Why do people get 'fitted' for clubs?

[GreiginFife]

I'm not sure about the driver's seat analogy, to be honest. I certainly wouldn't go out and buy a car just because the driving seat was a nice, snug fit and I'd have thought that the average motorist wouldn't bother going to the additional expense of having a custom made seat installed just because the one that's already there is tad uncomfortable to sit in. They get used to what's there within the constraints of the adjustment available to them.

And, obviously, people have differing lengths of reach so I'd have thought you just stand closer or further away whilst keeping the club head in the correct position relative to the golf ball.

Not so sure the car analogy is about comfort of the seat but more the adjustment of the position to be able to drive in any decent fashion.
A golf club is a fixed object for the most part (as in off the shelf). Now imagine buying a car with a fixed position seat... Would that work for you or would you be better with one that suits your height? Of course you could always slide yourself down the seat a bit if you can't reach the pedals, but would you be able to drive to the best of your ability?

The ability to adjust the position of the club (loft/lie) allows those little adjustments that mean the golfer in question needs.
If you swing at 100mph+ but use an A-Flex shaft you would need to artificially alter your swing speed. Now what benefit is that going to give other than losing distance and making the whole operation a lottery.
If you have a swing that produced a low flight on the ball time after time, chances are there will be little you can do to change that in the swing with any degree of ease if your swing is fairly stable and repeatable, but you can change the shaft to a high launch in the same flex. So no need to adjust what you do if what you do is repeatable but the result is not what's desired.

 

[USER1999]

When I bought my current set of irons, the guy I have lessons off advised that he didn't care what shafts I had, or what grips, lengths, lofts, etc. He just asked me to get the lie angles checked.

 

[Jake O'Reilly]

Not so sure the car analogy is about comfort of the seat but more the adjustment of the position to be able to drive in any decent fashion? Of course you could always slide yourself down the seat a bit if you can't reach the pedals, but would you be able to drive to the best of your ability?

+1

To add a point that I don't think anybody else has touched on, being custom fit also boosts your confidence as you know the gear you are using is best for your own personal swing.

During custom fit sessions with readers at GM, and before when I worked for TG, I saw massive gains of 40+ yards at times, just by getting the right shaft and head set-up. While practise can probably get you a 40 yard gain over 6-12 months if you work hard, I doubt it'll ever do it in 30mins.

 

[bluetoon]

Custom fitting is the most overrated aid to becoming a better golfer. The club manufacturers and sellers have done a great job in convicing us otherwise tho.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Overrated ? Really ?

Surely if custom fit allows your to strike the ball closer to the sweet spot then how is it overrated ?

Getting clubs to fit your swing can only help !

 

[JCW]

When you 1st start this game , any old set will do and as you get better and chat more to fellow golfers you hear how they are doing and how their handicaps have come down and this is down to lessons and practice and talent as well , so now you doing all this you need the right tools to go with all this improvements and get you to the next level so you go all out and get yourself fitted with the right set of clubs from lofts , lie , shafts and heads , blades , C/backs , semi blades , hybrids , all I say is go in with an open mind and try all clubs not just the brand you like , see a good pro or fitting centre that does it right , best time to do it when you playing well and swinging good and at the end of that season get it done because your swing and confidence is at its best and you want a club that suits that swing and not when you playing bad or swinging poorly , then you have the winter to get use to the clubs and be ready for the new season................EYG

 

[Deleted member 1147]

To me a custom fit isn't just about shaft spec, lie, length etc. It's also about getting the most suitable style of club for you and your strengths and weakness'.
I reckon a good CF'er should give help and advice in other areas, ie, rather than going and getting a nice set of shiney blades off ebay, maybe get some advice on the best option for you. Could be on bag set up (more woods, fewer wedges), hybrids or irons, cavity or muscle back, graphite or steel, grip size. Not just X stiff, 2* upright and 1/2 inch longer.

 

[bluetoon]

Overrated ? Really ?
Surely if custom fit allows your to strike the ball closer to the sweet spot then how is it overrated ?
Getting clubs to fit your swing can only help !

Yep .... OVERRATED.
I can name a couple of dozen Cat1and Scratch players at my club who have never been custom fitted.
Gosh!, Some have even been Cat1 for 20 years or more. Well before the first mention of 'Custom fitting' from the manufacturers

I'm guessing they got there with plenty practice, sensible course management. Good putting and chipping.

 

[Snelly]

If you give a half decent player a half decent set of clubs then they will in all probability, shoot a half decent score.

Conversely, if you give a complete muppet off 28 every possible technological assistance and custom fit them to the nth degree, they will still hack it around the course in a cricket score.

Two guys off single figure handicaps that I played with at Dubai Creek are a good example. They turned up, borrowed a complete bag full of Callaway gear each from the pro. All brand new and all what you would call game improvement clubs. All regular shafts and nothing customised about them at all. Both of them shot in the 70's.


Golfers play golf. The clubs are just tools.


Obviously if you take extreme examples like a 6 foot 6 bloke using ladies clubs or something then yes, they need to be fitted with something more suitable. But for most people, being custom fitted for all the clubs in their bag won't make a massive long term difference to their handicap. There may be minor incremental improvements but it is debatable if that can be attributed to the wallet lightening process of custom fitted golf clubs anyway.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Yep .... OVERRATED.
I can name a couple of dozen Cat1and Scratch players at my club who have never been custom fitted.
Gosh!, Some have even been Cat1 for 20 years or more. Well before the first mention of 'Custom fitting' from the manufacturers

I'm guessing they got there with plenty practice, sensible course management. Good putting and chipping.

