Golf fitting is something that most all golfers have heard a great deal about but have not experienced. It is both science and art. It is the calling for any golfer who genuinely wants to get better. Someone who is serious about their game, someone who wants long-lasting, professional results from an equipment upgrade has a better option through a personalized club fitting. I was recently invited by True Spec, one of the global leaders in club fitting, who recently opened their newest location at the Intown Golf Club in Buckhead, right in the heart of Metro–Atlanta.
True Spec likes to say it is “brand agnostic,” meaning they’re only interested in finding what works best for you – not because they’re being underwritten or incentivized by a national club manufacturer. They represent all the big boys – 35,000 club head and shaft combinations are possible – and each personal fitting is designed to uncover the club that’s best for you. True Spec has been fitting golfers and building golf clubs since it was founded in 2014 and has as its mission statement to “provide every player with clubs that maximize their potential and performance.”
I certainly found that to be true with my recent fitting.
My personal fitting was conducted by Sean Shackelton, who has 10 years of experience as a teaching professional and a golf fitter. He spent two years operating a mobile fitting lab for another company and now he has joined True Spec. Sean is certified by Trackman as a master club fitter. He is a self-proclaimed gear junkie and really knows his stuff.
Sean was able to immediately put me at ease. He showed me the wall lined with shafts and opened up the box of club heads; it was impressive to see everything that True Spec had available. Then he explained the fitting process and made it understandable. Club fitting has its own terminology that can be like speaking a foreign language, so it would be easy for an expert like Sean to run off and leave the student with more questions than answers. Sean was not like that. He made the process easy to grasp and was happy to answer questions and clear up any uncertainty.
After going through a preliminary explanation, Sean measured me hitting a handful of shots using the clubs that are currently in my bag. The shots are struck at the club’s spacious indoor hitting bay and captured by Trackman. You get instant feedback for dozens of measurables – from clubhead speed to spin from carry distance and launch angle. As you work through the variety of combinations, it takes virtually no time to see what’s right and what’s wrong about the combination.
Some of the club heads feel great and produce great results. Others feel great, but Trackman’s data will reveal that you’ve actually lost distance. Other combinations keep the ball in the fairway better, others fly farther but are less accurate. The flight pattern of each shown is displayed on the screen so you can see for yourself.
I tried probably six different heads for a driver and my irons. They covered the gamut of top brands on the market, from Mizuno, Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Ping and Cobra. Sean quickly changed the heads after each measurement – he was faster than a NASCAR pit crew member — and made a notation about what I liked and what worked best. We tried a variety of shafts, too, some with more weight toward the top, others with weight at the bottom.
This is a serious process, so don’t expect the fitting take 15 or 20 minutes. It can be hard work. I had worked up a nice sweat by the time I got to the end of the fitting. You should plan to be there for up to two hours or more.
Through Sean’s patience, encouragement and excellent diagnostic skills, the prescription for my ideal clubs became apparent.
I was fitted with a Callaway Epic Speed driver with a 12-degree loft with a Fujikura Vista Pro 21 shaft. The irons, a 6-iron through the gap wedge, were completely different. I ended up with a Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal – I’ve been a Mizuno man for years – with an MCA TSG 60 shaft.
I ended up gaining about 20 yards with the new driver and 10-15 yards with each of the new irons. I’m hitting my trusty 6-iron about 15 yards further than before. This was even greater that what I was expecting when I arrived.
My clubs were ordered – right down to a lightweight version of the Jumbo Max grips that I prefer – with the instructions sent for the personalization. All True Spec’s clubs are built at their 25,000 square foot shop in Scottsdale, Ariz. In less than two months the clubs will be delivered and ready to place into my bag.
Keep in mind, these clubs come at a premium price. That’s because they’re painstakingly built according to your personal golf swing. There’s nothing “off-the-rack” about these clubs. If you’re serious about your game, you’ll love the results that you’ll get from your personal fitting at True Spec.
This was my first experience with True Spec. It was done professionally and produced a great set of clubs. I recommend club fitting for all serious golfers and definitely suggest that you visit True Spec.
