Pay for Custom Fitting or not?

[Mungoscorner]

Custom fitting for anybody except the most acomplished golfer,is questionable.
You can only be fitted for the swing you have on the day.
There is no consequence to a bad shot on the driving range and/or Trackman.

 

[LanDog]

But what if he spends an hour going through the fitting, you note down the numbers, say you'll think about it and then buy those specs online for less.....
He has to charge you for his time. If you buy from him then he'll almost certainly deduct the cost from the bill. Otherwise he's spent money and got nothing back. Giving advice on clothes is a little different......
I give a free hour Driving Lesson to a complete beginner as a taster - it takes 45 minutes to get to starting the engine so it doesn't cost me much. But a free hour, driving around using fuel, depreciating the car - for possibly no more? Same meat, different gravy.

I see your point Imurg, but if I fit a guy for a suit, shirt, shoes. Then he doesn't buy from me. Then I feel peeved, I know it's different for a club fitter. But I like to think that for a true fitter, for someone to go up to him, they would be serious about and not waste his time. Not for just offering advice, in a shop you're expected to that as a bare minimum

 

[ScienceBoy]

Custom fitting for anybody except the most acomplished golfer,is questionable.

I agreed with you before I read many posts on this forum and then tried it for myself.

I still agree that for iron custom fitting, apart from loft and lies, that still holds true. Beginner golfers just need to pick up an offset, large headed, perimeter weighted set of half decent irons and they are good to go.

BUT for woods and drivers getting the right (graphite) shaft is crucial no matter what your golfing ability as the wrong shaft can make even a half decent swing rubbish and the right shaft can make a half decent swing good!

Putters are the same, the swing is easier to learn (if you have a V-Easy anyway) and a putter fitting can help the average beginner sink more putts and therefore lower their score!

 

[Steve In Spain]

Got to admit, the best thing I ever did was go to the TaylorMade Centre of Excellence in Germany for my birthday treat to myself in June this year. I had the full fitting via the MAT -T system and no, it wasn't cheap, 250€ for 2.5 hours, but they did everything that is possible to do with looking at your swing, the speed, the angle and everything. I came away with a new set of RBZ Max Irons and already they have proven to be a good purchase as my handicap is down quite a bit now.

I suppose it all depends on how serious you are with your golf...after all, you wouldn't choose just any size of shoe would you, or a suit, you'd choose items that fitted you, so if you are 6'3" then why would a set of off the shelf clubs built for a 5.9 person be suitable for you or your swing!

 

[HughJars]

Custom fitting for anybody except the most acomplished golfer,is questionable.
You can only be fitted for the swing you have on the day.

It isn't questionable for anyone except the ignorant, and most peoples swings change very little. How well they are striking it is a different matter, but the characteristics of a fit change minutely.

 

[LanDog]

so if you are 6'3" then why would a set of off the shelf clubs built for a 5.9 person be suitable for you or your swing!

I can vouch for that I'm 6'4"

 

[Mungoscorner]

It isn't questionable for anyone except the ignorant, and most peoples swings change very little. How well they are striking it is a different matter, but the characteristics of a fit change minutely.

I'll say it again.

Show me proof that custom fitting alone will lower a handicap.

I won't hold my breath.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I'll say it again.

Show me proof that custom fitting alone will lower a handicap.

I won't hold my breath.

My driving along with the V-Easy improving my putting was crucial to my 2011 season, my driving improved due to one thing only, getting the correct shaft in my driver, which was chosen by a club fitter. If it was not for the driver shaft the V-Easy improvements could not help reduce my handicap.

I also changed irons at the same time, from SGI to mid cavity based on my pro's advice. I know that the driver shaft set me up, the course I played was a long one at nearly 6500 yards off the whites and a driver is used 10-12 times a round.

If I had been custom fit for my irons alone I doubt my handicap would have reduced, same for wedges or probably my putter. The driver shaft change was absolutely key, getting fitted for a driver shaft is something EVERY golfer should do.

 

[Mungoscorner]

My driving along with the V-Easy improving my putting was crucial to my 2010 season, my driving improved due to one thing only, getting the correct shaft in my driver, which was chosen by a club fitter. If it was not for the driver shaft the V-Easy improvements could not help reduce my handicap.

You don't have a handicap.

 

[ScienceBoy]

You don't have a handicap.

I did back then, got my first handicap in June 2010, around 17 with the stock shaft. Got the driver shaft fitted at the end of the 2010 season, I was playing off 11.7 within 8 months of the fitting.

 

[Imurg]

You don't have a handicap.

Just being pedantic - but nor do you.....

Not that it's relevent to the topic........:thup:

 

[ScienceBoy]

Just being pedantic - but nor do you.....

Not that it's relevent to the topic........:thup:

Your still my second favourite brother

 

[Mungoscorner]

I did back then, got my first handicap in 2010, around 17 with the stock shaft, got the driver shaft fitted after a while and I was playing off 11.7 within 8 months of the fitting.

