Let’s analyze awful data from new shafts!

rsballer10 · July 24

13 minutes ago, theothertomjones said:

Physical limitations: L3-5 herniation, replaced left ACL, partially torn right ACL (surgery can’t correct at the moment), slight arthritis in both hips and wrists. I spent 10 years in the military and taught/trained/competed in tae kwon do for 20+ years, bowled competitively for 30 years, plus diabetes so, yeah, my body aches

Totally get it and thank you for your service. Is that in part what's contributing to those delivery numbers? Aka is it something that can be fixed through technique or not?

19 minutes ago, theothertomjones said:

This goes back to the part where I had a very trusted fitter for about 12+ years, who I considered a friend, who I later learned was just manipulating me for sales. Talented fitter—fitter of the year multiple times for multiple brands, but I learned the hard way salesman first, fitter second. That’s why I’m learning how to do this on my own as much as possible. I’m highly skeptical of fitters until further notice.

Sorry to hear that you're experience didn't go well. How was he manipulating you? You mention outdated methods and manipulation. But I'd caution against being skeptical of a fitter because of (a) your experience with a bad one and (b) when this thread is littered with misinformation.

28 minutes ago, theothertomjones said:

The part you quoted about launch being too high was with the old shafts (which are being reinstalled now) and before I had a launch monitor. So we will see what the AoA, spin, and height is next week.

we shall see. best of luck on this journey

Stuart_G · July 24

Not sure I'd put much faith in those AoA numbers. Garmin doesn't even bother to include it in it's accuracy numbers for the unit.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=kj37CgzvwM98hC9WPrIQm5

theothertomjones · July 24

13 minutes ago, rsballer10 said:

Totally get it and thank you for your service. Is that in part what's contributing to those delivery numbers? Aka is it something that can be fixed through technique or not?

Sorry to hear that you're experience didn't go well. How was he manipulating you? You mention outdated methods and manipulation. But I'd caution against being skeptical of a fitter because of (a) your experience with a bad one and (b) when this thread is littered with misinformation.

we shall see. best of luck on this journey

As for the physical limitations, stretching and some resistance training to start. It’s very challenging for me because mentally, I’m either in training/competition mode 100% or I’m not. It’s like a light switch, on or off, so working out as a matter of “maintenance” per se is a new for me.

On the fitter topic, I had two Trackman fittings and the club builds felt wonderful. Looking back at it all, I think the red flags were fitting me for clubs you will “grow into” rather than where I was at the time. As we became closer I’d get lots of compliments on my swing and progress/development, became “one of the guys”, which it transitioned to “I know your swing so well I can just look at the flight and tell you what will and won’t work” type of thing. To be fair, the fitter and partner (coach) did build my swing from nothing. Anyway that turned into this new club/shaft/whatever is perfect for you. Then I’d get prospecting calls hey this new thing has the highest smash factor we’ve ever seen. Meanwhile I’d barely had a chance to get used to the last thing I bought. And that’s when I started to catch on, and I stopped golf for about a year or two, but would still get sales calls from him even a week after my ACL surgery).

Last year I started this whole journey from scratch. I knew I wanted GI heads, landed on the T350s, bought used set on eBay, and have been gradually tuning them as well as revamping driver, 3W, and hybrids. I’m very confident in the d/w/h builds—stable and forgiving with plenty of room to accommodate improvement. Irons I think are much more complex. So here we are 😁

theothertomjones · July 24

29 minutes ago, Stuart_G said:

Not sure I'd put much faith in those AoA numbers. Garmin doesn't even bother to include it in it's accuracy numbers for the unit.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=kj37CgzvwM98hC9WPrIQm5

Well for one, nice catch and duly noted!!!

On the other hand 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Ill stick to the accuracy metrics outlined in that link!

theothertomjones · July 26

On 7/14/2025 at 4:26 PM, IC3BURGH said:

Did your delivery numbers before the shaft change look anything like they do now? If they are different, how did they change? I almost suspect that the only reason the ball height is lower is because you lost speed with the heavier shafts. Maybe I'm wrong!

I'm belaboring the point, but emphasis is needed. I'm really not convinced you are hitting the ball too high because of any shaft choice. You are hitting the ball too high because you are hitting up on the ball. You are launching a 7 iron at almost 30*. LPGA players (a few mph faster) average launch a 7i at 19*. If you go from +5* AoA to -3, you will get your launch to 22*, which is probably a decent number at your speed. You'll end up with so much more pop from that change. It'll be easier for you to access the back of the ball (ballspeed up), you'll gain some spin, and you will definitely gain distance.

Now if I have to discuss shaft choice, I'm putting you in 70-90g shafts. With that said, it may not make one bit of difference without changing delivery. This is not a club issue at the moment.

Im looking to order a T350 7i Head and put a KBS PGI in it. What weight should I order?

I use 65s for driver and 3W, and 75s for hybrid. 80 for the irons, or is 90 too stiff?

Stuart_G · July 26

7 hours ago, theothertomjones said:

Im looking to order a T350 7i Head and put a KBS PGI in it. What weight should I order?

I use 65s for driver and 3W, and 75s for hybrid. 80 for the irons, or is 90 too stiff?

This is a chart from Howard to help START the fitting process for shaft weight. it basically points to two different possibilities.

1) based on the driver shaft weight - that puts you around 115-125 gm for iron shafts

2) based on the hybrid weight that could put you anywhere between 95-115 gm.

But again that's just a starting place, trial and error testing and experiences with other iron shaft weights in the past (including steel) is still needed to refine the best fit for weight. And no, what the best weight might be doesn't have anything to do with whether the shaft is graphite or steel.

So if you've found a good shaft weight that really works well for you in steel - stick with that same weight for graphite shafts.

Just keep in mind that with KBS shafts you are not able to independently fit for both weight and stiffness. Either the "best" shaft weight is a good fit for stiffness profile or it isn't and you have to find an alternative option. You can't change flex while keeping the weight the same like you can with many other options.

theothertomjones · July 26

Thank you!

I may have to hit PGA SS and see if the manager will let me swing a few graphite shafts in an T350 head. I’ve grown to really like the KBS Tour Lite R (95g) and how well I can control them throughout the swing. I also have 75g S and 85g S hybrid shafts and the 75g feels really good.

I’ll start with 90 and see how that works out.