What to expect at first time club fitting?

[krispyk]

Hi everyone, just wondering what to expect when I get fitted for clubs in March for a new set. I have never been fitted before and the clubs that I have always used were low end sets. Without turning this into a this club is better than that one I would be interested in any recommendations. Back when I used to play before being injured and having to quit, hybrids were just starting to become known and so I have yet to even hit one. My current set is a garage sale set I picked up in the spring just to get out there and make sure I would be able to play before sinking too much money into clubs. Current set is 3-PW, 60* wedge, 3W, 5W (that I haven't used all season), 10.5* driver. Thanks in advance feel free to ask for more info if needed.

 

[Hawk]

Much depends on where you go. It can range to a pretty quick informal thing with limited options at a big box store to a multi-hour grind with every head and shaft you can dream of at a place like Club Champion. Regarding the latter, it seems like people get tired out and some even split the fitting into two sessions.

Which one is better? Tough to say, but it's worth balancing cost vs your skill level and desired outcome. Nothing wrong with asking how much things cost or asking for lower cost alternatives.

Try to relax and understand that the fitter has probably seen some really bad golf swings in his time and could care less how good a golfer you are. Just chill out and swing the club.

As for what to try out, I'd let the fitter make the recommendations and just hit as many things as you can. Don't be scared to add some input. If something feels terrible to you just say it. There might be something that performs similar while feeling/looking better to you. Also, don't get hooked with the perfect result you saw from that perfect swing. Try to consider total performance - e.g. look at how something performs both when you hit it well and when you hit it poorly. Very easy to get launch monitor lust when you see the rare perfect swing.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Hawk is wise.

 

[McLovin]

hawk pretty much nailed it. club fitting is a lot of fun, and can be a little addictive and A LOT expensive. i would say to expect to get tired. you're going to make a lot of swings in a short amount of time, so unless you're in great golf shape i would manage your expectations. doing a full bag fitting in one session is a waste of time imho. i think a driver fitting should be its own session, then woods/hybrids another session, then iron/wedges/putter a separate session.

have a great time!

 

[krispyk]

Much depends on where you go. It can range to a pretty quick informal thing with limited options at a big box store to a multi-hour grind with every head and shaft you can dream of at a place like Club Champion. Regarding the latter, it seems like people get tired out and some even split the fitting into two sessions.

Which one is better? Tough to say, but it's worth balancing cost vs your skill level and desired outcome. Nothing wrong with asking how much things cost or asking for lower cost alternatives.

Try to relax and understand that the fitter has probably seen some really bad golf swings in his time and could care less how good a golfer you are. Just chill out and swing the club.

As for what to try out, I'd let the fitter make the recommendations and just hit as many things as you can. Don't be scared to add some input. If something feels terrible to you just say it. There might be something that performs similar while feeling/looking better to you. Also, don't get hooked with the perfect result you saw from that perfect swing. Try to consider total performance - e.g. look at how something performs both when you hit it well and when you hit it poorly. Very easy to get launch monitor lust when you see the rare perfect swing.

Wow Thank you so much Hawk! So many things in that paragraph that I wouldn't even have thought about. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ChristopherKee]

Like Hawk said, if it doesn't feel/look good make sure to say something. There is more than enough equipment out in the market to get you something that fits all your requirements.

Also, make sure to try stuff "YOU" think will fit based on something you read, heard, etc, it's good for your psyche to verify if something you thought should work does or doesn't actually work for you. Will help you get the doubt out of your mind and trust in the clubs you do choose.

 

[krispyk]

hawk pretty much nailed it. club fitting is a lot of fun, and can be a little addictive and A LOT expensive. i would say to expect to get tired. you're going to make a lot of swings in a short amount of time, so unless you're in great golf shape i would manage your expectations. doing a full bag fitting in one session is a waste of time imho. i think a driver fitting should be its own session, then woods/hybrids another session, then iron/wedges/putter a separate session.

have a great time!

I never thought about how long it could take. Fortunately all I have been doing is swinging clubs all summer. When not on the course I have spent hours in the yard either pitching or hammering away into the net so endurance should hold up well. Thanks for the reply.

