Fitting Talk is the theme of this episode of the 2nd Swing Thoughts Podcast. Three 2nd Swing Master Fitters join the show to talk club fitting. 2nd Swing’s Tyler Fitzel breaks down Xander Schauffele’s Winning WITB and talks about which clubs are performing in 2nd Swing Fittings. Then 2nd Swing Master Fitters Jake Montgomery and Max Busch talk about their favorite club fittings of the year.
00:00 Introduction
01:50 The Turn
11:00 Xander Schauffele Fitting Insights
26:00 Favorite Fittings of the Year
37:45 Conclusion
The 2nd Swing Thoughts podcast, presented by 2nd Swing Golf, covers anything and everything in golf equipment and club fitting. The 2nd Swing Thoughts will feature experts in the golf industry sharing insights and latest trends in golf clubs and club fittings. 2nd Swing Thoughts will also cover the latest in professional golf.
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On today’s episode of Second Swing Thoughts, it’s all about club fitting. We have three special guests. Uh today, all club fitters uh from Second Swing, Jake Montgomery and Max Bush join to break down a couple of their favorite fittings from the year 2025. And then we also take a deep dive into Xander Schoffley’s bag with Tyler Fitzell. Uh his winning bag, of course, is the Bay Current Classic. So, a pretty in-depth club fitting episode of Second Swing Thoughts. [Music] Hey golfers and welcome in to another episode of Second Swing Thoughts. Drew Mahold over here, Sean Bower over there. Um, as I mentioned, a lot of club fitting discussion today. Um, some really good fun ones. Uh, some tidbits from Max and Jake. Uh, some of their favorite fittings of the year, some crazy numbers that were discussed in that as well. And then Tyler Fitzell stops by quickly to talk about some of the unique things in Xander Schoffley’s bag. So, um, pretty good discussion in in this episode. Yeah, really good fitting talk. Um, I think you’re really going to enjoy Max and Jake. They kind of they go over some of their favorite fittings and what stood out about them. Some of them are just, you know, helping someone find a little more enjoyment of the game. Some of them are, you know, helping people with crazy crazy swing speeds at least get a little more control on their game. Uh, just a hint, a guy was hitting a seven iron carrying at like 220 230. um and has 60 plus degree land angle on it. So, uh how they lowered that landing angle and kind of brought some of that distance back is a pretty interesting talk. So, make sure you stay tuned for that. And of course, Tyler going into Xander Schoffley’s bag and kind of, you know, what he’s seen out of some of the clubs and trends, you know, in our own fitting bays with, you know, the everyday golfers. So, and that’s going to lead us right into the tourn where we start with Xander Schoffley. uh first win, picked up a one-stroke win here at the Bay Current Classic, formerly the Zozo Championship. Um first win since he won the Open in 2024. Um which has to feel really good for him because it was a it was a tough season for him. He had the injury early on. He missed making it to the Tour Championship. Um still was making just about every cut that he was competing in. So, you know, a solid season, but when you’re as Andrew Schoffley and how, you know, well you’ve played, especially 2024, two majors. Um, disappointing for him. So, it’s got to feel good to kind of get back into the wing column. Yeah. I mean, when you win two majors in a season, the standard is raised quite a bit. Um, and then the injury happens and that’s not like, you know, it things happen. You have you have hot stretches, you have cold stretches. Um, and injuries can also really throw things off as we’ve seen with countless golfers over the years. And so, um, I think it it has to be a really good feeling for him to win again. And and again, if you look up his his results from the season, it’s not like they were bad by any means. He just couldn’t quite get over the hump where he really wasn’t in actual contention that much, but he was frequently around the top 10. So, he was just a a step behind maybe where he where he was last year. Um, but clearly got through it this week. um got hot over the weekend as kind of you sort of have to do with these PJ tour events and uh just had enough uh to beat Max Kaserman who almost made it really interesting on Sunday when I believe he needed to haul out from like 180 yards and nearly did. That would have been a a wild finish. Uh but congrats to Xander back in the winter circle. Yeah, and I think if you from the RDER Cup I think you could kind of see some flashes of Xander’s game coming back to him. He obviously had about a month off in between the Tour Championship and the RDER Cup. Um, and you I mean he was one of the better players for the US, you know, I think he won won three matches. Yeah, he was he wasn’t Cam Young, but he was and and the matches too then and like the shots he was hitting they were they were it was good play. I think it was alternate shot with Klay in the first day and then he I think him and Spawn either they won or haved their match. Can’t remember. I thought they won their four balls then he won his singles match. So, um, hopefully that’s in store for, you know, a big bounceback year for Xander cuz he’s one of the best players in the world. And it’s good seeing him compete at the top with the likes of Scotty Sheffler and Rory Mroy. You know, people forget just how good Xander was that he was right up there with those two in terms of the best players in the world. Um, yeah, we’ll take a quick look at his what’s in the bag here. obviously have a much more in-depth breakdown coming up with Tyler Fitzell, but he goes Callaway Paradigm AI Smoke uh triple diamond with the