Ping Women's Fitting: Alison Root Handicap 14

Alison is a competent player but needed to find a solution to her gapping issues at the top end of the bag and also wanted to improve her short game. She was dropping too many shots when she missed the green and so needed a wedge make up that would allow her to embrace chipping and pitching rather than dread it.

Fitter Analysis

Alison already plays G Le2 clubs that were fitted for her pretty well, so we focused on G Le3. The Lite shaft performed better than the Ultra Lite shaft and this is consistent with the profile of her current clubs.

Alison’s ball flight with a 7-iron was a little left and hitting off the diagnostic board revealed the mark in the sole to be towards the heel. To remedy this, the lie angle was flattened a touch and then Alison began to hit straighter shots with greater consistency. This was an example of how a swing can change very slightly from one fitting to the next, so clubs might need to be tweaked for either a flatter or more upright lie angle.

The G Le3 driver was fitted with the same shaft as the iron. Alison drove the ball incredibly straight and her shots showed an excellent dispersion. Alison isn’t fond of hitting hybrids, and while she struck the 5-hybrid consistently well, we were able to swap it out for a 7-wood using Ping’s gapping app. Like the driver, Alison hit this club very accurately and shots flew ten to 15 yards further than with the 5-hybrid, so the 7-wood will work better in her bag.

Alison's Feedback

I’ve had custom-fitted G Le2 clubs in my bag since their launch, so I was keen to see how the performance of the third- generation model might differ from its predecessor. The G Le3 colouring is by far the best to date. The clubs and bag look and feel very stylish – an immediate plus for me. My shots flew best with the Lite shaft in the 7-iron, but some were heading left and coming off the heel until we adjusted the lie angle.

Compared to G Le2 driver, my dispersion was very good with the iron and the driver, but G Le3 driver felt a tad more powerful with a sweeter sound off the clubface. I’m not a confident hybrid player and although I didn’t hit a bad shot with the 5-hybrid, the 7-wood was a revelation and nicely fills a gap in my bag.

Custom-fitting is such a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Even though I’ve been through the process before, I initially felt a little nervous, but with the support of the fitter I soon relaxed after a few shots. I came away feeling energised about my game, knowing that these clubs will work for me.

Alison's Fitted Set

Ping G Le3 driver
Ping G Le3 3-wood
Ping G Le3 7-wood
Ping G Le3 irons (6, 7, 8, 9, PW, UW, SW)
All with Ping ULT250 Lite shafts