Custom Fitting ...... Does NOT work.

When he got to the course and played off the grass he was all over the place because the ground gave different resistance to a matt and allowed his club to take a divot, so he wanted them sent back to be made standard again.

I'm not a big C-F fan, especially as I bought a set of Mizunos that I couldn't play with from day one.
BUT, this story has got nothing to do with mats or turf or whatever...this is a simple case of someone standing/doing different (closer, further, on his head, whatever, alignment, swing thought, etc.) on the course......surely??

Out on the grass, the only effect would be that "if" the clubs were too upright or too flat the face would close more or open more at impact. I took my A wedge to the club-fitter yesterday and he said straight off "are you hooking this?" too which I replied, yes, a tad. He knew straight away from the lie. If the lie was professionaly checked after repeated swings by a pro club fitter, then that'll be correct (unless the fitter was crap).

I'd say a first go out is NO measure how things are going to be.....either your mate needs to practice 100's of balls with the new kit or work out why he was standing/swinging different on the course compared to the fitting session.
 
I’m a big fan of customer fitting...

The online fitting has me as average all the way, but my swing steepens on the way down which makes me prone to catching it slightly off the toe.

My ping g10s were fitted around xmas time and have stiffer shafts, 1/2 inch longer and very upright. Since being fitted i haven’t looked back. I don’t think I’m getting the results i should yet as my short game isn’t what it was last season, but…

I’m now hitting on average 3-4 more greens per round. I have come down by 1.9 shots. I have won 2 comps (my first two) and got a hole in one (the first time I’ve ever been close)

I find it nearly impossible to slice the ball or catch it thin.

I wont be buying off the shelf again!
 
Really interesting.

I went to get fitted at callaway. I was told that I was standard for everything (5ft 8, carrying a little holiday weight!). BUT I was told by the fitter that once I had been playing for a while and my swing developed (still waiting!) the chances were I would probably need to get readjusted as many things change as your game develops.

Therefore, should you only get fitted once you get to a reasonable standard?????
 
I’ve stayed away from the CF debate but this one’s got me because I got custom fitted for my R7 irons because I was having trouble out on the course with standard irons.

I had a set of Mizuno’s and the club was turning over a little. The divot was not being cut square. The angle was not suitable to my size and stance and the heel was hitting the turf first……the reason why it was turning over.

That is now in the past.
 
par_par_par_treble...out of interest how much do you think the G10s have improved your handicap..and what is your handicap? I have been measured up and fitted for both the Ping G10s and Mizuno MX-25s today to find out what exact spec (very similar to yours) I will need for each club (I had narrowed it down to these two from about 11 different sets!) and it is now up to me to decide which clubs I want, any feedback on what the Pings have done for your game would therfore be much appreciated to help me decide.

If anyone else has an opinion on which set to go for that would also be appreciated.

Oh and in reference to the Ping fitting chart the pro who fitted me and is an aurthorised Ping Fitting centre said he would never decide what clubs somebody needed completely off of what the chart says and that nobody who has been trained by Ping would be told to do this. They use it as a rough guide to try and make thier lives easier and sometimes it gets it spot on and they don't have to try any other specs, but on other ocasions it is miles off and they have to work basicaly from scracth in order to find the set-up that best suits the player. There is nothing wrong with using it as a guide, but it should never be used as a definitive measurement.
 
par_par_par_treble...out of interest how much do you think the G10s have improved your handicap..and what is your handicap? I have been measured up and fitted for both the Ping G10s and Mizuno MX-25s today to find out what exact spec (very similar to yours) I will need for each club (I had narrowed it down to these two from about 11 different sets!) and it is now up to me to decide which clubs I want, any feedback on what the Pings have done for your game would therfore be much appreciated to help me decide.

If anyone else has an opinion on which set to go for that would also be appreciated.

I went for the Mizunos.

http://www.afc-chat.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=13164

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=141130

http://www.bombsquadgolf.com/invboard_release/upload/index.php?showtopic=177744&hl=
 
Let me preface what follows by freely admitting that I have probably gone over the top given my handicap and ability!

The whole point about CF is getting the kit that fits you and enhances your game. You should not have to take much time to "get used" to them,they were built to fit for god's sake!!!!!

IT DOES WORK, no question, no doubt, FACT. But....only if you have been properly fitted.

The problem lies with the process which is often flawed and is mostly canted towards selling you some new kit. I know this was partly the case for me but I was in a position at the time to afford it and the relevant costs of adapting my exisiting kit made it attractive.