driver. Then he goes into an elite triple diamond HL. So playing a 3-wood at 16 12 degrees. The original Callaway Apex UW that’s been in his bag I think since it’s his it inception. Um that’s a tough word to say there. Tough little rhyme there. But uh so obviously really loves that club. Then he goes Apex TCB4 through the 10 iron which is essentially a pitching wedge. Then Opus SP52, couple of Voki SM10s and then of course his famous uh Tulon design Las Vegas prototype. So um quick look at Xander bag there. Like you mentioned Drew is going to sit down with Tyler Fitzell, you know, our master fitter here to kind of break down, you know, perhaps why Xander’s playing them, but then also how what can you, the golfer, learn from this bag? Are there certain trends that might benefit you? So, yeah, he’s got a couple unique things in the bag. I think, you know, we kind of touched briefly on the fact that he has a quote unquote 10 iron in his bag. Um, we talked about, you know, his iron and, um, wedge shafts being the same model. Obviously, that classic, he had the original Apex GW and then, of course, the lofts on his woods a little bit too. Um, little higher than uh, most players at the tour level. So, kind of going through those things as well. But obviously Tyler has unlimited fitting knowledge, so he um brings the goods with that. Yeah, really good discussion. And then uh on the DP World Tour, it was Marco Penge picking up another victory over there. It’s been quite the year for Marco. Not sure how much you pay attention to the DP World Tour, but I believe that’s his third win. Um you know, he was right in line there for a Ryder Cup spot. Um, I think personally if the RDER Cup would have been in Europe, I think they might have given him a shot just because it’s, you know, on their home soil and they can keep breaking in people. I think since they knew as a road environment, they wanted to bring over as much experience as they could. Um, but really, really impressive win as he won the Spanish Open in a playoff. Had a four-stroke lead going into the final round, then shot a one over. So, kind of, you know, stayed in neutral, caught him, but then he birdied the first playoff hole. And uh most importantly with this, one, he’ll be coming to the PJ tour next year, one of 10 players on the DP World Tour to earn their card. And then two, he earned spots into both the Masters and the Open Championship, part of their new qualifying process where the winners of some of these national opens earn automatic spots into those tournaments. So, uh big year for Marco Penge. Yeah, I think uh he is another one of those reminds me a little bit of kind of where maybe Ludvig Ober was a couple years ago where didn’t wasn’t really a household name yet, but if you were kind of paying attention to golf outside maybe of the PGA Tour, um you had a pretty good idea this guy was going to be a star someday and he’s right there. So, um also unique about him is he’s got a Mazuno driver in the bag. back to back weeks with a, you know, large uh significant tour win with a Mizuno driver in the bag. Yeah, absolutely. And we have his, you know, what’s in the bag information up on secondw.com. If you go to our what’s in the bag, uh, blog section, you can go take a look at his complete what’s in the bag. Um, and then kind of wrapping up the turn, kind of a sad note, especially, you know, for golf fans. Tiger Woods announced that he had another back surgery. Um, this is his seventh back surgery. Um, he had to replace a disc in his lower back. Um just you know it’s kind of a he just can’t quite seem to get healthy anymore. Um which stinks cuz do is Tiger going to win any more tournaments or majors? Maybe not. But he’s one of the greatest if not the greatest player of all time depending on how you define that. Yeah. And we you know he’s kind of just having a you know he’s not getting to go out the way he and you know probably wanted is he’s only played 15 times in the past four years. Yeah, it’s it obviously it sucks to see, you know, who has just this revered figure in the game. Um, I mean, you could extrapolate this however you want, but he has done so much for the game and so much for, I mean, in a way, a second swing if you really want to think about it that way and how much the game has grown over the last several, you know, a couple decades due to his uh his the icon that he is. Um, it’s it’s sad. I don’t know what we’re going to see from him. Um, I also think there’s a larger conversation that we’ll we’ll learn throughout the years here too is with his the fitness, the stress on fitness and swinging hard, swinging fast and sort of the the unusual positions that maybe he was putting his body in with a golf swing prior to, you know, with compared to others when he jumped on the scene and now however follow the suit. Is this bad for, you know, your body in general to be chasing distance the way golfers are nowadays? if we look in 20 years and there’s all a bunch of these golfers breaking down um kind of similar to way he is, you know, I’m curious about how that’s going to all play out cuz there’s a lot of young players now that are doing sim similar things with him, chasing swing speed, chasing ball speed. Um and right now they’re fine, but they’re not in their high 40s the way Tiger is. And he’s obviously having a a body breakdown. Yeah. So, not sure how long this will keep him out. If this, you know, I would imagine the Hero and the PNC are probably out of the question for him as those are just, you know, a couple months away. How does this impact, you know, his position in the TGL, you know, over the winter here? So, we’ll see. But hopefully, if anything, we can just get Tiger back, you know, I think if he could just be ready to go for