Fitting - is it worth it?

[tigerwes]

How many people have been fitted for clubs or do you just buy what you think suits.

In my experience I'm not sure how much difference it makes.

One of my best set of irons Cobra S2 were a quick fitting with just lie and loft really and picking Reg or Stiff. Great irons and worked to get me down to 8hcp.

2 years ago I went to Scottsdale's for a fitting, went through various heads and shafts, ended up with Callaway TCB irons and couldn't really get on with them.

Last year went to SUB70 and had a good fitting, gave me more information than at Scottsdale. But even though we tried completely different shafts the results were almost the same. I'm pretty sure I could of just bought straight from the website. Maybe that's just my swing though.

The only driver fitting I've had was at the Belfry for a TM SLDR. Ended up the worst driver I've ever had.

 

[cliveb]

The first set of half decent irons I had were Ping G10. I just bought standard loft & lie.
A few years ago I had a set of Orkas custom built for me.
I am equally bad with both.

 

[Bdill93]

I think its worth it if there's anything about you that means "standard" might not cut the mustard.

I'm 6 2" and most of that is my legs - I have benefitted from longer irons for sure.

 

[Crow]

I was fitted for a set of irons a few years back, didn't make any difference. In fact my handicap went up, although that was due to several factors.

Now I buy almost solely on looks, I enjoy having the chosen clubs in the bag and my scoring is unaffected.

 

[MiurasFan]

Essential if trying seriously to improve imo. Otherwise there'll always be the 'are my clubs holding me back' concern.

 

[Backsticks]

Its quite open and shut that fitting, other than for tour pros, is a sales technique : for club sellers to sell clubs, and for fitter to sell the illusion of fitting being a thing.
Best is to buy whatever colour, brand, sales slogan catches your eye : its the marketing you are about to pay for that has made that decision for you anyway.

 

[Jigger]

I went for a fitting with a mate 6 years ago. We both came out with Mizuno JPX900s with different regular shafts and we both can’t hit each others clubs. There so many shaft options out there, it would be a loss not to see the data and hone that set further.

I also have a mate at work who is always complaining about his irons being unplayable. He’s had numerous sets off eBay and could saved hundreds if he just saved and got fitted.

 

[Voyager EMH]

How many people have been fitted for clubs or do you just buy what you think suits?

I've done both.

The fitting process introduces another person to lead you into the second process.
You can not avoid the second process.

The fitting process gives you the option of blaming someone else for playing badly later on.

 

[Kennysarmy]

How many people have been fitted for clubs or do you just buy what you think suits.

In my experience I'm not sure how much difference it makes.

One of my best set of irons Cobra S2 were a quick fitting with just lie and loft really and picking Reg or Stiff. Great irons and worked to get me down to 8hcp.

2 years ago I went to Scottsdale's for a fitting, went through various heads and shafts, ended up with Callaway TCB irons and couldn't really get on with them.

Last year went to SUB70 and had a good fitting, gave me more information than at Scottsdale. But even though we tried completely different shafts the results were almost the same. I'm pretty sure I could of just bought straight from the website. Maybe that's just my swing though.

The only driver fitting I've had was at the Belfry for a TM SLDR. Ended up the worst driver I've ever had.

Yes, fit for everything.
Fitting costs usually deducted from the purchase price, so why would you not get fit?

The only driver fitting I've had was at the Belfry for a TM SLDR. Ended up the worst driver I've ever had.

Ended up?

So start with it was a good driver? Suggesting your swing and ability to hit driver consistently may have been the issue, not the fitters fault?

 

[Imurg]

If youre a fairly run of the mill, middle-of-the-road, ordinary, average guy or gal then you can possibly get away with picking something off the shelf.?

But how do you know?

Ah, just pick the first set of irons you come across and hope that, although you need 1/2 inch shorter, 95g regular shafts with heads that need to be 2° flat, the X-Stiff 130g, 1/2 inch longer shafts attached to heads that are 3° upright will do the job..
You'll either be replacing them in a few weeks or giving up altogether.

 

[tigerwes]

Yes, fit for everything.
Fitting costs usually deducted from the purchase price, so why would you not get fit?



