Fitting - is it worth it?

[Banchory Buddha]

Had fittings and bought off the shelf. I use to think fittings were a vital part of getting the right set but with my advancing years, limitations through injuries and a decaying body and a swing that I'm not going to fundamentally change at this stage then off the shelf seems a logical step. Indeed my last set (Ping I series) were bought second hand off Golfbidder

It's only logical if you're of average height & build, and swing on a neutral plane, not flat or upright, then yes off the shelf. My Pings are standard length black dots, but I still got fitted to be sure the clubs were right for me. Believe me simply switching to a blue dot had me duffing the ball all over the place

 

[Deleted member 1147]

It's only logical if you're of average height & build, and swing on a neutral plane, not flat or upright, then yes off the shelf. My Pings are standard length black dots, but I still got fitted to be sure the clubs were right for me. Believe me simply switching to a blue dot had me duffing the ball all over the place

To me it's logical to try before you buy, which in effect a CF is.
Just saying normal length, loft, lie etc isn't accurate because most companies have different standard/normal from each other. eg Mizuno used to offer shorter shafts than TM.

 

[Slab]

A fitting gets the best club for your swing and a lesson changes your swing

Is there both a chicken and egg scenario for which to do first plus a revolving door scenario where one should repeatedly follow the other?

 

[nickjdavis]

Fitting - is it worth it?​

Only if it is done free of any charge.
The onus should be on the seller to sell clubs that are suitable for you.
It should then be up to you to believe or not believe the sales pitch.

Clothes shops generally do not charge for the service of trying on clothes and examining their "fit".
Should be the same for golf clubs.

"Worth it" in terms of usefulness - certainly, why not? In terms of cost - definitely not, clubs are expensive enough.

mmm....putting aside the sort of fitting you get retail chains or similar establishment, even most club pro's, then I would have to contest this.

There are a number of highly specialised fitters across the land...individuals who have years of experience and in depth knowledge of shafts/shaft technology who absolutely should be able to charge for a fitting. These are not the guys who will run through shaft after shaft after shaft looking at LM stats to determine the best choice, but rather folks who can watch you swing your current club and know, simply from observing tempo, transition and how you deliver the club to the ball, which two or three shafts are going to be a best fit...only then do they turn to a LM for fine tuning comparison and looking at "numbers". They are able to do the same with club heads.

These folks are like magicians, but because of what they do they are not necessarily the cheapest and as such will fall victim to the golfer who wants a fitting and then shops online to get his clubs....taking advantage of the fitter who gets no reward for his time, knowledge and experience.

Why dont they drop their prices then? (I can hear folks at the back muttering)

The sort of fitters I am talking about will invariably offer their customers additional services....once a fit is decided upon they will build a test club for the customer to go away and try out, potentially tweaking things based on feedback given. Only once the customer is satisfied will a full set be built. Additionally they will then offer further fine tuning for several months...so if in practical use the golfer finds that his clubs might be delivering a bit of a yardage gap (consistent yardage gaps are not simply a case of ensuring that lofts are evenly spaced) then the fitter will invariably make adjustments to rectify things. I'm afraid you dont get this with any of the major retailers as standard and even the club pro who is probably on fine margins will struggle to justify such after care unless it is fundamentally clear that the original fit was "bad".

This is what proper club fitting is all about and folks who provide such services absolutely should charge for their pre-purchase fitting time...and almost always will knock the fitting cost of the end price of the clubs.

Whilst launch monitors are a wonderful thing they are so widely available now that any old bod can set themselves up as a fitter with no real knowledge of the process...this often undermines the efforts of the truly skilled club fitters.

 

[mister v]

If you're getting fit at American Golf then it's probably like that, yes. But a real fitter will be interested in getting you the correct club with no particular bias over which one it is. The sale is secured by the service received not by steering them in a certain direction. I've gone into fittings with an open mind to get whatever is the best-performing.

I agree with this (im sure AG has some great fitters as well) , if you go into a fitting with no brand bias and come out with something that is going to help you improve and you feel good about then i'd say thats a win

 

[nickjdavis]

Can I ask where he was fitted?

Can anyone recommend a really good place to get fitted within about 1.5 hours drive of Leicester?

Melvyn Fern - Four Counties Golf

 

[Bdill93]

I've been fitted for both sets of irons I've owned since playing golf.

Do I know for a fact if it provides a benefit - no.

Did I enjoy the experience and feel like the clubs suit me - yes.

That's enough for me!

