r/golf • u/GSD1309 • Jan 24 '21
What I learned from a club fitting - should have done it years ago EQUIPMENT
Never had a lesson or fitting in 25 years of playing golf. Did a fitting yesterday and learned the following basic things that have probably held me back for years:
- I don’t need irons cut 1” long as my current set is just because I’m 6’ 3”... my arms are long too so regular length is fine.
- I need 1 degree upright loft - my sole impact was out on the toe consistently
- A heavier shaft in my irons helped - I was whipping through too quickly and pull hooking a lot. Heavier shaft made a fast difference
- I need midsize grips as my hands are big
Next up will be getting lessons.
TLDR: Just get a fitting and quit guessing when you are buying clubs.
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u/Pom-O-Duro Jan 24 '21
I think it was Jack that said something like “It used to be that you would get a new driver and learn to hit it. Now you get a new driver and it learns your swing.”
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u/jcgb1970 Jan 24 '21
I did an iron fitting in august and I’m still disappointed.
I was just getting back into golf and thought I should get fitted since it was time to upgrade some 25 year old irons. I went to get fitted and he tried maybe 4 heads and 3 shafts and then asked what grips I preferred.
I realize he didn’t have a lot to work with since I hit like shit and embarrassed myself, but I would have rather he said “take a few classes and come back”.
I got fitted into Mavriks which is what I mentioned to him I was interested in. They seem to be great, when I hit the ball pure.
My in laws gifted me $100 at Club Champion so I’m debating putting that towards a driver fitting or just start over with a whole bag. Thoughts?
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
Sorry to hear. I was able to make consistent contact at the fitting and patterns that I’ve had my whole golf career clearly showed up. My pattern is... don’t play a lot... bad slice with occasional pull hook. When I play a lot I get the path and hands in synch and it’s a nice little power draw. I also miss hit to the toe ALOT. I do not expect to play so much that I’ll cure all that ails so just need something that helps me battle my foibles when I play a few times per month when a buddy needs a fill in or has an outing spot. I probably spent too much on clubs for that low of frequency but given I’ll probably keep these 20 years too, I can live with that.
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u/soulnotsoldier Jan 24 '21
I'm kind of sceptical that clubs are the cause of certain shots/mishits.
Lie angle gets adjusted based on what lie you're delivering at impact but probably aren't aware you're doing it. If you got on a launch monitor and it was pointed out you're always toe-up, you could make that one degree adjustment easily. Baking it into the clubs seems like massive overkill.
That being said, if you have a consistent swing that you've not changed for a while, if the fitting makes you feel more comfortable while improving performance, it makes perfect sense. Especially if you're due new clubs anyway!
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
I think I get fatigue from the amount of "get your driver fitted" suggestions over a focus on the swing. Obviously you should choose a club designed for your game: don't play a senior flex if you drive it 280, don't get a draw biased driver if your already draw the ball, etc. But getting a fitting that actually changes the outcome of the strike seems like an impossible fix if your inconsistent enough to hit a snap hook or slice. The other thing I notice is tweaking the distance by a few yards by some insane loft/face lie/weights combination. Unless your 6'3" or 4'10" I'm not understanding how a stock shaft in your flex is going to be worse than an extreme fitting, Especially in terms of consistency and direction of flight.
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u/glfaholic +1.5 Jan 24 '21
If you do a true fitting (not this golf galaxy/dicks edwin watts heres the 3 shafts these irons can come with fitting) where you try 15-20 different shafts you will be a believer. I didn't think it was that big of a deal and I had enough knowledge that I needed to lower my spin so I could guess how to do that (my guess gave me the highest spinning combination possible).
Hitting 15 different shafts with clubs that have the same lie angle and length, I could tell how much of a difference there could be in the shafts alone very quickly. One I would hit ok but not center contact maybe a little thin, then I would grab the next one and it would be a straight up back to back almost shank. Then you swing one where every swing was solid middle contact and flying right at the target and long consistent distance. Then you get the top 3-4 results and do it again for those 3-4. It was eye opening.
I have a fast swing speed, I never in a million years would have guessed that I would fit into graphite the best, but 125 gram X stiff Accra graphite was my fit and I am never looking back., I recently got on a staff deal and put the same shaft into my new clubs and there was very little adjustment required.
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u/soulnotsoldier Jan 24 '21 edited Jan 24 '21
I'm a believer when you already have a good swing (which presumably you do from your handicap). But if it's being used to correct eg. fades/draws due to dynamic lie, and you didn't realise you were doing that and didn't attempt to even try and fix it in a lesson, then chances are the lie you're delivering on fitting day is something that will change two months later and your fitted clubs will no longer work as well.
Ideally fittings would take place over a period of time. I've known people that couldn't stop shanking on their fitting due to the pressure of it, even with their own clubs!