Augusta next spring, that would be a win. So, um, we shall see. But yeah, that wraps up the turn. And now we head into the first of our two, you know, featured topics. You know, each week, you know, when PJ Tour Tournament happens, we’re taking a look inside, you know, we always do a what’s in their bag, you know, breaking down, you know, the club heads, the shafts they’re playing, the ball. Um, but we want to dive a little deeper and, you know, how are these clubs, you know, kind of working out for, you know, likes of you and us, you know, kind of the everyday golfer. Is there anything we can learn from the equipment, you know, these players are playing, you know, and that’s kind of what you and Tyler talked about. Yeah, really good stuff. we we touched on some of the unique aspects about his bag that um and if he’s seen that same trend in his fittings. So um here is Tyler Fitzell and a discussion on the winning club Xander Schoffley used. [Music] And now joining the Second Swing Thoughts podcast, it is Master Fitter Tyler Fitzell. We wanted to discuss some clubs played by Xander Schoffley at the Bayern Classic. Um I wouldn’t say it was a bad year for Xander, but certainly a little bit of a um down tick after winning two majors last year, right? Uh but he gets back in the winner circle. Um we can kind of go through his bag. I know we we’ve gone through it a little bit already, but a lot of Callaway in the bag. Um I wanted to start at the top with the driver. He’s playing the Paradigm AI Smoke Triple Diamond. Um, interesting that he does not play the new Elite. Um, have you seen anything in fittings this year that would indicate, you know, AI Smoke was never a bad driver series, but I guess in terms of AI Smoke versus Elite, have you seen anything where maybe some players would prefer AI smoke? You know, I think there can be a look thing. Uh because you’ve got some different shapes, but also some different colors. The uh Elite went to a little bit more of a darker finish. Um, you could see a little bit more of the carbon fiber or at least it was looking a little bit different to it. Um, I think you have the differences amongst some of the models having a matte finish on the top versus the gloss finish on the top. Um, I have to go my recollection is I think the AI smoke paradigm lineup was all gloss. I don’t I think it was I don’t think there was any matte whereas the Elite has I think the I want to say the Triple Diamond is and the rest are also there’s a shaping difference. So, one of the things that they’re going to do is they’re going to shape it a little different. So if he just feels a lot more comfortable with that shape. Um the other side of it would be the tour edition or the tour versions of this too. So this may be uh more than likely he’s got more uh multiple versions. It’s not like he’s just got the one driver because of the testing and the hitting and you know if something does go sideways. He’s probably got elite drivers. Uh this for him right now is probably just more about comfort. Sure. And reliability or he may it could just be a trust thing. We’ve seen this with other top level players. You know, why is uh you know Scotty Sheffller still in it. Q10. Yeah. It’s like uh we know the story about Maroy and the Uber with the old the Qi35 and the Qi. I mean so there there’s probably for sure a comfort thing there and it happens a lot with a lot of guys. They just find something that they play well with. Sander obviously won some big tournaments with that driver. Correct. a couple majors. I mean, essentially, you know, for all intents and purposes, player of the year. And I would add real quick to that, um, when the life cycle of a driver is two years for some of the companies. So, for instance, like a Ping or a Titist, we’re going to see them in that driver for a couple of years. Mh. Versus you see some of the other companies out there like a Callaway or a Tailormaid where they’re re-upping a driver every year. Uh the best players in the world don’t necessarily change their equipment a lot. They’ll go through wedges. Uh maybe a different ball and then we’ll talk about his putter too, which is also a classic, but you know, he’s stuck with that, you know. Yeah. Through and through. Yeah. So, next question I had for you was kind of just going down the bag to the 3-wood. Um not that he plays the elite triple diamond. That’s not something crazy here. What is a little unique potentially is the loft at 16 and a half. Um I think we’ve seen, you know, just in general the the common fairywood loss maybe changing a little bit um this year in 2025. Are you seeing more 16 and a half in play now versus maybe before kind of with I think in general golfers are seeing the benefits of more loft is kind of the answer. I think that’s a huge thing for golfers right now especially when we’re talking about getting loft because that can create distance. Your distance doesn’t have to just be whether or not something rolls out as a total distance. It’s what distance am I going to be able to carry that water or you know that bunker or the front of that green and um or just you know obstacles in the fairway to begin with. So it’s very common. And I think it’s more and more and more common as we start seeing in our fitting bays 16° 16 12 even 17 um there those are typically uh we also see some mini drivers getting squeezed into the bottom end of the bag. So really how you want to configure it but every tool’s got to have some sort of a specific use and the more uses it has so you can use it off a tea or fairway or you know approach shots is try to make it multi. you get into 15, 14, 13 degrees and it becomes more of a single-use type club, right? Especially, you know, 15 degree 3woods are it’s still the standard