Golf Pro Experiences Full PING Iron Custom Fitting

PGA Professional and Golfshake's Equipment Expert, Ryan Rastall recently visited the PING European Fitting Centre at Gainsborough to experience a full iron fitting. Ryan went through the four-stage process with Paul Rymer, Custom Fit Technician at PING. Ryan tells you more about his time there and shares his story.

For a golf geek, it was exciting to visit the European Fitting HQ at Gainsborough, which was an Aladdin’s Cave of all things PING!

Meeting Paul, we first had a chat about my game, shot tendencies and preferred ball flight. We then took some static measurements (height and wrist to floor) to give us a starting point for which length and lie to use in the irons.

The dynamic side of the fitting involved hitting a few shots off an impact board, which showed that Maroon lie would be good for my impact position. We soon recognised that because my bad shot was a pull, this lie would be far too upright and started using Blue and Green lie to try and get the ball to start closer to my intended target. The emphasis was really placed on improving my ball flight which meant trying different head designs and shafts to find something that worked best.

Following that period of testing, we looked at the results on TrackMan and found that the iBlade seemed to control the spin better for me, and I also preferred the look of the head on those clubs.

The Shafts

We then got into shafts! I have always used very heavy and stiff shafts in my irons, but when using these in the iBlade we found that the spin was a little too low, so we tried a 120g Dynamic Gold Shaft which helped keep the ball flight under control and improve dispersion.

The Grips

I have always used thick grips on my clubs and after measuring my hands, looking at my technique and personal preference, we decided on Tour Velvet Jumbo Grips with two extra wraps of tape for the perfect feel.

Post Fitting Spec

• Ping iBlade Irons
• 4-PW
• Green Lie
• Dynamic Gold 120g X100
• 1” Longer
• Tour Velvet Jumbo Grips

Being custom fit is something that I would always encourage golfers to undergo as a necessity, with my visit to PING only underlining that view. Having these clubs tailored for me should encourage greater levels of consistency in my play.

We also filmed much of my fitting, so if you haven't been fitted for clubs, this will provide a bit of extra insight behind what you can expect!

For more on custom fitting with PING, see our previous story on the topic.