EDIT: downvoted for an opinion. May as well stick to photos of pitch marks.
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
Exactly. The pros would hit every fairway and green if the fitting was that much of an issue over the stock shaft options.
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u/ruffmarkacademy HDCP/Loc/Whatever Jan 24 '21
One of the problems with fittings is you can't blame the clubs any more. J/k
Honestly most quality fitters will readjust lie and loft for a year for free. So it's not that big of a deal if adjustments are needed. Now if you need more than 5* of of lie adjustments a lesson is the better expense at that point.
The most important thing is find a fitter you trust and build a relationship with them. I've only had to pay for a fitting once and have had several for free since. My fitter will invite me in just to test and try new equipment. I get to use the extra bay to practice whenever. All it costs me was a quality bottle of Scotch. (~$76) I have my coach with me at my fittings to discuss with the fitter adjustments he feels is needed.
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
I totally get that, but to say that Callaway, Taylor Made, Titleist, Cobra, drivers stock shaft options are not a good choice is where I question the magic of fitting.
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u/glfaholic +1.5 Jan 24 '21
Well I would say yes the stock options are viable, however if your swing is remotely repeatable and consistent then you are losing shots and average distance to the consistency of the shaft. (It is getting better with technology though I do admit) The example I like to look back to is the shaft that came stock in the xhot when it first came out. If it said regular on the shaft it could frequency at senior or up to extra stiff. You would have to frequency measure like 12 clubs to get two that were close together even though the shafts said the same thing on them. I tried to fit myself, I hit the ball high and spinny so I got an AD BB 6x , which when I went for the fitting was the highest spin combination possible. I ended up getting fit into a soft tip mid launch shaft, the AutoPower 5885tx iirc (this was 2 years ago before this Autoflex frenzy stuff mind you) Now this shaft didn’t give me the absolutely longest result but the dispersion and repeatability was far an away the best for me. I haven’t been playing much lately because I work at a Golf course but when I do get out even with my muscle memory not being exercised I still get great results. Something which never used to be the case when I would use a stock shaft option
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
To say the stock stiff flex shaft is less consistent than the impact strike or swing is where I simply have to disagree. Changing shaft for spin or distance of several yards really doesn't seem to make any difference in terms of hitting the fairway? I really want to see some videos of good players with the fitted driver setting/shaft vs the stock neutral setting and recommended flex stock shaft on a golf course with a GC Quad etc and see the results.
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u/glfaholic +1.5 Jan 25 '21
Think about this. Do you ever see an advertisement for a driver where they talk about the shaft? It’s always the head does this , it does that, Yada yada. The pictures are almost exclusively of the head as well. Because they are pairing it with a “$5 shaft” stock shafts are purchased in huge quantities and quality control is never going to be top notch. Now as I said they are getting much better, https://youtu.be/kc51wz0rqzs Shows the stock venture vs the velocore, this player obviously has a very consistent strike so you don’t see how a less grooved swing will react.
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u/sluggosan Jan 24 '21
I agree - if you have never done a “real” fitting it is easy to be skeptical of the benefits. You cannot fit yourself on a launch monitor.
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u/KTFlaSh96 7.7 HCP San Diego Jan 24 '21
The back to back shank comment is literally what happened to me during my fitting. 3 shots, all were basically shanks low and off to the right, 110 yard 6 iron shots. I thought i was just swinging the club really poorly, the next shaft was the shaft I ended up getting, hitting shots so pure. It's crazy how much a better shaft will do for your game.
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u/gr8-big-lebowski Jan 24 '21
Disagree. You don't adjust your gate/stride to wear pants that don't fit. Clubs are no different.
Lie angle is crucial and can be very responsible for hooks & slices. 1 degree is significant, however lots of people are 2-5 degrees of difference as well. If you swing flat, with upright/std clubs, when forward pressed at impact, that club face is closed no matter what.
For example. I grew up playing full length hand-me-downs. As a result I'd developed a flatter swing plane (was short growing as a kid). I'm 6ft now and still have the swing plane. Its not going away. My 3 degree flat wedges, 2 degree flat short irons, 1 degree flat long irons are stupid important.
Heavy shafts on a flat swing plane put me off center too much but my swing speed is high. So after trying 20 different shafts, I'm comfortably fitted in light weight stiff shafts, and dialed into x stiff on long irons.
Both changes tightened dispersion and let me execute without having to think about it. It shows through pages and pages of data from a launch monitor, it shows on my % fairways, % GIR, and hdcp. Golf is also more fun when you're using equipment and getting expected performance, not battling and guessing every shot.
My buddy is 2 degrees upright and x-stiff through the whole bag, save his wedges. Completely different swing. He's as upright as JT, I'm flat like the new Ricki Fowler swing.
