Club Fittings - science in action or snake oil for sale?

[JohnnyDee]

Rather than hijack the Wentworth Taylor Made thread I thought I'd start a new one on the broader topic of club fitting sessions.

One thing we all want but find hard to achieve as golfers is consistency, I mean even the Tour Pros don't have it. Look at Rory, Henrik, Jason et al. How often do we hear them post-round telling Sarah Stirk that they feel 'this element' of their swing is coming together or 'that element' seems to be getting nearer to where they want it to be etc.

So as club players of varying, and it must be said wide ranging swing skills, we rock up to our fitting session. Now consider a phenomenon that we all can probably relate to. On any given day we can play like a god and believe we have finally cracked this wretched game, then we come out the following day full of hope and belief that we're going to burn the course up, only to knob it round like an absolute beginner. The problem is our inconsistency and like the weather it's pretty changeable and always with us. Quite often often we don't know who's getting out of the car and stepping on to the first tee.

Nevertheless and meanwhile back in the fitting studio we are totally prepared to believe that our Tour Pro alter ego has shown up on the day and not our slicing-hooking-shanking-duffing-hacking one. I mean heaven forbid that we'd have a ropey swing on fitting day, Eh? . Purrrlease! So operating on full blind faith mode and convinced that we're on top form we're quickly shown how the latest Mega-Thump QSX 7s outperform our tired old bats by a country mile - giving us Y yards more carry, a thousand more / less revolutions, a launch angle of X degrees better and so on and so on. We then place our order for the new clubs and get all excited wearing out the hall carpet waiting for the Parcelforce geezer to turn up with the saviours of our game.

Sidebar - has anyone ever gone for a club fitting only to be told "What you've got in your hands is the very thing for you my boy! Yessiree Bob, don't even think of changing it for one second." Never happened to me or any of my mates who have been fitted.

Many of us are taking a massive leap of faith in believing, or wanting to believe, that with less than consistent repeatable swings, somehow we performed in the studio with our A game and now the computer has come up with the perfect club fit for us.

Me? I'm not convinced I'm afraid. Been there, done it, even enjoyed it but I did it because I was keen to believe that it would take my game to the next level. It didn't - but that's more about my inconsistency I'd say - and after six months all I had was a nagging doubt about the science.

I realise that this will split the group and there will be opinions on both sides, I am sure that the 'better' we are will help form our view on the relative merits of club fitting, oh and just in case there are some out there with their ultra-serious head on, there is an element of tongue-in-cheek to this post, and I don't doubt that many have benefited from a fitting, but equally I'm sure there may well be many others whose handicaps post-fitting remain the same or even increase, and that they could possibly think that rather than having bought into 'the secret', they have in fact been sold a big old drum of snake oil

*Dons suit of armour and awaits the onslaught* :mmm:

 

[Blue in Munich]

Sidebar - has anyone ever gone for a club fitting only to be told "What you've got in your hands is the very thing for you my boy! Yessiree Bob, don't even think of changing it for one second." Never happened to me or any of my mates who have been fitted.

Yes. Was looking for a new driver a few years ago, Silvermere had a multi manufacturer day. Had tried a Callaway, then tried a Ping, which I thought went better. Spoke to the Ping guy, took it back to the Callaway bay, spoke to the bloke who fitted me, hit a few and was told stick to the Ping, it goes better than our one.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Whatever gives you confidence, confidence breeds success.

I certainly would feel more confident having seen some evidence compared to buying off the shelf.

If it doesn't give you confidence it won't improve your game.

 

[351DRIVER]

You can certainly improve dispersion or distance at a fitting by tinkering with a bias towards one or the other.

How do you balance 5 yards distance against 2.5 yards dispersion, the OPTIMAL flight is a hard thing to pin down

I think a fitting is worth having to ensure you are not using something that is totally inappropriate but much beyond that i do not see it, most golfers can pick stuff up off the rack and use it, if not you probably have swing issues.