loft, but it seems like for so many players, you know, upping that a little bit can help just with how they deliver the club. You mentioned adding carry distance potentially. Um, so the other club, now this is maybe my favorite club that’s in his bag is the Callaway Apex UW or I think utility what it technically stands for. Um, he’s got the original model though, the 2021 version. Um, which really kind of garnered a a big following right when it was released. A lot of players, you know, noticed some high high ball speeds with it. Um, what have you seen? And we actually just did a uh comparison video on this. Um, the original Apex W, now there’s a new one that’s just launched. Differences between those and also why is this type of club useful for for players? the what we’re looking at is uh kind of a category that bridges the gaps. So we have the spacings or the gaps and in yardages and we try to find those spaces as best we can. What we’re talking about kind of an ideal scenario to that is like 15 20 yards as you start getting into metal woods. Yep. Um and so this one was what a 21 degree that’s been bent down to 19.7 technically. So, so he obviously didn’t want quite as much of the loft, but this is also still offering him the design feature of where there is more loft on the face. So, that probably and and could actually spin more. Mhm. So, he’s got like a 19 degree that spins versus a 21 that go that launches higher and spins more. Yeah. So, it’s really probably he’s looking for approach, you know, into par fives. He’s looking into possibly long long par threes. He might be utilizing this especially on par fours where you’re just teeing off with something. And um I it’s it’s always an interesting mix too is like how many times does he use this in a round? So that’d be something I’d look at is how many times did he hit that club out of his choices. Yeah. Ex right though. I think th those instances you mentioned it’s like this is a part of the bag where you’re looking at a specific distance. You’re not, you know, with driver typically you’re going to try to hit it, you know, as far as you can, more or less, right? I mean, if you hit it 350 versus 320, typically the damage there is minimal. But with a club like this, it needs to go a certain distance that you know it’s going to um whether you’re at this level or even if you’re, you know, the amateur golfer, like having that distance that you know it’s going to go is important. And so that’s why, you know, he’s got it specifically dialed in. But this has just been a club that people have loved. Um, and so there’s a new there’s new third generation out now, but the original version also has uh some pop to it as well. Um, getting into some of the scoring clubs, if you will. Um, he plays Callaway Apex TCB irons and he also plays a combination of some wedges here. He’s got an Opus SP with his 52 degree and then a couple of Voki SM10s. But the key uh common denominator between all of those clubs, the irons and the wedges, is the uh dynamic gold tour issue X100 shafts. So the main question I that I had with that was just, you know, a lot of players go softer in their wedges with their shafts. Some don’t. What do you see in a fitting sometimes when you’re maybe you’re fitting somebody for for their irons, then that wedge conversation comes up. What do you look for that would keep them in the same iron shafts versus maybe going something softer? you it would be more personal preferences. I would try to match them up because they’re being utilized um very similar. I would talk about Xander and my guess with his wedge setup is that there’s a comfort. So he it’s kind of again that predictability or that that consistency that he’s going to get out of it is so it’s not like all of a sudden one of them has maybe this softer feel to it or maybe it gets a little bit more kick and uh you the flex is not necessarily as important as the weight. Um, so you know, you have diff differing theories on it is like if I get a really soft shaft, is that gonna flex more or deflect more and then is that going to create more spin versus is something if it is stiffer? You know, we generally tend to think of the stiffer the shaft, the more spin it is. Well, that could be one of the reasons why he does that. What I say in a fitting and like just in a whenever we’re talking about wedges is try to blend the same shaft if you can but depend you know depending on what you’d like to get out of it right because I think with wedges it seems like for a lot of players um you know they use gap wedges and sand wedges basically as a full swing club. I am that player and so you know for me and maybe maybe Xander is this way. I’m not sure, but I’m sure a lot of players that get fit are the same where Yeah. basically their four iron through their, you know, 56 degree, they use it for full swings and they don’t use anything other type of shot with it. And so that’s where it makes sense to have the same shaft. Yeah. And it’s also the conversations we talk about with like, okay, do I keep an iron in the bag or, you know, like, so let’s say for instance, I have a 50°ree um gap wedge that’s a part of an iron set. Well, that’s that’s more of an iron. And then if you talk about more more performance wedges, right? So if you talk about like let’s take Callaway as an example and let’s say we’re playing the TCB and I go down to a pitching wedge. They I think they might have made maybe made a gap wedge with it. Maybe they didn’t. Well, it’s actually funny you mentioned that cuz actually it lists here Xander’s irons are a four through 10. So he’s got a 10 iron technically. That might be like a pitching wedge. Yeah, it’s just a pitching wedge. It essentially is. It just has a 10 on it. Oh yeah. And this