How Ill-Fitted Were These Guys?

[ChetlovesMer]

My question is how ill-fitted was the gear these guys were playing with?

We custom-fit seven testers who got longer and went lower... instantly

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We had seven players custom-fit for all-new clubs, from driver to putter, with the help of Club Champion. Each tester played at least three rounds with...

I got fit for a new driver this year. My trackman data during the fitting showed a gain of 0.4 yards! Yeah, that's about 14-3/8 inches! 

Why did I buy the new driver???? Not for the 14+ inches, but because I really "liked" the look of the new driver. … and it was double-trade-in-days so they gave me $250.00 in credit for my old driver. 

Are people STILL getting 25+ yards just by being properly fitted? If so, how badly fitted were they before hand? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of getting fitted. Heck, often it's free and it's fun. But dropping 5 to 10 shots and gaining 25+ yards.... I'm not sure I'm believing it. 

[snapfade]

That's what they leave out it seems. The one old guy said he was playing 17 year old clubs and they fitted him with shorter ones and he gained 15 yards. Other than that, who knows what their set up was. I am not saying the article is purposely misleading, but I would like to know their set up and specs to see a side by side comparison.

[ChetlovesMer]

2 minutes ago, snapfade said:

That's what they leave out it seems. The one old guy said he was playing 17 year old clubs and they fitted him with shorter ones and he gained 15 yards. Other than that, who knows what their set up was. I am not saying the article is purposely misleading, but I would like to know their set up and specs to see a side by side comparison.

I'm right there with you.

I will also argue that having your irons fly farther isn't always an advantage. I don't really want my 7 iron to go 200 yards. The older guy in the article probably needed the extra distance. But I'm very happy with the distance I hit my irons. I'm not always happy with some other stuff, consistency, direction, the way sometimes I plan for a fade and hit a draw... you know that stuff. 

I do hear a lot of golfers come out of a fitting saying I hit this 7-iron the farthest so that's what I bought. Did you explore gapping? Did you talk dispersion? Did you think about set make up? …. "I hit this 7-iron farthest so that's what I bought." 

[dennyjones]

My guess....most golfers don't get fitted.   When they do get fitted, the lie, loft and length are probably much better than what they were playing.    Newer clubs are much more forgiving than older clubs.

The other three in my group have never been fitted, buying off of the shelf.   One guy tries to buy his game, changing clubs about three times per year.  One guy has a newer driver and clubs that look like they came from Goodwill and the other has clubs that are probably 17 years old.   I'm sure if they were to get fitted, they could add some distance.

[Vinsk]

44 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

. I don't really want my 7 iron to go 200 yards.

I would love that. If I’m 200yds out and hitting a 7i instead of a 4i I’m gonna be a lot closer to my target. 

[Bonvivant]

3 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

My question is how ill-fitted was the gear these guys were playing with?

I think that at least the last 2 in the article (the highest handicaps), probably had never been fit before or it was so long ago (one mentions 17 year old clubs), so of course it is going to be a significant difference for them no matter what, especially when going to a well fitted GI or SGI

The rest, I am lost on. They don't mention any stroke gains for them, but we can assume that all five of them make up the remaining saved strokes not mentioned by the other two. 10+(4 to 6) for the highest cappers leave 4-6 strokes saved by five guys (2.83*7-(14 to 16). Not exactly a huge jump at all. Lots of talk about how much of a difference it made, but nothing really to show for it here. This 1 stroke per the 5 better players could be explained away by just variance in how they scored over the last month vs. pre fitting, and may raise right back to where it was when they cool off.

I think that the fact that it was conducted with CC, and only used a really small sample size is telling to me. This data was most likely cherry picked. CC probably ran a promotion where you either got money back for participating in a survey after a certain number of rounds or something of the like. They may have had hundreds or thousands of people to pick from and here were the 7 that made the best case for getting custom fitted. 2 low handicap players that speak to how important it is, 3 mid cappers showing significant distance gains, and 2 high cappers talking about how much their score improved. You really couldn't ask for a better 7 players to make a case for fitting.

That being said, and not being fit myself, I think it is probably moderately important to be fit for clubs. The unfortunate truth is that it is quite expensive (from what I've heard CC being one of the more pricey and bigger chains) so most players can't afford it, or don't want to drop the coin (this is the group I fall into). If they had more data (say 200-5000 players) and it showed a 3 stroke gain on average, I may be more inclined to go do it, but seeing as they only have a measly 7 players, this argument isn't compelling at all.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Bonvivant
addition

[ChetlovesMer]

7 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I would love that. If I’m 200yds out and hitting a 7i instead of a 4i I’m gonna be a lot closer to my target. 

You know what? You are right. I would actually love MY 7-iron to go 200 yards. If I had the ability to hit my current 7-iron 200 yards that would actually be cool. What I don't want is a set built to make me hit a 7-iron 200 yards. In order to do that, the 7-iron would really just be a 4-iron with 7 written on the bottom.  

5 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

I think that at least the last 2 in the article (the highest handicaps), probably had never been fit before or it was so long ago (one mentions 17 year old clubs), so of course it is going to be a significant difference for them no matter what, especially when going to a well fitted GI or SGI

The rest, I am lost on. They don't mention any stroke gains for them, but we can assume that all five of them make up the remaining saved strokes not mentioned by the other two. 10+(4 to 6) for the highest cappers leave 4-6 strokes saved by five guys (2.83*7-(14 to 16). Not exactly a huge jump at all. Lots of talk about how much of a difference it made, but nothing really to show for it here. This 1 stroke per the 5 better players could be explained away by just variance in how they scored over the last month vs. pre fitting, and may raise right back to where it was when they cool off.