 

[krispyk]

Like Hawk said, if it doesn't feel/look good make sure to say something. There is more than enough equipment out in the market to get you something that fits all your requirements.

Also, make sure to try stuff "YOU" think will fit based on something you read, heard, etc, it's good for your psyche to verify if something you thought should work does or doesn't actually work for you. Will help you get the doubt out of your mind and trust in the clubs you do choose.

Fortunately I have always been a very outgoing person and have no trouble saying how I feel on things like this which has served me well since becoming handicapped in that I am the only one that will know what feels right or not. Great thought on ways of eliminating doubt down the road. Thanks for the reply.

 

[emart2173]

dont have anything more to add to Hawks other than be honest with the fitter and if you don't like something don't let him/her push you towards a certain brand or club

 

[dhartmann34]

I had my first full fitting at Club Champion 2 weeks ago. First let me tell you, I was EXHAUSTED. I took over 250 swings between my 6 iron, my hybrid and my wedges. I never got to my woods because I was so tired. We did a lot of tinkering with swing weights and different shafts. It was an eye opening experience. I would suggest a few things going in (Some are repeats of what folks have previously said):

1. Have a list of clubs you would like to try. You'll always wonder if you don't.
2. Ask about different swing weights & if a change may help you. (My fitter suggested this and it turned out to be a BIG Help)
3. There may come a point where you get a club in your hands that may not feel exactly right, but performs incredibly. Be ready for it and be prepared to have to think about feel versus performance. I'm still battling making a decision onthat situation.
4. If you get tired, ask if you can complete the rest of your fitting at a later date. I am able to do that with Club Champion thankfully. Getting good swings while exhausted doesn't work and will make that part of the fitting fairly useless anyway.
5. Make note of the changes you see when using different shafts, swing weights, etc. They can be very slight and may not be completely worthy of upgrading to a more expensive club or shaft compared to a cheaper one performing at the same level.
6. Ask any question you have no matter how unimportant you may think it is.... It may lead to other revelations!
7. Have fun!
8. Let us know how it goes!

 

[krispyk]

I had my first full fitting at Club Champion 2 weeks ago. First let me tell you, I was EXHAUSTED. I took over 250 swings between my 6 iron, my hybrid and my wedges. I never got to my woods because I was so tired. We did a lot of tinkering with swing weights and different shafts. It was an eye opening experience. I would suggest a few things going in (Some are repeats of what folks have previously said):

1. Have a list of clubs you would like to try. You'll always wonder if you don't.
2. Ask about different swing weights & if a change may help you. (My fitter suggested this and it turned out to be a BIG Help)
3. There may come a point where you get a club in your hands that may not feel exactly right, but performs incredibly. Be ready for it and be prepared to have to think about feel versus performance. I'm still battling making a decision onthat situation.
4. If you get tired, ask if you can complete the rest of your fitting at a later date. I am able to do that with Club Champion thankfully. Getting good swings while exhausted doesn't work and will make that part of the fitting fairly useless anyway.
5. Make note of the changes you see when using different shafts, swing weights, etc. They can be very slight and may not be completely worthy of upgrading to a more expensive club or shaft compared to a cheaper one performing at the same level.
6. Ask any question you have no matter how unimportant you may think it is.... It may lead to other revelations!
7. Have fun!
8. Let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the insite. I guess it brings up a question of what doesn't feel right and is there a way to make it feel right and retain performance or enjoy the performance and learn to get comfortable with the change in feel. And of course it would have to be enough of a performance gain over other "feels right" clubs to make it worth the thought of going that route to begin with.

 

[dhartmann34]

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm trying to get over with the hybrid I was recommended. It doesn't feel as solid and 'soft' as my current hybrid does, but the ball flight and dispersion were MUCH better and distance was 15+ yards further. Quite the conundrum that I'm dealing in my head

Thanks for the insite. I guess it brings up a question of what doesn't feel right and is there a way to make it feel right and retain performance or enjoy the performance and learn to get comfortable with the change in feel. And of course it would have to be enough of a performance gain over other "feels right" clubs to make it worth the thought of going that route to begin with.