 

[Orikoru]

I agree with this (im sure AG has some great fitters as well) , if you go into a fitting with no brand bias and come out with something that is going to help you improve and you feel good about then i'd say thats a win

I wonder how much unconscious bias comes into play though. On my driver and iron fittings, both times I came out with essentially the upgraded version of what I was using before - unintentionally - but they ended up being the best. Maybe part of that was that I was already comfortable mentally with that brand? Who knows.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I wonder how much unconscious bias comes into play though. On my driver and iron fittings, both times I came out with essentially the upgraded version of what I was using before - unintentionally - but they ended up being the best. Maybe part of that was that I was already comfortable mentally with that brand? Who knows.

When I have been to a fitter I've tried to do it as blindly (the fit, not the way I hit it) as I can. I've asked the fitter not to tell me what make of head or shaft he's putting in and I'll hit balls and give my feedback on feel, ball flight etc in addition to the monitor data. Sometimes it has been easy to work out the head by the aesthetics but I don't look at the shaft. In short I try and rule out any bias, conscious or not

 

[IanM]

Last iron fitting I had was valuable as the variety of shafts made a significant difference to the results.

Yep, I could have played "golf" with any of those I tried. But I could feel and see the difference with those I ended up with.

If you think that's not worth while, that's your decision.

 

[Voyager EMH]

mmm....putting aside the sort of fitting you get retail chains or similar establishment, even most club pro's, then I would have to contest this.

There are a number of highly specialised fitters across the land...individuals who have years of experience and in depth knowledge of shafts/shaft technology who absolutely should be able to charge for a fitting. These are not the guys who will run through shaft after shaft after shaft looking at LM stats to determine the best choice, but rather folks who can watch you swing your current club and know, simply from observing tempo, transition and how you deliver the club to the ball, which two or three shafts are going to be a best fit...only then do they turn to a LM for fine tuning comparison and looking at "numbers". They are able to do the same with club heads.

These folks are like magicians, but because of what they do they are not necessarily the cheapest and as such will fall victim to the golfer who wants a fitting and then shops online to get his clubs....taking advantage of the fitter who gets no reward for his time, knowledge and experience.

Why dont they drop their prices then? (I can hear folks at the back muttering)

The sort of fitters I am talking about will invariably offer their customers additional services....once a fit is decided upon they will build a test club for the customer to go away and try out, potentially tweaking things based on feedback given. Only once the customer is satisfied will a full set be built. Additionally they will then offer further fine tuning for several months...so if in practical use the golfer finds that his clubs might be delivering a bit of a yardage gap (consistent yardage gaps are not simply a case of ensuring that lofts are evenly spaced) then the fitter will invariably make adjustments to rectify things. I'm afraid you dont get this with any of the major retailers as standard and even the club pro who is probably on fine margins will struggle to justify such after care unless it is fundamentally clear that the original fit was "bad".

This is what proper club fitting is all about and folks who provide such services absolutely should charge for their pre-purchase fitting time...and almost always will knock the fitting cost of the end price of the clubs.

Whilst launch monitors are a wonderful thing they are so widely available now that any old bod can set themselves up as a fitter with no real knowledge of the process...this often undermines the efforts of the truly skilled club fitters.

I can not disagree with your analysis of the current state of affairs with regards to fitting.

What you describe is a club builder/fitter which is suitable for the elite golfer or anyone with the time and money who wants to experience the process - a super-enthusiast.
Tournament playing pros do this process on a regular and ongoing basis. They would be daft not to do so.

The majority of golfers are merely hobbyists. A high-end approach to club building/fitting would not be suitable for this majority.
The fitting process that is suitable for the hobbyist should be included in the purchase price. This represents the bulk of sales of new clubs that are expensive enough.

This would not prevent independents from offering additional services.

 

[nickjdavis]

I can not disagree with your analysis of the current state of affairs with regards to fitting.

What you describe is a club builder/fitter which is suitable for the elite golfer or anyone with the time and money who wants to experience the process - a super-enthusiast.
Tournament playing pros do this process on a regular and ongoing basis. They would be daft not to do so.

The majority of golfers are merely hobbyists. A high-end approach to club building/fitting would not be suitable for this majority.
The fitting process that is suitable for the hobbyist should be included in the purchase price. This represents the bulk of sales of new clubs that are expensive enough.

This would not prevent independents from offering additional services.

yeah i get the point but (there is always a but )... as someone who is a decent enough golfer without being a super enthusiast (6-11 h'cap over the last few years), I have paid for and experienced such fittings....and the costs were not prohibitive by any means (especially as they were always discounted from any club purchase). The sort of fittings I describe are not beyond the resources of most golfers...the only downside is perhaps that such fitters are often (by their own choice) limited to a narrower range oof club heads than a mainstream fitter might be.

You say a high end approach to fitting might not be suitable for the majority.....but (point up for debate)...surely if a fitting is going to be done properly, the sort of fitting that I describe should be what most golfers should be aspiring to?

