DNA Stats - What do they mean?

My fitting yielded the following:

Headspeed: 87
Tempo: 4
Toe down: 3
Kick angle: 5
Release factor: 4

I know that tempo has to do with the pace with wich you swing the club and kick angle has to do with how much the shaft bends forward at downswing and so on. What I don't know is how to put these numbers in context. Speifically,...

- What is a fast or a slow tempo?
- Does the toe down of 3 mean I should get irons that are a few degrees upright or does it mean that if I use a shaft that is more stiff than the test club I would get a toe down factor of 0?
- Is a kick angle of 5 high or low? What does it mean for my ball flight? If the kick angle were 8 how would that change the ball flight?
- What does a release factor of 4 tell me about when my club head is releasing and what does it mean for ball flight?

Any information about what these numbers really mean would be helpful. Thanks

Good Afternoon ASmitty!

First off...thanks for going through the Shaft Optimizer. Which of the shafts that it recommended did you like the best? If I had to guess, I would say the Project X 5.5. Am I right????

To expand a bit on the numbers....

Head Speed - rather obvious, maximum head speed value during the swing.

Tempo - This measured what kind of transition you have on a scale of 1 to 9 (one being the smoothest and nine being the quickest). Think of Ernie Els' swing vs. Nick Price. No number is better than the other, just personal tempo.

Toe Down - As it sounds, this is how much the shaft bends down towards the ground during the swing (again, on a one to nine scale). This won't have a big effect on lie angle, but possibly a slight one. This is why we recommend one you find the proper shaft, that you use the lie fit club to take a lie angle measurement WITH THAT SHAFT.

Kick Angle - The amount the shaft bends forward (towards the target). This helps us to determine the proper bending profile of the shaft for you. For example, if you need something with a stiffer mid section, etc.

Release Factor - When in the swing the shaft itself actually released the head. For a couple of extreme examples, think of Sergio Garcia and David Toms. Sergio releases VERY late, and thus needs a firmer tipped shaft. Toms releases earlier, and so he can use a softer tip to deliver more power to the ball.

Again, you shouldn't think like "I need to lower my kick angle" or "I need to raise my release factor" or anything like this. None of these are swing faults, they just require different bending profile shafts to give you your best results.

Being that all of the measurements are on a 1-9 scale (with the exception of head speed), you are pretty much in the mid range across the board. The reason that I guessed that you would like the Project X is because your tempo is kind of in the mid/low range. A player in that range needs a mid-light shafts (Project X is 115). Your release factor is also a four, and typically the tip section of that shaft will fit well to that player.

If the Project X wasn't the winner, I'm curious what was...everyone feels the shaft load and unload slightly differently, so let me know!

Hope that helps to clear some stuff up!

-GC

GC,

Thanks for the great reply. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

The fitting recommended three shafts
- DG S-300 (130g)
- Project X 5.5 (115g), as you guessed
- KBS Tour Stiff (120g)

I actually went with the KBS, but after having hit the whole set on the range I think I could use something with a bit firmer tip. I had the lie adjusted to 2 degrees up and make great contact in the center of the club face. However, I was actually a little disappointed to find out that the 7-PW are 2 degrees weaker than my old clubs, which works out to be almost a full club difference. I might consider having those lofts adjusted next season. All-in-all, I think I'm happy with the purchase, but I really won't know until I can get a few rounds on these sticks.

Bump. Lots of good info on Grilled Cheese's reply.

Yes great reply Grilled Cheese. Hope to hear from you more on the Forum. With similar stats to the OP(83-4-3-6-5) I went with the Project X 5.5 and I love them.

As this question is asked so regularly, we've made it 'sticky' to keep in constant view.

Thanks Grilled Cheese.

Sorry if this has been answered before... How does the number scale work for release factor, is a higher number a late release or an early release?

Just curious, thanks!

Its an early release

Rob

When I had my fitting with James he also mentioned another figure that for the life of me I can't remember what the heck it was. It measured about 1.37 I think and he said that, whatever it was, I did it well. Seeing as my other stats make for grim reading I'd be interested to know what it was. Any ideas?

dave_giz wrote:

When I had my fitting with James he also mentioned another figure that for the life of me I can't remember what the heck it was. It measured about 1.37 I think and he said that, whatever it was, I did it well. Seeing as my other stats make for grim reading I'd be interested to know what it was. Any ideas?

Smash factor!!! (ace name for a relatively boring stat)

Ball speed / swing speed - how efficiently / cleanly are you smashing it

Absolute max is usually with a driver - a perfect strike is 1.5 - over 1.35 with iron is good.