 

[krispyk]

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm trying to get over with the hybrid I was recommended. It doesn't feel as solid and 'soft' as my current hybrid does, but the ball flight and dispersion were MUCH better and distance was 15+ yards further. Quite the conundrum that I'm dealing in my head

All I can say to that is most people hate change because it feels different. They have to make subtle changes to the way they were doing things and they don't care for that. Even when you can see that the end result works better they still find it difficult to get through. If you let your mind except the change as a good thing then in a short time it will become the norm that you left behind and you will be used to it.
Now I'm not saying that is the case for you with this club selection but it is a way of helping with making decisions in so many different facets.

 

[BMiles]

I agree with your life lesson about change - you said it very well and I have been trying to impart the idea to my older kids. However I will add a caveat when it comes to clubfitting. Rarely do I have someone return after a fitting because they are unhappy with the performance but they will come back months later because they just could not adjust to the look and/or feel of the new clubs. I listen carefully to how customers react to what I hand them a and ask a lot of questions along the lines of "how does this set up to you?" or "do you like the feel of that club?".

All I can say to that is most people hate change because it feels different. They have to make subtle changes to the way they were doing things and they don't care for that. Even when you can see that the end result works better they still find it difficult to get through. If you let your mind except the change as a good thing then in a short time it will become the norm that you left behind and you will be used to it.
Now I'm not saying that is the case for you with this club selection but it is a way of helping with making decisions in so many different facets.

 

[krispyk]

I agree with your life lesson about change - you said it very well and I have been trying to impart the idea to my older kids. However I will add a caveat when it comes to clubfitting. Rarely do I have someone return after a fitting because they are unhappy with the performance but they will come back months later because they just could not adjust to the look and/or feel of the new clubs. I listen carefully to how customers react to what I hand them a and ask a lot of questions along the lines of "how does this set up to you?" or "do you like the feel of that club?".

And that goes right along with what I had said a couple posts earlier BMiles.

Thanks for the insite. I guess it brings up a question of what doesn't feel right and is there a way to make it feel right and retain performance or enjoy the performance and learn to get comfortable with the change in feel. And of course it would have to be enough of a performance gain over other "feels right" clubs to make it worth the thought of going that route to begin with.

So BMiles my question for you is if your customer sees a performance gain but the club doesn't feel right, are you able to find them a good feel for the performance gain? And Thanks for the reply.

 

[BMiles]

Darn good question and the unequivocal answer is "sometimes" . Part of it depends on how recently and how well they were fit previously. If it has been years (or never) since a fitting, it is not too hard to something that feels good and performs noticeably better (if not optimal). But there is a much smaller margin for error for someone fit two years ago as the technology gains have not been huge in that short window.

And that goes right along with what I had said a couple posts earlier BMiles.



So BMiles my question for you is if your customer sees a performance gain but the club doesn't feel right, are you able to find them a good feel for the performance gain? And Thanks for the reply.

 

[MBurnham]

This is a great thread with phenomenal responses. I am also considering a fitting in the near future and have never had one. I did one at Golf Galaxy and the fitter told me that the clubs right off the rack were perfect for me. i didn't quite buy it so I didn't pull the trigger on the clubs.

 

[N54tt]

I had my first ever fitting this past October and wasnt exactly sure what to expect either. I was told to bring my clubs, shoes and be ready to hit some balls. When I first got there I took some swings for about 10 min to warm up. Talked with my fitter for a couple min about me, my game, where I wanted to go with my game etc.. He then watched me hit some shots with my old club. We looked at the launch monitor numbers and explained everything to me. He also had me hit some shots with a club that measures shaft load. I was asked if I had a club in mind I wanted to try and I tried out a couple Ping G30 head/shaft combinations...talked about how the club felt and launch numbers. Then tried other different shaft/head combinations that I wanted to try...each time talked about feel and launch numbers. Up until this point there were some combos that felt good (numbers showed as well) and some that didn't. He then said let me try something. He put together a head/shaft combination he thought would work well for me. It's like a switch went off with the first swing of that club. It just felt right and had the best numbers. I than tried different shafts to make sure we had the best shaft for me.