I can hit ladies, regular, stiff and x stiff without issue, this tells me i have a decent swing, if you cannot hit regular and you think you need a stiff as the shaft makes you hook or slice, look first at your swing!

 

[Hosel Fade]

Rather than hijack the Wentworth Taylor Made thread I thought I'd start a new one on the broader topic of club fitting sessions.

Sidebar - has anyone ever gone for a club fitting only to be told "What you've got in your hands is the very thing for you my boy! Yessiree Bob, don't even think of changing it for one second." Never happened to me or any of my mates who have been fitted.

Yep, happened with my hybrid I was using at the time at precision golf.

You are much more consistent than you would think in terms of tendencies and those can be fitted for

 

[chrisd]

I absolutely buy into club fitting and even spent 90 minutes yesterday on a GC2 monitor with HMT. It's the only way if being certain that what you buy suits your swing

Only thing is that 3 weeks ago I borrowed back a set if irons that I road tested the 6 iron, loved them and just took the set off the rack in the pro shop, and, they were the set that I scored my best ever round with !!

 

[guest100718]

All a bit of a gimmick really. You hear people pluck figures from the air like custom fit will knock 5 shots of your gam. The reality is practice will do that, fitted clubs won't.

 

[Imurg]

All I can say is that I've been for a fair few fittings down the years and all, ALL, my best rounds have been with non-fitted clubs either purchased new off the shelf or 2nd name from eBay/Golf bidder.....

Up to a point, fitting is a good idea. Getting the right flex of shaft and the correct lie is important.
But it's how the ball flies off the club face and whether you can hit the ball where you want to that matter.

Does a 1/4 inch on the shaft, 1° on the lie or an extra tape under the grip really make that much difference to us..?

Having said all the above I recently acquired a new driver via a fitting session with a Callaway fitter at my club.
I've always been fitted, and felt more comfortable with 55-60g stiff shafts in drivers - and I've been rubbish for a long time.
The fitter gave me a heavy regular, about 75g, and the results are, quite frankly, astonishing....
So it can work, but I've had more misses than hits with fittings - I've never, ever been able to reproduce the carry distances shown on the monitors.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've been to fittings and while I understand there is a degree of science to it, the guy is also going to do his best to convince you that one set or another is working better than what you had, certainly in most cases although I will concede there are rare times when this isn't the case.

I like going to these things and seeing how various shafts/heads etc can change my numbers and dispersion both sideways and front and back. I happen to think that things like lie angle can make a big difference especially to the average player without a text book swing and it's about finding something that they can use without having to reinvent the wheel and change their swings. I also accept they don't give a fix all solution and the player still has to put a passable swing at the ball but it will give confidence, at least in the short term and that usually helps performance.

It's not for everyone and many play perfectly well off the peg. I've used off the peg and been fitted, arguably to equally mediocre success. However I do think the technology of the monitor and the advice of a good fitter can explain why their shots go where they do and a fitting can perhaps minimise the bad ones to a degree. I love the process and given the chance would rather get fitted and know what I've got is the best for me, even if that's purely based on the swing I brought that day

 

[turkish]

As someone with off the rack clubs I do hope to one day get fitted... That said I'm not sure if it's really going to make all that a difference to my strikes.

In terms of being told what I have is fine- happened the other week when I went for a putter fitting at clydeway in Blantyre. Was so looking to spend a fortune on a new putter but was told what I had was perfectly fine and I was to work on technique.

The samm puttlab is something else my putting has improved a lot

 

[stevek1969]

I recently did the TM demo day at my club, I'm back using my SLDR 12 degree with a Matrix RUL shaft in Stiff, now its a great club but it doesn't go far and the shaft is a bit shorter than what is standard now, i just thought the shaft was to stiff for me.