Most club pro's are not in a position to properly fit you. Club fitting is not part of their training and mostly what they know has been shown them by particular manufacturers (ping actually are good at this) or from whoever sold them the computer kit that they use. Of course there are exceptions but they are few and far between.

There are also problems with AG/NB etc,think about it,how can they afford to pay for the training and extra wages for fitting experts in all their stores.

As for online how could anyone expect that to be accurate?

The minimum you should expect is a flight monitor which will also give spin rates and an explanation of what they mean.

The figures dont lie,if you hit it straighter and further off a mat,you will do it off grass!!

Surely the basics are,buy a head that you like to look at,get a shaft that you feel comfortable with,work within the budget you set and understand the limitations that imposes on you. There is no problem with keeping your existing kit if the incremental improvement does not stack up.

Take your time,it is your money and this is a large discretionary expenditure,get enjoyment from the process!!
 
par_par_par_treble...out of interest how much do you think the G10s have improved your handicap..and what is your handicap? I have been measured up and fitted for both the Ping G10s and Mizuno MX-25s today to find out what exact spec (very similar to yours) I will need for each club (I had narrowed it down to these two from about 11 different sets!) and it is now up to me to decide which clubs I want, any feedback on what the Pings have done for your game would therfore be much appreciated to help me decide.

If anyone else has an opinion on which set to go for that would also be appreciated.

Oh and in reference to the Ping fitting chart the pro who fitted me and is an aurthorised Ping Fitting centre said he would never decide what clubs somebody needed completely off of what the chart says and that nobody who has been trained by Ping would be told to do this. They use it as a rough guide to try and make thier lives easier and sometimes it gets it spot on and they don't have to try any other specs, but on other ocasions it is miles off and they have to work basicaly from scracth in order to find the set-up that best suits the player. There is nothing wrong with using it as a guide, but it should never be used as a definitive measurement.

Last year I struggled to stick to 14 (moved up to 14.4) despite being able to do better, as I’m sure we could all say.

This year I’m down to 12.5 - as I said before this is without my chipping & putting going too well. Also I only play once a week in the winter, so expect to improve when I play twice in the summer. I think about 11 is fair at the moment, not that I play to that every round of course! I would hope to be 10 point something by the end of the year.

I did wait until I was playing relatively consistently before I got measured up – didn’t want to buy clubs to suit the poorer version of my swing…

The pings have eliminated my habit of catching it off the toe and slicing. I can’t remember the last time I caught one thin. Long irons are much better, so I can now hit a consistent long 4 iron draw on our dogleg holes. Hitting more greens and getting closer when I do. When I practice on my putting, I’m hoping for plenty of mid 70 rounds
 
Thanks for that, it has given me some things to consider as catching it off of the toe does sometimes happen. What your saying about having a better version of your swing before getting fitted, I have recently had two lessons and played my last round to 15 over par, so once I have complted my third signed card I will get a new handicap for my new course that I have recently joined and be around the 16,17 mark I should think so a considerbal cut, if your worry was that I shouldn't buy the new clubs whilst my swing was a bit wayward hence the 24 handicap in my signature hopefully this will explain it. Also I feel that I am at a stage where I could do with some new irons so just sort of fancied a change...which sort of made up my mind about getting new ones having been told I need longer clubs and a more upright lie-which is why I went to be custom fitted. And even though my swing is nowhere near perfect it is definitely repeatable...which apprently is the main criteria for getting custom fitted clubs.
 
Lets keep this short.

I think custom fitting does work IF YOU HAVE A CONSISTENT SWING!

Think about it. High handicapper like me probably never swings the same twice all round. Low handicappers who have grooved out a swing will definitly benefit. Although if they have been using the same clubs for a while have probably adapted to hitting them consistent so any changes made might be worse/ might not, who knows.

I probably stand with my arms hanging at a different height from the floor each time i take a stance, so how is custom fitting going to help me.

Some one who has played for years who knows exaactly what he's doing and sets up the same everytime might benefit from the alterations,
 
My advice would be to get yourself static fitted so that they physically suit your build.

I would go to someone like a Ping fitter who will get the right length and "dot" for you so that the lies are ok.

The heads will be pretty forgiving and the shafts wont be too far out either way and you can always upgrade in the future.

Good golfing mate.
 
Lads, the guy I mentioned plays off 4 and said that he felt the matt didn't allow for your shoes and spikes to settle into the turf and the club didn't sweep through impact as it would on soil.

