Titleist fitting specifically or go somewhere that has all options?

[frazzman80]

Good morning all - looking for advice and opinions on something I've been kicking around the past few weeks. I'm self-fit into my Cobra Aerojet LS and for the most part I'm happy with it, but while my distance is +10 yards on average (even with the bad hits) to what was my fitted Callaway Epic Flash, I've also got a right miss that I didn't have with the Epic Flash and my mishits aren't great. 

A couple months ago I went to a box store to do a comparison on several drivers (the new AI Smoke Triple Diamond Max had come out) and experienced one of the worst fittings I can think of. The screen had no projector, I was literally just guessing where the GC quad "range" was and the fitter was incredibly apathetic (I'm not going back, which is sad because the store/brand was one I had believed in previously). In the end after trying about 7 different brands (no adjustments other than adjusting the head up/down a degree - so no shaft changes, no weight movements, nothing), he was like "stick with what you have" because the best shots are better than anything else.

So, I have an opportunity to do a "Premier" Titleist fitting outdoors at a club near me in a couple of weeks. In my impression, it'll be a fitting like we've seen MGS (and several others on YouTube) do, where they start you with the 2, then the 3 and 4 and you go through a real fitting. I'm really intrigued by that because that, in my mind, is what a real fitting should be like. My thing is, and the reason I haven't RSVPed yet, is that it is Titleist only. How will I know that the Titleist driver is THE DRIVER for me? Will they fit me best to the correct Titleist GT? I'm sure they will, but what if Callaway, Cobra, Ping, TM, Tour Edge, Mizuno, Honma, Wilson or another company's driver is THE DRIVER for me?

Should I book the Titleist Premier fitting? Or should I go to a fitter who has all the options and book a fitting where I get to hit everything? Thoughts???

 

Edited October 1 by frazzman80

[TK2HOUSE]

There will be two different schools of thought on this. If you test fit multiple things, you will find a base that fits really well between different brands and you can tweak that. You can also compare feel and how different brands fit your eye. If you are really focused on one brand or one set, and it gives you confidence, you can go in and get it fitted to your swing. Spending more time on one specific set might allow you to make more tweaks and compare more shafts etc. That being said, I think the average golfer doesn't need to dive in the same way as the pros but the fitting process in general has become almost a must. 

From personal experience, I went in focused on buying a game improvement set and mainly the g430s. I underestimated my own swing and after a fitting, I ended up with the T200s and tried a whack load of other sets. The data was pretty clear that those were the right ones for me. Then we fitted the shafts, like, length and grip. I would've never picked Titleist heading into it but I also wasn't purely focused on one brand so that would all come to preference. 

All that being said, I would go to a general fitter with a good reputation and one with no brand bias. Make them tell you what numbers to focus on (they should make that clear right away) i.e. land angle was a big one for me, dispersion (front and back more than side to side) etc. Watch those between sets and that should just tell the story instead of someone selling one thing or another. 

Good luck, it's a fun

[cnosil]

People do one brand fittings all the time. If you want a Titleist driver there is no reason to try other brands.   The fitter will start with a configuration and work to dial in the best fit for their line of clubs. You may try one or all of the heads and shafts…..fittings aren’t a let’s try everything kind of endeavor.   At the end you decide if the club meets the expectations you have laid out.  
 

you seem to be of the mindset that you need to try everything to find the “perfect” club configuration.   If that is the case you should find a fitter that offers a wider variety.    It you go this route, you will still run into cases where the fitter doesn’t fit all the brands.   Are you still going to wonder if a brand you didn’t try will be better?   
 

Both ways work, you just need to pick the direction that will make you happy with the product you are fit into.   

