Golf Town East Simulator

[jesse]

I was there today getting a new driver and found my numbers were pretty good. I was wondering if anyone has noticed their numbers are inflated a bit. My swing speed was 105-106, launch angle of 10-11 degrees, back spin was 1900-2000 rpm, +/- 400 side spin, carry was 275-280 yards and total yardage was 300-305. Of course I was thrilled at the numbers but was curious about the yardage. Is 300 yards total really possible with a 105 swing speed? (assuming there is no wind, Ottawa type weather, and average greens) I don't want to hit the range in the spring to find that my new driver lost its magic over the off season

[dmartin]

Name	Club Head Speed	Average Distance

Alvaro Quiros	125 mph	310 yards
Rory McIlroy	118 mph	295 yards
Martin Kaymer	116 mph	289 yards
Louis Oosthuizen	116 mph	292 yards
Lee Westwood	115 mph	287 yards
Darren Clarke	111 mph	286 yards
Raphael Jacquelin	108 mpy	283 yards
Colin Montgomerie	107 mph	267 yards
Thongchai Jaidee	105 mph	281 yards

now what do you really think ??? sorry to be a bubble burster googled swing speed distance chart.

however the new club will go straighter

[Big Juicy]

Those numbers are better than a tour pro's! If you a serious about your game and a new driver don't waste your time in a simulator, go see a pro and get fit outdoors in the spring.

[BC MIST]

On the chart provided most of the ratios of distance to club head speed are 2.5 to 1. With your 105 CHS your carry distance then would be 263 yards, not the 281 that Jaidee is indicated to have.

[jesse]

Thanks guys, 260-265 carry distance seems a little more realistic. If I could afford to buy a driver at full price and be fitted properly I would, but there are too many good deals on clubs this time of year to pass on.

[downhillslider]

You can't calculate any yardage with those #'s. You need a ball speed measurment. Clubhead speed is what it is, it tells you how fast the head is moving, that's it !

With a 105 swingspeed, you would need to generate about 170mph of ball speed ( everything else beeing equal ) to get to a 280 carry witch is a smash factor of 1.62 ! witch is, by the laws of physics, impossible !

[downhillslider]

Thanks guys, 260-265 carry distance seems a little more realistic. If I could afford to buy a driver at full price and be fitted properly I would, but there are too many good deals on clubs this time of year to pass on.

Your comment does not make any sense to me. You would forgo a properly fitted driver to by something of the rack or someone else's experiment gone wrong ? Perhaps you are beeing misslead or miss quoted on what a properly fitted driver would cost ?

FYI. A smash factor of 1.47 ( average PGA player ) 105 c.s, 155 b.s, 11* l.a, 2000 rpm b.s = 247 carry 268 total

Ideal #'s 1.47 105 155 14* 3750 rpm 263 275 (14* 3750 ) dis regard in brackets.

[Kilroy]

No "deal" on a club is worth anything if you don't get it fitted properly.

[jesse]

Out of curiosity, what does a $100 fitting session for a driver get you? I always thought an iron fitting session was a lot more beneficial since there is more freedom and ease in adjusting the clubs. Like would I hit my old driver multiple times and then they hand me different setups with various shafts and heads based on the numbers, and we just find the right one? I have sort of done this with the driver I bought yesterday at a demo day this past summer (just waited 6 months to buy it), but that wouldn't be considered a "proper" fitting would it? I am claiming complete ignorance to what occurs in a club fitting for a driver and what recommendations go with it, but everyone seems to swear by it so I have to give it a shot!

[golfisforfun]

To get to perky fitted you need to have a swing that repeats itself over and over, otherwise what are they fitting?

[jmwhite]

No "deal" on a club is worth anything if you don't get it fitted properly.

Sure it is. Buy it, try it, resell if not a good fit. Some "deals" are too good to pass up.

[downhillslider]

Out of curiosity, what does a $100 fitting session for a driver get you? I always thought an iron fitting session was a lot more beneficial since there is more freedom and ease in adjusting the clubs. Like would I hit my old driver multiple times and then they hand me different setups with various shafts and heads based on the numbers, and we just find the right one? I have sort of done this with the driver I bought yesterday at a demo day this past summer (just waited 6 months to buy it), but that wouldn't be considered a "proper" fitting would it? I am claiming complete ignorance to what occurs in a club fitting for a driver and what recommendations go with it, but everyone seems to swear by it so I have to give it a shot!

You did not buy the same driver you demoed, trust me.

[nokids]

To get to perky fitted you need to have a swing that repeats itself over and over, otherwise what are they fitting?

This right here.

[John]

No slight to any of the fitters on the board but i have to agree with the above comments, how does a fitting help someone who consistently puts a bad swing on the ball?

[jesse]

You did not buy the same driver you demoed, trust me.