is actually, you know, if you’re talking about wedge fitting to me, this is an extreme extremely important point, but we don’t describe it as the 10th iron, right? He’s got a 10 iron, it’s a pitching wedge. It’s more of a pitching iron. Yeah. And then where do we go from there? So if you’re talking about gap wedges and is a set and like legitimate irons that are 50° that versus a 50°ree wedge, more performance, which is, you know, more blade style. Those are decisions that you have to really try and feel um based on a lot of different variables. So that’s where a fitting becomes so incredibly useful is hey let’s try this one let’s try this one let’s see what the differences are and it’s not just based on on data it’s your feel your preference of how you’re going to use it for sure. So, um, last thing I know you wanted to mention or talk about as well, the putter that Xander’s been using for, um, you know, a long time. Actually, the photo that Golf DX has of it is pretty funny. It’s so worn out on the sole, but it’s still really good. The Tulon design, Las Vegas, uh, kind of a custom prototype for him, but that seven design, um, kind of what have you seen from from that and why golfers, you know, he’s got a little bit of a unique setup with weight and stuff on it. Correct. Um, heavier, I believe, than than standard. Have you seen a lot of heavier putters going in play? Yeah, I I And what’s the benefit of I guess of a heavy heavier putter for something? Well, his putter particularly is interesting because it’s got the Tulon design which is really about some face milling. Yeah. But also there’s um how to put different materials that go into it. So it has definitely a unique and I think there was a limited run of those earlier this year, maybe last year. You could I mean we probably have some in inventory somewhere. If you’re interested, go check out secondwing.com and you know the Xander Shoffley prototype cuz I think it also it came with the exact grip. It came like it was they’re all repar like the Rory Protoonsirons where there was like a limited run of the exact specs but um I’m just kind of curious on the heavier weights because it it just a little more I I I think that it just allows for a little bit more momentum as you so you don’t have to swing it as much. So you could have maybe just a a more controlled um motion with it, right? So if it gets lighter, you may have to actually move it faster or try to hit the ball harder versus just making a stroke where the like that moment momentum gets in the way. And there’s a lot of companies out there that that are going towards the heavier side regardless of the length. Um, there’s some other companies out there, for instance, like Scotty Cameron always has a certain head weight balanced with a certain length. It’s just how they find their performance. And many of the others just have like one head weight whether you’re 33, 34, 35 in. So, um, it’s it’s not positive versus negative. It’s it’s just, you know, works for you, maybe doesn’t work as well. It’s a feel thing. Yeah. Um, for sure. But I think clearly that his is unique and it works. I mean, it very successful. definitely wins again on the PJ tour. So, um, we thank Tyler for joining us. That was a quick look at the winning clubs used by Xander Schoffley at the Bay Current Classic. [Music] So, that was Tyler Fitzell talking about the clubs in Xander bag and a couple, you know, unique um, fitting insights and how they relate to the to the golfers. Um, I thought the shafts discussion was really good, iron shafts and wedge shafts and kind of how Tyler approaches that decision with with players and probably how also Xander approaches that for his game as well. Yeah, back toback weeks with players matching their shafts with their irons, their wedges, which you don’t see a lot obviously as you’ve mentioned. You know, typically you’re seeing you’re playing dynamic old X100s, you’re playing an S400, you’re seeing that a lot more common, a little softer shaft in there, but not the case with Xander. Um, I also loved the, you know, the 16 and 1/2 degree 3-wood. I think more players should be looking into that kind of that 4-wood loft area for a club. Obviously, if you’re looking for something specifically off the tee and you need a little more penetrating ball flight, then yeah, maybe just that standard 15 degree 3-wood is your answer. But if you’re looking for something that gives you a little more height, especially with the way the ball and the clubs are spinning these days, having just that little extra loft in the club just does wonders, right? I mean, if Xander Schoffley is playing 16 and a half as the, you know, lowest lofted non-driver in his bag, you know, I’m sure a lot of players could also benefit from a similar setup. So, um, that leads us into the next discussion here. This is Jake Montgomery and Max Bush talking about their favorite fittings from the year. This is actually a fun one that you came up with. Fun idea here. So, um, this is Jake and Max going over their favorite fittings from 2025. [Music] Hello golfers. My name is Jake Montgomery. I’m a master fitter at at the Minneapolis Store. I am joined here by Maxwell Bush, fellow master fitter. Uh we’ve kind of reached the end of the season here, so we were looking to recap some of our more memorable fittings from this past season. Uh is there anything that sticks out to you right away? Yeah. Um I mean, we kind of talked about maybe our our three most memorable fittings we had uh over the course of the year. One that sticks out to me was uh I had a lady come in uh hadn’t played golf since I want to say she said high school. Um coming in she was candid about being in her late 40s so hadn’t played in you know 20 30 years. Um and she was a