[frazzman80]

4 hours ago, cnosil said:

People do one brand fittings all the time. If you want a Titleist driver there is no reason to try other brands.   The fitter will start with a configuration and work to dial in the best fit for their line of clubs. You may try one or all of the heads and shafts…..fittings aren’t a let’s try everything kind of endeavor.   At the end you decide if the club meets the expectations you have laid out.  
 

you seem to be of the mindset that you need to try everything to find the “perfect” club configuration.   If that is the case you should find a fitter that offers a wider variety.    It you go this route, you will still run into cases where the fitter doesn’t fit all the brands.   Are you still going to wonder if a brand you didn’t try will be better?   
 

Both ways work, you just need to pick the direction that will make you happy with the product you are fit into.   

I've never hit a Titleist driver. Well, I take that back...in the poor fitting mentioned earlier the sales rep found me a TSR3 with some sort of $400 shaft from the used area and pretty much told me that it wouldn't work for me before I even hit it. I took a few swings with it and it didn't work well, but again, it's not like he adjusted it at all and there was the one high dollar shaft. 

So is it smart to do the Titleist only fitting if that's not "my brand"? I mean, I assume the fitting will be good...

Edited October 1 by frazzman80

[TK2HOUSE]

You need to have confidence in the club too. If you think it's not your brand then find something that is otherwise you'll have a bad swing thought everytime. I had two Callaway clubs I couldn't hit for years. Now I can't stand over a Callaway club and feel good. Are the clubs bad? No, but this is golf and how it suits your eye matters. Go find something that you just hit like butter. Maybe a brand will surprise you (like my srixon 3 wood) and you'll fall in love. Also, these clubs change almost every year. You might think you love Taylormade one year and then you can't stand their stuff the next. 

[cnosil]

My opinion; based on your posts, is you seem to be shying away from.Titleist with the feeling it won’t work for you or that something else will be better.  Based on that thought I would be to skip the Titleist fitting and do a brand agnostic fitting.   My guess is that if you do the Titleist fitting and buy one without hitting anything else is that you will always believe there is something better.  

[GolfSpy_APH]

I would do it, but let's be real here for a second. We are what 4 months away from the new batch of drivers from all the big OEMs being released. If you go to a big box store and pick up one of those are you going to kick yourself in 4 months when the new Callaway or Cobra or TM driver gets released?

At least you know the GT will be their product for 2 years and can be confident in that. 

Provided you maybe gain a bit of distance and hit more fairways I don't say you'll be disappointed you didn't try everything available!

[RichL85]

I wind up overthinking this kind of thing sometimes. In the end, I've done both types of fittings. The Titleist only fitting for the GT driver and fairways due to the MGS test, and it was absolutely a wonderful fitting experience and I'm beyond excited to receive the clubs. Do I think another driver could be better? Maybe? With where we ended up, any gains would be so minimal, it would be within error and standard deviations that a statistical test would show no differences. Do I think the Titleist clubs are better than what I currently have in my bag? Absolutely.

If you go in with a mindset against a certain product, it very likely won't work out. Callaway irons are like that for me. I don't know why, but I just don't feel comfortable over Callaway irons for whatever reason. Logically, I know most companies make a range of products that they can fit something to just about anyone. A properly fit set of PING irons vs a properly fit set of Mizuno irons, vs a properly fit set of Titleist irons. You very likely wouldn't see any statistical differences between the performance. After my experiences with both types of fittings, I would personally prefer to limit myself to one brand, and get an absolutely correct fit in that brand, than try 10 different brands and split hairs over tiny differences that aren't realistically even differences.

Having said that, from your comments, it sounds like you will be second guessing the choice if you go with a single brand fitting, so I would likely suggest a brand agnostic fitting. The nagging in the back of your brain that there is "something better" out there will always cause you to second guess. Some people seem to need that validation that they've tried literally everything before making a purchase, and then 6 months later something new comes out, and the cycle starts anew. I'm not that person, so I'm good with doing a single brand fitting myself.

[ClevelandGirl]

There’s always a feeling that the club isn’t for you, or was poorly fitted, or something. You already sound like you’re talking yourself out of the fitting, but if it’s free, heck give it a go!