I think that the fact that it was conducted with CC, and only used a really small sample size is telling to me. This data was most likely cherry picked. CC probably ran a promotion where you either got money back for participating in a survey after a certain number of rounds or something of the like. They may have had hundreds or thousands of people to pick from and here were the 7 that made the best case for getting custom fitted. 2 low handicap players that speak to how important it is, 3 mid cappers showing significant distance gains, and 2 high cappers talking about how much their score improved. You really couldn't ask for a better 7 players to make a case for fitting.

That being said, and not being fit myself, I think it is probably moderately important to be fit for clubs. The unfortunate truth is that it is quite expensive (from what I've heard CC being one of the more pricey and bigger chains) so most players can't afford it, or don't want to drop the coin (this is the group I fall into). If they had more data (say 200-5000 players) and it showed a 3 stroke gain on average, I may be more inclined to go do it, but seeing as they only have a measly 7 players, this argument isn't compelling at all.

 

This is an intelligent and well thought out response. 

[snapfade]

5 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

I think that at least the last 2 in the article (the highest handicaps), probably had never been fit before or it was so long ago (one mentions 17 year old clubs), so of course it is going to be a significant difference for them no matter what, especially when going to a well fitted GI or SGI

The rest, I am lost on. They don't mention any stroke gains for them, but we can assume that all five of them make up the remaining saved strokes not mentioned by the other two. 10+(4 to 6) for the highest cappers leave 4-6 strokes saved by five guys (2.83*7-(14 to 16). Not exactly a huge jump at all. Lots of talk about how much of a difference it made, but nothing really to show for it here. This 1 stroke per the 5 better players could be explained away by just variance in how they scored over the last month vs. pre fitting, and may raise right back to where it was when they cool off.

I think that the fact that it was conducted with CC, and only used a really small sample size is telling to me. This data was most likely cherry picked. CC probably ran a promotion where you either got money back for participating in a survey after a certain number of rounds or something of the like. They may have had hundreds or thousands of people to pick from and here were the 7 that made the best case for getting custom fitted. 2 low handicap players that speak to how important it is, 3 mid cappers showing significant distance gains, and 2 high cappers talking about how much their score improved. You really couldn't ask for a better 7 players to make a case for fitting.

That being said, and not being fit myself, I think it is probably moderately important to be fit for clubs. The unfortunate truth is that it is quite expensive (from what I've heard CC being one of the more pricey and bigger chains) so most players can't afford it, or don't want to drop the coin (this is the group I fall into). If they had more data (say 200-5000 players) and it showed a 3 stroke gain on average, I may be more inclined to go do it, but seeing as they only have a measly 7 players, this argument isn't compelling at all.

 

The one in Orlando is expensive 180 bucks for a driver fitting, then the cost of a driver. You are pushing 700 bucks to maybe gain a few yards. There are cheaper and often free alternatives for getting fit. Club Champion caters to a certain demographic I think and those that can will. It is an experience, one on one in a cushy setting, very professional and I don't think its like dealing with a car salesman. 

[ChetlovesMer]

18 minutes ago, snapfade said:

The one in Orlando is expensive 180 bucks for a driver fitting, then the cost of a driver. You are pushing 700 bucks to maybe gain a few yards. There are cheaper and often free alternatives for getting fit. Club Champion caters to a certain demographic I think and those that can will. It is an experience, one on one in a cushy setting, very professional and I don't think its like dealing with a car salesman. 

I have to say, getting the royal treatment for a fitting is fun. 

[snapfade]

2 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I have to say, getting the royal treatment for a fitting is fun. 

There's a spa down the road that gives a royal treatment. 

[mcanadiens]

I've been socking away money this winter with the idea of spending on golf. Having never been fitted for anything, the idea of a fitted driver is intriguing.

At least based on last year's sorry 1W performance, I'm half convinced that the Nike VRS I was hitting had to be very ill-fitted for me. Finally in the fall, I gave up on it, went to the garage and put an ancient Taylormade Burner, with the bubble shaft, into the bag. The old gold-headed club only cost me a little bit of distance on the my best strikes and it kept the ball in play a lot better than the VRS did. 

When you're a hack like I am, it's usually operator error. But, in retrospect, maybe that old driver was just not what I should have been swinging. Maybe too long, Maybe the shaft was too flexible. Maybe the grips were too big. I think I can do better.

[IowaGreg]

Went to check out drivers and fitting last fall.  My set up had the best dispersion and they could only gain me about 5 yards for about $500.00 with a different driver set up.  It was fun and informative though.

 

 

[Vinsk]

Yeah the whole fitting issue is sketchy to me. I can see where these pros can see significant differences as they are so damn precise and talented ball strikers.
 

For us mortals I wonder how much is just chance or the equipment itself and not necessarily the fitting. For me I honestly believe that if I’m hitting a club I really like ( Ping i200 for example) that hasn’t been fitted I would do better than a club I hate ( Cleveland launcher) that was specifically fit for me. 

My last thorough fitting was with the Ping i200. I still use other sets from time to time that I wasn’t fit for ( Ebay) and I hit the ball just fine. Unless it’s an extreme difference such as 4* flat vs 4* upright...I wonder just how much difference if any I’d see if I used a ‘standard’ club vs my + 0.5”, 3/4* flat.