allmost new club

[bill reed]

hi all
i have been looking for new clubs and had been thinking about clones, yesterday a friend side he was selling his ping zings and and he let me have them at under £10 a club, i knew they were wrong fitting as there orange, 2% flat and i use black, standard. well i bought them as i knew ping could change the loft, i went to range and played ever club and i could not belive how well i was hitting the ball. it felt better too, the pro at the range even asked when i changed my swing as he said i had a better plane, arm on same line as my sholders.
i dont understand, i did a web fit and it said i needed black code clubs, i checked on other club sites and they said same, standered lie.
what i want to know why is everything working with clubs that are 2% flat. hope someone can tell me why this is, i have checked and clubs are 2% flatter than my black coded pings. i played again today and i checked the sole and its square and even, on all the clubs. sure someone will know why.
thanks
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: allmost new club

Hi Bill,

There are two types of fitting types.

Type 1 is easy. Their swing is their swing. If you hand them flatter clubs, the lie mark is at the toe. If you hand them upright clubs, the mark is at the heel. Bend accordingly.

Type 2 is harder. The mark is in the middle, regardless of length or lie. These people change their swing to fit the club.

Bill, it seems as though you're type 2 - fitting your swing to the club. My guess is that when you stand a little more bent over, you swing better. (It sounds like your coach agrees).

One of the things we talk about in club fitting is that static fitting is a starting point. Yes, charts will suggest standard, or a 1,2, or 3 degree change. But hitting clubs off a lie board changes everything. (By the way, when you hit off a lie board, were you hitting something, or just swinging?)

I'm glad to hear you're hitting the ball well!

[bill reed]

Re: allmost new club

hi lowpost
thanks so much for all your help about clone clubs you certanly know your stuff and i thank you for sharing it with me, i think i know more and understand more about clones and fitting up a good set to match. i was almost set to buy the z-tour-3+ but when i was offered a good set of zings at half the price of the clones i jumped at it, do you think i would be better sticking with this set up and just monitor it over the year, the clubs are 3 to 9 iron no pwedge only swedge and i was thinking of getting 3 durometer wedges as you speek so highly of them. what shaft would you fit if i use stiff mid point in the zings and i hit them about 8 yrs further than my old k1s nad higher too. thanks again for all your help i really value your input.
bill

[LowPost42]

Re: allmost new club

Bill, I'd actually like you to see a custom clubmaker who can offer you a few demos of different length. It would be nice if he could videotape your swing as well, to check which length puts you on plane best. Then he could adjust lies and lengthen/shorten your Pings accordingly.

If that's not an option, then I'd say that simply monitoring your game is the next best option (although I'm tempted to say that you're probably close to what you should be playing - especially if you're on plane!).

As for your wedges, I like the Rifle Spinner series (although I've heard about 'spinnerizing' other shafts). If you're using stiffs, (and they're truly stiff), I'd suggest going with Spinner 5.5's in your PW, GW, and SW (assuming you hit full swing shots with your SW), and stepping down to a 4.5 in your LW (assuming that you DON'T take full swings with a LW, and that you even carry one )

As for the Durometers, yes, they can be bent (I've bent mine 1° weak so that my yardage gaps are better). Mike (the prez @ SMT) has setup the Duro's so that you can go PW-LW with them. More info at http://www.smtgolf.com/wedges.asp?specs=1 Every other wedge makes for a 4° gap (where I like to start with wedges), and you can bend them, like I said, to accomodate whatever gapping you need.

The only 'knock' against the Duro's is that they've got a ton of sole. Mike designed them so that they'd be custom ground. Now, that said, I play mine as they came from the factory (no grinding). I plan on taking a little off the heel of my 59°, just so I can open it up a little more (like I need more loft for the flopper! )

Hope it helps,

Ben