So wouldn't that be the same for everyone who tests clubs out, gets fitted and has them custom ordered from the manufacturer?

[downhillslider]

No slight to any of the fitters on the board but i have to agree with the above comments, how does a fitting help someone who consistently puts a bad swing on the ball?

A really, really really good fitter should notice this very early on and politely recommend lessons before going any further. A really, really, really realy good fitter would actually pick up on this even before any balls are hit based on the pre requisite player interview and club assesment.

[downhillslider]

So wouldn't that be the same for everyone who tests clubs out, gets fitted and has them custom ordered from the manufacturer?

YES !

Always remember, you are dealling with companies who's job is to sell golf equipment in volume. You will NEVER get the quality control offered by highly regarded independent clubmakers from the OEM's.

I've seen OEM driver heads with up to 4* difference than the # stamped on the sole, heads with stated face angles up to 2*+, 2 identical of the rack drivers speced out so differently in loft,face angle and shaft bend profile it boglled the mind.

Independents who deal strictly in top of the line heads have acsess to hand picked lofts, face angles, head weight ....

The fittings are performed with exact measured equipment thus giving you the real story on the #'s that are produced on the launch monitor.

Ther are a lot iof other factors adressesd also that are not part of the retail style fitting.

At least you get you $'s worth having peace of mind that you got the real deal.

[jesse]

YES !

Always remember, you are dealling with companies who's job is to sell golf equipment in volume. You will NEVER get the quality control offered by highly regarded independent clubmakers from the OEM's.

I've seen OEM driver heads with up to 4* difference than the # stamped on the sole, heads with stated face angles up to 2*+, 2 identical of the rack drivers speced out so differently in loft,face angle and shaft bend profile it boglled the mind.

Independents who deal strictly in top of the line heads have acsess to hand picked lofts, face angles, head weight ....

The fittings are performed with exact measured equipment thus giving you the real story on the #'s that are produced on the launch monitor.

Ther are a lot iof other factors adressesd also that are not part of the retail style fitting.

At least you get you $'s worth having peace of mind that you got the real deal.

Now I feel like getting my clubs loft and lie checked by a club maker just to see if they are close to the stated numbers!!

[golfisforfun]

And if all the lofts and flexes and lies etc are wrong, then I am pretty impressed with my game because I buy everything off the rack!

[downhillslider]

Any other inteligent comments you would like to share with us in this thread ?

[golfisforfun]

Pardon? I play at least 5 rounds a year with rental sets and my scores hardly vary from what I shoot with the sets I have bought off the rack. I use a variety of flexes and just play with what I have.
The fact is, getting fitted is great if you have a repeatable swing.
Otherwise, that fitted club will only match your swing some of the time.

[Simonlap]

I found this thread pretty interesting. There is always a continuous battle between whether only good players with repeatable swings should get custom fitted. Here's my take on it. Take it for whatever it is worth but to give a little about my background: I have taken courses on club fitting and club repair through a Professional Golf Management college program.

In my opinion, every single golfer out there can benefit from a proper fitting. It is also true that off the rack sets can have up to a 1 and in some cases even 2 degrees "error" margin in loft and lie angles. So no matter what, it can always be beneficial to get your clubs measured to insure a constant pattern in your iron loft angles.

For example, I bought an off the rack Taylormade burner set a few years ago. Measured them myself in one of my classes and found that my 4 and 5 irons had exactly the same loft angle. also from my 7 iron to my 8 iron there was almost a 6 degree jump. But enough about the clubs themselves cause the Topic is more on custom fitting.

As I said beginners can benefit just as much as experience golfers. Why? Because although a beginners' swings might not be repeated exactly the same from swing to swing, unlike a PGA Tour player, each swing if not made in an attempt to correct something, will actually follow the same "pattern". In other words, the swing might be bad but from swing to swing it will stay fairly similar. As someone mentioned before, if your swings is truly terrible, a good custom fitter will recommend lessons before you get fitted.

Furthermore, as a beginner it might also mean that you will require other fitting sessions down the road once your level of experience increases and if you go through swing changes.

Finally, the one reason that I would recommend custom fitting is also because I believe the most important part to fit is the shaft. There are so many different shafts on the market and they all have varying stiffness. The L,A,R,S,XS is not a true measure of a shaft stiffness. For example I have seen a "Taylormade" stock S shaft that was actually less stiff than another company's stock R shaft. And if you are a beginner and you buy a club that says R because you figure it's easier to hit (or it's more a "beginner" club) but you actually have a high swing speed, you might find yourself having a really hard time keeping the ball straight and with a consistent flight trajectory.