I started playing golf in 2000.Only played once every month or so with my workmates at a municpal course using borrowed clubs.Joined a local club a couple of years later and was given a 19 handicap,14 months later i was down to 6,a month later i was down to 5.I was unable to play many qualifiers over the next few months due to working on comp days,but after shooting rounds of 70 and 72 in my club champs i was down to 4.
I've never been custom fitted,i have a swing like an octopus having a fit,and i never practice.Now i'm either very gifted (ha ha ha),have chanced upon the perfect set of clubs with the correct shafts,or i'm just some old duffer who has some idea what ball flight/shape he has,and has a rough idea how far he hits each club.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I started playing golf in 2000.Only played once every month or so with my workmates at a municpal course using borrowed clubs.Joined a local club a couple of years later and was given a 19 handicap,14 months later i was down to 6,a month later i was down to 5.I was unable to play many qualifiers over the next few months due to working on comp days,but after shooting rounds of 70 and 72 in my club champs i was down to 4.
I've never been custom fitted,i have a swing like an octopus having a fit,and i never practice.Now i'm either very gifted (ha ha ha),have chanced upon the perfect set of clubs with the correct shafts,or i'm just some old duffer who has some idea what ball flight/shape he has,and has a rough idea how far he hits each club.

You have your experience, I have mine. I know I would not have got to where I did without the correct shaft in my driver at the course I was playing.

I know the original shaft I had was wrong and was costing me shots once I had learnt how to swing a club. With the correct shaft I had a good base to built a solid golf game. It definably contributed to my handicap reduction.

You are defiantly NOT the average golfer and you probably could play off that handicap with pretty much any set. You obviously have a lot of natural ability and timing.

 

[Imurg]

I'm not sure anyone can ever say for certain that CF has reduced their handicap. There's too many other aspects to the game.
Let's face it, playing with the same clubs for a year - hard for a lot of us I know but keep with me - and you'll score well, you'll score poorly, you'll strike the ball well, you'll strike it poorly. Over the course of a year you'll go through every peak and trough known to the game. Is it your clubs, or you, or the way the wind's blowing?
When I was CF'd by Mizuno I can say, without doubt, that I started to hit the ball better. Was that down to the CF or down to the change in clubs? The CF was only 1/2 inch longer and 1 degree flat - not Earth-shatteringly different. When I changed to Callaway (non-CF), I still hit the ball well, as well if not better than before. Clubs or me? Or the wind...?

 

[Mungoscorner]

I'm not sure anyone can ever say for certain that CF has reduced their handicap. There's too many other aspects to the game.
Let's face it, playing with the same clubs for a year - hard for a lot of us I know but keep with me - and you'll score well, you'll score poorly, you'll strike the ball well, you'll strike it poorly. Over the course of a year you'll go through every peak and trough known to the game. Is it your clubs, or you, or the way the wind's blowing?
When I was CF'd by Mizuno I can say, without doubt, that I started to hit the ball better. Was that down to the CF or down to the change in clubs? The CF was only 1/2 inch longer and 1 degree flat - not Earth-shatteringly different. When I changed to Callaway (non-CF), I still hit the ball well, as well if not better than before. Clubs or me? Or the wind...?

You've answered your own question,CF clubs made a difference,non CF clubs performed just as well.
My argument is that CF propaganda is making claims it can't back up.Golfers are being misled into thinking they "must" be custom fitted and "must" swing the club a certain way,if they are ever going to become any better at the game,which is complete and utter tosh.It's the same as certain manufacturers pushing there wares on the "15 yards longer" argument.I know some very poor golfers who hit the ball a mile,and i know some very gifted golfers who hit the ball nowhere.

 

[HughJars]

I'll say it again.

Show me proof that custom fitting alone will lower a handicap.

I won't hold my breath.

I dropped from 8 to 6 on my first fit a few years back, this year, after getting the i20s, I went from 5 to 3. What sort of proof are you after?

 

[HughJars]

You've answered your own question,CF clubs made a difference,non CF clubs performed just as well.
My argument is that CF propaganda is making claims it can't back up.Golfers are being misled into thinking they "must" be custom fitted and "must" swing the club a certain way,if they are ever going to become any better at the game,which is complete and utter tosh..

Absolute complete and utter bollocks. Manufacturers and retailers would far rather sell stock sets off the shelf, than have all the expense and hassle of custom fitting.

 

[Mungoscorner]

Absolute complete and utter bollocks. Manufacturers and retailers would far rather sell stock sets off the shelf, than have all the expense and hassle of custom fitting.

Answer the question and stop talking bollocks yourself.Your shouting your mouth off and have nothing to back it up with except your oppinion.
Every single manufacturer is after a sale,if one company starts to sell more clubs by offering a custom fit option then others will follow there lead in order to compete for sales.

Next question.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I dropped from 8 to 6 on my first fit a few years back, this year, after getting the i20s, I went from 5 to 3. What sort of proof are you after?

I still am of the opinion that the biggest gains in fitting are in the woods, these clubs have the largest margins for errors and therefore a place for the largest gains.

For most people iron custom fitting gives marginal benefits of just going out and picking the same club off the shelf yourself. The difference will mostly come in the advice of which head to choose.

Like it has been said a lot before, the definition of custom fitting means things to different people. Some see it as just going on a trackman, others see it as a fitter choosing the head, loft/lie and shaft. Others like me think its just about the shaft, loft and lie, heads are something more personal.

It is good an iron fitting helped you Hugh but do you think you would have done much different if you had picked the same clubs off the shelf stock? Maybe for you and some it did make a difference. For most people it would make no difference at all, the stock iron shaft and head would do them just fine. Its all about WHICH head for them.

Drivers and woods I still believe going and getting a shaft fitting is essential, doesn't really matter what head as long as the shaft is good!