Fitting question...

[TheGeekGolfer]

I was 'fit' for a set of Ping i5 irons (4-GW) about 5 or 6 years ago. My swing 'tendency' was to lift a bit and straighten my arms, thus causing me to hit out towards the toe of the club. Thus, I was fitted for 'silver' (3.75*) upright clubs.

Fast forward 5 years and now my swing is much better and more consistent. However, now I have a problem where I will sometimes hit very close to the hosel of the club and (heaven forbid) even shank it sometimes. I think the main issue is the fitting of my clubs, since they are so severely upright. This seems to cause me to stand closer to the ball (unless I consciously move farther away). Does that make sense?

I'm going in for a fitting on Wed. with a local pro, I just wanted to get some opinions on fitting and adjustments so I have a better understanding of things on Wed.

[pixel5]

You are generally fit based on your height, wrist-to-floor, and hand size. Some slight adjustments may have been made based on your swing, but it shouldn't change too much, if at all, when you get fit again.

[Shanks A Million]

You can change your lie angle over time. If you changed your posture, or your arm position at impact, the lie angle can change. It's wise to note better players tend to hit more toward the hosel, while beginners tend to hit more toward the toe.

[3 wiggle]

Im a maroon dot. 5.5 upright. Just take your clubs and them off a lie board. I doubt they are out of wack unless your arms grew or shrank. Ive been a +5.5 man since high school and im almost 30.

[Slammin' Sam]

I did a fitting in 1995 and my color code was black. Two things have changed since then. First, I had hip replacement surgery and my swing changed dramatically as a result. Second, Ping refined its color coding system a few years ago, adding a few new colors to fill in some gaps in its previous system. I went in for a fitting earlier this year after I found that all my iron shots that used to go straight were going right. Big surprise! My color code went from black (standard) to orange (2.25 degrees flat). I sold my black dot i3s and bought a set of G2 orange dots. Now I hit my irons with a slight draw and all is well again.

[TheGeekGolfer]

  3 wiggle said:

Im a maroon dot. 5.5 upright. Just take your clubs and them off a lie board. I doubt they are out of wack unless your arms grew or shrank. Ive been a +5.5 man since high school and im almost 30.

I don't think my clubs are 'out of wack', I think my swing has changed. I think I was fitted to try and correct a very faulty swing move, lifting up or changing my posture and then straightening my arms and hitting out near the toe. My swing was similar to Geoff Olgilvy's swing (see photos).

I would do the same thing, compensating with my athletic ability, but not as consistently as Geoff (obviously). I wasn't fitted because my arms were longer / shorter or my swing plane was flat / steep. According to the 'web fitting', I believe I should be closer to standard length / lie. I'm 6'0" tall, 35" wrist to floor (hard to measure myself), which I think is Yellow dot on website fitting. I'll find out more on Wed. when I go see a local pro.

[dmnoland]

My advice would be to trust your gut no matter what someone else tells you. I was fitted (over the course of an hour) for graphite shafts, 1/2" short and purple dots. However I have always hit standard lenght, regular steel shafts and red dot. And I hit them well.
If you find yourself on the border of 2 different color codes you might want to think about shot shape. I kept my red dots because it's easier to draw the ball. I certainly do not need any help fading or slicing and I sure don't want to encourage it by having too flat a lie angle.

[careen]

I'm 6' and 36.5" to the floor and I was fit for 1/2" long and 1.5 upright, I am picking up my clubs today and I am terrified.

[careen]

Best decision ever, shot a few rounds with fitted clubs, no more topping balls!

[WUTiger]

I got refitted for clubs in 1994, and got a set that was 2* flat. The pro and clubmaker did a "tape test" on me, and found I was hitting back toward the heel on impact. This squared up my impact, got rid of periodic hooks with iron shots.

About 10 years later, I had the feeling I was "getting in my own way" on swings. Turned out I was crouching a bit too much. I took a more upright posture, and flattened my swing somewhat. End result = normal lie is now best for me in irons.

Fitter will look at your height | arm length | stance. Next, he'll probably put "impact tape" on the bottom of a couple of your irons, and let you hit some shots. Impact tape now has score lines on the bottom; in 1994 the tape test was just masking tape, and the clubmaker made an educated guess on adjustments.

Anyway, if you're into golf clubs it should be a very interesting experience. Let us know what happens.

[LBlack14]

Black dot here on the G2's.

[andef]

Fitting is really important. Even though I don't play Ping irons (only an I10 3-iron in my bag), I've noticed that lie angle can change quite a bit. When I started, I hit some Ping clubs at a demo day an turned out be a yellow (whatever lie angle that is). Did another fitting before getting my Titleist AP2s and turned out to be standard lie angle, the same lie angle I have on the Ping I10 iron I ordered a couple months before my Titleist irons.