little discouraged by her golf bag having been from you know I think the late 80s or early 80s. Uh lots of heavy shafts not a lot of lightweight graphite options back then. So, we got this lady into a set of Callaoy Max Fast irons. Put the Mitsubishi LDO 40 shaft in there. Uh, dropped a ton of weight from her prior set. We got her carrying the ball with her gamer. She was about carrying about 65 70 yards on a good, you know, well struck shot. Then with the Callaway Max Fast, we got her carrying the ball all the way out to 125 on a couple shots with her seven iron. That’s great. So, just by dropping a lot of weight, she was hitting the ball almost twice as far with her seven iron. Um, and that really really lifted her spirits. We just did uh we just did the irons that day, but then a couple weeks later after she had gone out on the course and hit them, uh, she came back to me and we got the whole rest of the bag done. Yeah. So, we finished up the the golf bag with a bunch of Wells and Staff Dap Power Ladies, uh, woods and hybrids. and she just, you know, I think it had the Project X, the Even Flow ladies shaft in it, so super lightweight again. Uh, but everything was just kind of going high and straight for her. So, it was very memorable for me just because I was able to maybe flip her perception of golf and get her excited to go out and play with her friends and her her husband and and kids. Um, whereas she she wasn’t super into it, you know, coming into it, a little discouraged. So that one was kind of a feel-good fitting, I would say, and two fittings at that as she came back. So yeah, I mean that that’s a great story. I actually have something to kind of follow up on there as well. So I had a high school girl come in. Uh she had just gone through her sophomore season, I believe, and seemed like she was a little frustrated or didn’t really kind of like where her game was at the time. I kind I came to find out later on that that really was the case. Sure. Um but yeah, she had an older set as well, kind of stuff from like the early 2000s. She had graphite all the way through, but it was still pretty heavy. Wasn’t the proper length for her. Um, we ended up getting her into I believe it was the 923 Mazuno HL iron, so we got some more height from that. And then, uh, TS1 driver, fairywoods, and hybrids to kind of finish out the set there. Yep. Um, I could tell her excitement level was kind of building as we were going. Her smash factor, which is for those of you that don’t know, your ball speed divided by club head speed. It basically is a ratio of how well you’re hitting it, it improved quite a bit. I mean, on the irons, we went from somewhere in the 1.1s to into the 1.3. So, making much more solid contact, smash factor, smash factor, got into the 1.45 range with driver. So, she was really just catching everything very clean. Um, and yeah, her excitement level kind of grew throughout the fitting. Yeah. Um, her dad pulled me aside there towards the end and told me that he thinks that she’s going to continue playing golf now after that fitting, which I mean, honestly, that’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard from a fitting standpoint. I mean, hearing that someone has kind of fallen back in love with the game through working with me, I mean, there’s there’s nothing more rewarding than that. 100%. You know, coming from two guys who clearly love the game of golf, it’s it’s good to to get people on on that side of things as well when we can in the in the fitting base. Um, another, I guess, fitting that kind of stuck out to me, it’s might be a little bit on the other end of maybe the golfer spectrum. Uh I was fortunate enough to fit a Gopher hockey uh player uh a couple weeks back and super awesome dude. Uh it was just a fun fitting to kind of you know relay stuff back and forth just hearing his experiences playing you know division one high level hockey um high level high school hockey all that US USA juniors. So just a world I had never heard of. But getting into more of the the fitting specs, uh, you know, definitely a high-speed player because he’s division one college athlete. Uh, but delivered the club with with very little dynamic loft at impact. Uh, so we went with a little bit of maybe a unicorn for a for a higher speed player, but we got him into the T250 launch spec. We made sure to uh add the heavier weight in there as he is swinging that that club pretty fast and being a little bit more of a lightweight head. But he was hitting everything. We got peak height over 100 ft on average or close to at that coming in I think with the gamer was around 55. So land angle up towards that 4550 number. Uh and then just a ton of spin coming off the T250. Uh launch spec irons paired up with the the new project X red. uh rifle shaft actually. So, little lighter weight there, but still providing plenty of stability for him as he Yeah. I mean, he’s he swung hard at that club. So, I’m assuming he was pretty steep on the ball then. Yes. Attacking what attack was? Yeah. It was anywhere from about five to seven. Okay. Yeah. So, he definitely needed some help getting the ball up in the air. Yes. Yep. And being a, you know, a hockey player, very good at compressing that golf ball. So, we just had to use some of that compression to go up into the air. But yeah, it was I mean stopping on a dime, putting it in a a water bucket from about 185, it was awesome. Funny enough, my uh one of my most memorable fittings from this past year was actually the exact opposite. I had a guy come in where his land angle was preposterous. I mean, we were almost in the 60° range for land angle to start. Sure. Uh he was using a set of blueprint S’s at the time, which he had kind of bought off the shelf. He knew the specs