Mizuno fitting centre, any experience from anyone?

I have just booked a session with the Mizuno fitting centre and wondered if anyone had been and tried it?

If so what were your experiences? did it work out? and was it worth the time?

Cheers Chris

Hi Chris, I went to the Mizuno National Fitting Center, which is based at the World of Golf driving range in New Malden, Surry.

I'm not sure which one you are going visiting but I'll give you my experience.

I booked a late morning fitting as I had to travel about one hour to get there.

I also wanted to get something light to eat when I arrived.

Then I wanted to spend at least thirty minutes warming up.

There had been an accident on the M25 on the morning I went so after taking a detour I arrived later than I would have wanted.

Went in to get something to eat only to find it was one of these posh coffee shops, not a cafe! Looking at the prices and what was on offer I made do with a mars bar.

The range here has two levels.

The Mizuno part is on the top level. It is the last two bays at the far end of the range.

You have to walk through the shop to get to the range, and what a shop it is.  Massive is the only word to describe it.  I could have spent a fortune in there if I had the time and money!

I got my range balls and picked a decent bay near the fitting center.

Now I didn't want to overdo the warm-up, so I took my time between each shot.

Then my time came and I went into the fitting center bays.

After introducing himself my fitter asked me what I was looking for.

For me it was irons. I especially liked the look of the new MP-68s.

I was then given a golf club with an electronic device fitter just below the grip.

Three swings with this club (can't remember if I actually hit a ball or just swung this club!) and the computer put up the three recommended shafts for my type of swing.

Then I was given a few clubs to hit balls with. These clubs were a combination of the three shafts previously recommended and three different heads.

I cannot remember what other heads I tried, but one was the MP-68, another was the MP-58.

I hit each combination of shaft and head about six or seven times.

The computer would show all the club head speed, ball speed, spin, etc that you would expect.

Having discarded the worst stats for each club the computer then showed you your best five (It could have been three shots, but I cannot remember) shots with each club combination.

Once all the combinations where tried the fitter put up the information on the screen.  Each club was there with all the stats you needed.

For me, it turned out that indeed the MP-68s were the best head, combined with the Project X Rifle 5.5 shaft. 

One thing that was surprising was that he recommended that the shaft should be a quarter of an inch longer than stardard.  Now I'm five foot ten so I would have expected to shaft to be a stardard length.  Now I've always had an upright stance so I put the extra shaft length down to this!

My profile was to have the MP-68s from the six iron to the pitching wedge.  For my long irons it was recommended that I have the MP-58s (three to five iron).

The fitter then printed out the information and put it in a little pack for you to take home.  The cover sheet had all the information that you would need to order a custom fitter club from any pro shop.  There was also a Mizuno hat clip ball marker.

If you ordered your clubs from the golf shop at the driving range they offered to knock ten percent off the price if you ordered them there and then.  I couldn't do this as I didn't have the money to purchase any new clubs at that time. 

I currently have the MP-68s from the six iron to the pitching wedge.  Stayed with my old Yonex long irons for the moment.

Having shopped around for the MP-68s there was hardly any difference in the prices being offered in the pro shops.  I bought the seven iron to pitching wedge a few months after my fitting.  The six iron I bought just after coming back from Portugal last February.  The price was cheaper at American Golf than I had paid for the other clubs.  Now I'm not sure if this was due to American Golf's bulk buying power, or the fact that the clubs were a little bit older now (not the newest club offered by Mizuno).

They also did a fitting for woods and wedges.  Now If you were after everything then I would mention this when booking you fitting session as I'm certain that you would need extra time to do the full set.

Overall, I was very happy with the fitting session.  The fitter explained everything that was happening and what the computer was showing, ball spin, flight, etc.

The MP-68s are proper blade clubs and there are two things I have noticed with them. 

1)  If you don't connect with the ball correctly then you get no distance at all!  I've hit my seven iron (usually around the 150 yard mark) and not made a good connection.  It landed forty yards short of the flag!  Good job that it doesn't happen too often.

2)  With my Yonex clubs I could do what I would call a 'Lazy Swing' and still get good results.  With the MP-68s it just doesn't work!  Obviously the shaft isn't working correctly unless you swing it with sufficient speed.  So I don't do the 'Lazy Swing' anymore, just take one less club and swing it. 

Other than that I'm really pleased with the MP-68s.

Hope you enjoy the fitting expericence, and that this helps.

Russ

wheres the fitting center chris , looking for one myself around yorkshire area , cheers

If you go onto the Mizuno website and look for the National Fitting Center.

I think there is only one in England, Scotland and Wales.

They have Regional Fitting Centers as well as National Fitting Centers.

Russ

When I had my fitting we were hitting proper golf balls, not range balls.

You got range balls on the driving range but when I went into the fitting center we were using real golf balls, not range balls.

Russ

If I were in the market for a new set of irons or any clubs I wouldn't visit a manufacturers fitting centre. Your are limiting yourself to one manufacturer, places like the belfry are fitting centres for all the major brands so you can try them all.

A certain head from a manufacturer may preform better than there other heads but what if a different manufcturer does a head that preforms better than that?

There are places like precision golf as stated before or urban golf somewhere like that would without doubt give you a much more in depth fitting service but this does come at a price when buying the kit.

Two questions.

1. How mutch does this service cost ? From either Mizuno or precision golf & golf princaples .

2. I've never been measured, always bought 2nd hand and if I've liked the clubs id keep em for a while. How many shot ( vauge guess ) could such a fitting gain a golfer if properly fitted?

Dave CAC handed Geordie.

The Mizuno fitting session is free, all you do it book it and turn up.  Not sure about the other places.

I had my first set of golf clubs (Prosimmon Crusader - 2 iron to Sand Wedge) without having them fitted.  Liked the look of them, felt good to hold and they were in my price range.

Played for years with these clubs.

Then I bought my second set of golf club (Yonex V-Mass 270) from American Golf.  They offered a free custom fitting service so I took advantage.

I had the fitting session and it turns out that I have my clubs two degrees upright.

Paid for the clubs and waited for them to arrive.  A week later they were in the shop and I collected them.

Straight down to Risebridge Golf Club for my first round with my new toys.

Shot 84, hitting everythings straight (or with a slight fade), before all my shots would be a fade/slice.  84 was much better than I had ever shot there before.  I think I hadn't broken 90 before.

I cannot say how much less your scores would be with a custom fitted set.  You can go and have your own clubs checked to see if they match your game. 

A simple thing like having my lie adjusted made me instantly shoot a straighter shot.

If you have steel shafts they can adjust your lie and loft without too much trouble.  Graphite shafts they cannot do!

Find somewhere near to you and give them a ring.

Russ