Crossfield says get properly fitted. Fine.
Lug my Eye-2s to their home, the fitting center at Ping HQ in Phoenix. Where else? Free fittings for residents, they say.
Explain my golf journey, and the swing doctor walks me into the exam room and asks for a few with my current 7 iron. Whack a handful from a cushy green mat. I'm shown on a computer how far (and all of those Trackman-ish details) and how they're grouped. I'm surprised they're all on the green. 152 yard average.
Doc measures me and says I need longer clubs than standard. Turns out "standard black dot" for a Ping Eye 2+ is for someone about 5 foot 6. Next, I've a white dot, half inch longer club in my hand and hit a few as he requests. 167 yards. Shots show up grouped tighter on the green. All my shots ended up on the green again. Nicely weird. Doc reminds me of the value of fitting and how the new clubs are clearly better, hands me a prescription and sends me to a dealer to buy them. G30s. White Dot. Plus 1/2 inch. Stiff shaft.
I ask about which swing weight. He says don't worry, just stick to the standard. Sometimes just going with the flow takes you to some interesting spaces. OK.
Longer time to drive to the golf shop than doing the whole fitting. From a customer point of view, seem easier to just buy them there and Ping can send a bonus check to the dealer. Time to buy the shit at Vans Golf Shop after handing them the script took longer than the doc visit. So, throw a dart, pick a dealer and throw him a bone, for the customer's sake. Everyone still makes their buck and the customer wins.
Despite the weird process, still so far so good.
(via Jiro on iPhone)