S4 and the Taylormade Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass

[audi021]

Today I had an appointment at the Taylormade Performance Center to get fitted for new clubs. I pulled up to drop my bag off at Sawgrass and the Bagdrop attendant was mesmerized by the sound of my car. He told me he drives ferraris, maseratis etc. and he thought my car was the best he heard.

Thought it was cool

Side note - if there are any Golfers in the forum wanting to hear about my Taylormade Golf fitting experience at Sawgrass let me know. It was amazing and I'd be happy to give details.

[MailmanOdd]

Today I had an appointment at the Taylormade Performance Center to get fitted for new clubs. I pulled up to drop my bag off at Sawgrass and the Bagdrop attendant was mesmerized by the sound of my car. He told me he drives ferraris, maseratis etc. and he thought my car was the best he heard.

Thought it was cool

Side note - if there are any Golfers in the forum wanting to hear about my Taylormade Golf fitting experience at Sawgrass let me know. It was amazing and I'd be happy to give details.


Definitely interested, how was it? What was so cool about it?

[SwankPeRFection]

Don't take this the wrong way, but he/she may have been kissing your ass just a bit. Get another car, wear big dark glasses and walk in there in a few weeks looking like someone else, see if the story is the same. You'll have your answer... lol

It's kind of like when you go buy a car at a dealer and everyone from the sales guy to the financing guy say they personally drive the same car. Really...? That's amazing! Coincidence? I think not. [rolleyes]

[AstleyJ]

Don't take this the wrong way, but he/she may have been kissing your ass just a bit. Get another car, wear big dark glasses and walk in there in a few weeks looking like someone else, see if the story is the same. You'll have your answer... lol

It's kind of like when you go buy a car at a dealer and everyone from the sales guy to the financing guy say they personally drive the same car. Really...? That's amazing! Coincidence? I think not. [rolleyes]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine. Have you added anything that is positive to these forums? I think you may want to step back before you make your next post and ask, "Is what I am about to say useful to this individual or this topic?" If not, please do us all a favor, and step away from the keyboard. I'm sure you will attempt to "strike down upon thee(my post) with great vengeance and furious anger" commenting that I don't know you and your past "Bro." I simply do not care. It is exhausting watching you try and demean everyone on here for no reason. Just stop.

[audi021]

I don't think it was ass kissing - he had nothing to gain. They don't even take tips for unloading the car.

As for experience - let's expand.

I am a 12 handicap. I currently have Calloway x-18's title list driver and a 10 year old putter. I have a slight draw and occasionally a hook. My current set of clubs are 1 degree up and 1 inch long. I'm 6'5".

I spent 3 hours with the fitter, Avery , who was part of the original team to develop this system. For those unfamiliar t is the same system they use to put sports players into video games.

I started by hitting my personal clubs and watching flight on their flight scope. We discussed my goals and my style. I was actually striking the ball pretty well.

First, you get hooked up to the avatar machine wearing a suit that has tons of little sensors attached at measuring points. It allows the computer to track your every movement as well as allows your swing to be compared to any golfer that has used the system. In my case, my fitter was the personal club fitter for Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia amongst other big name pros. He compared my swing to Dustin Johnson since my build was similar.

The machine is not forgiving - it shows everything. I saw flaws in my swing after the first 3-4 strokes. Mostly hands behind the strike point and planing problems. Avery is not a pro, but the guy knows golf swings. He pointed out the adjustments I needed and then I started cracking shots pretty straight. He found that the cubs I have been playing for the last 5 years are actually set up opposite of what I need. He adjusted lie to 3 degrees down and length to 1.5 inches long. This corrected my draw...every time.

We then went through every club trying different heads shafts and grips. Started with 6 iron, moved to driver, wedges, 3 wood, hybrid and putter. He compared my stats with the pros.

My swing speed is 115 mph - which is tour speed. My hand speed was 21 mph, about 2 mph faster than pros - not necessarily good, but for my swing, not bad at all. Showed me in and out metrics. Then found my swing problem. Closed face - negative 8 degrees. Adjusted my grip, modified grip very slightly and changed lie and weight in shaft.

