Mizuno golf utilizes new shaft optimizer to understand golfer's swing DNA
Although it’s more visible than ever before, custom fitting is not a new service being provided by club manufacturers, Back in the 1980s, Ping was one of the first major club manufacturers to offer custom fitting for the average golfer with its color-coded “dot” system on the popular Eye2 irons.
With technology evolving and the customer demanding more options and services from products and manufacturers, each company has designed a fitting system that can be used by PGA Professionals at a local golf course or trained fitter at a local golf shop. The services provided are now comparable to what touring professionals receive each week on tour. Fitting was once limited to selecting the proper equipment using a lie-board which assisted the golfer and the fitter to determine what type of loft and lie angles the golfer needed to match his or her swing. As the technology has evolved and now includes computers that measure just about every aspect of a golfer’s swing and shot finding the right fit has become easier.
There is still one company that continues to set itself apart from all the others; Mizuno Golf. The company, which makes of the best irons on the market, has developed an even more robust and accurate fitting system.
Mizuno’s Performance Fitting System is unique because it is currently the only club fitting method that melds the expertise of a professional club fitter with what the company believes is state of the art analysis using the company’s exclusive shaft optimizer. The technology is designed to match the right shaft to the swing of the golfer. This isn’t unique, but Mizuno’s system that measures five critical components of each golfer’s swing is the only one on the market.
Those components are:
– Club head speed: how fast the club head and shaft are moving during your swing
– Tempo: how quickly the club transitions from backswing to downswing
– Shaft toe down: measures how far the shaft bends in a downward direction during the downswing
– Kick angle: measures how far the shaft bends forward during the downswing
– Release factor: how and when the club head and shaft is released during the downswing.
As each component is measured the data is then transferred into a computer program that will measure each golfer against some of Miznuo’s staff professionals, the system will also narrow the search down and provide two or three choices of shafts that fit the golfer’s swing. This approach helps golfers to determine what Mizuno calls a golfer’s swing DNA, which should help golfers find the appropriate club head design and matching shaft for their game and better performance.
I had the opportunity to go through Mizuno’s fitting system recently, and as a golfer who is not a big proponent of fitting systems for the fact that most golfers do not have a consistent enough swing to dial in on the proper specs for their game. However, I was very impressed with the simplicity of Mizuno’s approach and the science and technology behind their fitting systems is very accurate.
With that said, I much prefer my own assessment of trying different club heads and shaft combinations during a round of golf where I can hit different shots during a round.
