Should A 45-Handicap Golfer Be Custom Fitted? | Golf Monthly
In this video, Genelle Aldred - a 45-index handicap golfer - goes for a fitting with PXG... But does it make a difference?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 I'm Janelle Aldred and I'm a relatively new golfer.
00:02 I've been playing for about 15 months and I'm already on my second driver and
00:07 second set of irons. Now I've been wondering lately,
00:10 is it my kit that's holding me back? Now,
00:13 of course a new golfer would say it's their kit that's holding them back,
00:16 but a chap with Master PXG Fitter, Jack Venn, the other day,
00:21 actually convinced me. What he said was,
00:24 you wouldn't expect someone to run a marathon in a pair of trainers that are a
00:27 size too small. So PXG have kindly agreed to custom fit me here at the Drift Golf Club in Leatherhead
00:35 to see if it is my kit that's holding me back and if I could make some gains if I changed my clubs to custom fits.
00:42 PXG doesn't make golf clubs for men or for ladies. We make golf clubs that I can fit into anybody
00:50 because we can offer different lengths, different weights, different flexes.
00:53 So I'm going to build you up something that's very, very similar,
00:58 or as similar as I can get to your iron to not throw you off too much to start with,
01:02 from like a length and weight perspective.
01:04 One thing I will say about these, and you probably know it already,
01:10 these are incredibly light. So this is the lightest golf club I've ever put on this machine.
01:15 No!
01:16 Yes. Yeah. So we'll build something up.
01:18 I'm going to build something up as close to that as I can get and we'll kind of go from there.
01:23 Oh, come on.
01:26 Okay, give me one more and I'm going to keep, I'm just going to keep changing it up until we find what's right.
01:32 Better?
01:36 Yes. Awesome.
01:40 Better.
01:41 Still feel a bit too light?
01:42 It still does feel a little bit light because I feel like when I'm hitting the ball, it's like I can really,
01:47 it's like I can really feel it.
01:49 So feedback for me is so essential.
01:53 So if at any point something feels too light, too heavy, just let me know,
01:58 because I don't want to work with something for you if it doesn't feel right.
02:02 Yeah, feedback is massively important for me.
02:05 And it just means we don't have to persevere with something that doesn't feel right for you.
02:09 That doesn't feel good.
02:10 Yeah.
02:11 Oh yeah, I can feel this feels a bit heavier.
02:12 Feel a bit better?
02:13 Yeah.
02:14 Okay, good.
02:15 So just since that tiny bump up in weight, we're now starting to see better results, aren't we?
02:20 And you called it before you even swung the golf club, it feels better.
02:23 The reason I'm changing the lie angle is I can see that the golf ball is wanting to start right and stay right.
02:29 So what I'm going to do is I'm going to change the overall lie angle of the golf club to try and get it starting a bit more on target.
02:35 So the best way to describe it is if we've got a golf, and everybody's different,
02:41 but if we've got a golf club that's too upright for you, the face is pointing left.
02:46 Yeah.
02:47 If we've got a golf club that's too flat, the face is pointing right.
02:50 So we kind of want to get that ball starting at target.
02:52 So I'm going to change this now to try and do that because you've hit some great shots, but they're just starting a little bit right.
02:58 So I'm going to move it a fraction more upright.
03:00 No, brilliant.
03:01 To try and bring that ball back round to the left.
03:04 Because before, my natural shot, a bit more of a draw.
03:08 Okay.
03:09 Now that I've had these irons, my miss has been right.
03:11 And before my miss was never right.
03:13 It was always left.
03:14 It would be a draw or a hook.
03:15 There it is.
03:19 So look at that for a ball flight.
03:21 You know, that's not gone right.
03:23 It's not started right.
03:24 Before, you know, you struck some really nice golf shots, but they're starting right.
03:28 They're staying right.
03:29 That assures me that that lie angle now is spot on.
03:32 You've just stood up and hit two golf shots.
03:34 Firstly, look at your dispersion.
03:35 Yeah.
03:36 Those two are on top of each other.
03:37 Yeah.
03:38 Secondly, the ball flight.
03:39 Thirdly, the strike.
03:40 That's really impressive.
03:41 That's really good.
03:42 That's really good.
03:43 So I'm really happy with where these are.
03:47 Okay.
03:48 So you, yeah, you've got quite a lot of pressure from your fingers in there.
03:52 If you do that for me now with that one.
03:54 So grip that.
03:55 Okay.
03:57 And now remove.
03:58 Yeah.
03:59 So this is too small.
04:00 I would put you in this one.
04:01 Brilliant.
04:02 Yeah.
04:03 Because this does feel better.
04:04 Feels more comfortable.
04:05 Feels more comfortable.
04:06 Yeah.
04:07 So you're happy with the spot on?
04:08 Yeah.
04:09 Because what we could do, like, if this is, if you're happy with the thickness and that,
04:12 but, you know, perhaps going up to a mid-size is too big.
04:16 The way that we can kind of play around with that is while we can make that a tiny bit
04:19 thicker without going to a thicker grip.
