Helo with fitting for a short person

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By Sean D

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  • 10 Replies
  1. Sean D

    Sean D
    Windham, NH

    I'm 5'5" with my golf shoes on. I'm a low handicap and my swing comes in around 100 mph. I recently went to a titleist fitting and couldn't come up with a combonation that didn't cause a pull/hook. I have been playing with TM TD irons (forged blade muscle back design)for the last 20 years, I'm acutally on my second set of these but set #2 has now worn out to the point where generating enough spin to hold greens has become impossible. I hit the TM straight with good loft, put the Titleist in my hands and pull/hook (not a bad pull or hook, but not acceptable either). I tried the new AP2's, CB's and MB's all with the same results, though less so with the MB's. We put in standard, -1/2 and -1 Dynamic Gold S300 shats, into all heads with -2 deg lie. I hit balls for 1.5 hrs and left more confused then when I went in. I am really looking to get into the AP2's or the MC's as they are more forgiving than the MB's without giving up feel and control. Where am I going wrong with my fitting? Please help. The Titleist rep was great and hung in there with me but couldn't make it happen.
  2. Oakbeach

    Oakbeach
    Pasadena, CA

    Have you verified length and lie of your TD irons. I'm 6 ft and play with -2 deg lie, it's entirely possible you need a flatter lie angle. Good luck!
  3. Cameron D

    Cameron D
    Newport, RI

    Sean, 

    From what you have described, there may be a couple reasons for the pull/hooks.  One, you may want to consider a lighter shaft or softer tip section to allow for more spin.  I'm not sure if you have DG S300 in your TM, but those pull/hooks have very little spin and the shaft may not be benefiting you.  Another thing to consider would be your lie angle.  The Titleist Fitter did the right thing by adjusting your lie angle flatter, but there are cases where players have a lot of toe drag and flip through impact.  This will ultimately cause similar results to what you are seeing, but may not happen every time.  If you get another chance to work with your Club Fitter, I would bounce these ideas off them.  Be patient and good luck!

    Cameron

    1-888-TITLEIST 

  4. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    I'm 6'1" and I play with Eye 2 Yellow Dot or Titleist DCI 981 1/2 degree upright (both standard length with a 35.75 9 iron and 37.25 6 iron). They are close in lie angles, except the short irons in the Eye 2 set are 1/2 degree more upright than the 981s. According to a comparison of spec sheets, TM and Titleist are pretty close in lie angle on the newer clubs. Older clubs are spaced further apart in lie angles with standard lies. As a general rule, the 9 iron has a 64* lie angle; given that, the 5 iron is 60*. Pings are spaced .75* apart. A Black Dot 5 iron is 60.75 and a Titleist is 62 deg. Cameron is correct in that too flat of a club can sometimes cause a pull or even a nasty hook (if it is off by 2* the result would be a low, screaming hook). I personally experienced that and generally a pulled or hooked shot got substantially more distance (a perfectly straight shot feels a bit chunky). If you stand too far from the ball and flex the knees too much to compensate for the flat lie angle, you get a flat swing and that causes a pull or hook. The reason you hook a club too upright is that the club turns over at impact and it is possible to push or slice by compensating with a stance way too upright (knees locked). The ideal amount of knee flex and waist bend for me is when my shoulders and kneecaps are in line (if my arms hang perfectly straight, I touch my kneecaps).

  5. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Also, if you have Facebook, look up Eddie Kilthau's page or go to www.allexperts.com and ask a question to him. He is a teaching pro, short and a Titleist player. He is my go-to guy for golf advice (and I have been picking his brain from time to time for the past 3 years).
  6. steve b

    steve b
    edmond, OK

    with the -1/2 and 2* flat six iron, where were the marks from the lie board? You did hit from a lie board didn't you? What are the specs on your current set of irons?  I would rather know the exact lie on your sixi iron - not a 2* flat which would be relevant to a companies standard specs.   And, what is your normal shot shape?

    steve ball

  7. Sean D

    Sean D
    Windham, NH

    Steve, Yes we used a lie board, that's where the fitter came up with the 2* flat lie for the Titleist irons. I have no idea what the specs on my 20+ yr old irons are. I have contacted TM and they were no help. With my TM irons, my shot shape is typically straight (unless of course I miss hit one), I don't hit the ball with much movement in either direction. The ball tends to jump up quick and have a high ball flight.

  8. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    What I would personally do is take your TM irons to the fitter (that is if you didn't trade them in), have the lie angles measured, and hit THEM off the lie board to see where the scuff marks are. Lie boards CAN be a degree or two off some times. When I brought in my DCIs for a lie angle adjustment, I brought along a Lynx Black Cat 9 iron that I knew I hit dead straight. The center of my scuff mark on the Lynx was one tick mark toward the toe. I had the fitter match the lie angle of the DCI (which did hit halfway between the center and the toe) and, sure enough, the DCI was one tick mark toward the toe. After the initial, they all hit dead straight (had to flatten the 4 iron 1/2 deg because it was hooking slightly) but not quite as clean as I would want. Found out the iron set was 1/2" long so I cut them to standard length, regripped with a lighter grip and had all the lie angles bent 1/2 degree upright from the standard spec of Titleist. Voila! The wedges were set to 35 1/4" with 65 lie angle. 4 iron 61.5. 5 - 9 iron 62.5 - 64.5 spaced half degree. They and the Eye 2 Yellow Dot irons just about match in lie angle so it is easy to rotate iron sets when playing.
  9. steve b

    steve b
    edmond, OK

    I would assume the 2* flat titleist iron showed a mark in the center of the sole. Did you see that?  How do your TM irons mark when hit from the lie board?  Lets see that result and then maybe measure your TM irons and see what their lie angle is -- let me know the lies of the 6 and 9 iron in terms of acutal degrees  and not whether they are flat, upright .....

    From a fitting standpoint the lie angle will have the most affect in hitting the ball that far off line. No the shaft.... it would not be unusual to need more than 2* flat of a lie...

    steve

  10. William B

    William B
    Morris, NY

    That is my problem with Titleist irons. They are too upright, and can not be bent more than 2* flat. I am 5'7" and have a 31.5 wrist to floor. My 5 iron lie angle needs to be 56 degrees ( -1" and 4* flat), and I can't get a Titleist iron that can be bent that far. It's frustrating. I guess Titleist is not interested in offering irons for us vertically challenged folks.

  11. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    William B said:

    That is my problem with Titleist irons. They are too upright, and can not be bent more than 2* flat. I am 5'7" and have a 31.5 wrist to floor. My 5 iron lie angle needs to be 56 degrees ( -1" and 4* flat), and I can't get a Titleist iron that can be bent that far. It's frustrating. I guess Titleist is not interested in offering irons for us vertically challenged folks.

    5'7" and 31.5" is a rather unusual dimension considering that the average male of that height probably has a wtf of 34". My wife is 5'1", left handed and has a WTF height of 29.5". The only vendor that may accomodate her is Ping because the flattest is Gold Dot (-3.75*). Almost none of the golf club vendors sell ladies' LH clubs.

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