I also got to buy the new sldr Taylormade tp driver - not currently in stores as the to was still a prototype only available to pros and performance center users. I do believe it is getting released this month. My average drive with my titlest was 278. Average drive with new driver was 322. Long drive was 339. Low was 308. Phenomenal.

I was hitting 3 wood 275, hybrid 240 and 6 iron 190.

All were almost dead straight with a low to high flight.

He was able to measure putter rpms and loft and we changed my putter which had 1 degree loft to a 4 degree loft. This allowed me to get out of non perfect greens without bounce and added forward roll by 2000 rpms.

Lastly, we tested wedges. I went with a 56, 60 and gap. Atv wedges don't play bounce.

I have custom shafts on all clubs. Without going into detail - they fit my swing and added about 100$ per club on driver, 3 wood, hybrid and $200 total for irons.

Fitting fee was 375. Worth every penny. I left with a print out of my stats. A cd of my session including comparisons to pros and my swings. Every one. Clubs were about 2700. Built in 48 hours and shipped to my door.

Couldn't avoid tax.

Even got a t time at sawgrass stadium course. Had to pay, but got a discount. Staff was very nice.

In my opinion, if you are serious about golf, meaning you golf at least 1 time per week in the summer - you need to do this. You do not need to buy Taylor made clubs. You can take the stats to a different club maker - but why would you. I went with. Rocketbladez tour pro irons, rocket balls 3 we and hybrid and ghost putter.

It even showed me the ball I was supposed t hit and the shoes I should wear based on weight transfer and sole distribution.

Avery thinks I will knock 7-9 strokes off my game.

Sorry for the spelling errors, typing on iPad.

[KRracer]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine.

It's the Sakimano Way.

I lurk here and on audirevolution, and it is obvious this is the same guy. He has the same attitude, tone, sentence structure, and knowledge library as over on that site.

Things move a bit slowly on that site's forums, unless they are making fun of Audizine, so I think he got bored and came over here to "educate the unwashed masses with his wisdom."


Cheers,

KR

[KRracer]

Oh, and Audi021, I don't play golf, but that sounds like a very cool experience. Sorry for crashing your thread. I've heard the AWE exhaust and I agree with the bagdrop attendant. Very sweet sound.

Cheers,

KR

[S-Fore]

Don't take this the wrong way, but he/she may have been kissing your ass just a bit. Get another car, wear big dark glasses and walk in there in a few weeks looking like someone else, see if the story is the same. You'll have your answer... lol

It's kind of like when you go buy a car at a dealer and everyone from the sales guy to the financing guy say they personally drive the same car. Really...? That's amazing! Coincidence? I think not. [rolleyes]

Yeah, give it a rest ballbag and shut the fuck up.

[FITZ TITS]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine. Have you added anything that is positive to these forums? I think you may want to step back before you make your next post and ask, "Is what I am about to say useful to this individual or this topic?" If not, please do us all a favor, and step away from the keyboard. I'm sure you will attempt to "strike down upon thee(my post) with great vengeance and furious anger" commenting that I don't know you and your past "Bro." I simply do not care. It is exhausting watching you try and demean everyone on here for no reason. Just stop.
lol...You think he's bad?
If you can't handle it, go to your user CP and add him to your ignore list.

[millerrh]

I don't think it was ass kissing - he had nothing to gain. They don't even take tips for unloading the car.

As for experience - let's expand.

I am a 12 handicap. I currently have Calloway x-18's title list driver and a 10 year old putter. I have a slight draw and occasionally a hook. My current set of clubs are 1 degree up and 1 inch long. I'm 6'5".

I spent 3 hours with the fitter, Avery , who was part of the original team to develop this system. For those unfamiliar t is the same system they use to put sports players into video games.

I started by hitting my personal clubs and watching flight on their flight scope. We discussed my goals and my style. I was actually striking the ball pretty well.

First, you get hooked up to the avatar machine wearing a suit that has tons of little sensors attached at measuring points. It allows the computer to track your every movement as well as allows your swing to be compared to any golfer that has used the system. In my case, my fitter was the personal club fitter for Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia amongst other big name pros. He compared my swing to Dustin Johnson since my build was similar.