he was somewhat looking for. I mean, he was in extra stiff because I mean, his club head is off the chart. I’m talking like 105 miles an hour with the seven iron. So just a freak of nature really moving on. Yeah. But his spin rate was exceeding 8,000 on some shots. Uh so really we just need to manage that height cuz the peak height got up to 180 ft on a couple of those. The carry was pretty good. I mean it was still at about 210 if you caught a good one. But I mean if it if you got a spinny one, it was 180. So really no distance control there. Uh we ended up going in the Stricks ZXI7 head which for any players out there with a ton of speed, it’s a great head for you cuz it it manages spin pretty well. even for a steeper player. So, we did those one strong and then we also put Caper 130 X’s which if anyone knows iron shafts out there that is about as stiff and low launch as you can possibly get that it is. And then we hard stepped them. So, we built him the lowest launching, lowest spinning option possible. Yeah. But the most important thing really was his consistency of spin and of ball speed. So, he’s one of the rare players where I was actually looking for an iron that would help us decrease ball speed cuz if we minimized his spin but maintain the ball speed of where it was at, I mean, his 7 iron was going to go 230 yards, which creates a lot of gaps in the bag when it comes down to the wedges there. So, we got his carry pretty consistently right around 210, landing angle at 54 degrees. Honestly, that was probably one of the times I felt more accomplished in a bay was just helping someone with that level of speed where I mean, from a physics standpoint, there’s only so much you can do in terms of bringing ball fight down, but we got him in a window that he was much more comfortable with. Yeah. You know, that’s a a fitting where you’re really like digging in, you know, the full bag of tricks to try to figure it out because you don’t often get somebody hitting the ball that high or at least swinging a seven iron over 100 miles an hour. Absolutely. Uh yeah, that’s very cool. Um I would say on that line of things, I was fortunate enough to fit a couple guys that were kind of working their way up to the the PGA Tour America. Um so had conditional status. Uh it was three guys. They were super awesome, but you know, obviously very high speed players. Yeah. Somewhat robotic in how they swung it. you know, is like a bad shot to him was moving, you know, 25 ft right on a fade, whereas, you know, a bad shot for myself is probably moving about 75 yards, right? Um, but it was just, it was very cool to get so picky about what was happening with the golf ball. Yeah. Um, the one gentleman I fit for driver, we got him into the GT2. We initially had it at 10° cuz he wanted a little bit more spin. Um, I was fortunate enough to play golf with him actually the next day. So, we kind of did an onc course fit and we both noticed that when he hit one maybe slightly spinny. It was going about 200 feet in the air. So, we had to come back in the next day. We dropped loft down to eight. I think we played it at 8 and 3/4 and the the B4 setting maybe C4 actually now that I think about it. Um, and I mean it was just a cut that was carrying about 330 and rolling out to 350 every time. Peak height of about 100 yards or 100 yards. 100 feet uh in the air. So, it was much better than the the spinny 200 feet. Yeah. That were stopping at about 260 for them. But these guys were really good at golf. It was just a cool you kind of like you said when you get the polar ends of the the fittings that you have coming in. Um, I mean, these guys are just they’re really good at golf and it was fun to watch. That sounds like a dream, honestly. Just being able to go out with your fitting afterwards and kind of see the work that you put in and being able to tweak it if you need to. Um, I was fortunate enough to play or to fit a a highle golfer this summer as well. We actually did a video series with him, Jake Olsson from South Dakota. Yeah. Um, fit him into P7 CB MB combo set there and then an elite triple diamond driver. Um, it was definitely unique fitting where we really were looking to more manage spin with his irons than anything where there was an iron out there that had a a more consistent dispersion pattern, but the spin rate is a lot lower and he was really worried about flyers. So, we went with an option that actually had a slightly larger dispersion chart, but the spin was much more consistent, thus the distance was more consistent. Um, and it was really cool to see how he performed in the summer after that fitting as he won the South Dakota match play and the South Dakota State Amiter. So, being able to see that a player that I worked with went on to accomplish something that high of a level was just really really cool to see and uh yeah, just a proud moment. Yeah, absolutely. It’s cool to see when you know the the clubs that you fit and the player that you fit ends up playing better with, you know, the equipment that you put in their hand. Yeah, it’s it’s fulfilling, right? Uh it’s kind of along the same lines. The one of those guys on the PJ Tour Americas, he was playing in the Monday qualifier uh the next Monday up at Grand View or uh the layman course up in uh Brainer. Um didn’t end up qualifying, but he shot four strokes better than the last two Monday qualifiers. Uh and his he texted me after and said his driving accuracy was far better. So, you know, maybe not the result that that he was looking for, but still a bunch of things to build on. He’s I think he’s still 23 years old, so plenty of years to play high level golf, but just it’s cool to see that stuff come to to fruition and and people to improve with the the clubs you