Does Not Getting Fit Affect Play?

[klineka]

16 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Golf is all about confidence.  If shiny new things give you confidence, it will help your score.  We all fall victim to it.  

None of that answers my questions on what you are basing these claims on.

2 hours ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

My opinion, fitting aren't worth much unless you are an elite player.

1 hour ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Listen, I'm not saying a fitting doesn't have some benefit, but it's more times that not it's negligible. 

 

[Tiga Tiga Woods Yall]

1 minute ago, klineka said:

None of that answers my questions on what you are basing these claims on.

 

Pretty much every player I play with at my club that get new fitted clubs every year or two and their handicap stays the same and their ball stays in the rough.  

Several years ago, I drank the kool aid and was fitted for a driver shaft and saw no real, on the course difference.

Look, I highly doubt we are gonna convince each other.  Get a fitting, don't get one, it really doesn't matter to me. (spoiler: it probably won't to your score either)

Full disclosure: i'm going for a tee fitting later today. 

 

 

[klineka]

2 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Pretty much every player I play with at my club that get new fitted clubs every year or two and their handicap stays the same and their ball stays in the rough.  

Several years ago, I drank the kool aid and was fitted for a driver shaft and saw no real, on the course difference.

Neither of those things prove your point though. If the clubs they/you currently have are already close to optimal then of course you're not going to see huge jumps in performance since the equipment doesn't significantly change that much YoY and is limited by the rules.

If someone has never been custom fit before (the majority of golfers), is playing clubs that are old, or has gone through a significant swing change or swing speed change then there is a really good chance they will see a benefit from custom fitting. 

7 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Look, I highly doubt we are gonna convince each other. 

Nope, no point in arguing with someone who chooses to ignore facts.

[JxQx]

It really depends on how ill fitting your current equipment is to you. The worse the initial set is the bigger the improvements you can expect to see. 

The big key is finding a high quality fitter. Most people get fitted for free at a big box store and are surprised that they don't see any improvements. It's hard to fit someone when they only have 3 shaft offerings and aren't will to change club head specs (loft,lie,etc) on the spot and have you retest. Also most "fitters" at the stores don't have a ton of training.

[Tiga Tiga Woods Yall]

12 minutes ago, klineka said:

12 minutes ago, klineka said:

Neither of those things prove your point though. If the clubs they/you currently have are already close to optimal then of course you're not going to see huge jumps in performance since the equipment doesn't significantly change that much YoY and is limited by the rules.

If someone has never been custom fit before (the majority of golfers), is playing clubs that are old, or has gone through a significant swing change or swing speed change then there is a really good chance they will see a benefit from custom fitting. 

Nope, no point in arguing with someone who chooses to ignore facts.

 

So, they work except when they don't work?

Do you work as a fitter? 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Tiga Tiga Woods Yall

[klineka]

8 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

So, they work except when they don't work?

If the clubs you (or anyone else) have are already fairly close to what you should be playing, then it is unlikely you will notice a performance difference. (The guys you play with that get fit every 1-2 years)

If the clubs you (or anyone else) have are not close to what you should be playing, then it is highly likely you will notice a performance difference, regardless of what your handicap is.  

I don't get what about that is so hard to understand.

12 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Do you work as a fitter? 

Nope, don't even work in the golf industry.

[Tiga Tiga Woods Yall]

Just now, klineka said:

If the clubs you (or anyone else) have are already fairly close to what you should be playing, then it is unlikely you will notice a performance difference. (The guys you play with that get fit every 1-2 years)

If the clubs you (or anyone else) have are not close to what you should be playing, then it is highly likely you will notice a performance difference, regardless of what your handicap is.  

I don't get what about that is so hard to understand.

Nope, don't even work in the golf industry.

Not hard to understand.  They work except when they don't.  Pretty clear. 

 

[klineka]

2 minutes ago, Tiga Tiga Woods Yall said:

Not hard to understand.  They work except when they don't.  Pretty clear. 

But it's wrong though. It's not like the golf gods just pick random people that custom fitting does and doesn't work for.

The closer your clubs are to optimal for your swing, the less gains you will see, and the further your clubs are from optimal, the more gains you will see (on average).

That's much different than saying "They work except when they don't", which implies that custom fitting is just a random chance event where you may or may not improve as a result of getting custom fit.

[dennyjones]

This past fall was the first time I have been fitted for irons.   The fitter tried many club heads and many shafts.   As a mid-handicap player I can definitely tell the difference in shafts.   The numbers don't lie.  I believe only somebody that hasn't been thru a good fitting would have trouble not distinguishing the difference.

[ChetlovesMer]

3 hours ago, dennyjones said:

This past fall was the first time I have been fitted for irons.   The fitter tried many club heads and many shafts.   As a mid-handicap player I can definitely tell the difference in shafts.   The numbers don't lie.  I believe only somebody that hasn't been thru a good fitting would have trouble not distinguishing the difference.

Denny. 

I agree if you've never been fit for clubs before than almost any iron fitter will help. But, with irons I find that for the fitting to be much help, you need a really really good fitter. Hopefully I'll explain this correctly. 20 years ago I was fit for a set of irons. They were fine for 10 years. Then I got fit for a new set. The new set was a club and a half longer. Where I used to be hitting a 6-iron, I would now be choosing between an 8 and a 7. I've got buddies who've done the opposite; Choosing instead to go for the shorter club because they prefer the "feel". But IMO, the number on the club which you hit into a green is only a small portion of the fitting process.

I'm kind of babbling here, but where I'm going with this is with a driver, you want to get as much distance as possible, and preferably with a consistent shot shape. I think even a mediocre fitter can benefit you there, … Possibly.

With irons, however, you obviously need them to be the right length and lie, but too many fitters I've heard about just say "Hey you hit this 7 iron 15 yards longer than your current 7 iron. You should go with these." Honestly, I could pretty much figure that out. But just hitting irons further isn't always the goal. I could paint a 7 on the bottom of my 5-iron and tell everyone I hit my 7-iron 190 yards, but would that make me a better golfer? Not at all. 

A good iron fitter will work with what "feel" you want, plus things like preferred trajectory, gapping, set make up, possibly even a blended set. There are million options and combinations out there and many golfers don't have access to really high quality fitter. Then when it's all said and done, the new irons may be a pleasure for you to play with. BUT will you actually save more than a stroke or two per round vs an off-the rack set? Maybe, maybe not. I've had a number or really great ball striking rounds with rentals. 

So, I agree, get fit. Especially if it's free. No reason to leave shots on the table. But don't expect your game to improve more than a shot or two. When I read Golf Digest and see the average golfer will save 6 to 10 shots a round by getting fit for their clubs, I have to call BS. What were these people playing with before? A garden rake and hoe. Saving a shot every other hole means they were playing with something that really wasn't right for them.