Who Needs to Get Fit?

[Jaymo37]

This is my mindset. I am a beginner. I am improving and working on my swing. If I get fit now, the "fit" will be for my current swing. As I continue to (hopefully) improve, the "fit" will not longer be correct.

To play a bit of devils advocate, if you "improve" your swing, is it possible or even likely that the swing you've created, is compensating for some issue that didn't have to exist in the first place? At this point, you've trained your body to make a swing that works, but not the swing that you could have developed with properly fitting clubs.

I truly believe that every golfer would benefit from a proper fitting. I'd argue the most important time to get one is when first starting out, so that you don't ingrain any bad habits compensating for poorly fitting clubs.

 

[OITW]

I truly believe that every golfer would benefit from a proper fitting. I'd argue the most important time to get one is when first starting out, so that you don't ingrain any bad habits compensating for poorly fitting clubs.

I Agree with this statement

 

[moosejaa]

Depends on the fitter, there's good ones and bad ones and different motives.

 

[emart2173]

A little long but a good video as are all the videos in the high handicap fitting series.

 

[millsan1]

To play a bit of devils advocate, if you "improve" your swing, is it possible or even likely that the swing you've created, is compensating for some issue that didn't have to exist in the first place? At this point, you've trained your body to make a swing that works, but not the swing that you could have developed with properly fitting clubs.

I truly believe that every golfer would benefit from a proper fitting. I'd argue the most important time to get one is when first starting out, so that you don't ingrain any bad habits compensating for poorly fitting clubs.

Fair enough point. I should clarify my stance.

If one has physical attributes that warrant adjusting club length, lie, etc, then I agree, a fitting is a good thing.

What I am referring to is adjusting the clubs draw, loft, etc to compensate for a bad swing. I believe this is not a good idea.

For instance, today I spent several hours working on some exercises to help me reduce my slice. At the end, my swing was different from when I began, in a meaningful way. Some things clicked for me and I made real forward progress towards my goal of a "good" swing. If my clubs had been fit to reduce my slice, they would now be hooking.

 

[SquirrelyDave]

Fair enough point. I should clarify my stance.

If one has physical attributes that warrant adjusting club length, lie, etc, then I agree, a fitting is a good thing.

What I am referring to is adjusting the clubs draw, loft, etc to compensate for a bad swing. I believe this is not a good idea.

For instance, today I spent several hours working on some exercises to help me reduce my slice. At the end, my swing was different from when I began, in a meaningful way. Some things clicked for me and I made real forward progress towards my goal of a "good" swing. If my clubs had been fit to reduce my slice, they would now be hooking.

That’s a different fitting goal than what people typically mean when we’re talking about getting fitted. Is class that more in the “tweaking” category.

And you’re definitely right, if you’re working on a swing change to fix a hook or a slice, then using the fitting to mask those flaws isn’t a good plan.

If you’re buying a new set of clubs, and even working on a swing change, as long as you’re not trying to change the rhythm of your swing or the swing speed a fitting will help get the right shafts in the club and find club heads you’re comfortable with that work for you.

 

[NewGlfr]

Why learn how to swing with improper clubs? You are already making a hard game harder.

This is the confusion for me. What qualifies as an "improper club"? If you don't have a stable swing, how would you know what constitutes a "proper club" for you? Won't that change as you progress?

 

[jim54]

I mean in general, if they are too short or too long, wrong grip size, etc. It will just make learning harder. I am not suggesting a Club Champion fitting, but a basic PGA SS type of thing so at least least you are in the ballpark to learn how to swing a club.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Big SoIL]

Anyone with any kind of foundation for playing golf would benefit from a fitting. About the only time I would t recommend someone gets a fitting is if they’ve never played or played less than a handful of rounds, beyond that you start to develop tendencies.

I think what gets missed for the most part is what you get fit into isn’t gonna change all that much in the lifespan of how long we keep clubs. People generally are gonna stay in particular weights/profiles/flex of shafts, they’re gonna be high or low ball hitters, and if they’re adults their stature isn’t gonna change. About what you’re left with is loft/lie, which are pretty easy to change. So if your swing improves or changes a little, most of the specs you got fit into will still be correct and will help you more than hurt.