Hit a few with mine into the wind it just hangs up in the air, he fitted me with an M2 with a 3 wood shaft and Aldila Rogue shaft set at 10.5 in stiff, decent results then he put a standard length shaft in and poor results, he put the loft up to 11 with a Speeder 757 evolution 75 g shaft in stiff a much better flight and gained about 11 yards carry with a shaft that is 1inch shorter , went back and hit my own and the same shot hanging up in the wind.

Not sure if I'm going to buy as on saturday at Tain in windy conditions i hit the driver well and didn't miss many fairways

 

[Qwerty]

I've had countless so called 'club fittings' and the only time any of them have got it right was at the old Mizuno Fitting Centre at Clays GC in Wrexham (Shame it isn't still there)

I was fitted for a set of MP53s and they're still in the bag despite being fitted for and then selling several iron sets in the meantime. Nothing has come close to the 53s.
Although its hard to tell when your hitting balls on an indoor LM and the so called fitter is telling you your getting great figures and the new shineys are luring you in.

I won't buy any club now without trying it out over a few sessions on a range, initially it's got to feel right in the hands and suit my eye, something a LM can't tell me.

I've no doubt though that club fitting actually works, it just needs to be done correctly by someone with experience who genuinely wants to find the best Club/Shaft combo for you.
As the golfer, Maybe we have to pay a little more for the kind of service that gets it right. As I reckon finding the right combo should usually take far longer than 30 mins on a LM, banging balls into a net before handing over £600+.

 

[mcbroon]

I'm just back this evening from a fitting at AG (take that as you will).

I'd be very cynical about having a fitting on an indoor mat, or somewhere where I couldn't actually see the flight, but doing it on an outdoor range was a bit of an eye-opener.

Tried 6 different clubs and it's interesting to combine what you feel and see with the numbers. It's also amazing to see how much the different shaft and head combinations can affect performance.

I already knew that my driver was not doing me any favours but the extra performance I got from the new one was surprising. However, I don't think I'd have been able to tell from feel and numbers alone - a good, solid hit feels like a good, solid hit. So to me, it's vital that you see the flight of the ball too.

I'll be very interested to see whether it translates on to the course.

 

[Smiffy]

If I hit a ball off grass I can sometimes hit a perfect shot.
If I hit a ball off a mat, I never hit a perfect shot.
I was fitted hitting balls off a mat.
Read into that what you will.

 

[Slab]

I’ve never had a fitting but I’m sure like most I’d enjoy the experience, after all its hitting golf balls with shiny sticks

I suppose it is science in action but probably way too much for a club golfer. After general length, lie and flex are established the rest of the tweaking would appear to be OTT for what club golfers are capable of maximising. And unless you’re at the extremities of tall/short then you can pretty much forget length

Once you emerge onto a course and there's a gentle breeze, change in temp, little rain, variable ground conditions, lie of the ball etc etc etc, anything different to the fitting conditions and players resort to their experiences to estimate the effect to their shot and this 'guess' probably negates any benefit found between off the shelf and custom fitted

 

[hovis]

I think the best word for "i went for a fitting" is "i went for a try of different clubs"

When people talk about shafts effecting spin rate by massive amounts and launch angles i just switch off and leave them to their delusions.

 

[JV24601]

Sidebar - has anyone ever gone for a club fitting only to be told "What you've got in your hands is the very thing for you my boy! Yessiree Bob, don't even think of changing it for one second." Never happened to me or any of my mates who have been fitted.

Yes, a scratch guy at my place. Has a 10 year old driver and goes to about every fitting the club hosts (4 per year) and gets the same answer every time (nothing comes close to your current one for numbers, etc.).

 

[spongebob59]

The guy Ali Taylor made a good point in one of his vlogs that you should try and hit more than one club from a set, rather than the collection of 7 irons from the demo bag.

 

[bobmac]

Unless you can swing a club roughly the same way every time, custom fit is probably a waste of time.

 

[power fade]

Had a driver fitting last year..final results no better than existing driver ....left shop with a new grip and an electric trolley...haha