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Getting fitted for clubs?

h3king

Junior Pro
Jun 14, 2007
52
0
Well, before a get a new set of irons or driver I wanted to get fitted for clubs. But i'm not sure how to go about it. So I have a few questions which hopefully you guys can answer. First off I was wondering the average price of a fitting. Next is do you have to bring your clubs? Next is when you get fitted (not sure on this) what is your club angle??? I think i'm a little lost anyone get what i'm saying lol.
 

mddubya

Hybrid convert
Nov 6, 2007
6,029
2
If you are buying new clubs from a major Box Golf store, they will fit you for free. They will have clubs of various lengths and lie's. When I was fitted, my instructor did it for me as part of one of my lessons using the Ping Fitting system. He had about 15 different 5 irons and put some kind of tape on the sole and had me hitting off a sheet of hard plastic checking the strike marks. This checked the lie and length by seeing where the impact marks were on the tape.

Now if your planning on buying your new irons off the internet and aren't taking lessons from a certified fitter, I would imagine you'll have to pay for the fitting. I have no idea how much it would cost.
 

WildCatGolfer17

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2007
998
1
Depends, mddubya is right though.

That is how I fit customers in my old store for PING clubs, I even did some fittings for free if it was really slow. They should charge you about $40 for a fitting.
 

RickinMA

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Feb 3, 2007
1,845
27
best thing you could do is buy a copy of Tom Wishon's book "The Search for the perfect golf club"
Amazon.com: The Search for the Perfect Golf Club: Tom W. Wishon,Tom Grundner: Books

It's pretty easy reading and you'll know if the fitter knows his stuff in about 2 minutes after reading it

without reading, you could try PCS: Professional Clubmakers Society
or Tom Wishon Golf Technology

find one in your area then ask if anyone has used them before - prices vary, but money you spend on fitting you'll save on replacement clubs in 2-3 years
 

LyleG

gear head
Aug 10, 2006
6,388
28
Country
Canada Canada
Anyone who thinks they got a proper fitting in a retail store is only kidding themselves.

My fitting process takes about 2 hours over a 2 day period. Then it follows with demoing a few test clubs and fine tuning from there. I charge $100 for a complete fitting, and even that is too cheap for the time I spend with the customer.
 

Release

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2008
119
1
Anyone who thinks they got a proper fitting in a retail store is only kidding themselves.

My fitting process takes about 2 hours over a 2 day period. Then it follows with demoing a few test clubs and fine tuning from there. I charge $100 for a complete fitting, and even that is too cheap for the time I spend with the customer.

How true, but majority of the golfers don't need fine tuning.
Locally here the proper fitting is about $140, for as long as you need the first day ( usually 1 1/2 to 2 hr.) and several flow up 1/2 fitting.
Trackman is the way to go with driver fitting and for irons, a knowledgeable fitter will fit you sell at a driving range ( anywhere you could see ball flight,distance and divot ).
Important thing is, I believe to get a swing before get fit for club.
The debate is, you'll change the swing path and perhaps influence the club head speed after your swing change. Fitting for a new golfer is not recommended unless you could go through it again soon after your lessons.
 

LyleG

gear head
Aug 10, 2006
6,388
28
Country
Canada Canada
but majority of the golfers don't need fine tuning.
Fitting for a new golfer is not recommended unless you could go through it again soon after your lessons.


I strongly disagree with these 2 statements.
 

LyleG

gear head
Aug 10, 2006
6,388
28
Country
Canada Canada
Care to share some of your thoughts, please ?:)


A new golfer needs clubs that fit just as an experienced player does. Most new golfers are stuck with sets that are too heavy, too stiff, the wrong lengths and as a result develop bad habits right from the get go. By fitting a new player into gear that fits them they will find the game much more enjoyable right from the start and be far less prone to developing bad habits.
Besides in order to develop a sound, high caliber swing you need to devote a lot of time and effort to practice. Most people have no desire to do this. The simply play a few times a month with friends. Having clubs that fit their level of play can only help in these situations. Even though their swings aren't 100% repeatable, we can still improve their odds of getting the ball air borne and flying relatively straight.

Same goes for fine tuning things like length, flex, lies and lofts. Most players good or bad can notice (feel) a 3 cpm difference in iron shaft flex. Yet buying clubs off the rack you are stuck with a minimum 10 cpm flex interval. So what does this do for the player that doesnt fit into this range? Same for loft spacing. Standard is 4º for irons. For a senior or slower swing speed player this will only result in about a 5 yard difference between clubs. By having the lofts doctored a bit, to 5º or 6º spacing you can achieve the standard 10-12 yard gaps. What about people with 32-33-34-35 inch wrist to floor measurements all using the same length clubs? What about people who wear small, medium or large gloves all using the same grip size? What about players with 70-80mph swing speeds not being able to find drivers sold retail with more than 10.5º loft even though they need about 14º? This is all fine tuning to help a player play better regardless of skill level, experience or age.
 

