TrueSpec Golf Iron Fitting Review

A month ago I got a woods fitting from TrueSpec Golf (http://3jack.blogspot.com/2018/02/true-spec-golf-woods-fitting-and-review.html).  The fitting recommended me a Callaway Rogue Sub Zero driver and 13* 3-wood.  It reduced my spin rate from 2,800 rpm to 2,000 rpm and improved my carry distance by roughly 10 yards.

I was interested in getting an irons fitting as I was looking to move on from current gamers, the Srixon Z945's:

For those not familiar with TrueSpec Golf, it is a 'brand agnostic' fitting where they carry heads, shafts, grips, etc. from all sorts of OEM's.  They are not a single licensed dealer of a OEM like Ping where getting a fitting from a Ping dealer would consist of finding the best Ping products.  Instead, the idea is to fit the golfer for the best possible product.  If it happens to be a Ping G400 driver with a Mitsubishi shaft and a Titleist 3-wood with a Fujikura shaft...so be it.

What I prefer about TrueSpec Golf is that it's an outdoor fitting with a fantastic facility.  And in this case, they are at Lake Nona, arguably the premier golf course in Orlando.

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I was looking for new irons because I was looking to lower the spin rate a little bit and hopefully gain some distance.  Typically, the Center of Gravity on blades is higher up on the face which makes the ball launch lower and spin more.  High club speed players tend to prefer the blade because of the lower launch angles.  For me, I launch the ball about 4-5 degrees higher than the Tour average with the irons.  Therefore, I estimate I need to have a spin rate of 1,000 to 1,300 rpm less than the Tour average.  If I don't, I feel that it makes for some real problems hitting approach shots into the wind.

The other thing I was interested in was graphite shafts.  I have had shoulder and elbow issues the past 2 years and I think a slightly lighter and better vibration dampening shaft could take the toll off my shoulder and elbow.  Furthermore, there have been great advancements in graphite iron shafts from even 10 years ago.  Graphite iron shafts are now heavier, more stable and can be changed to provide a variety of launch conditions depending on the player's needs.

A week ago, I got my FlightScope Mevo and here were my #'s with each of my irons:

After some initial warm-up, we decided that I would hit my own 6-iron to draw a baseline performance.

Unlike the woods fitting, the iron fitting was on a mat.  They have you hit inside their bay to the outdoors.  I was hitting outdoors on a mat with my Mevo as well.

Here were my 6-iron #'s on Trackman with my gamer Srixon Z945:

Club Speed: 91.2 mph
Ball Speed: 122.3 mph
Smash Factor: 1.34
Launch Angle: 19.2 degrees
Spin Rate: 4,850 rpm
Max Height: 106 ft
Carry Distance: 182.1 yards

Thus, my FlightScope Mevo numbers were very close to what Trackman was reading.


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We tried the following heads:

TaylorMade P790
Srixon Z565
PXG 0311T
Callaway Rogue Pro

The shafts we tried were:

Accra Tour 100i
Mitsubishi OT 105
UST Mamiya Recoil 125 Prototype
UST Mamiya Recoil (95 grams)

Right away we noticed the difference with the P790 and the Accra shaft.

There is a lot of talk with golfers about lofts being 'jacked' up and it providing false distance gains because the golfer is deemed to be hitting...for example...a 6-iron instead of the 7-iron that is stamped on the club head. 

But, what I learned from various club engineers is that is not always the case.  Because the Center of Gravity can be put in a location that can cause for a similar launch angle and landing angle as a higher lofted blade iron.  One of the big differences that the loft can make is in helping reduce the spin rate.  And changing the spin rate can have a greater affect on distance than the launch angle.  I checked with FlightScope's Shot Optimizer and found this to be true according to their calculations:

Click Pictures to ENLARGE

So, all I did was change the Spin Rate by 1,500 rpm and the ball carried 6 yards further.

Obviously, irons are not about hitting them long.  It's about directional and distance control.  But, if the shaft length, launch angle, spin rate and landing angle are similar...it's not really a 'false distance gain.' 

After the P790 and Accra combo we tried the Mitsubishi shaft that produced similar ball speeds (130-ish), but flew too high.  We were trying to keep the landing angle between 48-50 degrees.  More than 50 degrees would start to get into 'ballooning' range into a wind.  Less than 48 degrees and with the lower spin rate I may have trouble getting shots to hold the green.

I cannot remember which Recoil shaft was which, but one produced a landing angle that was a smidge too high and the other produced a landing angle that was a smidge too low. 

We then moved to the Srixon Z565 and that produced 128.5 mph ball speed and with the Accra shaft flew a little too high.

This was the first time hitting a PXG iron.  The 0311T was getting about 129 mph ball speed, but was flying too high as the Spin Rate got up to 5,300 rpm.  Then I went to the Callaway Rogue Pro and that produced the most similar numbers to the P790, but too many shots would fly too high.

In the end, I was recommended on the following setup:

TaylorMade P790, standard lie and loft
Accra Tour 100i shaft (x-stiff) +1/2"

I hit a few more shots with the P790 and the Accra shaft to confirm.  There has been a couple of swing mechanics I was working on and my final shot of the day I focused on them and I got up to 133.4 mph ball speed with the 6-iron.

TrueSpec Golf also measured the loft on my P-Wedge and my 52* wedge as I had yardage gapping issues with those clubs.  They have a digital lie/loft machine and the P-Wedge came out to 46.25* loft.  Then Miura K-Grind loft was right at 52 degrees. 

The 9-iron was at 41 degrees, so perhaps some of the distance gapping issue with the P-Wedge is that the loft needs to be at 45 degrees.  If not, then it may be time to look at the possibility that MOI matching may add too much weight to the head on the wedges.

Overall, the fitting only took 45 minutes.  I was swinging quite well and only missed a handful of shots.  It also helped that the fitter was able to guestimate the right combo for me on his first try.

Here's the pricing from TrueSpec:

The P790 pricing is fair as that is what you will find in retail shops and most online retailers. The Accra shafts go for anywhere from $205-$525 for a set of 8 shafts.

Assuming that the distance gains will remain the same when I get the irons here is the projected change in how I would play a 450 yard par-4 prior to coming to TrueSpec.

BEFORE

Drive - 264 yards carry, 18 yards of roll...282 yards total

Approach Shot 168 yards to the hole (7-iron)

7-iron average carry of 170 yards, 50* landing angle, 6,428 rpm spin


AFTER

Driver - 274 yards carry, 23 yards of roll = 297 yards total

Approach Shot 153 yards to hole (P-Wedge)

P-Wedge average carry of 150 yards, 49* landing angle, 8,000 rpm spin





3JACK