Custom Fitting - The answer to all problems?

[Piece]

Whether its a bad or good fit, or whether you need one, the fundamental point is you need to look and understand what the ball is doing. Fits may lie, but ball flight won't. Lessons and fits are tools to get the ball flight right and consistent.

 

[MadAdey]

I bought a set of irons at AG and was 'custom' fitted to 3/4's of an inch longer and 2 degrees flat. Joined a club and had a few lessons with the pro who just couldn't understand that spec. He did a custom fit for me again with a few different clubs and recommended 1 degree upright! Sent the clubs back to Ping who changed them for me.

So I guess make sure you have a repeatable swing before you get custom fitted and be certain about who is fitting you.

I would put it down to someone who does not know what they are doing. Only once have I gone to AG to get fitted for irons and walked out after 10 minutes because they had no idea on what they were doing.

 

[elevenredmen]

I think the important things to remember are

1) the accuracy of the fit relates to the consistency of the swing

2) shaft fitting recommendation is based on your swing that day, if you rip it you will be fitted for a shaft that works best when you rip it, if your having a bad day the opposite will be true.

These need to be taken into consideration when reviewing the results and recommendations - which is probably why different fitters advise different options as they will haved looked at different swings.

 

[seochris]

My take on this is that it depends on how good the fitter is in order to correctly diagnose what is required.

Bit like a Doctor...he should be asking you questions about your swing, club preference, shot shapes current and desired, bad shots, grip size, lie and loft angles etc and then set you up on the trackman.

He should be aiming for a specific characteristic depending on the answers you give him and you should be started of with your existing clubs and then quizzed if that was normal...good...bad whatever so he can build up a picture of your swing. After about 2 hours you might be homing in on a shaft or head or both that suits. Dont expect a fitting in 15 minutes hence the charge which i am happy to pay for. Nothing of any value is free in my experience.

When i was fitted the charteristics for irons and driver were different and it wasnt all about length. ;-)

Anyway, had the fitted clubs since end of June and now in the final of my club's matchplay competition and knocked out a 6 handicapper of the Matchplay Championships. my driving distance has gone from 210 to 235 average and the irons are going great....just need to get my chipping and putting sorted and i reckon i could get back to single figures as i was 20 years ago. Both GIR and Fairways hit have an upward trend and pleased with the results. My handicap has been cut on both the events i entered with the revised set up despite the chipping and putting!

So absolutely it makes a difference....but then it depends on who you go to.

I recognise that AG do not have people in their stores who can fit but then a 5 minute talk with them will tell you that so dont go there!

My view is that you should go to a good fitter and pay for that consulation. It is a bit of blind faith and i understand the reluctance as I felt the same way but now ive done it i can whole heartedly recommend it!