Ended up?

So start with it was a good driver? Suggesting your swing and ability to hit driver consistently may have been the issue, not the fitters fault?

If your buying second hand, new drivers and irons can be stupidly expensive.

The driver was crap straight after delivery. I think I sold it within a couple of weeks.

 

[Imurg]

Never hit the SLDR but from what I remember, if you didn't middle it you were toast.....

 

[sjw]

If your buying second hand, new drivers and irons can be stupidly expensive.

The driver was crap straight after delivery. I think I sold it within a couple of weeks.

But how did you get fitted for a crap club? Why did you buy it?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

If youre a fairly run of the mill, middle-of-the-road, ordinary, average guy or gal then you can possibly get away with picking something off the shelf.?

But how do you know?

Ah, just pick the first set of irons you come across and hope that, although you need 1/2 inch shorter, 95g regular shafts with heads that need to be 2° flat, the X-Stiff 130g, 1/2 inch longer shafts attached to heads that are 3° upright will do the job..
You'll either be replacing them in a few weeks or giving up altogether.

Or trying to change your game to accommodate them once you find you hit them better if you do x, y or z.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Never hit the SLDR but from what I remember, if you didn't middle it you were toast.....

There was no spin in the head, so unless hit with lots of backspin it just fell out of the air.

 

[Kennysarmy]

But how did you get fitted for a crap club? Why did you buy it?

Exactly. This.

 

[tigerwes]

But how did you get fitted for a crap club? Why did you buy it?

The Belfry. I won the fitting on a golf forum.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

How many people have been fitted for clubs or do you just buy what you think suits.

In my experience I'm not sure how much difference it makes.

One of my best set of irons Cobra S2 were a quick fitting with just lie and loft really and picking Reg or Stiff. Great irons and worked to get me down to 8hcp.

2 years ago I went to Scottsdale's for a fitting, went through various heads and shafts, ended up with Callaway TCB irons and couldn't really get on with them.

Last year went to SUB70 and had a good fitting, gave me more information than at Scottsdale. But even though we tried completely different shafts the results were almost the same. I'm pretty sure I could of just bought straight from the website. Maybe that's just my swing though.

The only driver fitting I've had was at the Belfry for a TM SLDR. Ended up the worst driver I've ever had.

If you are Mr Average - height, arm length, leg length, swing speed, swing plane etc etc etc then off the shelf clubs should be fine.
But if you are not Mr Average then it makes sense to have something put together to suit your game.
I wouldn't advise having one fitting and buying based on that alone. I'd suggest having a variety of fittings, with different manufacturers stock, to find what suits you best.

When I bought my new irons in 2020 I tried Mizuno, TM, Callaway, Titleist & Ping fittings. These bought into the fitting different head types, shaft options and grips.
One head would work well with a certain shaft, but not with another, then a different head would work well with the first shaft, and so on.

Once all fitters came to similar consensus' I felt happy to choose a new set; being a "players" iron, with an x flex shaft which is lightweight. As I hit the sweet spot regularly, with a fast swing, which is long and fluid. Rather than an aggressive pass at the ball.
Of those I preferred the MP20 MMC, with the Nippon x 105 shaft.

 

[D-S]

All I would recommend is that during your fitting go back to your own driver a few random times as a control. It is all too easy to hit 10 or 15 shots with your current driver as a warmup then compare everything with the best of these. After hitting 30 or 40 shots with other clubs and shafts it’s surprising how much better you can hit your own than those warm up hits.

 

[Teebs]

It's a good question. The shaft plays such an important part of the whole club and there's a huge range of shafts out there to try and get something that suits you. I was recently fitted and moved from KBS Tour Lite stiff to Dynamic Gold 120s (so in effect, a heavier shaft) but it worked as I wanted a higher ball flight. Only a few rounds in, but the shaft really works for me in getting the dispersion super tight on shorter irons.
Same for me on hybrids. I can't hit the standard Alta Ping shaft as even in stiff, it's too soft for me. Tried it with the Hzrdus Smoke Red stiff and it's briliant.

Given most fittings are FOC (if you make a purchase), I wouldn't dream of getting a new club without seeing what it does on a range.