Golf Club Fittings

[umpiremark]

I read on here alot about people debating club fittings or having a fitting and such. I have wondered for some time what some people think a proper fitting should consist of. I'm no expert, but I have read quite a number of books on club fitting; build my own and friends' clubs and one day - as a retirement side job - I would love to open my own club building/fitting store. With that said, I wanted to list something that Tom Wishon put out in one of his publications. I hope that I am not in trouble for plagerizing this information, but I thought it should be put out there. You are free to gleen whatever benefit it may provide for your inquiries into club fitting.

I'm paraphrazing here, so as not to get into trouble stealing copyrighted information:

A poor(or better than nothing) fitting can be characterized by:
~Hitting shots into a net or on a range;
~Physically measured for club length;
~Measured for grip size.

A good fitting:
~electronically measured for swing speed;
~elecronically measured using a launch monitor;
~interviewed by fitter for tendancies,and desired goals;
~used a selection of heads from more than one brand;
~used a selection of shafts/a selection of grips, from more than one brand/style.

An Excellent fitting:
~Built or used a pilot club you could try based on information gathered by interviewing you;
~attention was paid to total composition of the entire set;
~attention was paid to length, loft, lie of the entire set;
~attention waspaid to shaft frequncies, MOI and/or swingweight of the entire set; at least one, but hopefully all three;
~attention was paid to total weight, grip, shaft spine alignment of the entire set;
~the fitting was completed over several sessions/visits.

I believe that if you're truly getting fitted for a set of irons, new driver and/or fairway woods and hybrids, the above guidelines should help you decide if you're getting a thorough fitting from your club professional. Also check if the club builder/fitter is certified.

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, just putting into print what you might want to consider when thinking about getting fitted for clubs. Thanks for listening.

[NotAStick]

You know, my only issue with clubfitting is that most amatuers are not consistent enough to justify that sort of precision.

It's cool to do it and probably better than off-the-shelf sets, but I can tell you that over the course of the year, my lie angle changes quite a bit as I tend to adjust and re-adjust my posture. I think I tend to get bent over too much over the course of the year and I feel like I'm always trying to straighten up.

I know a number of people i've worked with have talked about issues of swing speeds and weight preferences changing notably during the course of a season as well.

Anyway, Not saying it's worthless, but that a certain amount of precision probably isn't as necessary with some players as it would be with others.

[unkle_77]

you make a very good point notastick. I would, infact have an even stronger view on it. Especially for the 'excellent fitting' third process described above. While i can totally see why this is essential for people competing at the very top level who can repeat their swing time after time after time, i believe certainly any1 above single figures should totally forget about that! Waste of time money and effort. What the hell is the point of an 18 handicap or a 15 or a 22 getting the lie and all other complex things set up perfectly in a new set of irons? Most players work constantly to try and lower their handicap, therefore if their striking, launch angle, lie, etc etc improve those 'perfectly fit' sexy new clubs r just holding them back from the direction they want to go.

[umpiremark]

I'm not going to agree or disagree with the two posts above, merely state that I feel (personal preference) that it would be important to the mid- to possibly the higher handicapper to be fitted from this perspective:
If all clubs have been swingweighted (and dynamic weighting) to the same SW for the entire set, less effort/skill is required to swing consistently, the same "feel" club. A mis-mash of differing weighted clubs could possibly make a free-feeling swing less repeatable.

Second, I would recommend a set of irons be checked for loft - as a full set - from this perspective:
Clubs reduce in loft an average of 4-degrees between numbers. Manufacturer's tolerances, although tight, can vary up to +/- 1-degree. Suppose (for arguments sake) a 5-iron is -1 degree and a 6-iron is + 1-degree. The club differences are 2-degrees apart. Conversely, the 4-iron could be 5-or 6-degrees less loft.

I read on here often about players confused they can hit this club "x" yards and cannot figure out why the next club is "x" yards as close or far away. Loft tolerances 'could' be a factor.

Again, these are just my opinions and I posted the Tom Wishon guidelines as just that - something to read and consider before heading into the club stores. Thanks for the posts guys, varying viewpoints and quality discussion is what these boards are about, right?

[Marinemike]

People who go get fitted should at least be able to get the "good fitting" treatment. I went in a pretty big name golf shop here and got the "poor fitting" treatment. Even a newb should at least get the courtesy of a swingspeed check (especially if they have a monitor). I'm never going back to that shop.

[Shindig]

People who go get fitted should at least be able to get the "good fitting" treatment. I went in a pretty big name golf shop here and got the "poor fitting" treatment. Even a newb should at least get the courtesy of a swingspeed check (especially if they have a monitor). I'm never going back to that shop.

Precisely right. How can you expect your brain and body to produce good swings if you don't have clubs that will reward a good swing with a good shot?