Ponderings on Custom Fitting

[KenL]

If spending a lot of money why risk not being fitted?
I have seen a huge difference with different shafts at fittings.
My last 2 sets of irons were fitted by the manufacturers person and have both been perfect for me.
I would never buy without a reliable fitting, far too much of a risk.

 

[Imurg]

Totally agree. Went to AG for a custom iron fit-- recommended Ping G400 Red Dot. Then Ping Demo Day at our club 2 weeks later-- recommended Ping G400 Blue Dot!!! So either the fitting was wrong or "on that day" thats what my swing said!!

And isn't that one of the issues with custom fit?
Was the fit wrong or did your swing change?

As I've always said, I'm generally in favour of custom fit to a degree.
Some parts are, to my mind, over-pushed.
Take the lie angle. If you're in need of, say, +1° upright what happens when you, maybe, stand a bit taller, squat a little, hold the club slightly higher or lower, stand 1/2 an inch further away or closer to the ball....???
Are your swings consistent enough to have the face coming back to the ball at the same lie angle every time..?
We're talking about 1° of angle, maybe 2 - few are much more than that. That half an inch closer or further away from the ball is going to corrupt the fitting.
If your fitted club brings you back to the ball correctly 2/5 times then, surely, a club that's "about right" will have a similar success rate.? Unless you have a metronomic swing that is.
I went into an AG store a few years ago and hit some Ping irons with lie angles ranging from 2° down to 3° up and hit them all straightish.
A custom fit can only work for the swing/stance you bring on the day. If you can reproduce those on the course then you're likely to have more success. If not then you may wonder why you bothered.

 

[shortgame]

Some great anecdotal evidence advocating club fitting but then again we'll all know lots of people who've been fitted and not improved one iota and some who'll have actually gotten worse...

 

[shortgame]

Was the fit wrong or did your swing change
A custom fit can only work for the swing/stance you bring on the day. If you can reproduce those on the course then you're likely to have more success. If not then you may wonder why you bothered.

👆👆👆

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Some great anecdotal evidence advocating club fitting but then again we'll all know lots of people who've been fitted and not improved one iota and some who'll have actually gotten worse...

But is that the fitting or the swing/ability of the person ? I know some that ignored fitters recommendations because they wanted a specific iron set and they get worse when fitted.

Again going for a custom fit doesn’t make your swing better , it doesn’t suddenly turn you into a golf pro - it’s designed to give you the best possible set up for the swing you have got - how much that improves someone’s scores and HC will be down to the person swinging the club not the fitter

 

[r0wly86]

Pretty much agree with you OP. Hit a selection is as likely to be as useful a spend of your time as a 'fitting'. Its really a psuedoscience that does nonetheless suck in those will little scientific background. Fitters, in the main, have little real technical knowledge of what that are peddling either. (I would guess any genuine scientific review of it would could shoot so many holes it in it, it would be there with horoscopes and homeopathy).
On the aspect of, if you enjoy the process, then go with it. Yes. No problem, certainly enjoy an hour or whatever, hitting balls and talking golf tech. But, that justifies an hour - it doesnt mean you end up with clubs more suited to you or ones that will help you play better.

Genuine question but what makes you say that?

I studied Material Engineering at university and did some high level maths and I will often call out manufacturers when they make claims about certain materials; my dad and brother both have a Masters in Chemistry and yet all of us think that custom fitting is founded in solid concepts. It is all a mixture of bio-mechanics, basic Newtonian physics and material science.

As others have said if you think me at 6'2" with a fast swing should have the same set up as someone who is 5'2" with a slow swing then you need to think more about bio mechanics.

I'm not saying custom fitting is a cure for all golfing ills, if you have a massive out to in swing then you will still the ball left to right, custom fitting won't stop that.

However some bad shots will be caused by having the wrong flex in the shaft, being too short/long too flat/upright for you. Golf is such a technical game to the point that a few degrees difference between swings will produce totally different shots so why wouldn't you get equipment that is fitted for you.

