon. If they do, BFG will give them a run for their money!

Lastly, I wish you luck in the future. It's great that you still remain active in this community despite being 20,000 km away. Cheers!