Release

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2008
119
1
A new golfer needs clubs that fit just as an experienced player does. Most new golfers are stuck with sets that are too heavy, too stiff, the wrong lengths and as a result develop bad habits right from the get go. By fitting a new player into gear that fits them they will find the game much more enjoyable right from the start and be far less prone to developing bad habits.
Besides in order to develop a sound, high caliber swing you need to devote a lot of time and effort to practice. Most people have no desire to do this. The simply play a few times a month with friends. Having clubs that fit their level of play can only help in these situations. Even though their swings aren't 100% repeatable, we can still improve their odds of getting the ball air borne and flying relatively straight.

Same goes for fine tuning things like length, flex, lies and lofts. Most players good or bad can notice (feel) a 3 cpm difference in iron shaft flex. Yet buying clubs off the rack you are stuck with a minimum 10 cpm flex interval. So what does this do for the player that doesnt fit into this range? Same for loft spacing. Standard is 4º for irons. For a senior or slower swing speed player this will only result in about a 5 yard difference between clubs. By having the lofts doctored a bit, to 5º or 6º spacing you can achieve the standard 10-12 yard gaps. What about people with 32-33-34-35 inch wrist to floor measurements all using the same length clubs? What about people who wear small, medium or large gloves all using the same grip size? What about players with 70-80mph swing speeds not being able to find drivers sold retail with more than 10.5º loft even though they need about 14º? This is all fine tuning to help a player play better regardless of skill level, experience or age.

I agree with the majority of what you're saying here, however, I have witness many golfers changed the spec ( by a huge amount ) after lesson and settled into a more reliable swing even in a short period of time.
I have also known people whom eat, sleep and walk golf, most of them told me the tinkering of the equipment did not pay off as much.
If by "fitting", which I meant by fine tuning the spec, not by getting into a general spec like stiff flex vs. regular or sinior flex which you should do at the beginning anyway and does not take rocket science to get an approximate fit; increased your confidence and trust in your swing, then the fitting worked in that way.
 

dave.

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2005
5,926
2
Most players can feel '3' CPM??!! Lol, CPM by itself is meaningless, its just a measure of how stiff the butt is, or tip, which mean nothing, its how the shafts profiles overall and how this relates to the player that matters. And I highly doubt anyone can feel 3.

I am with Lyle, its just as, if not more so, very important for any begineer to be fit. I find it amzaing that we think that anyone who starts a game won't benefit from the right gear for them. A pool player beginner won't go out with a bent cue, and I bet a young tennis player won't be happy with catgut from hsi grandads loft.

Fitting is crucial for everyone, inc the beginner.
 

LyleG

gear head
Aug 10, 2006
6,388
28
Country
Canada Canada
Most players can feel '3' CPM??!! Lol, CPM by itself is meaningless, its just a measure of how stiff the butt is, or tip, which mean nothing, its how the shafts profiles overall and how this relates to the player that matters. And I highly doubt anyone can feel 3.

I am with Lyle, its just as, if not more so, very important for any begineer to be fit. I find it amzaing that we think that anyone who starts a game won't benefit from the right gear for them. A pool player beginner won't go out with a bent cue, and I bet a young tennis player won't be happy with catgut from hsi grandads loft.

Fitting is crucial for everyone, inc the beginner.


Dave,

Most manufacturers who use CPM to sort iron shafts go by 10 cpm per flex. Yes, it is only a measure of butt stiffness, but being that they are all the same shaft it becomes an effective and accurate sorting tool. 3 cpm would equate to 1/3 of a flex. Testing on this has been done. Tim did the testing over a few years with over 2000 golfers and found most could feel a 3 cpm difference. They didnt necessarily know what they were feeling, just that the clubs felt different. Being that the only difference was flex, it can be assumed this is what caused the feel change.
 
OP
h3king

h3king

Junior Pro
Jun 14, 2007
52
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
I'm not a new golfer, but I want to get serious this year. Been golfing for 3 years now and been using a crappy stock set of ram's. i just want to make sure I do everything right. I'm looking to get a driver,irons and a new wedge. I will be going with the ft-5 draw bias stiff 9*, and titlest sm wedge not sure what degree. The irons i'm not sure on yet. I just want to get fitted so i don't waste money. Might as will do it right.
 

Stanters

Trinket King
Aug 13, 2006
1,096
1
Go Wishon - you can't go wrong. If I was starting again I'd certainly be looking to buy a set of his irons and have them properly fitted and shafted (pardon my expression).

All his irons are nicely described on his site. I'm sure you'll see what would suit you, both in terms of looks and playability.
 

dave.

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2005
5,926
2
Thanks Lyle. By 'feel' I mean soemthing useful that can help the player, feeling something but not knwoing what it is afaiac, is just irrelevant. Unless the ball flight changes I can't see how it can be of benefit, knowing something feels different, not knowing what it is and not seeing any visible changes in flight.. CPM numbers on their own are just meaningless though aren't they? Was it Tim who said ' its just a number':)
 

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