I often go to cricket as a sport that has similarities to golf so we can look at it. If you give a short wristy batsman a 3lb6oz long handled bat it will screw up they game, it will be too heavy and long to play for their particular style. Like wise if you gave Ben Stokes a 2lb short handle he will often get through the shot too early because he swings so hard.

As for the difference in custom fitting experience that is simply down to some places are good and some are bad, the anecdote AG is funny because there have been so many threads about AG custom fitting and how they are hit and miss.

If you want a suit tailored would you just go to the nearest one, or would you research who is reliable and the best around. Same with custom fitting some will be better than others so do some research and find out where they are of you go to the closest one then it could be good, could be bad.

As an aside I am an advocate for custom built over custom fitting. But definitely good custom fitting over nothing at all

 

[Imurg]

We are a capable of producing a series of swings that are "degrees" different from a perceived norm. How does a custom fit help that....
To a point, custom fit works but people need to be aware of the limitations of it.

 

[shortgame]

But is that the fitting or the swing/ability of the person ? I know some that ignored fitters recommendations because they wanted a specific iron set and they get worse when fitted.

Again going for a custom fit doesn’t make your swing better , it doesn’t suddenly turn you into a golf pro - it’s designed to give you the best possible set up for the swing you have got - how much that improves someone’s scores and HC will be down to the person swinging the club not the fitter

Exactly - we are human, not robots

Take a top pro - the tolerance/difference in their swing from day to day will be minimal therefore they will get the full benefit from fitting. Obviously.

Then take me - competent (ish) but the difference in my swing from day to day, week to week, even within the same round, will be sufficient to negate much of the benefits of a fitting

Somedays I just can't get in the same posture or achieve the same positions in the swing much as I try - and I won't be alone in that

No one's saying that someone 6ft 3 with a 110 mph swing would need the same clubs as someone 5ft 6 with a 90mph swing but the actual benefits to the average, recreational golfer will be pretty small IMO

(and as someone above said, part of any benefits will be the placebo effect from the confidence and enthusisasm gained from having been through the process)

 

[patricks148]

only problem with CF is you get fitted for the swing you turn up with that day....and as a handicap golfer that can be good or downright terrible

 

[r0wly86]

We are a capable of producing a series of swings that are "degrees" different from a perceived norm. How does a custom fit help that....
To a point, custom fit works but people need to be aware of the limitations of it.

We are indeed, but my belief is that improper fitting club will exacerbate any of those swings differences. Like I said in my very long post, it's not a cure all for a golf swing problems, but it's better than not being fitted.

 

[hines57]

I think that for some, fitting is a real benefit. Some are able to "feel" when the fit is right and some are not. The number of times I've heard folks complaining that "it must be the clubs" after a bad shot or a bad round is quite a common thing. The benefit of having been fitted for clubs is that you have a clear picture that if the clubs are right - then it must be a bad shot or just a bad day on the course.

 

[MadAdey]

Totally agree. Went to AG for a custom iron fit-- recommended Ping G400 Red Dot. Then Ping Demo Day at our club 2 weeks later-- recommended Ping G400 Blue Dot!!! So either the fitting was wrong or "on that day" thats what my swing said!!

You did mention the dreaded AG in that post, I have no trust what so ever in their custom fitters, or as he is more commonly.......Joe the Saturday lad. So to go from a Red to a Blue dot is either someone who hasn't got a clue in AG or you have one seriously inconsistent swing.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think there was something on one of the recent Mark Crossfield "Journey" videos where the guy was producing so many variables in terms of strike, path and angle of attack. Crossfield said that if he had rocked up for a fitting and produced those numbers he'd have refused to do it. I know of some fitters and fitting centres that would do the same and others that would simply take the cash and cobble a fit together. Therein lies the dilemma for both the customer and the fitter. As I've said, if you have the cash and want to go down the route, and it's something I've done a number of times, then enjoy the process. It can be a real education. However, I don't see it as being a necessity

 

[User2021]

Only been playing since last summer.
Had two putters of the shelf so far.