The machine is not forgiving - it shows everything. I saw flaws in my swing after the first 3-4 strokes. Mostly hands behind the strike point and planing problems. Avery is not a pro, but the guy knows golf swings. He pointed out the adjustments I needed and then I started cracking shots pretty straight. He found that the cubs I have been playing for the last 5 years are actually set up opposite of what I need. He adjusted lie to 3 degrees down and length to 1.5 inches long. This corrected my draw...every time.

We then went through every club trying different heads shafts and grips. Started with 6 iron, moved to driver, wedges, 3 wood, hybrid and putter. He compared my stats with the pros.

My swing speed is 115 mph - which is tour speed. My hand speed was 21 mph, about 2 mph faster than pros - not necessarily good, but for my swing, not bad at all. Showed me in and out metrics. Then found my swing problem. Closed face - negative 8 degrees. Adjusted my grip, modified grip very slightly and changed lie and weight in shaft.

I also got to buy the new sldr Taylormade tp driver - not currently in stores as the to was still a prototype only available to pros and performance center users. I do believe it is getting released this month. My average drive with my titlest was 278. Average drive with new driver was 322. Long drive was 339. Low was 308. Phenomenal.

I was hitting 3 wood 275, hybrid 240 and 6 iron 190.

All were almost dead straight with a low to high flight.

He was able to measure putter rpms and loft and we changed my putter which had 1 degree loft to a 4 degree loft. This allowed me to get out of non perfect greens without bounce and added forward roll by 2000 rpms.

Lastly, we tested wedges. I went with a 56, 60 and gap. Atv wedges don't play bounce.

I have custom shafts on all clubs. Without going into detail - they fit my swing and added about 100$ per club on driver, 3 wood, hybrid and $200 total for irons.

Fitting fee was 375. Worth every penny. I left with a print out of my stats. A cd of my session including comparisons to pros and my swings. Every one. Clubs were about 2700. Built in 48 hours and shipped to my door.

Couldn't avoid tax.

Even got a t time at sawgrass stadium course. Had to pay, but got a discount. Staff was very nice.

In my opinion, if you are serious about golf, meaning you golf at least 1 time per week in the summer - you need to do this. You do not need to buy Taylor made clubs. You can take the stats to a different club maker - but why would you. I went with. Rocketbladez tour pro irons, rocket balls 3 we and hybrid and ghost putter.

It even showed me the ball I was supposed t hit and the shoes I should wear based on weight transfer and sole distribution.

Avery thinks I will knock 7-9 strokes off my game.

Sorry for the spelling errors, typing on iPad.

That sounds like an awesome experience. Much better than my 20 minute long fitting at Golfsmith. [rolleyes] What a joke that was in comparison. Please let us know after you've played a few rounds if your scores are any better.

[audi021]

36 holes scheduled for next weekend. I'll post results.

[mcoomer]

I do not need new clubs! Nope, don't need them! Really do not need new clubs! Don't need a boat, new fly fishing gear, more mountain bikes, guns! Definitely don't need more toys! Want new toys, don't want the wife giving me the OMFG death stare! (cold sweat)

[chillindrdude]

why do i get the feeling this thread should be in the chatterbox?

[:D]

[apexit1]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine. Have you added anything that is positive to these forums? I think you may want to step back before you make your next post and ask, "Is what I am about to say useful to this individual or this topic?" If not, please do us all a favor, and step away from the keyboard. I'm sure you will attempt to "strike down upon thee(my post) with great vengeance and furious anger" commenting that I don't know you and your past "Bro." I simply do not care. It is exhausting watching you try and demean everyone on here for no reason. Just stop.

Have you met our resident racing expert Westwest?

[s4buckeye]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine. Have you added anything that is positive to these forums? I think you may want to step back before you make your next post and ask, "Is what I am about to say useful to this individual or this topic?" If not, please do us all a favor, and step away from the keyboard. I'm sure you will attempt to "strike down upon thee(my post) with great vengeance and furious anger" commenting that I don't know you and your past "Bro." I simply do not care. It is exhausting watching you try and demean everyone on here for no reason. Just stop.


