Q : How do you recognize a good fitter ?

[Oops!]

After having had some sobering first experiences with local fitters recently, I wonder how I can recognize a good, trustworthy fitter who doesn't just want to sell me new clubs, but who gives me the best possible and comprehensive advice so that when I do buy new clubs, I actually end up going home with the best clubs *for me*?

So far, I've had the impression that the fitters I met were rather bored and recommended standard clubs (e.g., advanced beginner + senior = Ping G730), even if they produced the worst results *by far* with the TrackMan (to be more precise: I had the best results with my old Ping G15, really closely followed by the i530 (!? ) and, way behind, the G440 and - even further behind - the G730).

That's why I need your help, please : What should I look for to find a good fitter ? What are “good” signs, and which ones are questionable, i.e., “bad” ?

 

[RichA]

After a few less than successful experiences, I’d like to know too.
The last one was pretty poor. I paid £50, said what I’d like to try and the first 4 iron-shaft combinations he built were all completely different to what I’d stated as my basic requirements of stiff graphite shaft, +0.5” and midsize grip.
That was after telling me before I had committed to the fitting that all obvious options were available in all shafts.
After several fittings, I feel I’d rather take my chances with a second hand set in my specs that I can return after 14 days if I don’t get on with them. Or go dtc.

 

[Imurg]

I think it's almost impossible to know until you've tried them.
Word of mouth is always a good thing but even then it's no guarantee

I suppose lots of choice is a good start, the right launch monitor ( Trackman or GCQuad), availability of proper balls similar to what you use...things like that
A pretty full diary doesn't look bad but, again, no guarantee..

 

[Burnsey]

Go to a manufacturer fitting centre, or one of their mobile days.

Yes, you're limited to certain clubs, but these firms do not employ bad fitters generally.

 

[Bratty]

It's a bit of luck but following word of mouth is is often a good idea.
Plus cheap is sometimes not a good sign, but not always.

A good fitter is one who listens, recognises what you need vs want and won't sell you the highest mark up / commission items.

Having had 3 fittings at Precision Golf, I'm happy to keep paying top dollar for them to do my fittings.

My club does some good demo days with EOMs, but there's a limited set of shafts and heads, which isn't always a problem, but I prefer the choice of club head and shaft at Precision Golf.

A friend went there for woods and was fit into a new driver, but they refused to sell him a 3 wood as they couldn't find him a better one than his own. They will not try and upsell or hard sell.

Plus they build them on site, so you get exactly what you've been fit for.

 

[RedKing]

Some great points already, technology is absolutely one of the key things. Trackman 4/GC Quad are by far the best I’ve used. Combine that with proper golf balls (not range balls), and if you use a premium ball then Titleist offer RCT version for indoor use. The trackman spin numbers will then be correct rather than an estimate (will show in italics)

Most poor fitters only care about distance as they assume that’s what will get them a sale. The technology these days will get most people more yards, but it’s getting it in the correct way.

Good fitters will take the time to understand your game, to understand exactly what YOU want to achieve from the fitting. Sometimes you won’t know exactly, so the pre-fit conversation is so important to build a picture.

 

[Orikoru]

I've enjoyed the three fittings I've had via Complete Golfer (which is near where I live, their fittings are done in a studio at Moor Park GC). Things I liked:

• you pay a fee for the fitting, which is taken off your final purchase if you make one. I feel like the brands with free fittings are more likely to push you into buying something to make their money (*cough-AG*)
• they sell all different brands so are not tied to push you into one particular club.
• the chap who's done all three of mine doesn't muck about, if it appears a club isn't working in the first few hits he wastes no time in taking it off me and moving on to something else. If you spend too long on each club you end up knackered from hitting so many balls.
• has given me other advice such as changing tee height to reduce spin rather than flogging me a super-expensive low spin driver for example.
• asks me before the session if there are brands or clubs I particularly do want to try, so he can make sure I do hit those ones amongst his own recommendations.
• the data is right there on the screen backing up what he is saying - he's never tried to convince me that a more expensive club with seemingly worse numbers is better for some reason. He shows me on screen the distance and dispersions, ball speed etc so I can make my own mind up.
• he has a pretty relaxed attitude and I've never felt like he pushed me towards making a purchase. He's been honest if a club isn't much better than my old one.
• with my irons, I ended up with standard lies - he explained to me that we could go upright due to my swing and impact position, but we tried it and I started hitting some accidental draws - with an open discussion we decided to stick with standard lie and hitting fades. Some places might just change the lie angle and tell you that was better without the discussion, I don't know.

Of course, all of this is impossible to know without actually having the fitting, so it's a bit of trial and error and you may get unlucky and find a couple of bad ones before you find a good one.

 

[Oops!]

Let's face it : After taking a break for many years due to time constraints, I started playing golf again last year, and I would currently describe myself as an “advanced beginner” at best (!). My handicap is 54, and - especially on a mat (surprisingly, I seem to do better on real grass ?! ) - I can't manage to hit 10 reasonably decent shots in a row. When things go badly, 3-4 shots are badly topped. And yes, theoretically I know *exactly* what I'm doing wrong … !

That said, I seriously wonder whether a fitting is even worthwhile for me at this point ?!

BTW: Do you think the appearance of a club can influence your game?

My first clubs were blades (as a beginner ). I loved them dearly, and after a while I was doing quite well (well under 100 strokes on a par 70 course 30 years ago; right now I am far from it! ).

Recently, I had the opportunity to test the Ping i530, which I consider to be one of the most beautiful, if not *the* most beautiful iron on the market, and they felt really good, even though the stats (unfitted!) were nearly as good, but not quite as good as with my old Ping G15.