Went to to custom lab today, two hour session on a Sam device - new putter ordered.
Difference in the figures was very noticeable for my two and the ten or so others I tried.

So so for me I reckon that £40 session was money well spent.

 

[Jacko_G]

I think there was something on one of the recent Mark Crossfield "Journey" videos where the guy was producing so many variables in terms of strike, path and angle of attack. Crossfield said that if he had rocked up for a fitting and produced those numbers he'd have refused to do it. I know of some fitters and fitting centres that would do the same and others that would simply take the cash and cobble a fit together. Therein lies the dilemma for both the customer and the fitter. As I've said, if you have the cash and want to go down the route, and it's something I've done a number of times, then enjoy the process. It can be a real education. However, I don't see it as being a necessity

That is very true. I know someone who went to the Mizuno national fitting centre when they just started playing again. They were told to come back again once they had been playing/practicing for a bit longer and had some lessons as a fitting at that stage wouldn't be beneficial and would be a waste of money.

Even simple things like getting the correct lie angle is going to improve your posture and swing arc. As has been explained several times on here custom fit isn't about instant results and instant handicap reduction. What it will do is give you a greater opportunity for consistency. As with most things in life you get out what you put in.

 

[Ndw7]

I think fittings are only as good as the fitter. Obviously everyone is just trying to make money at the end of the day, but there's a definite difference between a proper fitting and a retail guy who isn't a professional and works at american golf, who fits you purely on swing speed.

 

[Roops]

Sort of Yes and No for me. I recently was fitted for a set of Mizuno's. We tried lots of shafts and eventually got one that I hit better more often than not. Duly ordered, arrived and used. Great for starters, but then slowly but surely started to hit them worse and worse. Went back to the fitter for another look and 5 mins on the flight scope, showed a big old swing flaw causing the issue. Fixed this and back to hitting it nicely. The clubs are huge improvement on my old irons so really happy. The fitting on this occasion gave me the opportunity to check all was good.

On the other hand, I had a 3 wood I bought 2nd hand and didn't get on with it. My son duly accepted it and a friend offered me an old one he had lying around. It's a Titleist F2, no idea what shaft is in it, but it's lethal ! Nearly as long as my colleagues drivers and straight down the middle almost every time. No fitting, just "Give this a try.."

 

[MadAdey]

THe big thing fro me with custom fitting is that it shouldn't be done in a 30 minute session. My irons where fitted over a period of sessions, it went like this.

Went to Golf Galaxy and looked at what clubs interested me and got the demo club for each of those sets made up to the same specs that my current irons are, so that they are more or less correct for me. I narrowed it down to 3 clubs that interested me. I then went back a couple of days later and tried those 3 clubs again to decide on which one was for me. At no point did I actually use one of the in store people, I just did some time on the GC2 looking at results myself. I decided on the club then tried it in different shaft options to find out the best one for me. I then found a local Mizuno specialist and went to him to buy the clubs. We did a full fitting in the shaft of my choice and ordered them. When they came in we went through every club checking that the lie angles were correct for me and properly set up.

So I never chose in 1 session, I actually hit the set up a couple of times on different days to make sure that it would be correct, incase I was having a day when the swing was spot on, or maybe not quite right so giving me the best results.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think fittings are only as good as the fitter. Obviously everyone is just trying to make money at the end of the day, but there's a definite difference between a proper fitting and a retail guy who isn't a professional and works at american golf, who fits you purely on swing speed.

Can't argue. I have had issues with several AG fittings and being fitted by a retailer. Huge discrepancies on the measurements I'd had for the clubs I was using (fitted) and the one I was trying. They couldn't answer questions on spin rates etc and the distances the monitor was showing was way out from what I know I'd usually hit the club even on a good day, down wind. As a result I have no confidence in going back there again to be fitted. I'd rather take a chance and buy off the peg