It's the Sakimano Way. I lurk here and on audirevolution, and it is obvious this is the same guy. He has the same attitude, tone, sentence structure, and knowledge library as over on that site. Things move a bit slowly on that site's forums, unless they are making fun of Audizine, so I think he got bored and came over here to "educate the unwashed masses with his wisdom."



Yeah, give it a rest ballbag and shut the fuck up.

Yes, like I said on the closed GIAC thread: "A mysteriously long and opinionated post for a member that joined the same day, August 5th. Do you know how to Sakimano?"


OP: Nice work on the TM sticks. Custom fitting is killer for sure, I did that with my Pings and it was well worth it.

[ahcow]

Damn, this post made me want to go get my clubs fitted....and I don't even golf often now a days...waiting for my friends to get better...

[SwankPeRFection]

Wow, it's pretty funny you guys think I'm someone I'm not. Happened to add another Audi to the garage and it happened to be an S4, wasted some time on here lurking since from what I saw AZ was the most active Audi forum and really hadn't planned on joining until I saw the bs that was the GIAC/APR thread. Yes, I am very opinionated and yes, I like to cut it up a bit and piss people off. That said, it's all in good fun. I laugh, you get pissed off. Also, when I register for a forum, I always use the same name. I like to maintain my constant reputation. ;)

Anyway, as for my response in this thread, my viewpoint is from one of the behavior I've seen in general. When people want to make you feel important or welcome, they will flatter you in any way they can but without trying to be too obvious so that you relax your guard and feel comfortable. After all, the porter might not have had anything to gain personally, but he was representing the business you were at and their job is to sell you a service and other products should you choose to partake. Their job is also to make you have an incredible experience so that you can go out, share that experience with other people and bring in more business. Whether he was sincere is about a 50/50 split and I don't think in the end that it matters, but if you think a 60k car with an exhaust impresses the guy more than a 200k car, then I think you've gotten your leg pulled a bit too much.


Either way, it sounds like you had a good experience at this place and got exactly what you wanted out of it. That said, do you think you'll be able to maintain these small corrections to your technique and keep your old muscle memory from creeping back in? Not sure how long you've played, but sometimes slightly bad technique and bad habits can continuously crop up whenever you're not concentrating hard to make the corrections until they've had enough time to settle in. Nevertheless, good luck with your new found corrections. I hope they pay off in lowering your score.

[JJP1978]

I don't mix it up on these forums very often... I will post here and there and mainly just lurk. But I can say that you are definitely the least helpful, most agitating, and pretentious person on Audizine. Have you added anything that is positive to these forums? I think you may want to step back before you make your next post and ask, "Is what I am about to say useful to this individual or this topic?" If not, please do us all a favor, and step away from the keyboard. I'm sure you will attempt to "strike down upon thee(my post) with great vengeance and furious anger" commenting that I don't know you and your past "Bro." I simply do not care. It is exhausting watching you try and demean everyone on here for no reason. Just stop.

+1,000,000


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deep Sea S4]

Sounds cool. You added 50 yards to you overall driving average switching between the two drivers. That's insane.

A 320 yard driving average. What were your stats. Swing speed/launch angle/spin etc.....

That's almost unheard of to increase a driver to those levels. Must be one hell of a club.

[audi021]

Swing 115 mph swing average, 21 mph hands average , launch angle was 10.5 using a 9 degree loft club - I swing up, spin was 7500 rpm. Lie and loft was weighted to hit down on ball from driver. Adjusted 3 out to even out draw into a slight fade - almost no fade.

Switched to Taylormade lethal balls from nxt.

They say this is taylormade s longest driver. Pros tested it 1 day before the British open and 29 people had it in there bag for the tournament - unheard of. Switched for standard off the rack clubs to tour pro clubs - smaller sweet spot, bigger gain - new shafts made a huge difference. Switched from 59 gram standard shafts and went to 75 gram custom extra stiff shafts for driver and 85 gram shafts for irons.