I am only the messenger ;) ;)
 
Nico If that response is based at me, which I think it is as i haven't made it overly clear, I have been custom fitted already by a ping fitter for the G10s and have got my static measurements and used them to find out my perfect length and lie through a full fitting process of trying different clubs and using a launch monitor and impact board etc to make sure i get the best possible specs without just taking those reccomended by the static measurements. MY dilemma comes in that i got fitted at the same time to work out what specs I would need for the Mizuno MX-25s, the pro is an authorised mizuno fitter as well, as apprently it varies from club to club / manufacturer to manufactuer as I could not decide between the two. I hit both of them better than my un fitted irons but I can't decide which ones to purchase as they are both at a similar cost and pretty much identical in terms of ball flight, although I think the pings were slightly more forgiving on miss hits but this is countered by the fact that i prefer the look of the Mizunos.

It's not that I am unsure as to whether I shoudl get fitted.

Apologies also if this is completely irrelevant as you were not reffering to what I had said, but the post of another forumer. It's just your post says in reply to 'theeaglehunter'.
 
oh and just quickly apologies for sort of hijacking this thread...which Mads post has just reminded me of. I might start a new one in search of help over my dilema.

Sorry about that, I just thought it was a suitbale discussion for me to get an answer from.Which I kind of have.
 
Lets keep this short.

I think custom fitting does work IF YOU HAVE A CONSISTENT SWING!

Think about it. High handicapper like me probably never swings the same twice all round. Low handicappers who have grooved out a swing will definitly benefit. Although if they have been using the same clubs for a while have probably adapted to hitting them consistent so any changes made might be worse/ might not, who knows.

I probably stand with my arms hanging at a different height from the floor each time i take a stance, so how is custom fitting going to help me.

Some one who has played for years who knows exaactly what he's doing and sets up the same everytime might benefit from the alterations,

Can't find a fault with that logic provided you fall within the range of standard club lengths.

I'm 6'3 and the missus is a shade under 6' with longer legs than me. It seems to make sense to have her next set at least looked at for lie and length if nothing else.

Beyond that it's got to be about building a square and consistant swing path IMHO.

Mats- well, most of us don't get a choice but i'm not blind to their limitations. The force of scudding irons into an unyielding surface can't be good for the joints and even the lowest rubber tee bungs are too high for irons and I get annoyed by the 'slappy' feedback and noise generated from an iron hit too high up the face.

Fine for woods on a tee but how are you ever going to get an accurate set up you can take to the course with your irons. Im not attempting to make excuses for thinned shots but it can't help.

Many ranges should be ashamed at the state of their facilities including balls, mats, tee pegs and prices thereof.

It frequently leaves a bitter taste in the mouth having shelled out £3 or £4 for abucket and then £2 for an instant coffee for the privilage of smacking bits of rock off some astro turf.

Ive now got access to a short 9 hole practice pitch and putt on site at the club and a further huge field with a few pins on it for the mid and longer irons which i'll miss greatly if I ever have to leave.
 
can i chuck in my two-pennorth re mats. I have a sneaking suspicion that having learnt on mats is the reason why i find it difficult to take a divot after the ball, it's easy before the ball.
 
Nico

I think you will find custom fitting is a pre-requisite of the PGA exams and so even if the pro doesn't have the facilities to offer the service he would have the knowledge to do so. They have to learn how to measure someone for club fitting including loft, lie, shaft length, grip thickness, shaft flex.

That is why as so many of the guys have said if you take a club in to a pro shop they can tell without having to measure that it is sitting to flat or upright. Most pro's I know will have the facility in the workshop to adjust a loft or lie easily
 
Not all Custom fittings are the same !!!
The point here for me is that there is real custom fitting & the other type ie taking a couple of measurements and making a few swings etc even if it is using a monitor, my fitting took at least an hour and a half from a fully qualified fitter and club maker working from his own workshop .He makes the clubs himself & he only deals with certain brands. I am fairly new to the game and if my swing changes or I am not happy with them he will re-adjust my clubs if needed at no added cost.
 
Homer,I stand corrected. In my defence I have several pro mates and none of them were taught this. I have a pal who recently qualified and he never mentioned it so I assumed things were the same now.

I did know they were taught to bend clubs,but these days not many keep the kit(certainly not at my place).

I used to go to St.Georges Hill to get mine bent by Barry Willet (Mizuno Tour guy)
 
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