Basically go in with an idea of what you want to try....so you don't have questions or doubts. BUT make sure you have an open mind too. I went in wanting to get the Ping g30's but walked out with the Mizuno jpx 850's, which wasnt even on my radar. I also did a lot of research before choosing where to get fitted. I'd suggest the same...look for reviews and/or talk to others that have gotten fitted etc.

 

[ironcondor]

Fascinating thread, and a great read for me today as I have an hour long driver fitting scheduled for this afternoon after work. I've been fit for my putter, but that's it. I've never been fit for anything else, but I sure as heck have done a lot of tinkering. I'm excited and admittedly nervous.

I'll be sure to post my experience here.

 

[McLovin]

i'll say it again, fitting is addictive. it's so fun to try the latest and greatest, and see how subtle equipment tweaks or different combos perform so differently.

 

[krispyk]

Darn good question and the unequivocal answer is "sometimes" . Part of it depends on how recently and how well they were fit previously. If it has been years (or never) since a fitting, it is not too hard to something that feels good and performs noticeably better (if not optimal). But there is a much smaller margin for error for someone fit two years ago as the technology gains have not been huge in that short window.

Very good point and definately see where that is a big factor.

This is a great thread with phenomenal responses. I am also considering a fitting in the near future and have never had one. I did one at Golf Galaxy and the fitter told me that the clubs right off the rack were perfect for me. i didn't quite buy it so I didn't pull the trigger on the clubs.

Totally agree with you on the awesome responses. I am already not as blind going into this as I was prior to this thread.

I had my first ever fitting this past October and wasnt exactly sure what to expect either. I was told to bring my clubs, shoes and be ready to hit some balls. When I first got there I took some swings for about 10 min to warm up. Talked with my fitter for a couple min about me, my game, where I wanted to go with my game etc.. He then watched me hit some shots with my old club. We looked at the launch monitor numbers and explained everything to me. He also had me hit some shots with a club that measures shaft load. I was asked if I had a club in mind I wanted to try and I tried out a couple Ping G30 head/shaft combinations...talked about how the club felt and launch numbers. Then tried other different shaft/head combinations that I wanted to try...each time talked about feel and launch numbers. Up until this point there were some combos that felt good (numbers showed as well) and some that didn't. He then said let me try something. He put together a head/shaft combination he thought would work well for me. It's like a switch went off with the first swing of that club. It just felt right and had the best numbers. I than tried different shafts to make sure we had the best shaft for me. Basically go in with an idea of what you want to try....so you don't have questions or doubts. BUT make sure you have an open mind too. I went in wanting to get the Ping g30's but walked out with the Mizuno jpx 850's, which wasnt even on my radar. I also did a lot of research before choosing where to get fitted. I'd suggest the same...look for reviews and/or talk to others that have gotten fitted etc.

Fortunately since I have been out of the game for so long I don't have any club or clubs that I am specifically looking at (so far anyways) which will help with keeping an open mind. Another thing I have learned with being handicapped is I am not concerned as much with how I or what I am using looks as long as it works (for everything, not just golf) for me to be able to do things again. As an example, if I was to find that the best fit with best performance was a woman's pink set of clubs, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd be rockin' that set like nobodies business.

 

[krispyk]

Fascinating thread, and a great read for me today as I have an hour long driver fitting scheduled for this afternoon after work. I've been fit for my putter, but that's it. I've never been fit for anything else, but I sure as heck have done a lot of tinkering. I'm excited and admittedly nervous.

I'll be sure to post my experience here.

Yes please do. Be looking forward to see how it goes for ya. From the sounds of it there's no need to be nervous but be exited all you want cause it should be fun. Hammer away and enjoy.

 

[krispyk]

i'll say it again, fitting is addictive. it's so fun to try the latest and greatest, and see how subtle equipment tweaks or different combos perform so differently.