[audi021]

Also, I was getting almost no roll on my current driver and I am getting almost 15 -18 yards on new driver. This is due to the spin going from 2k-7k and the launch angle/flight path.

Basically, my ball just doesn't come down.

[apexit1]

I never knew golf was that technical, wow

[Wilbur]

Also, I was getting almost no roll on my current driver and I am getting almost 15 -18 yards on new driver. This is due to the spin going from 2k-7k and the launch angle/flight path.

Basically, my ball just doesn't come down.

You have that backwards. 2000-2500 is great spin off driver. Would be virtually impossible to make a ball spin 7000+rpm off a driver. It wouldnt go anywhere.
So you are a 12 and hit 6 iron 190 and driver over 300 both dead straight?

[NyRevenge]

I dont know anything about golf but that sounds like a sick experience. And for 375 for the personal fitting and everything sounds like a great deal.

[Nobuttsechs4me]

I got invited up to the lab last year by taylormade/adidas and got to go thru the fitting and see some behind the scenes stuff. Once the fitting is done the computer will even recommend the correct shoe for you to wear based on weight transfer/distribution. Pretty legit stuff.

Enjoy the new sticks!

Valet also enjoy my S4 even with love bugs all over the front of it

[seanj130]

If you are like me; a 6 handicap. 6 feet tall and have a 115 swing speed, all you need is the right shaft and some adjustments to your swing.. If you are like the OP; 6'5'' you will NEED custom clubs. Clubs off the shelf are great for the average person. There is NO way that I could hit a drive further than I do now, I have had nearly EVERY club in my hands and my Ping G2 just feels right at home. I have an old Futura putter (12 years?) and still put well.

To lower my handicap I just need the mental game, not to play the "hero" shot after a bad shot...

This sounds like an unreal experience! Something that I wish that I could do.

I also play Oak Hill (PGA Championship course) fairly often [:D]

[Wilbur]

If you are like me; a 6 handicap. 6 feet tall and have a 115 swing speed, all you need is the right shaft and some adjustments to your swing.. If you are like the OP; 6'5'' you will NEED custom clubs. Clubs off the shelf are great for the average person. There is NO way that I could hit a drive further than I do now, I have had nearly EVERY club in my hands and my Ping G2 just feels right at home. I have an old Futura putter (12 years?) and still put well.

To lower my handicap I just need the mental game, not to play the "hero" shot after a bad shot...

This sounds like an unreal experience! Something that I wish that I could do.

I also play Oak Hill (PGA Championship course) fairly often [:D]

SWEET!
Its a really good idea to get fit for driver (at least). About 75% of players could gain distance and reduce dispersion with a good fitting. Spin is the killer...only one way to determine that...Trackman/flightscope.
S4 doesnt sound bad but my last B7 S4 sounded AMAZING.

[seanj130]

SWEET!
Its a really good idea to get fit for driver (at least). About 75% of players could gain distance and reduce dispersion with a good fitting. Spin is the killer...only one way to determine that...Trackman/flightscope.
S4 doesnt sound bad but my last B7 S4 sounded AMAZING.

I hit a high draw, even with an 8 degree driver.. If you can't get down to a 12 handicap, custom for clubs may not be the best answer, use the money on a good swing coach, and if they feel that you need a custom fit, then you probably do.

Heck my swing coach was Craig Harmon, for you guys who know golf, you should know him!! Yes, in relation to Butch Harmon..

OP, you better post your score from the round!! How about a clip of your swing?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[seanj130]

I mean... Like they say in 2013, videos or it never happened....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[audi021]

You have that backwards. 2000-2500 is great spin off driver. Would be virtually impossible to make a ball spin 7000+rpm off a driver. It wouldnt go anywhere.
So you are a 12 and hit 6 iron 190 and driver over 300 both dead straight?

Wilbur - you may be right. I just remember it was a huge difference. There is also rpm's in putting so maybe that's how I confused it.

I was not hitting the ball this well prior to getting my clubs fixed. I was always a long striker, by I had a slight draw on all irons - about 15-20 yards and a draw to hook on my driver 150-40 yards. I could never score well because I was never in a good position off the tee. If I erased all penalty shots I would probably be close to scratch. Sounds weird, but just can't get off tee. Didn't have a good long iron in my bag and was using a 15 year old 3 wood warbird. I'm usually up and down when I am chipping. I also have weak bunker play. I am however a great putter, good short game and decent getting out of trouble when not penalized.

