On October 23, 2020 PXG Area Sales Manager and expert Fitting Specialist, Dave Cunningham, took Charles Barkley (and his famous golf swing) through PXG’s celebrated golf club fitting experience. Standing at 6’6”, Barkley has a whole host of needs that Cunningham set out to address, with an end goal of giving him the best opportunity technology currently affords to put together consistently better rounds.
The fitting kicked off with an evaluation of Barkley’s unconventional swing.
“I first looked at his swing characteristics – from setup through finish – to understand his natural tendencies,” Cunningham shared. This is a very important step in the process, as PXG never asks a golfer, even one with headline worthy afflictions, to alter his or her swing.
“Then, I evaluated his current set configuration – head type, grip size, and shaft length – before digging into the data, which offered further insights. The data showed that his dispersion pattern was not hitting the mark. And his mishits weren’t nearly as good as they could be.”
Keeping things comfortable, Cunningham kicked off the session with PXG 0311 P GEN3 Irons and a shaft with a similar profile to what was currently in Barkley’s bag. After a few swings, based on the data, it was clear that more could be done to deliver real performance gains.
A switch was made to PXG 0311 XP GEN3 Irons and several different shafts tried – KBS 120 S, Nippon 105 S, and C-Taper 115 X.
“We took what he thought he knew about what works and showed him how he could achieve noticeable gains in distance and much tighter dispersion with the right PXG clubhead and shaft combination. And most importantly, how this could minimize the impact of his mishits.”
After settling on the XP Irons, Cunningham then began to look at loft and lie.
Due to Barkley’s tendency to hit the ball high, no loft adjustments to the standard XP specifications were needed. However, lie was ideal at one-degree upright and the shaft length at plus one inch (no shocker there).
At the end of the day Barkley saw notable gains in distance, 10-12 yards, and his dispersion – from solid hit to mishit – improved tremendously.
“Overall, the fitting as a lot of fun and a tremendous success. It’s always a good time working with a fellow avid golfer who, like all of us, is looking for the magic bullet. While we didn’t touch his swing, after analyzing the data together, I’m pretty sure Barkley is going to enjoy a fair few golf shots, lower scores, and more fun on the course.”
So what’s new in Charles’ bag?
- PXG 0811 X Prototype Driver
- PXG 0341 X GEN2 Fairway Wood, 3-wood
- PXG 0317 X GEN2 Hybrids, 19 and 22-degrees
- PXG 0311 XP GEN3 Irons, 5-9PW
- PXG Sugar Daddy Milled Wedges, 50, 56, and 60-degrees
- PXG Blackjack Putter
So, what are you waiting for? Visit our location map to schedule a fitting near you.
Be sure to check out Barkley and Phil Mickelson take on Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning in the Match: Champions for Change on Friday November 27th on TNT at 3PM ET.
