Do driver fittings work?

[Simbo]

Comes down to 2 things IMO.
How your current club performs and how repetitive your swing is.
Club fitting gives good mental feeling, a bit of confidence that you have eliminated guesswork from your club purchase. Everyone needs as much help as they can get when it comes to clubs, having an expert eye looking at your stats will probably help.
Iv been fitted by a very good fitter previously and thought it made a difference and I stuck with the club for many years.
It’s now old and I wanted to replace it,
Due to the fact I haven’t played as much the last 3 years I was baulking at the £100 fitting and £400/450 for a new club, plus the other woods and hybrids. It’s a lot of cash to justify.
I’m reasonably decent with my stats so Iv taken a calculated gamble just now and tried a few demo clubs and picked one up fairly cheaply. I’ll see how it goes once the season starts.
On the flip side, Iv been fitted for a putter and bought the one they advised was best for me, hated it but stuck with it for a full season because it was supposed to be best for me, before I caved and got rid of it and bought something I actually liked.
So I have a sceptical side that says fittings are snake oil, as average golfers, swings can be a lot more ropey than people imagine. I reckon you could go for a fittings at 2 different places on the same day and get specced for something totally different.
Even the same fitter a couple weeks apart.

Verdict though- If you can justify the money I’d say go for a good fitting.

 

[Brechin balata]

Let’s be honest a £500 driver isn’t going to cure a bad swing.

 

[Orikoru]

Let’s be honest a £500 driver isn’t going to cure a bad swing.

It can turn an out of bounds slice into a fade that stays in play though. ??‍

 

[Bratty]

It can turn an out of bounds slice into a fade that stays in play though. ??‍

It certainly did that for me.

 

[theoneandonly]

It can turn an out of bounds slice into a fade that stays in play though. ??‍

How does it do that? I find that hard to believe.

 

[phillarrow]

How does it do that? I find that hard to believe.

By weighting the head in a way that makes it easier to close the face - or harder to keep it too far open?

 

[Orikoru]

How does it do that? I find that hard to believe.

If you really don't know you must have been living under a rock for the last decade. All kind of tech but as said above, heel-weighting is one of the main ones.

 

[tsped83]

If you really don't know you must have been living under a rock for the last decade. All kind of tech but as said above, heel-weighting is one of the main ones.

Weighting can help, but I’m it really doesn’t have that kind of impact. A filthy slice from an open club face cannot be saved by perimeter weighting. You might be 5 yards less in the trees at a push.

 

[Orikoru]

Weighting can help, but I’m it really doesn’t have that kind of impact. A filthy slice from an open club face cannot be saved by perimeter weighting. You might be 5 yards less in the trees at a push.

I've seen it with my own eyes. My mate couldn't keep the ball on the course, came back with a G425 SFT and was putting it in the right hand rough.

 

[phillarrow]

The question was - Do driver fittings work? And I explained in the post that I am asking about whether they make much difference. In my case, I am looking for increased carry and less roll. I don't think anybody has suggested that any kind of club fitting will completely cure every problem a golfer has with their swing. It's obvious (to me at least) that we're not talking about fixing extreme issues that can only be solved with quality lessons, we're talking about reducing the effect of minor issues.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

The question was - Do driver fittings work? And I explained in the post that I am asking about whether they make much difference. In my case, I am looking for increased carry and less roll. I don't think anybody has suggested that any kind of club fitting will completely cure every problem a golfer has with their swing. It's obvious (to me at least) that we're not talking about fixing extreme issues that can only be solved with quality lessons, we're talking about reducing the effect of minor issues.

Isn't the aim to increase roll as well as carry?

 

[Backsticks]

How does the club read the mind of the hitter ? So that for a given face angle and swing path, that that isn't what the hitter really wants, and so the club corrects closer to the true intentions ?

 

[JGolfer]

I don't mean the kind of quick fitting available in major stores, where they're generally just looking at what flex shaft your swing speed puts you in, I mean the kind of full fitting from places like TourX, Scottsdale etc. where they're looking at a wider variety of shafts, heads, lofts etc?

For those that have been for 'proper' fitting, did it make much of a difference? Was it worth the time and money?

I suppose it depends. In my scenario it massively helped.

My SS is around 100-103, and I knew it hit down on it, slightly out to in. So I was using a 13degree head, had a bog standard reg shaft in it. I knew it wasn’t perfect, but what I didn’t realise is based on how I delivered it etc. Just how bad it was (my carry distance was 200 yards rolling to about 210 peak height was around 140ft with around 5500spin.)

Got fit, carry distance increased by about
20 yards, halved my height, gained about 15 yards of roll on top of carry, spin dropped to 2500-3000)

Very similar results with 3 wood (I was carrying my 4 iron, further than i was carrying 3 wood) similar results.

Would I recommend? 100%, but as I mentioned it’s all relative to how bad what you have is to what your numbers etc are.

Since the fit I have had two lessons.

Pre fit + lessons:
Carry 205
Total distance around 210

Post fit + lessons:
Carry 250
Total distance around 265-270

 

[phillarrow]

Isn't the aim to increase roll as well as carry?

Ha ha! Yeah you're right, that would be ace if I could, but that means increasing total distance, which is a different beast to trying to get a more workable carry. My specific issue is that my carry compared to my total distance is really low, which causes unnecessary issues in winter and when needing to carry obstacles. I'm working on my technique with a pro, but am also saving to get a new driver that is fully fitted. The suggestions from most members here are that a fitting might make a real difference.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Ha ha! Yeah you're right, that would be ace if I could, but that means increasing total distance, which is a different beast to trying to get a more workable carry. My specific issue is that my carry compared to my total distance is really low, which causes unnecessary issues in winter and when needing to carry obstacles. I'm working on my technique with a pro, but am also saving to get a new driver that is fully fitted. The suggestions from most members here are that a fitting might make a real difference.

Do you have a high or low flight currently?

 

[phillarrow]

Do you have a high or low flight currently?

Low. Launch angle of around 5-6 degrees typically. Average roll of around 180- 190, average total distance 0f 240 - 250...in the summer!

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Low. Launch angle of around 5-6 degrees typically. Average roll of around 180- 190, average total distance 0f 240 - 250...in the summer!

So it could be technique that's an issue, hitting down on the ball too much for example.
Or, your shaft flex, location of the kick point, loft etc could be at fault.
So a fitting after lessons is a good idea.

 

[Foxholer]

The question was - Do driver fittings work? And I explained in the post that I am asking about whether they make much difference. In my case, I am looking for increased carry and less roll. I don't think anybody has suggested that any kind of club fitting will completely cure every problem a golfer has with their swing. It's obvious (to me at least) that we're not talking about fixing extreme issues that can only be solved with quality lessons, we're talking about reducing the effect of minor issues.

Why 'less roll'?
Certainly increased carry is desirable and less roll might be an acceptable consequence. But surely it's not an actual goal!

 

[phillarrow]

How does the club read the mind of the hitter ? So that for a given face angle and swing path, that that isn't what the hitter really wants, and so the club corrects closer to the true intentions ?

Strange question? It's the fitter that watches the swing and fits the club to help. The driver is designed to do what the club fitter has intended it to do, based on our swings?

 

[Foxholer]

Low. Launch angle of around 5-6 degrees typically. Average roll of around 180- 190, average total distance 0f 240 - 250...in the summer!

Surely you mean 'Average Carry'!