put in their hands. Yeah. I mean, that that’s just sounds like an awesome opportunity for you. I would say one thing that kind of just encapsulates all these stories here is we’re just working with a wide variety of golfers. Absolutely. If you want to come in and work with a fitter like Max or myself, just visit any of our store locations or visit secondwing.com to visit one of our online fitters. [Music] And that was Jake Montgomery and Max Bush, couple of Master Club fitters. Um, talking shop, talking about their favorite fittings of the year. Um, and I think it’s fun. We we should probably do more of that. Just getting two fitters together and discussing because they just have a different perspective, a different angle on things on, you know, that’s one thing when we can tee them one person up with questions, but then having the other person be able to have this perspective to bounce another question or another anecdote off of is really cool and it was fun to hear those guys go back and forth. Yeah, definitely something we’re be doing a lot more of, especially as you know, up here in the north it’s a little getting a little into the off season. And you know, fitters are look, you know, they they kind of know everything they’ve seen so far this year. So, it’s a great time to kind of look back upon the season, see what’s happening. And yeah, just listening to those two break down all the different specs and what they were trying to do. Super interesting. you know, obviously Jake Olsson, who we had on the YouTube channel, really interesting to hear how they were focusing more on, you know, spin variance and, you know, lessening that over dispersion, which I think for a lot of us, you know, dispersion is like one of the number one things like I’d be looking for. What am I hitting, you know, consistently most, but when you’re as good as a golfer as Jake is, you know, eventually like you’re going to get that dispersion dialed in. It’s just a little adjustments in your swing. But getting that consistent spin rate for him was key. And um so really interesting stuff. Uh let us know which one of those kind of stood out to you. Um and yeah, and if you you want some more questions like that or more segments, please let us know. We’d love to let our fitters know and um look forward to, you know, having a few more of those coming up. Maybe we team up for their worst fitting of the year. That might that might ruffle some making some good stories. That would be some great stories. Uh but yeah, so yep, obviously more stuff coming on the YouTube channel. Um actually a couple really fun things up here lately. We did a uh comparison of the new Apex UW against the original, which is very relevant now with Xander having just won with the original in his bag. So uh that was with myself and Tyler Fitzell. We dove deep into it and I actually thought the original would go farther. Didn’t necessarily see that. You have to see exactly what the results were on the full video. And then also this week, a fun little Big 10 battle, if you will, uh, out out at the Gopher Invite. We had the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska men’s golf teams do a little vintage driver long drive contest. So, we had some older drivers that we brought out there for him to hit. Um, drivers are probably about what, 20 years oldish, um, thereabouts. They varied. Yeah, there was a couple maybe a little newer, maybe a little Titus 905 in there. I think the newest was maybe it was the Ping G10 or tailor made there was we there was brought out there a Nike uh SQO2 which I think a couple guys hit and were like this is just not it and then nobody else tried it. So they kind of quickly like I’m good. Yeah. I think it was more of a curiosity thing for a couple guys to try it and then were like okay this is just not going to Yeah, that that was a lot really fun video. Really fun shooting that video. Obviously the gopher one’s up on YouTube right now. Nebraska one will be coming up and Nebraska and Minnesota play each other this week in football. So yeah, you know, it’s uh the Huskers, Gophers, who’s got the leg up on the football game is going to be decided by who hits longer drives. We’ll see with the older drivers. We’ll see. Um yeah, really good stuff there. Um on the second swing side, you know, we have our fall golf specials still going on. Uh swing days unfortunately is over, so hopefully you took advantage last week, but still some great specials out there with our fall golf specials. uh golf clubs, bags, you name it. Uh plenty of great opportunities there. And then obviously, as we’ve been mentioning, our Second Swing women’s site, you know, dedicated to the women golfers. So, equipment, fitting, content, you name it, everything all in one location for you. So, make sure you check that out as well. Also, if you happen to be in Minnesota or are going to Minnesota, our RDER Cup merchandise sale is open. And you can get stuff like this that I’m wearing or a bunch of other I mean actually we were over there and it’s it’s like there’s endless items from shirts to uh you know there’s all kinds of shirts where there’s t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, polos, you have all kinds of accessories, bags, cups, glassear, um hats, you know it it goes on and on. So um there’s a lot there’s a lot of stuff 25. Yeah. I mean I’m only getting to the beginning of it. So um if you’re in Minnesota, go check that out for sure as well. Yeah. Well, that wraps up this episode. Uh, great show. Make sure as always to hit that subscribe button. Uh, whether you’re on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform, you can find us there on Second Swing Thoughts. For Drew, I’m Sean and we’ll see you back here next week. [Music]
