I Disagree With Mark Crossfield

[DennisMiller]

I have enjoyed Mark Crossfield's videos for more years than I can remember, but I have run into one I have to disagree with, violently disagree...

He did a 25 minute video asking the question, do you get enough with a custom fitting? His conclusion was, no, that a fitted player should get a lot more from his or her fitting. He didn't differentiate between a good fitting and a bad fitting. He didn't differentiate between one company and another in how they accomplish their fittings. He made a very general statement, I feel with no suggestion of what else a player should expect.

What the H-E Double Chopsticks is going on???

 

[PaulBoy]

I was also an MC fan, but of late I find him just saying things to be "controversial" - Like you, I don't think this particular video is well done or well thought out
There are (as you say) good fittings & bad fittings & certainly good fitters & bad ones - Maybe he is pandering to the internet types who don't know the difference, but I just don't look at any of his videos anymore ...

 

[DennisMiller]

I was also an MC fan, but of late I find him just saying things to be "controversial" - Like you, I don't think this particular video is well done or well thought out
.

Hi Paul... Actually, I hadn't thought about what his attitude or motivation may have been of late, but to discredit fittings totally, like he did in that video is unconscionable.

I've had brilliant fittings, where a new set immediately made a difference in my game. But I had one PING fitting that was a horrible experience that resulted in me receiving a set of irons with an E6 swingweight. In my 50s then, in the high heat and humidity of Miami, those clubs went right back to PING with complaints about how ridiculous the fitting had been.

I don't know what Mark has in mind, but there's no way to make such a generalized comment as what he did. Hundreds, if not thousands of players in this forum alone, have seen their game improve after a well applied Mizuno fitting.

 

[CH919Forged]

Most of the YouTube "professionals" and golf social media personalities talk a serious amount of nonsense. Shiels, Finch and Crossfield are all cut from the same cloth. Mizuno's own Chris Voshal is also tough to listen to and actually makes me less inclined to buy Mizuno gear. I'd far rather watch an old coaching video by Seve than watch any of those clowns talk about spin rates or smash factors.

 

[CH919Forged]

Most of the YouTube "professionals" and golf social media personalities talk a serious amount of nonsense. Shiels, Finch and Crossfield are all cut from the same cloth. Mizuno's own Chris Voshal is also tough to listen to and actually makes me less inclined to buy Mizuno gear. I'd far rather watch an old coaching video by Seve than watch any of those clowns talk about spin rates or smash factors.

Once heard Rick Shiels on one of his driving videos say "...never aim straight I promise ya" Immediately switched it off.

 

[CH919Forged]

On the subject of fitting I've had good and bad. The iron fitting I had was extremely positive. The hybrid in my bag which I was also fitted for is pretty much decorative because I'm so scared to hit it. Wanted to buy a utility iron and ended up letting the fitter talk me out of it in favour of that thing.

 

[PaulBoy]

Most of the YouTube "professionals" and golf social media personalities talk a serious amount of nonsense. Shiels, Finch and Crossfield are all cut from the same cloth. Mizuno's own Chris Voshal is also tough to listen to and actually makes me less inclined to buy Mizuno gear. I'd far rather watch an old coaching video by Seve than watch any of those clowns talk about spin rates or smash factors.

Totally agree! - Prefer watching Sky's coaching sessions with the older Pros like Langer / Lyle / Monty etc - Just seems more relevant to me as a senior / geriatric golfer ...

 

[2klix]

There are always good and bad in every industry. I kind of get what Crossfield is talking about, so many high street retailers claim to be able to “fit” but my experiences are mostly not great and best memories are where I have been to a club with PGA pro where they have fitting studios. A combination of teaching to improve your swing and club tech, but no pressure to buy. But these have also been paid sessions so you get what you pay for & do your research. Most YouTube videos are controversial with clickbate titles to earn subscribers clicks.

 

[WalkerCup]

How many golfers go for a fitting find out what suits them and then........go and buy. a set on eBay cheap?!!! had onvesation with a guy that bought set of Mizzies second hand on eBay, but got a load po to bend the lie angles and eplae the shafts......

Or they buy a set off ebay and add shaft extensions, plus half an inch an add 3 Swing weight points so you an end up with clubs that ae unusable!