 

[rollin]

I guess this is one of those things that can be debated forever.
I just don't see the point in obtaining clubs with a given length, given lie, flex, kick point, torque, loft,......and then (for a newbie) making swing changes that can be quite far from minimal tweaks. And then needing to possibly change what you've spent money and efforts obtaining. Fwiw there have been even more avid and well established players who have needed to change given fitted factors. I think I recall some mentioning just that from time to time here in the forums as they may have made swing teaks and changes and or simply aged.

Id speculate that even what seems a simple basic fitting factor like length could change via swing development. I mean stance and posture changes can move something as simple as that. And then perhaps as ones swing path, AOA, and ss begin to better develop or change it all of course may warrant other fitting factors to move accordingly as well.

I just don't know for certain and perhaps Im wrong about that but it seems to make sense to me. And especially for newbies whos swing (if taking lessons) may be the one with the most and possibly biggest swing changes.

 

[WMac19]

If money were no object, a good fitting all along the way on one's path for golf would be great.

Just because my kids were gonna quickly outgrow their first bike, I didn't force them to learn on a bike that was ill-suited for them size-wise.

But I'm not advocating for a full fitting, that would be fairly unique out of the gate and totally up to the individual.

What I do recommend to beginner friends is to have their lofts/lies/length checked by a fitter, one willing to make the tweaks rather than push them hard to buy new gear. New swings are surely erratic yet to the trained eye, negative trends can/will be discerned.

I've recommended forgiving forged irons to them just on the chance that significant adjustment was necessary. Most just bought what looked good, anyway.

 

[Hamfist]

If money were no object, a good fitting all along the way on one's path for golf would be great.

Just because my kids were gonna quickly outgrow their first bike, I didn't force them to learn on a bike that was ill-suited for them size-wise.

But I'm not advocating for a full fitting, that would be fairly unique out of the gate and totally up to the individual.

What I do recommend to beginner friends is to have their lofts/lies/length checked by a fitter, one willing to make the tweaks rather than push them hard to buy new gear. New swings are surely erratic yet to the trained eye, negative trends can/will be discerned.

I've recommended forgiving forged irons to them just on the chance that significant adjustment was necessary. Most just bought what looked good, anyway.

I did a "tweak" to my irons and it worked out great for me.

 

[DG_1234]

Generally speaking, most golfers see fitting as being valid and helpful for low handicap players. The real debate occurs when talking about mid-to-high handicap players. Even more so--beginners. I've recently had some experiences that have compelled me to rethink my own opinions on this topic. Perhaps you have too. At any rate, I created this thread so we can revisit this topic.

Most threads on this topic are filled with yay or nay opinions as if this was an all or none proposition. But part of what I've recognized is that there are a lot of different services that come under the heading of getting fit. So, maybe we've been having the conversation at too general a level. In my first post, I'll share one of my ah ha moments. You can then tell me if you see this too, or think I've gone off the reservation.

You bring up a good point about "too general a level".
For example, I watched a YouTube video of a guy getting fit for irons, but his swing was so faulty that the fitter suggested golf lessons would be most beneficial.
If some fitters are also teaching pros, I could see there being a benefit to a customer receiving both instruction and club fitting combined.
But pure fitting only, for a player with seriously flawed swing technique, I think may be counter productive. Specifically, the "fit" could actually promote the player's swing faults.

 

[DG_1234]

This is the confusion for me. What qualifies as an "improper club"? If you don't have a stable swing, how would you know what constitutes a "proper club" for you? Won't that change as you progress?

My preference is static fitting, which is based on a players physique measurements (height and wrist-to-floor). I think club specifications from a static fit will set the player up well to make fundamentally sound swings.

 

[leftshot]

If money were no object, a good fitting all along the way on one's path for golf would be great.

Just because my kids were gonna quickly outgrow their first bike, I didn't force them to learn on a bike that was ill-suited for them size-wise.

But I'm not advocating for a full fitting, that would be fairly unique out of the gate and totally up to the individual.

I like that analogy...and if you did it would make it harder for your kids to learn how to ride a bike. I think we've done that to more than a few of us.