Oulton Hall - Nike Custom Fit Experience

This month, readers Simon Overland and Colin Astbury have visited the Nike Golf Academy at De Vere Oulton Hall in Leeds to have a Nike custom fitting.

Head Professional and Nike custom fit specialist James Whitaker advises on the best products for them.

Simon Overland

Age 34

Handicap 13

---

Featured Content

---

Years Playing 5

Current Clubs taylormade RAC OS 2

Simon Says: I was a little dubious about how much difference it would make to have clubs custom fitted. I'm a mid handicapper and didn't think my swing would be consistent enough to be able to determine a real idea of what I needed. But, in the interests of science. I gave it a go.

James Says: The custom fitting process was a completely new experience for Simon.  With him being of tall stature (6'3") there was an obvious case for Simon not to buy a set of golf clubs straight off the shelf.

IRONS:  Simon uses a TaylorMade OS set of irons.  Looking at the data that we got from these clubs in the fitting, the ball spins too much in relation to his club head speed.  This makes it difficult for him to control his shots and he often hooks the ball.  From carrying out the static fitting and lie ball test it became clear that Simon needed his clubs to be two degrees upright.  Due to Simon's handicap we chose a Victory Red Full Cavity head combined with a Dynamic Gold Super Light stiff flex, this shaft helped Simon maintain his ball flight and the head improved his ball striking. 

DRIVER:  Simon currently uses an SQ Squared standard stiff flex driver.
This is close to his actual requirements, but the standard stiff flex is spinning the ball a little too much.  After trying a few of the stiff flexes, the shaft that came out with the optimum spin rate for Simon was the Aldila NV stiff flex - 65gram

The Optimum Fit:

Dymo Square 10.5, Aldila NV 65gram stiff flex

Victory Red Full cavity, 2 deg upright, std length, Dynamic Gold - Super Light S300, 2 layers of tape


Simon's Feedback: Well, what can I say? I'm stunned with how much I learned with James. Clearly there is more consistency to my swing than I thought.

With my own irons, the diameter of spread of the balls I hit was 18yds. With the optimum fit for me we got that down to 8yds! And had far more loft to get softer, faster stopping landings. As for the driver, I got more carry, a little more lift, and best of all, dead straight. I cannot recommend the Nike academy and James enough. The difference it will make is simply incredible.

And to top it all off, my wife is going to let me buy the new clubs. Talk about seal of approval!!!

Colin Astbury

Age  34

Handicap  20

Years Playing  5

Current Clubs  Adams Tight Lies GT

Colin Says: Like Simon above i was a little dubious about the benefits of club fitting for a high handicapper like myself, and if i'm honest i was putting this excercise down as work and my mind was firmly focused on the round / course review i had booked for several hours later. I however had the benefit of going second so saw with my own eyes and via the multiple electronic measuring devices within the Nike Academy the improvement in Simons shot consistency as James took him through his paces, analysed his measurements, adjusted his set up accordingly and very quickly resolved the issues which Simon had raised at the beginning of his session.

So with Simon grinning like a chesire cat and trying to work out the angle with which he was going to broach the subject of more golf equipment to his wife, James measured my wrist height and selected the first club from his arsenal for me to try. Now, my short game is legendary and as i was recently saying to my buddy Mickleson when i was giving him a few pointers on approach shots around the green my problem is consistency with the long irons. I can on occasion hit great shots, but more often than not the ball will vear right causing me to adjust within the round resulting in hooked shots.

James Says:   Like Simon Colin was inconsistent with both his woods and
irons due to the set he was using.  These were a set that he picked up when he began playing, but I believe he is growing out of these clubs as his swing is improving.

IRONS:  Colin currently uses the Adams tight lies set with a regular flex.
The shaft and club are making it hard for Colin to control the spin and accuracy of the ball.  The ball is launching too high with too much spin.
The set of irons I recommend for Colin are the Victory Red full cavity with standard lie and a Dynamic Gold R300 shaft.  The heavier regular flex felt more solid through impact and the ball flight naturally became lower.

DRIVER: Once again, Colin had an Adams Tight Lies regular flex driver.  This spun too much and launched the ball too high.  Colin needed a more mid launching shaft and the Graffaloy Platinum produced the optimum results.

The Optimum Fit:

Dymo driver, 10.5, Graffaloy Platinum shaft with regular flex

Victory Red irons, std lie, std grip, Dynamic Gold R300

Colin's Feedback: The first club that James selected for me was a stock victory red, regular length shaft and no offsets and immediately without any fine tweaking of my setup my shots were straighter and longer with the first 3 - 5 shots practically landing on top of each other. Distance was improved by maybe 5 to 10 yards but the ball flight was still a little too high. James checked my swing again with the impact tape and confirmed that standard length and lie were right for me so adjusted the setup using a heavier regular flex shaft.
This brought the launch angle down close to the optimum and the consistency in distance and direction remained as good as before.

On to the Driver James had observed that I needed no help getting the ball airborne so selected the Dymo (std head) driver with regular flex shaft, after a few hits it was clear that I needed that extra a bit of distance which came in the form of the Graffaloy platinum shaft.

I have to admit that, as dubious as i was at the start of the day I am now completely converted to the process of custom fitting. In addition what started out as a few hours work resulted in a very enjoyable morning which will no doubt put a huge dent in both my handicap and my wallet. For those of you reading this who are either skeptical or have never got round to booking a custom fit session I can not recommend James highly enough, also for those of you who are local to Oulton Hall or are prepared to make the journey (I assure you it will be worth it).

Finally a big thanks to James and the team at Oultan Hall for taking the time to show us your facility however I suggest you keep your heads low for a while in case Simon's wife comes looking for you.

 

Oulton Hall - UK’S first Nike Golf Academy

The Golf Academy at Oulton Hall has become the UKs first Nike Golf Academy after the 5-star resort entered into a partnership with Nike Golf. The new-look Nike Golf Academy features the latest Nike equipment and fitting centre technology, including the Nike Golf 360° Fitting System that offers over 25,000 different club combinations.

More information click here - /news/view/1075/Oulton_Hall_UKS_first_Nike_Golf_Academy.html

 

Special Offer:

We have several vouchers to give away for a free custom fitting with James at the Nike academy worth £50 each. If you are interested please contact us at info@golfshake.com