How long before you were fitted? Newbie wondering when to get fitted

[Hrr]

Hey THP, hope everyone is doing well. So I recently picked up golf back in August and have been pretty hooked. I currently practice right now about two times a week (usually 3-4 hour sessions) due to time constraints/work. I currently have a little under three months in so not entirely sure how beneficial it would really be to get fitted this early.

I've been doing a fair bit of reading both online and a fair portion of the articles state one should always get fitted. Some questions I have been wondering about:

1) Would it be better to get fitted later once I have a more consistent swing down?​

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2) Would it benefit me now to get fitted in order to gain consistency with some clubs/shafts catered to my current skill until I become better?​

One other thing to mention is regarding clubs: while I don't mind SGI/GI clubs, I definitely wouldn't want to lean on those as crutches for learning a proper swing, I would much rather learn to hit consistent and accurately than have my issues masked with SGI/GI clubs.

If anyone could shed some light on their fitting(s), that'd be a great help. Thanks THP.

 

[JB]

It’s a good choke or egg type of argument. On one hand learning with something that fits your tendencies can help. On the other hand, your swing could change as you improve.

Game improvement clubs don’t necessarily mask anything. There are players that are considered best in the world using them at the highest level.

 

[Acesteve]

I'd recommend you start with a static test using a chart like that of Ping. Involves just knowing your height and wrist to floor measurement. I'd also measure your 7i and make sure you know if your set is currently ~ average length. If you are like 6'5 with a floor to wrist of 37 you need some longer and more upright clubs. If you are 5'3 and 33 wrist to floor, you might need shorter clubs. Most "standard" clubs are built for guys 5'7 to 6'1

so why not just get fit anyway??? Based on my lifetime group of 4 guys, 3 of us were put into longer clubs then we should be playing because the fitter was looking more at what we were doing NOT what we should be doing. Fitters are not golf swing coaches. Finally, as a better player now, I don't think 1/4 inch and 1 degree makes material difference for high handicap golfers. Much more powerful thoughts are improving the swing.

 

[Flipit]

I waited a year and wished I hadn’t waited. I was swinging the wrong shaft in my irons. Did is create bad habits? Would I have improved faster? No idea really. Confidence in golf goes a long ways. Knowing you have the correct set up for you can help confidence.

 

[Acesteve]

I'd agree having about the right flex and weight shaft is important. More important if you pick up the game at 55 vs 25. Most 25 year olds can swing about anything pretty hard. Not so much at my age.

 

[Jman]

Man. Not until I’d been playing I think 4 years. I wasn’t consistent enough until then, but also, I didn’t know any better.

 

[Scorp]

I've been playing since the early 90's. I'm not good. Never have been. Probably never will be anything beyond mediocre... I've never been fitted. It's on my list of things to do one day. I want SGI clubs. It'll make the game more fun for me.

Go get fitted. Don't wait. It will usually help

 

[tahoebum]

28 years of playing before a proper fitting. I recommend you do it sooner, lol.

 

[ButterPutter]

I waited a year and wished I hadn’t waited. I was swinging the wrong shaft in my irons. Did is create bad habits? Would I have improved faster? No idea really. Confidence in golf goes a long ways. Knowing you have the correct set up for you can help confidence.

This. The moment you stop thinking about equipment and swing mechanics, and start focusing on target and strategy, is typically when your scores start dropping. Getting fit can be a lot of fun too!

 

[chile]

1 year after i started...I won't count the previous attempts at getting fitted within the first 6 months i was playing as i got zero feedback/benefit from them.

 

[OITW]

Got fit 6-8 months after being on THP

tough one though if swing isn’t consistent might not be best fit also if you improve new fit equipment might not be best

 

[Tee1Up]

My son started playing golf in March of this year. He is 17. I bought him a cheap set of PING iE1's. I knew real soon that the lie angle was probably not correct for him (Black Dot). As soon as Club Champion opened back up I got him an appointment for a fitting. Best thing I ever did. Lie angles were wrong, shaft flex wrong. Once he received his clubs I could see an almost immediate improvement in his ball striking. He has scored even par several times, and usually scores in the mid to upper 70's. He never scored this well with the PINGs. If you can afford it and have a place close by do it.

