robinthehood
Hacker
depends, the big brands have a number of customs options included in the price.
Custom fitting flawed?
- Thread starter Pin-seeker
- Start date
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Yeah but if you buy all your stuff second hand like I do, I don't know many places that custom fit for old used gear. So the extra cost is in buying new as well as the cost of fitting.
USER1999
Grand Slam Winner
I have been c/f, and have also bought off the rack. I always extend my irons to the right length and regrip with my preferred grip. I have 8 sets of irons, all with different shafts. I have no idea what the lie angles are.
TXG do an interesting video on lie boards on youtube. If you are a believer in these, have a watch. You might just have a rethink.
TXG do an interesting video on lie boards on youtube. If you are a believer in these, have a watch. You might just have a rethink.
Dibby
Assistant Pro
This is my opinion also. I discussed this topic recently with the pro I am working with, and the gist of the conversation was, if you give any club to a good golfer, they will make something of it and you will know they are a good golfer. Likewise the opposite for a poor golfer, you can give them perfectly fit clubs and they will still be bad. He said the real value of custom fit is if you are looking for a specific shape, to help you fine tune this, so the real value is for those who have a consistent strike and want to fine tune.
In addition to the above, apart from off the tee (and on some courses not even then!), we pretty much never play from a perfectly flat lie, yet our subconscious is perfectly capable of making the minute adjustments to still hit the ball. Likewise, before fitting become popular, there were still lots of good golfers shooting low scores.
I would still get a fitting if it was baked into the cost of clubs, but I don't see it as the panacea that some claim it is.
robinthehood
Hacker
Plenty of options to get 2nd hand gear fitted if you want to, i'd probably not bother beyond changing grips and shaft length, both of which are easily done at home.
D
Deleted Member 1156
Guest
Custom fitting becomes more important as you get better.
ArnoldArmChewer
Tour Winner
I was lucky enough to be selected by GM for a full fitting at the Titleist fitting centre a year or two back. The fitter did a really thorough review and we tried various shafts/heads etc etc. I came away with a new set of irons fitted to my exact spec. Now hears the thing I am a mid-handicap and was fitted to my swing on that day, my swing is far from consistent and inevitably the clubs did not ultimately give me any improvement in distance/accuracy/dispersion/attraction by the opposite sex or indeed anything else.
I have subsequently traded the clubs for a non -fitted set of irons of a different flex (I have gone from reg to stiff but the stiff shafts to me feel 'softer' than the reg but that's a different issue), the new irons still do not make me irresistible to the opposite sex but I do feel more comfortable with them.
In conclusion as I have a swing akin to a gorilla scratching his bum I don't think fitted clubs did too much to help me, however that's just my experience.
I have subsequently traded the clubs for a non -fitted set of irons of a different flex (I have gone from reg to stiff but the stiff shafts to me feel 'softer' than the reg but that's a different issue), the new irons still do not make me irresistible to the opposite sex but I do feel more comfortable with them.
In conclusion as I have a swing akin to a gorilla scratching his bum I don't think fitted clubs did too much to help me, however that's just my experience.
D
Deleted Member 1156
Guest
Dunno Steve, I peeked in your bag at Woburn and felt a bit of a stir in my groin
ArnoldArmChewer
Tour Winner
Dunno Steve, I peeked in your bag at Woburn and felt a bit of a stir in my groin
Gordon, stick to your lovely muse, my bag is not going anywhere near you !!!
Curls
Journeyman Pro
Before I joined a club I hadn't been playing long and estimate I was probably a high 20s handicap. I was custom fit for Ping G15 irons and driver at the Gainsborough HQ. I had no idea about shaft flex or anything so was happy with the process and resulting clubs. They were blue dot, grips slightly thin. The set up there was amazing and I felt like a pro. I played with these about a year and got my first h/c of 17.
When I look back my iron play was awful, I can't imagine I hit very many out of the middle that day and I certainly wasn't attacking the ball at the correct angle. My swing was variable at best but contact was even more so.
Was custom fitting any use to me? Well, perhaps not much more so than getting a knowledgeable soul to see me hit a few shots and recommend I use GI Regular clubs, but I enjoyed the process and loved the bats when they arrived all new and shiney (well, as shiney as G15s get!).
Then everything changed. I had a lesson with Bobmac and he showed me how to strike irons. Night and day. I eventually felt I had outgrown GIs and bought Mizuno MP54s off eBay (Reg KBS 90 shafts) and a Reg shaft Titleist 915 driver because basically I thought they looked cool and got a good price. I played happily with those for the past 2 years. My ball striking improved but my handicap sort of stalled.
In October last year I got a birthday present from all the lads of a £400 American Golf voucher and went for a driver fitting. I wrote it up here, but the take home is I gained 20+ yards carry over my 915 by switching to a light stiff shaft TS3. Think I went from ~210 to 230. This means completely different lines around my home course, which I haven't been able to do much of but when I have, wow. Dispersion also massively improved, I instantly lost my high weak push fade. It was also there that I had a quick try of irons and realised that again my bad shots stemmed from too flexy a shaft. The same KBS 90 in Stiff were arrow straight. I picked up my Adams irons with the right shafts to see if this was just a fitting phenomoena. It wasn't. I upgraded my 3 wood shaft, its a new club. The fitter commented on how often I made central contact with Driver and good contact/AOI with irons and that it was really important to get the best fit. I'm booked in for a custom fitting at Mizuno for irons in a few weeks and I am pretty much wetting myself every time I think about it.