Also, as stated @GolfSpy_APH, we’re end of the season. If you get fitted now, wait for the sales to kick in. If you want the newest, wait for the spring and get a fitting from someone selling multiple brands and the new drivers.

[GaDawg]

Over the last 10 years, i have had fittings at PGA Superstore and Club Champion (Driver). Two years ago, I did a Titleist fitting outside when they had their latest iron release and a couple of months ago, I had a driver fitting with Titleist. The fittings at PGA Superstore were hit or miss, depending on which fitter I got. The Club Champion fitting was pretty good on a Taylormade driver several years ago. They just pushed for an upgrade on a shaft.

Personally, I know the Titleist fittings were great, but I would think that a fitting with other reps from Taylormade, Callaway or Minizou would be very good too.

[TK2HOUSE]

@GaDawg great caveat. You need to know the fitter is good for the ones that are multi brands. Best to look for a fitter that is a shop "second" and a fitter "first". The brand reps are usually fantastic but obviously very biased. In actuality, you can't go wrong with any of the great companies but very few people realistically hit one brand best for every club. 

[frazzman80]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

My opinion; based on your posts, is you seem to be shying away from.Titleist with the feeling it won’t work for you or that something else will be better.  Based on that thought I would be to skip the Titleist fitting and do a brand agnostic fitting.   My guess is that if you do the Titleist fitting and buy one without hitting anything else is that you will always believe there is something better.  

I'm open to the Titleist GT driver being my driver...I mean I've never hit one and it could be the one. But you're probably right, I think I'd have a hard time buying it without comparing it to other models, even if the fitting is good. I just need to find a good fitter because my experience at the box store was so bad.

What I really want is the amazing fitting I saw from Titleist in the MGS (and other) video where I get a chance to have a club truly fitted for me. I guess I need to find an amazing fitter here in San Antonio. My last fitting in 2019 was Club Champion and while they did a good job, I told them a budget number before I even started and when the fitting was done they were almost double what I had told them was my budget. It left a bad taste in my mouth...

[TK2HOUSE]

@frazzman80 unfortunately pretty typical experience. Fitters usually chase the data. Whatever is going to provide you the best numbers is what they are going to push you to. I agree, if they know it's not in your budget, they should avoid it but there's also something to be said for spending money once. I really wanted to buy irons for under $1000 CDN this year. Unfortunately the players distance irons fit me best. Of those, Titleist was the clear winner. The fitter told me he could wedge me into something in my budget but the idea of the experience was to produce the best result. Tough pill to swallow but I opted to spend more and not be looking again for 5+ years. 

[frazzman80]

1 hour ago, TK2HOUSE said:

@frazzman80 unfortunately pretty typical experience. Fitters usually chase the data. Whatever is going to provide you the best numbers is what they are going to push you to. I agree, if they know it's not in your budget, they should avoid it but there's also something to be said for spending money once. I really wanted to buy irons for under $1000 CDN this year. Unfortunately the players distance irons fit me best. Of those, Titleist was the clear winner. The fitter told me he could wedge me into something in my budget but the idea of the experience was to produce the best result. Tough pill to swallow but I opted to spend more and not be looking again for 5+ years. 

I'd pay extra for Ian Fraser at Club Champion, but the guy I got was good, but also upsell city.

Edited October 1 by frazzman80

[frazzman80]

20 hours ago, TK2HOUSE said:

@GaDawg great caveat. You need to know the fitter is good for the ones that are multi brands. Best to look for a fitter that is a shop "second" and a fitter "first". The brand reps are usually fantastic but obviously very biased. In actuality, you can't go wrong with any of the great companies but very few people realistically hit one brand best for every club. 

I think this is the key for me. My multi-brand fitting at the box store was so bad it wasn’t helpful at all.

I know this Titleist fitting will be good based on the videos shared. And it’s outside, which I’ve never done before.

Thanks for the dialogue and sharing of opinions. I still don’t know what I’m going to decide so keep them coming.

Edited October 2 by frazzman80