I'm not sure what these new clubs will do, but the fitter seemed to think I can get a big gain based on the new driver distance and control on my irons.

I plan to take 5 lessons per month over the winter . If I can get my hands away from my body and forward as well as learn the bunker play I will really improve.

Apexit1 - all sports are this technical now a days. Golf is extremely technical. Pros switch clubs ver less than 5 yards in any direction. It's crazy. They say tiger can hit 50 balls in a row within 5 yards of each other. That's more than just skill and muscle memory.

[audi021]

Ok. I will post scorecard and swing from my round next week. I want to hit the range a few times with new clubs before I judge them.

As for needing to be good for custom clubs to make sense I partially agree. If you are weighing between lessons and clubs, lessons are important. For me, stock sticks really hurt my swing. Length alone is a factor. When you add that I swing hard and have quick hands, I am all over the place with a regular stiffness and weighted shaft.

In my case, I was a 5 in hs. Went off to life and stopped playing consistently for about 5 years. Now I'm in early 30's , play a few times per week and I am getting serious again. My power is still there but my flexibility has changed. Better mentally, don't take too many hero shots, but my pride off the tee is ridiculous border line insane. Now that I have a great 3 wood and 3 hybrid, I can play such a smarter game.

I am looking to go 2-5 handicap by the star of next season. New clubs , lessons for a few months I should be able to shed 7-10 strokes. I'm not trying to play the tour, but I want to beat up local courses. Btw - a real advantage to a normal golfer that can hit long. Many men only play white or blue tees. I should play tips with my length. So, on 6500 yd courses I can play driver wedge on many holes. If I now have a driver that hits straighter and I am not penalized off the tee, I should really be able to stick it to people.

As for the videos from the experience, the cd rom is only compatible with a windows computer and I have a Mac and no parallels. I'll try to get a video of my swing up next week. Especially if I am still killing it.

P.s. Wilbur, they were using both track man and flight scope during my time there. I think they also had RFID balls because they were able to see spin off of tee - it was crazy.

Back to the car btw - just because the attendant liked the sound of my car doesn't mean he liked the car better than ferraris , he just commented on liking the sound.

[Wilbur]

Nice. Properly fit clubs will help a higher handicap player more than a lower hdcp player and lessons will help more than anything.

[seanj130]

6,500 yards? 18 hold par 3 course? [>_<]

If you ever head out this way we can get on some championship courses.. Nothing like playing 7,000-7,200 yard courses!

[audi021]

Just generalizing many courses are links style 6500-6900 yards. Way harder than a 7200 straight course. Links are tough and Pete dye I believe was an indiana native.

[Wilbur]

Just generalizing many courses are links style 6500-6900 yards. Way harder than a 7200 straight course. Links are tough and Pete dye I believe was an indiana native.

? "Links" golf has nothing to do with straight or dog legged. Links are generally hard, fast with mounding/dunes/fescue. Generally fairly flat.

[audi021]

That's my point. Not links =long but that you do not need it to be long to be hard because the links aspects do it for you. For traditional courses, you can take away bunkers, hills and trees and make it 7700 yards and it will be hard. Links seems to have much harder conditions.

Btw - played tpc today with old clubs and shot a horrific round. My playing partner shot a 74. I ended up 88. Lost a few to water. Can't wait for new sticks. It's in my head now.

[FITZ TITS]

That's my point. Not links =long but that you do not need it to be long to be hard because the links aspects do it for you. For traditional courses, you can take away bunkers, hills and trees and make it 7700 yards and it will be hard. Links seems to have much harder conditions.

Btw - played tpc today with old clubs and shot a horrific round. My playing partner shot a 74. I ended up 88. Lost a few to water. Can't wait for new sticks. It's in my head now.

I play the BeCu Ping i2's. Still the best irons out there. [;)]

[s4buckeye]

square grooves ftw.