club fitting first or golf lessons first?

[mitaimh1]

I finally talked my wife into getting my clubs fitted and getting lessons, but I would like to do them in the right order. I am new to golf and my swing isn't the greatest so I was thinking if I got fitted with my swing I have now and then take lessons the lessons will kind of mess with my fitting. The reason I think that is because my swing HOPEFULLY wont be the same after the lessons. So the question is, should I get lessons before I get fitted or will it not hurt to get fitted before I get lessons? Any advice would be extremely helpful.

[Long Ball Larry]

I would hold off on the fitting until you develop a repeatable swing that you're comfortable with. There's also the probability that you'll want to play different clubs once you start improving (i.e., SGI irons now versus GI irons later), so no sense in getting fitted now. I'm confused by your saying that you're new to golf and also a 17 handicap. If you really are a 17, I say go for it.

[Gilly]

^ What he said.

[Fozcycle]

How can you get fitted until you know what you are supposed to do?

[BrianJ]

I would recommend lessons first.  Your swing will change drastically with them.  Don't sleep on getting fitted for sure, but lessons would go first IMO.

[rustyredcab]

STATIC fitting -- fitting based on measurements of your body. Making sure the clubs are the right length and lie for the swing you hope to have. I think this is important for beginners. Maybe not before your first lesson. But a static fitting could be an expected outcome of your first lesson.

DYNAMIC fitting -- fitting where you hit balls and the results of those swings (based on readings from machines and/or observations), and changes to club heads and shafts, help determine which clubs fit you AND your current swing. I think this is worse than a waste of time for a beginner since you do not yet have have the swing you want.

Get a static fitting based on the swing you plan to learn. This is why your teaching pro should help. I try and swing like Moe Norman -- single axis, stand farther from ball. Thus, my static fitting is flatter than a static fitting that I would get if I wanted to be fit for a conventional swing -- closer to the ball and more upright clubs. If I tried to learn my swing with more upright clubs, I would create compensations in my swing to try and make the ball go where I want. This would not be good for learning a swing. Learning with clubs that do not fit your body is a great way to learn bad habits.

[WUTiger]

Quote:

STATIC fitting -- fitting based on measurements of your body. Making sure the clubs are the right length and lie for the swing you hope to have. I think this is important for beginners. Maybe not before your first lesson. But a static fitting could be an expected outcome of your first lesson.

I have several co-workers who have taken up golf recently, and most of them worked with their lesson pro to find a set of clubs. As rusty says, a basic static fitting is what you need in the early going. The lessons and basic fitting go hand-in-hand.

[Teamanglerx]

I recently just had a lesson with my courses PGA pro and this actually came up.  He said it is better to learn how to swing etc first.  If you get fitted but then change your swing you might have to get all new clubs or shafts.  In a lot of cases people have clubs that suit them fine.  Before my lesson I was thinking I would need to have the lenght of the shaft on my driver changed but it turned out that it was fine, my swing was the issue.

[Skier]

I have played relatively little golf, and I just started taking up lessons, although I had a college class in golf ( a required subject at USAFA).  I am only 6'2", with a WTF of at least 38 inches, so for me it seemed to make sense.  I ended up with clubs +1" +3* regular stiffness steel shafts, although the Ping chart showed +1/2" +4.5*.  I can hit these clubs, but in the past I have really struggled with standard equipment.  Now if I can stop delofting all the clubs at impact, I may really learn how to golf.

In short, if you show up as having one extreme or the other on a static fitting chart, my guess is that fitted clubs will do you a lot of good in lessons.  If you are close to standard, then save your money and just learn better before buying.

[Flipmode]

I went through this a couple months ago so what I did was I found a great teacher who was also ranked a top 5 club fitter on the east coast. I signed up for a 5 lesson package and took 3 lessons in the first month. After the first 3 lessons I took another month to really practice my swing. I then went back to my instructor and ordered a new set of Ping G15's fitted for me. The Pings are still on order and should arrive this week. I plan on using the irons for a month and then going back to take my last 2 lessons. By the time I get done with the lesson package it will take me into October which will be the end of the season for me. However, come March I plan on signing up for another 3 lessons to start the season off. The goal is to be a single digit handicap by next June.

Yes this plan takes a lot of time however we have the rest of our lives to play this game so we might as well do it the right way. I started playing about 4 years ago and I honestly wish I would have done this to start with. Oh well, live and learn!