Book Review: "The Perfect Fit" by Jeff Sheets

[Augster]

I recently bought "The Perfect Fit" by Jeff Sheets. I believe Sheets works for Golfsmith currently and this is their current "fitting book".

I build a few clubs during the year so expanding my knowledge on the subject can't hurt anything. My current "fitting" book is "Common Sense Clubfitting" by Tom Wishon. That book (CSC) is awesome and a very comprehensive read for anyone that plays golf or wants to fit others or themselves to their equipment.

Unfortunately, "Common Sense Clubfitting" isn't exactly accessable by the masses. As far as I know, the only place to get it from is TWGT itself. And it's expensive. Around $50.

"The Perfect Fit" is the opposite of CSC in that way. It is available to ANYONE at Amazon.com and is under $20!

Linky: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fit-Je...6215792&sr=1-1

"The Perfect Fit" is NOT as good a book as "Common Sense Clubfitting" by Wishon. Period. I don't think there will be a better book on clubfitting than "Common Sense" for quite some time.

That being said, "The Perfect Fit", I feel, would be a great addition to anyone's library of knowledge. For the price, it is stealing information.

"TPF" will take you from a novice clubfitter/builder to "not so novice" easily. It won't make you an expert. There is a lot left out.

If you know NOTHING about clubfitting and the OEM conspiracy of standard clubs for all, this will be a GREAT pickup for you. If you know some, but want to know a little more, this will also be a GREAT pickup IMO. Even for the pseudo-expert, it is a good book for $20 to have around.

There are a couple of points I'd like to mention that stand out for me. A lot of the book was just rehash of "Common Sense Clubfitting" by Wishon. Once you know how to fit, and about lie angles, and lie boards, and shaft selection by swing speed etc. there isn't a lot that is "new". At least to me.

Being that this is a new book, I was REALLY hoping Sheets would have a comprehensive chapter detailing shaft selection and shaft frequency matching, tipping, etc. for irons. The same for woods. It really is non-existant.

In Sheets' defense, no book I have read details the how to of shaft frequency selection and matching. Being this was a new fitting book, I was hoping for that information. Sheets does talk about how to fit a golfer using swing speed, what torque, and Golfsmith's RSSR ratings for shafts. I was just hoping he'd get into the numbers and working with the frequency meter.

On the driver fitting, Sheets never really mentions Angle of Attack as the correct means to raise the launch angle without adding spin. In "The Perfect Driver" by Tom Wishon, this is nailed home over and over and over. Needless to say, "The Perfect Driver" is a much more comprehensive Driver fitting book. DUH!

What Sheets does have in the driver fitting section is pretty good. In "The Perfect Fit" there are a LOT of useful charts. One chart he has in there is AWESOME IMO.

That chart, in Chapter 7 page 107, is a comprehensive data collection from his launch monitor at all swing speeds. It shows the average carry, the average of the 10 best swings, and the #1 very best distance for each swing speed. It comes from data collected from "tens of thousands of drives collected on launch monitors using golfers of all abilities".

The chart is designed to show what the average total distance is, then if you optimize your launch conditions (the 10 best averaged), what your potential total distance (carry) increase could be if you get fitted and optimized at your swing speed.

An "average" 90 MPH swinger, after optimization, could pick up 31.6 yards of carry according to the chart. The average of the 10 best drives at 90MPH were 249.9 yards, with an LA of 18.4* and 2130RPMs. The chart is really cool.

UNFORTUNATELY, in order for that 90MPH swinger to attain 18.4" LA with 2100RPM's of spin, Sheets never goes into any explanation HOW to fit a guy to that. He explains a few things, maybe changing to a 14* driver (raising spin) or changing tee height etc. But to launch at that angle with that low of spin? I feel that'll be a swing change.

I was hoping he was going to go into more information on how to do this in the Launch Monitor chapter. He didn't. That chapter basically says there are launch monitors out there, and some have optimization software. And there are fitters with launch monitors. Basically saying to the reader that IF you get a launch monitor, read the manual.

All in all though, "The Perfect Fit" is a good book. If it were the same price and availability as "Common Sense Clubfitting" by Wishon, I'd recommend Wishon's book every time. But it isn't. "The Perfect Fit" has been released to the masses at a VERY small price point. For someone just picking up the hobby, or wanting to expand their knowledge, I would definitely recommend "The Perfect Fit" over "CSC" just due to price point and availability.

I think that it is GREAT that somebody besides Wishon has finally stepped into the spotlight saying that the OEM's "standard clubs for all" business model has got to go. Buying standard off the rack clubs can not allow you to play the best golf you can.

Only clubfitting can deliver on that.

And OEM "clubfitting" as they call it, for much more than the most part, is a joke. A set lie angle progression through the clubs? The ONLY way to be fit is to have EVERY club's lie angle dynamically set. That is fitting.

If you like to tinker at all with golf clubs, or if you think you would like to know more about making the clubs you are swinging fit you, PICK UP THIS BOOK!

For less than $20, the charts alone in this book, all in one place, is worth it to me. The "ball flight laws" chapter is a GREAT reference for clubfitting and fixing your swing.

Sorry for the long, rambling, review. I'll end this with the Chapter Index:

Ch. 1: Prepare to be Fit
Ch. 2: A physics lesson, the ball flight laws
Ch. 3: Shaftology 101
Ch. 4: Get a grip
Ch. 5: The Player Interview
Ch. 6: Ironing out the fit
Ch. 7: A driver for show & dough
Ch. 8: Fairways & Hybrids
Ch. 9: Wedging it
Ch. 10: Rollin' in the putts
Ch. 11: Having a ball
Ch. 12: Fitting slower swing speeds
Ch. 13: Launching the perfect fit
Ch. 14: MOI information to consider
Ch. 15: An optimized balance

[SilverUberXeno]

I love your opinion on anything, August. It's so exhaustively thorough

[bames]

Great review. Makes me want to buy both books and I think I just might. Thanks for the effort.

[Augster]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Jeff Sheets also has a book, "The Perfect Bend" that I bought on Amazon just to get over the $30 or something for free shipping.

Not surprisingly, it is a book about bending irons.

It is a good how-to, I guess. In the first chapter, basically he says to get a better bending machine than I have, or that I am willing to spend. With a nicer machine, you can measure the amount of bend you have changed without taking the club out of the vise.

I was thinking, "Uh, really? If I spend top dollar for a great bending machine, it makes it easier?" This just in....the sun emits light and is very warm.

But then he doesn't go on to what the rest of us should do for bending precision. Basically, it is feel. THANKS JEFF SHEETS!

Then he goes into, exhaustively, bending hybrids, and bending drivers.

Unfortunately, he had already lost me because I only have a simple Maltby that doesn't measure loft/lie while in the vise AND doesn't have attachments for hybrid, driver, or putter.

I think the putter bending jig at GS is pretty cheap, and if I ever feel like bending a putter, I will definitely look up the process in "The Perfect Bend".

Also, if I DID have a high-end machine, I would get this book to talk me through using it.

But I don't. And it's all feel. Basically what I have been doing for the past few years. Not really a great buy, but it also is CHEAP and if you are thinking about buying a bending machine in the future, it might be a pretty good read.

[BrandonM7]

Excellent review, thanks.

The fact that 249yds with only a 90mph swing speed is possible really makes me want to go get fitted for a driver. I swing faster than that and am quite happy when I occasionally (rarely) get that far.