I keep getting more excited about getting fitted with each response. Really looking forward to it.

 

[ironcondor]

Wow.

Well, following up on my earlier post re: my fitting today...I feel speechless. I got more out of this than I possibly expected. The fitter was a fantastic gentleman and scholar, and spent a full hour and a half with me. We were in a private studio area of the shop, which apparently has better/more accurate equipment than the normal hitting bays that everyone uses. There were rows and rows of shafts...it was amazing and rather overwhelming (in a good way).

First, I warmed up a bit then we established a "baseline" using my current driver. Turns out my current setup is a spin / balloon MACHINE. I sorta knew this - I've always struggled with high spin off the tee and have done everything (except a fitting) to try remedy this - swing changes, ball position, shaft changes, etc. Some had better results than others, but I was never on a decent monitor very much and my tee shots were always VERY high according to my golfing buddies. My fitter said my swing was, at least as it pertained to the release/contact, "a blend of Lee Westwood and Gretzky's slap shot" which is fitting, because I used to play a lot of hockey and just picked up golf a few years ago. Hilarious. I asked him for the honest truth about a guy like me that has a reasonably consistent driver swing but one that is not technically perfect and has massive room for improvement...a 14ish handicapper like me that shoots high 80's. The fitter said you wouldn't believe the guys that come through for a fitting, and others benefit more than some. He was confident I would benefit huge from it because of my high spin and ball flight off the tee.

After the baseline was nailed down, he went over the baseline numbers with me and walked me through a goal of where I'd see most improvements: shaft types, club head types with various cg placements, hosel settings, etc. I needed a lower launching head that maintained a semblance of side-spin forgiveness and reduced backspin to a more reasonable level (but not seek to completely remove it). At that point, the clubs started flying at me. Each club was hit in a set of at least 5 times, more like 10-11 times. Be prepared to swing a lot and power through being tired.

G30 with this shaft. Now, try this one. Here, let me adjust the hosel. Okay try this shaft in the 815 Alpha. Now this one. Here's the Cobra Bio Cell Pro. Okay, let's try the R15...no that's out. 915. Hmm that shaft isn't right, hold on. Okay, try this one. Etc etc and on it went.

Eventually, through this process, he narrowed down the best combination of all the attributes I needed to fit my swing...lower launching head, reduced dispersion/side-spin, reduced backspin, reasonable launch angle. All of those married together and I was presented a final result of a 915 D2 in 8.5* but A3 (+1.5*, draw) setting with a Diamana M+ 60 stiff shaft. After some additional swings to confirm, he had me re-hit my baseline. Bam, huge balloons and high spin. I felt like I was making decent contact but the numbers told the true story. Back to the 915 D2 and just solid lower penetrating flight with spin numbers in the 2,500 range and a bend in the single digit yardage (ie. reduced side-spin). AMAZING. The 915 D2 is incredibly forgiving!

Guys, I honestly couldn't have been more thrilled with how this worked out. The education alone was worth it, and it was incredible to see just how various clubs produce such drastically different results given a same swing. I feel more so than ever now that a fitting - at least for a driver (i've never been fit for irons so I won't speak to them) is totally worth it. I highly recommend it. Book an hour. Half an hour will be too short. Don't combine it with fitting any other clubs though. I was pretty tired after.

Yes, I had some gift card credit to use, and with my trade-in and some additional bit of haggling, I pulled the trigger. I now have a 915 D2 fitted to me. I cannot wait to hit the range...I almost want to call in sick tomorrow just to do that.

edit: I will also add that the fitter was very professional in my experience. At no time did I ever feel like I was getting pushed in a direction I didn't want to go, or sold on something. It was a great experience. The club and the fitter's ability to make it work with my swing is what sold me.

 

[ironcondor]

i'll say it again, fitting is addictive. it's so fun to try the latest and greatest, and see how subtle equipment tweaks or different combos perform so differently.

As my post implies, what you said is spot on. Totally fun and addictive. I will be getting fittings from now on, especially as my swing develops over time, having started only ~3 years ago. Fun stuff!!!