(maybe I am/was a super enthusiast without realising it!!!)

At the end of the day....my point was, that if someone has specific, well developed, historical expertise in the fitting arena, then they should be paid for it, rather than have someone take advantage of that fitting knowledge and then go and buy the clubs from some where else.

Its like that old joke about the bloke who fixes the ships engine with a tap of his hammer then charges £10,000....and £9,000 of the cost is "knowing where to tap".

 

[Voyager EMH]

yeah i get the point but (there is always a but )... as someone who is a decent enough golfer without being a super enthusiast (6-11 h'cap over the last few years), I have paid for and experienced such fittings....and the costs were not prohibitive by any means (especially as they were always discounted from any club purchase). The sort of fittings I describe are not beyond the resources of most golfers...the only downside is perhaps that such fitters are often (by their own choice) limited to a narrower range oof club heads than a mainstream fitter might be.

You say a high end approach to fitting might not be suitable for the majority.....but (point up for debate)...surely if a fitting is going to be done properly, the sort of fitting that I describe should be what most golfers should be aspiring to?

(maybe I am/was a super enthusiast without realising it!!!)

At the end of the day....my point was, that if someone has specific, well developed, historical expertise in the fitting arena, then they should be paid for it, rather than have someone take advantage of that fitting knowledge and then go and buy the clubs from some where else.

Its like that old joke about the bloke who fixes the ships engine with a tap of his hammer then charges £10,000....and £9,000 of the cost is "knowing where to tap".

Which is what I said - independents would not be prevented from offering this service.
But the purchase of new clubs should include a fitting process in the price. Manufacturers and/or retailers would be incentivised to hire or train expert fitters to protect their good name.

 

[mister v]

Last iron fitting I had was valuable as the variety of shafts made a significant difference to the results.

Yep, I could have played "golf" with any of those I tried. But I could feel and see the difference with those I ended up with.

If you think that's not worth while, that's your decision.

the difference of shafts now makes a world of difference. i always thought good players used a stiff, the rest of us hit with a regular..... but now the shaft weights etc it can really change the numbers

 

[Crow]

the difference of shafts now makes a world of difference. i always thought good players used a stiff, the rest of us hit with a regular..... but now the shaft weights etc it can really change the numbers

But do they have any significant impact on your score at the end of the round?

 

[Imurg]

But do they have any significant impact on your score at the end of the round?

Impossible to say unless you take 2 sets out with different set ups and hit 2 identical shots every time.....
You can only look at shots via a monitor to see which is the most consistent..not necessarily longest.
Fitting is about finding that consistency - I've just dropped my 4 wood infamous of a 5 wood as, although the 4 wood can go a bit longer, the consistency of the 5 wood is better.
It's still all dependent on the idiot holding the club though....

 

[Slab]

Impossible to say unless you take 2 sets out with different set ups and hit 2 identical shots every time.....
You can only look at shots via a monitor to see which is the most consistent..not necessarily longest.
Fitting is about finding that consistency - I've just dropped my 4 wood infamous of a 5 wood as, although the 4 wood can go a bit longer, the consistency of the 5 wood is better.
It's still all dependent on the idiot holding the club though....

Curious, are the 4 & 5 the same brand or model?

I ask because I dropped my (callaway) 5w in favour of what I found to be a just as easy/easier to hit (cobra) 3w, and gained distance without losing the consistency

 

[Imurg]

Curious, are the 4 & 5 the same brand or model?

I ask because I dropped my (callaway) 5w in favour of what I found to be a just as easy/easier to hit (cobra) 3w, and gained distance without losing the consistency

Same brand, different model....it's whatever works isn't it....

 

[Crow]

Impossible to say unless you take 2 sets out with different set ups and hit 2 identical shots every time.....
You can only look at shots via a monitor to see which is the most consistent..not necessarily longest.
Fitting is about finding that consistency - I've just dropped my 4 wood infamous of a 5 wood as, although the 4 wood can go a bit longer, the consistency of the 5 wood is better.
It's still all dependent on the idiot holding the club though....

Smoke and mirrors then?

Even the best professionals would be hard pressed to hit 2 identical shots for one hole, let alone a full round.

Fitting is a marketing con for most club golfers. They end up with the clubs they knew that they wanted before the fitting but the fitter tells them that they're just right for them now. They then go out on the course and hit all the same shots they were hitting before.

IMHO of course.

 

[Slab]

Same brand, different model....it's whatever works isn't it....

Yup, I have three FW's all un-adjustable. Mizuno 15° 3W, Cobra 16° 3W and Callaway 17° 5W all of a similar age
I really want to put the mizuno in the bag to match driver and irons but i just can't hit it like the 1° different cobra so Mizuno is out for the foreseeable