04:21 Okay.
04:22 Just by adding a couple of layers of tape underneath.
04:24 Yeah.
04:25 So, um, on my worst days, this can't even get me off the tee.
04:29 On my worst days.
04:33 Oh.
04:34 So the first thing I'm going to do, Janelle, just from what I can see is we need to get
04:39 the golf ball in the air quicker.
04:41 We can, we can get you launching the golf ball higher.
04:44 Uh, the ball will stay in the air for longer and it'll go further.
04:47 So that's the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to look at the loft of your golf
04:50 club.
04:51 So you're a 10 and a half degree loft and you've lofted it up to 11 and a half.
04:55 I'm going to give you a 12 degree head start.
04:57 Okay.
04:58 Okay.
04:59 I'm going to give you a 12 degree head to start. Okay. Okay. Good strike. My initial
05:07 thoughts are this is too long. So I'm going to go a tiny bit shorter. Oh, okay. Okay.
05:14 And this is a great point as well when, you know, at the start where I'm telling you,
05:18 we don't make golf clubs for men or ladies. We make golf clubs. So this is a perfect example.
05:24 Right? So I'm putting you in a shaft now, which is cast as an A-flex. So you're not
05:28 in a, you're not in what would be known as a ladies flex or anything like that. So this
05:32 is where we really just tailor golf clubs into your speed, your strike. Have a go with
05:38 this one. It's going to feel a little bit shorter. Feel a bit more comfortable. Yes.
05:42 Because I can actually do the, you don't feel like you stood too far away and I can do the,
05:49 so that strike was like brilliant golf shot. That's awesome. That was decent. That was
06:00 awesome. So I see you, I mean, your club head speed, I saw you top out at 79, which is quite
06:08 some speed. Yeah. I see this being a bit further up for you personally. At the moment you're
06:15 just hitting it a little bit out to the right. I'll make one more change and then we'll go
06:20 from there. If anything, I would say you're launching at a fraction too high. Okay. Yeah.
06:25 So I'm going to drop it back down again, but I'm going to have it playing at 12, at 12
06:32 degrees in a 10 and a half head. So what I'm doing there is when you loft the driver up,
06:37 it closes the face. So the reason I'm closing the face is because I don't want you to hit
06:41 it right. Yeah. If that's your bad shot, I want to try and take that away from you a
06:45 little bit. Yeah, this does feel better. Massive difference. Oh, that's nice. So it's quite
07:02 a common thing that I see it and it's probably amongst 90% of amateur golfers are better
07:08 with more loft than less loft. Yeah. So if I give you a wood like this, that's 21 degrees,
07:13 you're probably going to hit that further than the wood that's got 15 degrees because
07:17 there's more loft, the ball's up in the air quicker, it's in the air for longer. So therefore
07:22 it's going a bit further. Nice little draw. Maybe it's all in my head that I need this,
07:35 but on par fives, I think I struggle a bit because if I don't get off the tee well, I'll
07:41 just take irons all round for safety. Right. Cause I might be panicking, but I could do
07:46 with. Yes. Awesome. Great golf swing. How good was that? That was nice. Oh my God. That's
07:55 real pretty. Best shot of the day. I really enjoyed that fitting session with Brandon
08:08 today and it wasn't just the fact that I love data. So anything like track man or the lie
08:14 angle or looking at, are you hitting up or hitting down? I love all of that. Anyway,
08:18 I've got the watch, all of that kind of stuff. But actually what was really good for me today
08:22 was to know I'm not flattering myself when I think that my kit is beginning to hold me
08:27 back. My swings improved. I'm a bit faster and actually the kit I've got, whilst it's
08:31 great, it's not a great fit for me. And so a few things that I take away from this custom
08:36 fitting is that one, you're probably not ever too soon in your beginner journey to get custom
08:41 fitted because actually in terms of replacing a kit already in my 15 month journey, getting
08:48 things cut down and all of those different things, I've probably spent a decent amount
08:52 of money that if I got fitted, I would have been more comfortable because actually once
08:57 he adjusted the lie angle and the weight of the shaft and the length of it, immediately
09:02 my swing just felt so much easier. I didn't feel like I was having to put all the effort
09:06 that I feel like I'm putting into my swing sometimes to really get into it. So I would
09:10 definitely get fitted sooner. Second of all, as a new golfer, it's so easy to feel like
09:15 a bit of an imposter. And, you know, even the thought of saying to someone, you know,
09:18 I'm going to get fitted for clubs is kind of, well, who do you think you are? Because
09:21 of course you would think it's the clubs and not, and not you, but just getting fitted
09:25 today and beginning to understand a bit more about how my body works well with a club actually
09:31 makes me feel like a bit more of a golfer. And that imposter stuff kind of begins to
09:36 go away because actually I can play golf. I can hit the ball and I'm at the stage where
09:41 I also need to have the right kit to fit with me. And so it was nice to hear from Brandon
09:45 that actually I'm not making it all up in my head, but actually my kit was beginning
09:49 to hold me back. And today I felt like a golfer.
10:00 (upbeat music)