 

[Duffer Seamus]

That's a tough one and, IMO, somewhat depends upon your finances. Not that many people are out to burn money on-purpose, but, if you can afford a fitting and the resulting hardware turning out to have been sub-optimal once you settle down into whatever works best for you, I'd go for it. I base this upon my experiences, where upgrading the grips on all my clubs, acquiring wedges with shaft lengths more suited to my height, and replacing a driver that didn't work for me at all, all resulted in significant, immediate improvement.

Conversely: I know my swing is still developing, so getting fitted for a $500 driver or $700+ in irons, right now, would probably be flushing money down the commode, and I don't have that kind of money.

 

[millsan1]

I can only give my experience.

I started 2.5 years ago. I purchased decent SGI clubs.

I also took a LOT of lessons and worked hard at that.

I got fitted just this month. I probably would have benefited from a fitting last year, but not sure.

My vote would be to get lessons, get a repeatable swing, where your miss is consistent, then do a fitting. FWIW, I believe a fitting helps you dial in more accuracy or distance, but will not magically change your swing or anything of the ilk.

Did I mention lessons?

 

[Hrr]

It’s a good choke or egg type of argument. On one hand learning with something that fits your tendencies can help. On the other hand, your swing could change as you improve.

Game improvement clubs don’t necessarily mask anything. There are players that are considered best in the world using them at the highest level.

That's a good way to frame the mindset about SGI/GI clubs, gives me more perspective on clubs as a whole.

I'd recommend you start with a static test using a chart like that of Ping. Involves just knowing your height and wrist to floor measurement. I'd also measure your 7i and make sure you know if your set is currently ~ average length. If you are like 6'5 with a floor to wrist of 37 you need some longer and more upright clubs. If you are 5'3 and 33 wrist to floor, you might need shorter clubs. Most "standard" clubs are built for guys 5'7 to 6'1

so why not just get fit anyway??? Based on my lifetime group of 4 guys, 3 of us were put into longer clubs then we should be playing because the fitter was looking more at what we were doing NOT what we should be doing. Fitters are not golf swing coaches. Finally, as a better player now, I don't think 1/4 inch and 1 degree makes material difference for high handicap golfers. Much more powerful thoughts are improving the swing.

I'm 5'6 and measured my wrist to floor with a tape measure at roughly 31~31.5 inches. You're right in that fitters aren't coaches, I'm with my coach 4 hours a week thankfully and he's really solid in keeping me honest!

I waited a year and wished I hadn’t waited. I was swinging the wrong shaft in my irons. Did is create bad habits? Would I have improved faster? No idea really. Confidence in golf goes a long ways. Knowing you have the correct set up for you can help confidence.

I think about "setup" quite often in other hobbies I have (cars), this is a good perspective to look at for golf too!

I'd agree having about the right flex and weight shaft is important. More important if you pick up the game at 55 vs 25. Most 25 year olds can swing about anything pretty hard. Not so much at my age.

I'm not that young but also not that old (early 30s) -- from the sounds of majority of the people it seems like getting fitting would be worth it for me.

I've been playing since the early 90's. I'm not good. Never have been. Probably never will be anything beyond mediocre... I've never been fitted. It's on my list of things to do one day. I want SGI clubs. It'll make the game more fun for me.

Go get fitted. Don't wait. It will usually help

Will do!

28 years of playing before a proper fitting. I recommend you do it sooner, lol.

Will do!

This. The moment you stop thinking about equipment and swing mechanics, and start focusing on target and strategy, is typically when your scores start dropping. Getting fit can be a lot of fun too!

I'll definitely keep this in mind, right now my goal is to get a mechanically sound swing!

My son started playing golf in March of this year. He is 17. I bought him a cheap set of PING iE1's. I knew real soon that the lie angle was probably not correct for him (Black Dot). As soon as Club Champion opened back up I got him an appointment for a fitting. Best thing I ever did. Lie angles were wrong, shaft flex wrong. Once he received his clubs I could see an almost immediate improvement in his ball striking. He has scored even par several times, and usually scores in the mid to upper 70's. He never scored this well with the PINGs. If you can afford it and have a place close by do it.

Fortunately I'm in TX where there's quite a few reputable fitters, I'll definitely go ahead and get fitted!

