Mizuno Swing DNA

As a keen golfer I am always on the lookout to improve my game. I've visited fitting centres for a couple of brands but never before have I tried Mizuno irons. When I was asked if I wanted to try out their new Swing DNA system I jumped at the chance.

Mizuno state that finding the right shaft for golfers can add an extra 10-30 yards to every iron in the bag along with improving shot dispersion. All it takes is three shots with the shaft optimiser to find your unique swing DNA which consists of:

Head Speed - How fast the club head and shaft are moving during the swing.

Tempo - How quickly the player transitions from the backswing to the downswing.

Toe Down - A measure of the bowing of the shaft in a downward direction during the downswing.

Kick Angle - The amount of shaft forward bending during the downswing motion.

Release Factor - How and when the club head and shaft are releasing during the downswing motion.

When the results are in the software recommends the best three shafts to test.

I visited my nearest Mizuno fitting centre at Oakdale Golf Club in Harrogate and was met by head professional Clive Dell. After using the swing optimiser my results came out as:

Using a 6 iron and ranked between 1 - 9.

	David Keywood	Luke Donald
Headspeed	84 mph	92 mph
Tempo	4	4
Toe down	4	4
Kick angle	2	5
Release factor	7	5

Compare me with Luke Donald and I'm pleased to say our swing DNA similarity is high.

Clive then fed my results into the Swing DNA software to find out which shafts matched my swing: the shafts recommended were the FST KBS Tour (Stiff), Dynalite Gold XP (Stiff) and Nippon NS Pro 950GH (Stiff). I then chose the MP59 and MP63 heads to accompany the shafts and down to the range we went.

After hitting a number of shots with each shaft it's easy to see that having the right shaft in your club can really make a difference to the shots you play. I was hitting the ball a lot lower with the KBS tour and hitting the Nippon out to the right. I found the Dynalite Gold was the closest to what I have in my current irons and the performance matched, with a high draw my preferred shot and could replicate my trajectory with this shaft.

I found that the MP-59 was a lot more forgiving that the MP-63 head. Being told Luke Donald uses the MP-59 also swung me in the favour of this iron. It's a beautiful looking club and if it's good enough for the World number 1 then it's good enough for me.

I found the Swing DNA fitting extremely useful and next time I'm in the market for a new set of clubs or woods I'll definitely be making sure I get the right shaft for my swing before purchasing.

A big thanks to Clive Dell and Oakdale golf club for helping me with the fitting.

To find your local Swing DNA Centre go to http://golf.mizunoeurope.com/store/fitting-centres.php