In any case, that was simply my 2 cents. Oh and about getting a new driver for a good deal, if your goal is to get the new equipment and look cool go for it don't pass up a good deal. However if your goal is to better your score, take the money you are looking to spend on the new driver and get some short game lessons. You will see that the short game lessons will take way more strokes off the scorecard than the new driver.

[downhillslider]

I found this thread pretty interesting. There is always a continuous battle between whether only good players with repeatable swings should get custom fitted. Here's my take on it. Take it for whatever it is worth but to give a little about my background: I have taken courses on club fitting and club repair through a Professional Golf Management college program.

In my opinion, every single golfer out there can benefit from a proper fitting. It is also true that off the rack sets can have up to a 1 and in some cases even 2 degrees "error" margin in loft and lie angles. So no matter what, it can always be beneficial to get your clubs measured to insure a constant pattern in your iron loft angles.

For example, I bought an off the rack Taylormade burner set a few years ago. Measured them myself in one of my classes and found that my 4 and 5 irons had exactly the same loft angle. also from my 7 iron to my 8 iron there was almost a 6 degree jump. But enough about the clubs themselves cause the Topic is more on custom fitting.

As I said beginners can benefit just as much as experience golfers. Why? Because although a beginners' swings might not be repeated exactly the same from swing to swing, unlike a PGA Tour player, each swing if not made in an attempt to correct something, will actually follow the same "pattern". In other words, the swing might be bad but from swing to swing it will stay fairly similar. As someone mentioned before, if your swings is truly terrible, a good custom fitter will recommend lessons before you get fitted.

Furthermore, as a beginner it might also mean that you will require other fitting sessions down the road once your level of experience increases and if you go through swing changes.

Finally, the one reason that I would recommend custom fitting is also because I believe the most important part to fit is the shaft. There are so many different shafts on the market and they all have varying stiffness. The L,A,R,S,XS is not a true measure of a shaft stiffness. For example I have seen a "Taylormade" stock S shaft that was actually less stiff than another company's stock R shaft. And if you are a beginner and you buy a club that says R because you figure it's easier to hit (or it's more a "beginner" club) but you actually have a high swing speed, you might find yourself having a really hard time keeping the ball straight and with a consistent flight trajectory.

In any case, that was simply my 2 cents. Oh and about getting a new driver for a good deal, if your goal is to get the new equipment and look cool go for it don't pass up a good deal. However if your goal is to better your score, take the money you are looking to spend on the new driver and get some short game lessons. You will see that the short game lessons will take way more strokes off the scorecard than the new driver.

More like 2 dollars worth but well said !

You mention in your post about iron measurements. Fairway wds. hybrids and driver heads are a little more complicated to measure. There are more specs to deal with.

[1800Duffers]

I can hit a 6 iron 170, but on occasion at GT east, I was hitting the ball 190.

[nokids]

For example, I bought an off the rack Taylormade burner set a few years ago. Measured them myself in one of my classes and found that my 4 and 5 irons had exactly the same loft angle. also from my 7 iron to my 8 iron there was almost a 6 degree jump.

Note to self: I must measure my irons in 2013. Something has always bugged me with the yardage gap btwn my 7-8 iron. Gap btwn the rest of my clubs is 10 yards but it's 15-20 yards between the 7-8.

[Simonlap]

nokids, it could possibly be a similar situation to mine, especially if the clubs were off the rack set.

[atomic]

So bring in your existing driver/club and hit it and the club that you are thinking about buying. The sim doesn't change club to club. I've been doing this for 3 years now, and none of the new TM drivers put it any further than my supertri...

[EagleEagle]

I was told by the ping fitter that the LM they use are pretty accurate.I was watching the golf today on TV and some of the pros average distance are well into the + 300 yards and I watched today in the match tournament a fellow put it on the 340 yard par 4 with his drive.the course did not look dry especially after the snow delay and it looks pretty cold were they are playing and I understood the ball does not fly as for in the cold.
Maybe it's the altitude that is giving them all that distance,I think they are playing in Arizona this weekend in match play.Maybe the announcers are exaggerating the distance to get people to watch.

[mathc38]

in response to the OP question about GT east simulators, the two outside sims I think are SOMEWHAT accurate (with their new machines) and the middle simulator I will have to say is not accurate (old machine technology). I know for sure that the older machines don't pick up side spin/horizontal ball movement well. As others have said, it's best to hit outdoors and then measure off your distance with a rangefinder/gps. That's my 2 cents on this

[EagleEagle]

I agree with you ,one of them seems off a bit ,but the other 2 give you a pretty good idea.As long as you use the same machine to test different clubs and shafts I think you will get a pretty good idea on which one better suits your game.As well there are 2 numbers,one for carry and one with total distance.with a swing speed of 105 I believe according to the track man numbers it is possible to get close to 300 yards with the roll.I saw the track man chart numbers on another site,I see If I can cut and copy it from there later and post them.