Correct Fitting

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By Walt S

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  1. Walt S

    Walt S
    Mckenzie, TN

    Military
    I was fitted by a Titleist fitter about 3 months ago and I got a set of AP1 based on the fitters recommendations. Living in a small town, I am about 2 hours away from the fitter, I do not have the luxury of going to different fitters to see or try anything different as far as set-ups goes. My fitting was 2* upright with a hard step regular shaft (steel). I asked about hard stepping and I got the definition of hard step, but never understood why people do it. I'm in my early 60's, play to a 10 hdcp. During the fitting, because the weather was bad, we did the fitting inside with a lie board, swing speed monitor into a net. Not really state-of-the-art, but that's what he had. He had my swing speed at 82 mph, which I kind of questioned because I told him that when I got my driver (not for him),I was measured at 97-103 with a driver. He told me that irons swing speed is usually slower!? Question I have is what is the purpose of a hard step and what difference does it have with your swing speed and what should you expect with a hard step shaft as far as accuracy and distance? Thanks to all.........
  2. Don O

    Don O
    Madison, WI

    Simple physics, the driver shaft is about 15-20% longer than a 6 or 7 iron, so the club head speed at the end of the shaft will vary by that amount with a constant swing time.  Hard-stepping won't appreciably affect head speed.  Good news, 82/97 are good numbers in your 60's. That 82 is higher than the 75-80 of the average golfer (driver speed avg is 88-95), empiracally a hard step on a regular shaft could help lower launch angle or improve a more controlled unloading slightly from the regular.  Did you try both a regular and stiff flex (or stiff and X-stiff)?  The comparison to music is sharps (hard stepping up) and flats (soft stepping down) from the full note.

  3. Walt S

    Walt S
    Mckenzie, TN

    Military
    Don O, Thanks for the reply. I did have an issue about unloading with a stiff shaft, but somehow a regular just felt too whippy to me (all in my head I think)! I did try a stiff shaft and it did feel stiff to a point where I don't think I could unload it consistently, whereas a regular shaft, it felt like I didn't have control. I like your comparison to the music keys!!! All in all, I think that I will keep this setup, probably won't hurt on way or the other. I still have to get my head around a 2* upright setup though.

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