So why do the pros get custom fitted ?

 

[bluetoon]

So why do the pros get custom fitted ?

Do you really want to get into the differences between a pro and a club golfer?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Do you really want to get into the differences between a pro and a club golfer?

Oh I know the difference but I also know that getting clubs custom fit to suit your size , shape , swing etc does allow every golfer a better chance to hit the sweet spot in a golf club. Also getting the shafts suited to your swing will also give you a better chance to launch the ball at the optimum angle.

Now custom fit could be getting the club straight off the shelf and finding it through a Flightscope to be just the club for you - or it could be trying different manufacturers clubs to give you what you want.

Yes the golfer still needs to swing the club but getting clubs custom fitted to you will produce better results for you out on a golf course for the majority of golfers. That I do believe has been proven by a great number of people over the years.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

If you give a half decent player a half decent set of clubs then they will in all probability, shoot a half decent score.

Conversely, if you give a complete muppet off 28 every possible technological assistance and custom fit them to the nth degree, they will still hack it around the course in a cricket score.

Two guys off single figure handicaps that I played with at Dubai Creek are a good example. They turned up, borrowed a complete bag full of Callaway gear each from the pro. All brand new and all what you would call game improvement clubs. All regular shafts and nothing customised about them at all. Both of them shot in the 70's.


Golfers play golf. The clubs are just tools.


Obviously if you take extreme examples like a 6 foot 6 bloke using ladies clubs or something then yes, they need to be fitted with something more suitable. But for most people, being custom fitted for all the clubs in their bag won't make a massive long term difference to their handicap. There may be minor incremental improvements but it is debatable if that can be attributed to the wallet lightening process of custom fitted golf clubs anyway.

I do agree to a large extent. I've personally played well with what under CF would be classed as unsuitable clubs.

But if I buy new clubs, I want new ones (have never actually used Ebay myself), and if I buy them I may as well go to someone who knows what's what and get them made up to suit my size & strengths/weakness'.

 

[Brian_C]

Is this whole fitting fade a recent thing? If so, how did people couple in the 70s, 80s and 90s?
Now, if this fitting is a more recent thing, surely getting fitted is going to improve people's golf, as a result I'd love to see the national average handicap comparing 2013 with 1990? Surely the average would be lower, right?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Is this whole fitting fade a recent thing? If so, how did people couple in the 70s, 80s and 90s?
Now, if this fitting is a more recent thing, surely getting fitted is going to improve people's golf, as a result I'd love to see the national average handicap comparing 2013 with 1990? Surely the average would be lower, right?

Not necessarily, if someone went round 36 over par in the 90's and now goes round 29 over par thanks to his CF'd clubs, his handicap is still 28.
But that could just be an extreme example

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Is this whole fitting fade a recent thing? If so, how did people couple in the 70s, 80s and 90s?
Now, if this fitting is a more recent thing, surely getting fitted is going to improve people's golf, as a result I'd love to see the national average handicap comparing 2013 with 1990? Surely the average would be lower, right?

Golf courses have also got longer and harder to combat the better performance of the golf clubs etc.

The pro at Woburn ( Luther ) did an experiment with one of the members.

He gave him a set of the shelf clubs and told him to play with them for a month and record his scores - he then fitted the set to him and his scores where on average 5 shots better. The guy played off ten.

Does every single person here just pick any driver and then take it straight out in the course regardless of loft or shaft or weights etc

 

[El Bandito]

Custom Fit. Good idea? Yes, I think so. A really good post earlier about the more 'set' you are as a golfer you are, ie the more consistent your swing (with its flaws) the more benefit you would get - as the various elements could be combined to minimise your flaws.
At my level - getting custom fit made me worse. I was custom fit to the swing that I had that day. For several months my shots and my scores were worse. Slowly, I am coming out of that. So - as the OP, maybe I am getting used to them OR as somebody else mentioned - maybe the lessons I am taking are having an impact....
Is it overrated. Yes, I suspect it is. After all - plenty of old names smacked round a weird shaped ball with wee shaped wooden bats in under par...
However - I think CF does add value to the sale - it helps each player feel special. a good fitter will say - "now with this shaft you will get the best results if you swing nice and smooth" - which as far as I can work out is true of almost any shaft... and hey presto - suddenly you are getting better strikes. Better strikes that go further and straighter....

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I hear a lot about club-fitting - but for average guy or gal of average height and variable stance and swing - I am somewhat sceptical about any value I might get. Not sure that as a mid-handicapper with no standard stance or swing that fitting would make a lot of difference to me. Can't see how fitting works unless you make your stance absolutely standard and you completely groove your swing and make it highly repeatable. And as most handicappers have a high degree of variability in these things what are you fitting the clubs to? Someone will tell me I am totally wrong but please do.

 

[bluetoon]

That I do believe has been proven by a great number of people over the years.

Whats been proven?
As far a i know the average handicap has been pretty static for years, despite all manner of people getting uber excited about the latest custom fit or club technology.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I hear a lot about club-fitting - but for average guy or gal of average height and variable stance and swing - I am somewhat sceptical about any value I might get. Not sure that as a mid-handicapper with no standard stance or swing that fitting would make a lot of difference to me. Can't see how fitting works unless you make your stance absolutely standard and you completely groove your swing and make it highly repeatable. And as most handicappers have a high degree of variability in these things what are you fitting the clubs to? Someone will tell me I am totally wrong but please do.

What about driver fitting ? Loft , shaft etc or do you mean just iron fitting