Geneally speaking a good fitter would need an hour on a set of irons and an hour Driver to fit a random golfer, this is before you get to picked golfers that might demand longer time.

 

[trojan615]

A couple of bad ones for me, MC on no putts given saying that shafts don’t matter… and the my golf spy lot arguing with txg for fittings to be free

on a side note, I visited marks old driving Vance from back in the day - Clifton in Exeter… what a dump, they were selling Lego there !

 

[leestars1122]

How many golfers go for a fitting find out what suits them and then........go and buy. a set on eBay cheap?!!! had onvesation with a guy that bought set of Mizzies second hand on eBay, but got a load po to bend the lie angles and eplae the shafts......

Or they buy a set off ebay and add shaft extensions, plus half an inch an add 3 Swing weight points so you an end up with clubs that ae unusable!

Geneally speaking a good fitter would need an hour on a set of irons and an hour Driver to fit a random golfer, this is before you get to picked golfers that might demand longer time.

Love my fitter----- I'm more of a proponent of supporting locally owned spots especially for bigger ticket purchases like this. Did my first fitting with him a couple of years ago and still love my JPX 921 F's but after giving the Pro 223 a couple of shots, I became enamored. But of course im not going to make any bag changes without field testing them, which my local fitter let me do by taking the demo set and bringing them to the course. Suffice to say I was hooked, and we spent an hour figuring out best shaft choices. I could have gone the same route of ordering on line but in the end, a solid relationship with a good fitter is worth more to me than gold. So I will be going there for all my club needs.

My point in bringing this up is not all fitters are the same, and a rule of thumb (at least for me) is the big box places like GG, Dicks, PGA and even Club Champion are volume shops. They don't charge much if at all for a fitting so the more swings the better.

Also- I never liked Mark Crossfield, Peter Whiny Finch, And Rick D**k Shiels. For pure gear reviews I like TXG and Michael Newton. Thats just me.

 

[DennisMiller]

I like TXG and Michael Newton. Thats just me.

I don't think I've heard of Michael Newton. I need to look him up.

One of my golf buddies asked me an interesting question the other day, leading to me probably thinking too much about my own situation.

"When do you need to be fitted all over again?" Should we get fitted just because it's 2 years since out last fitting? 5 years? 10 years?

What it made me curious about, applied to my own situation, is should I be fitted all over again since having carpel tunnel and shoulder surgeries? They both go back to 2018 and I haven't been fitted since probably around 2015.

I know my swing is shorter now than it was. I'm 73 years old now. I'm not in anywhere near the physical shape I was 10 years ago. I switched to senior flex pretty much on my own, with nothing more than a conversation with a good friend who is a teaching pro.

To bring up a really different point of view, I have a much more serious issue with the heat and humidity than I had years ago, getting tired on the course and generally being just a 9 hole golfer this time of year.

With so much change, (not to mention I ain't getting any smarter), when is it appropriate to be fitted again? My own circumstances may be fairly dramatic, expressed in the extreme for the sake of example, but just something like shoulder surgery should probably suggest a refitting to most people.

Your thoughts?

 

[DennisMiller]

I'm digging up an old thread, not as more criticism of Crossfield and others, but related to fitting in general.

Above, I asked when it should be time to be refitted following surgeries that effectively shortened my swing, subsequently my timing and to some extent, my posture. My physical condition is probably slightly better than it was last year.

As I mentioned above, I changed to senior flex shafts on my own and that turned out to be a good move. Next week, I'll be paying for a new fitting, just on general principles. So, what do I suspect will be the results?

I'm 6'7" tall and at nearly 74, have not shrunk in old age.

My driver is 46" long, 9.5* loft and set to upright for the slight draw bias, or in my case, a fade reduction bias. My 3 wood, though likely to leave the bag shortly, is set at 168 and upright.

All the same, the irons I'm using now are only 1" extra long, backweighted with 30 grams of lead. I used 2" extra long for 30 years. Being a handsy player, the extra feel of head weight has never bothered me. I've always played 2* upright from the long irons through the 7 Iron and 1* upright from the 8 iron through the wedges. Bending over to where I'm in a stable position leaves me most comfortable with a 35" putter.

Let's see how things change by next week...