I know that the successor (i540) is already in the starting blocks, and I hear it's supposed to be even better – but it's just *ugly as sin*!

What would *you* do? Buy the beautiful “old” i530 or wait for the „new“ i540 ?

Or wait a little longer, practice diligently in the meantime, and try an open-ended fitting in summer/fall ?

 

[Bratty]

Or go and get fitted and try a load of heads and shafts and then see what works best for you! You might be surprised at what does work.

I hate looking down at a thick top line and massive headed iron, but if I was a beginner again, I'd be choosing whatever worked best for me and then trying to improve to work my way down to nicer looking irons.

No point in buying the world's sexiest irons and not being able to hit them!

 

[Imurg]

Let's face it : After taking a break for many years due to time constraints, I started playing golf again last year, and I would currently describe myself as an “advanced beginner” at best (!). My handicap is 54, and - especially on a mat (surprisingly, I seem to do better on real grass ?! ) - I can't manage to hit 10 reasonably decent shots in a row. When things go badly, 3-4 shots are badly topped. And yes, theoretically I know *exactly* what I'm doing wrong … !

That said, I seriously wonder whether a fitting is even worthwhile for me at this point ?!

BTW: Do you think the appearance of a club can influence your game?

My first clubs were blades (as a beginner ). I loved them dearly, and after a while I was doing quite well (well under 100 strokes on a par 70 course 30 years ago; right now I am far from it! ).

Recently, I had the opportunity to test the Ping i530, which I consider to be one of the most beautiful, if not *the* most beautiful iron on the market, and they felt really good, even though the stats (unfitted!) were nearly as good, but not quite as good as with my old Ping G15.

I know that the successor (i540) is already in the starting blocks, and I hear it's supposed to be even better – but it's just *ugly as sin*!

What would *you* do? Buy the beautiful “old” i530 or wait for the „new“ i540 ?

Or wait a little longer, practice diligently in the meantime, and try an open-ended fitting in summer/fall ?

Looks are important to some, not to others.
On a personal level, if I was fitted into the Cleveland VAS - Google it if you don't know it- I would play absolutely anything else.....
If I'm looking down on a club and I can feel my breakfast re-emerging then I'm not playing that club.....
I have to feel comfortable with the looks...performance is obviously important but , to me, so are looks.
Others don't give a damn what the club looks like and that's fine....

 

[Orikoru]

Let's face it : After taking a break for many years due to time constraints, I started playing golf again last year, and I would currently describe myself as an “advanced beginner” at best (!). My handicap is 54, and - especially on a mat (surprisingly, I seem to do better on real grass ?! ) - I can't manage to hit 10 reasonably decent shots in a row. When things go badly, 3-4 shots are badly topped. And yes, theoretically I know *exactly* what I'm doing wrong … !

That said, I seriously wonder whether a fitting is even worthwhile for me at this point ?!

BTW: Do you think the appearance of a club can influence your game?

My first clubs were blades (as a beginner ). I loved them dearly, and after a while I was doing quite well (well under 100 strokes on a par 70 course 30 years ago; right now I am far from it! ).

Recently, I had the opportunity to test the Ping i530, which I consider to be one of the most beautiful, if not *the* most beautiful iron on the market, and they felt really good, even though the stats (unfitted!) were nearly as good, but not quite as good as with my old Ping G15.

I know that the successor (i540) is already in the starting blocks, and I hear it's supposed to be even better – but it's just *ugly as sin*!

What would *you* do? Buy the beautiful “old” i530 or wait for the „new“ i540 ?

Or wait a little longer, practice diligently in the meantime, and try an open-ended fitting in summer/fall ?

I didn't do a fitting as a high handicapper - but that was largely because I mostly put my bag together with second-hand clubs for the first 4 or 5 years of being back playing. If you want to shell out for new clubs, there's no harm in doing a fitting to simply try as many clubs as you can and see which one feels the best. Some people will be put off by looking down at an ugly club - for me I don't think it makes a difference unless the club was very wild-looking.

There's also nothing wrong with playing the clubs that you like the look of the most - even they don't necessarily give you the best numbers. It depends what's important to you. I personally get enjoyment from trying to make the best scores. But you might get more enjoyment from hitting shots with clubs you really like the look and feel of (just look at Crow's Vintage Golf thread!). Lots of ways to play the game.

 

[Voyager EMH]

How do you recognize a good fitter?​

You need to consult someone who knows a lot of fitters and can recommend one who will be best suited to you.

A fitter fitter.

 

[Oops!]

(…)

There's also nothing wrong with playing the clubs that you like the look of the most - even they don't necessarily give you the best numbers. (…)

That's the crazy thing: the clubs that I like the look of also have the right specs - even though my handicap means I shouldn't really be able to play with them !

In my comparison (all i7), the order was as follows:

1) My old Ping G15
2) Close behind, the i530
3) Far behind, the G440, and
4) Way behind, the G730

The result particularly surprised the salesperson (I don't want to call him a fitter), as he was firmly convinced that the G730 was “the gold standard” for me.

Well, obviously, he wasn't quite right about that … !

 

[Orikoru]

That's the crazy thing: the clubs that I like the look of also have the right specs - even though my handicap means I shouldn't really be able to play with them !

In my comparison (all i7), the order was as follows:

1) My old Ping G15
2) Close behind, the i530
3) Far behind, the G440, and
4) Way behind, the G730

The result particularly surprised the salesperson (I don't want to call him a fitter), as he was firmly convinced that the G730 was “the gold standard” for me.

Well, obviously, he wasn't quite right about that … !

Confidence is everything in golf. That's the reason a lot of people have a fairway wood or a putter they've not changed in ten years. It can be hard to beat something you have full confidence in, because you won't hold back when you hit it.