IMO custom fitting is not a waste of time especially if have not been for a fitting in a year or 2, or you've recently improved. Do different people get different things out of it depending on their ability? Of course they do. The same as lessons. Or a round at a great course. Who is to say that that 19 handicap in the video wouldn’t enjoy his round at Carnoustie more than the 8? That’s £250 for a golf experience during which your ability does not necessarily dictate enjoyment.
Is custom fitting an enjoyable experience? I think most people would say yes. Will custom fitting instantly make you a better player? No. Will it maximise your chances of playing to the best of your ability? Yes. But the magnitude of benefit is obviously dependant on the repeatability of contact both at the fitting and afterwards.
The Vlog was awful imo, but each to their own. It's a crowded market now with something for everyone. This guy aint for me.
When I look back my iron play was awful, I can't imagine I hit very many out of the middle that day and I certainly wasn't attacking the ball at the correct angle. My swing was variable at best but contact was even more so.
Was custom fitting any use to me? Well, perhaps not much more so than getting a knowledgeable soul to see me hit a few shots and recommend I use GI Regular clubs, but I enjoyed the process and loved the bats when they arrived all new and shiney (well, as shiney as G15s get!).
Then everything changed. I had a lesson with Bobmac and he showed me how to strike irons. Night and day. I eventually felt I had outgrown GIs and bought Mizuno MP54s off eBay (Reg KBS 90 shafts) and a Reg shaft Titleist 915 driver because basically I thought they looked cool and got a good price. I played happily with those for the past 2 years. My ball striking improved but my handicap sort of stalled.
In October last year I got a birthday present from all the lads of a £400 American Golf voucher and went for a driver fitting. I wrote it up here, but the take home is I gained 20+ yards carry over my 915 by switching to a light stiff shaft TS3. Think I went from ~210 to 230. This means completely different lines around my home course, which I haven't been able to do much of but when I have, wow. Dispersion also massively improved, I instantly lost my high weak push fade. It was also there that I had a quick try of irons and realised that again my bad shots stemmed from too flexy a shaft. The same KBS 90 in Stiff were arrow straight. I picked up my Adams irons with the right shafts to see if this was just a fitting phenomoena. It wasn't. I upgraded my 3 wood shaft, its a new club. The fitter commented on how often I made central contact with Driver and good contact/AOI with irons and that it was really important to get the best fit. I'm booked in for a custom fitting at Mizuno for irons in a few weeks and I am pretty much wetting myself every time I think about it.
IMO custom fitting is not a waste of time especially if have not been for a fitting in a year or 2, or you've recently improved. Do different people get different things out of it depending on their ability? Of course they do. The same as lessons. Or a round at a great course. Who is to say that that 19 handicap in the video wouldn’t enjoy his round at Carnoustie more than the 8? That’s £250 for a golf experience during which your ability does not necessarily dictate enjoyment.
Is custom fitting an enjoyable experience? I think most people would say yes. Will custom fitting instantly make you a better player? No. Will it maximise your chances of playing to the best of your ability? Yes. But the magnitude of benefit is obviously dependant on the repeatability of contact both at the fitting and afterwards.
The Vlog was awful imo, but each to their own. It's a crowded market now with something for everyone. This guy aint for me.
pokerjoke
Money List Winner
Too long
Dibby
Assistant Pro
Interesting observation about the driver, as the pro I spoke to, said for most amateurs if they do get custom fit, the biggest bang for the buck would be driver and putter.
Curls
Journeyman Pro
Boabski
Challenge Tour Pro
Definitely some mileage in tbat argument, the video makes sense to me
Jamesbrown
Head Pro
Probably is a waste of time. But an inexpensive way to try and test the golf clubs you like and get a feel for them.
Unless your a robot, your swing path, angle of attack and dynamic loft will change two weeks after a fitting anyway.
It’s important you get hold of the clubs and how they weigh up in your hands.
Unless your a robot, your swing path, angle of attack and dynamic loft will change two weeks after a fitting anyway.
It’s important you get hold of the clubs and how they weigh up in your hands.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Had several fits over the years from a couple of poor AG versions to a really in depth one when I got my I25's including a follow up session after I'd had the clubs a few weeks in case they needed a tweak. Silvermere offers a great service and always worth a look if you are in the vicinity and I'd love to spend a day at Golf Principles or similar just to spend the day trying absolutely everything like a kid in a sweet shop (my dad owned one of those so know the feeling!)
Jensen
Tour Rookie
What was your favourite in the sweet shop, fizz bombs, space dust, refreshers or army and navy ?
Dando
Q-School Graduate
He should’ve asked Dianne Abbott for the answer!Might take a bit more notice of it if he could subtract 17 from 50 & get the right answer
It's not a terrible video, it's worse than that.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
I had a real passion for Texan bars. Trouble is when you like so much and have so much temptation you do tend to go off sweets very quickly
Blue in Munich
Crocked Professional Yeti Impersonator
She'd probably have got closer than he did.