That's a tough one and, IMO, somewhat depends upon your finances. Not that many people are out to burn money on-purpose, but, if you can afford a fitting and the resulting hardware turning out to have been sub-optimal once you settle down into whatever works best for you, I'd go for it. I base this upon my experiences, where upgrading the grips on all my clubs, acquiring wedges with shaft lengths more suited to my height, and replacing a driver that didn't work for me at all, all resulted in significant, immediate improvement.

Conversely: I know my swing is still developing, so getting fitted for a $500 driver or $700+ in irons, right now, would probably be flushing money down the commode, and I don't have that kind of money.

Considering that I'm just getting into the sport, I allocated a budget for myself, but after diving some more the sport is much more affordable to get into than I originally thought! I'll go ahead and get fitted

I can only give my experience.

I started 2.5 years ago. I purchased decent SGI clubs.

I also took a LOT of lessons and worked hard at that.

I got fitted just this month. I probably would have benefited from a fitting last year, but not sure.

My vote would be to get lessons, get a repeatable swing, where your miss is consistent, then do a fitting. FWIW, I believe a fitting helps you dial in more accuracy or distance, but will not magically change your swing or anything of the ilk.

Did I mention lessons?

I'm really fortunate to have someone instructing me for free (it was their profession before they retired and opened up a business in a different industry), I decided to go ahead and get fitted, and will refit myself in year to see how much my swing mechanics have changed. Thanks for the input!

Thank you everyone for your feedback! The insight was really helpful.

 

[Just_Brad]

Conservatively, 25 years of playing (some years a lot, some years not much), before getting a proper iron fitting done.
My swing it at the point that it is reliably consistent. I know my game, I know my swing (when I am swinging good/bad). This made the fitting super simple, and results popping out immediately.

Did I buy the irons I was fit for? No. Do I plan on it? Yes. But I want to do a lot more testing before pulling the trigger.

Shocking to go from a set that I loved, and get fit into something that gave me 14 extra yards of carry........ and still not pull the trigger instantly.

I think 100% get your swing in order to make gains from the fitting, as opposed to using a fitting to correct swing issues.

 

[WLG1952]

I don't remember how long I played before getting fitted. Maybe after 12 months playing sparingly. I know I was consistently shooting the same scores, without seeing much improvement.

I just decided one day to get checked out, and see what I needed.

Went to three different fitters that day. They all told me the same thing. That I was using the right shaft, but my lie angle was off by 2* degrees on the clubs I was using.

 

[mtbloco]

When I decided to get back into the game and knew I was buying new irons, I went the route of a box store "fitting". Static and dynamic measurements like mentioned above, plus launch meter data to compre clubs and shaft weight. I felt that really enhanced my ability to improve early.

Based on that fitting I play +1/2 length and up 3 deg.

 

[joshuac3]

I was fitted for my hybrid after only playing for a few months and it was helpful. I intend to have some lessons and then get fit for irons at the same shop before the end of the summer. I’ve looked at the static fitting charts from Ping and Callaway, but feel that a more specific fitting would help me because I am so short (5”2, 29.5” wrist to floor).

It also helps that there is a 2nd Swing in driving distance of me. They waive the fitting fee as long as you buy from them and include length/lie adjustments in the purchase price. It’s about 50 miles away, but well worth the drive in my opinion.

 

[RecGolfer]

Not that I know anything about fitting, but I would say that a fitting is more to fit your body than your swing. You will be better player, the swing will be easier, if you have clubs that work with you instead of against you.

I used to play classical guitar. The instrument I learned on wasn't a very good one. I had a chance to buy a high-quality Ramirez, and I instantly became a better player because that guitar was so easy to play.

Good tools make a big difference. Go get fitted.

 

[Wkndhookr]

I waited 20 something years and wish I had done it a long time ago.

 

[orchard53]

Don't confuse getting fitted and buying new equipment. I wish I had been fitted early, because I ended up trying to force a swing to get a slight draw on the used clubs I had.
After getting fitted later I bought a used 6 iron and had it reshafted with correct lie and length, then was able to get a much more natural swing.

Then was able to get a second fitting, which ended up with a different shaft but same lie and shaft length. IMHO you want your practice swing with no ball to match what happens when you actually hit a ball.