Adjusting your swing to fit clubs is a losing battle and will without a doubt lower your consistency. Clubs are so expensive, gotta buy ones that fit.
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
Thanks this resonated with me. There is no way I will play enough to dramatically change my swing. I have some known issues that I’ve had for years that I battle, and so I’m just playing defense against those. I believe what I learned in my fitting will help with that battle. I am not going to be shooting scratch or single digit HC golf ever. I’m not even going to try to do that, as I have friends that good and I know what it takes even naturally talented golfers to stay at that level - I do not choose to invest that much time. I have other hobbies and things that will prevent that. Not worried about it though - I just want to stay in play and maybe help my buddies win a scramble every now and then!
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u/BulFra Jan 24 '21
I agree with everything, except maybe the mid size grip "just" because your hands are big. As I discovered during my fitting, my grip size had a strong impact on my balance during my swing, specifically on the top of my back swing. I was convinced for a while that mid size was good for me (also 6'3). I went back to normal size, all for the best.
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
We talked about this. One issue I have is getting too handsy with irons and not handsy enough with driver. So even though my hand size would point to midsize, we kept driver/3W standard grip size to help get hands through. So it was definitely more than “big hands mean you need midsize” automatic decision.
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
Grips are all preference. I personally did not like the jumbo putter grip, many swear by it. I prefer a standard iron or driver grip, some like midsize or jumbo. I don't agree that a grip change can help or harm outside of the mental aspect.
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u/mayo862004 Jan 24 '21
I disagree with this. I found using standard size grips cause my hands to be overactive leading to a lot of hooks. Switching to midsized grips alleviated the problem greatly.
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u/enator Jan 24 '21
Same here. Midsize grips let me grip the club less hard because they fit in my hands better. It was a night and day difference in consistency... I very rarely experience the club slip / shift in my swing with Midsize grips and I felt like I was always fighting that with standard.
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
This was the exact logic we used - irons I am handsy more often so we went midsize. Woods I can’t get hands through so we used standard even though they may measure out smaller than I should have. If I ever get the hands issue worked out I’ll get a midsize grip on the woods for $10. I’ll be thrilled to spend that money in that case but for now I’m expecting to need the help the smaller grip will give.
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
Some great points raised... I had a few reasons for getting the fitting first. The main one will probably get me downvoted to oblivion lol. I have played the same clubs for 20 years. Granted, I had long periods (years) where I didn’t play at all. My kids are now older and enjoy playing, so I’m coming back! I was a 15 handicap back in the day although now I’m beyond rusty. So... main reason: I was looking to upgrade clubs and really liked the look of the new Sim 2 irons. Golf Galaxy (downvotes incoming ik) has a 3X reward points promo through today, which works out to nice little discount. I guess I might not be informed or in-the-loop about some of the negative on GG, but as a lefty golfer I have been blown away at the lefty selection. And they don’t talk down to a hacker like me. (I learned to golf hitting balls at a barn across a corn field). So I felt comfortable there and wanted those reward points which will end up being around $300 or more.
I was really happy with the fitting, which maybe isn’t surprising as I’ve never had one so can’t compare. Maybe I’ll get my lessons there too! (More downvotes incoming lol).
Edit: I did end up buying the Sim 2 irons and 3W Rescue but not driver. I liked the Ti 3 much better.
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u/cartridge_fury got golfers elbow and stuck at 16.5 Jan 24 '21
I’ve had 2 bad fittings lately, both at 2nd Swing.
The first was an iron fitting. First off, their sensors are trash - you have to hit to the right site of the screen to make it go straight. The guy fitting me hardly said anything, didn’t have any productive feedback, beyond “lie angle doesn’t matter because you’re changing your swing to hit whatever club I’m giving you” and then he tried to upswell me on last year’s Ping irons at full price. (I ended up doing fittings at my club and at the local range and both of them independently recommended standard stiff Mavriks, which I got).
The second was a driver fitting at second swing. Again - not much productive feedback other than - you’re hitting it about as good as you can expect at your swing speed with your current driver - here’s a $400 one that you can sell for more $ on eBay if you don’t like it (it had been sold to 2nd Swing with an upgraded tour AD shaft). I didn’t like it after a few rounds on the course and ultimately sold it on eBay for a break even price.
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u/nameichoose Jan 24 '21
What kind of shafts they set you up with?
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21 edited Jan 24 '21
For the Sim 2 Max irons I got True Temper Dynamic Gold Max Length + 1.75 with S300 flex.
Edit: that max length +1.75 was a description of how much could be added to length not what was added. Length is standard.
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u/nameichoose Jan 24 '21
Thanks! I thought you mentioned you don’t kneed them cut long because your wrist to floor is more average than “tall”?
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
Correct - I edited the reply - what I put in was inaccurate based on the confusing order form. I actually called in to clarify they didn’t order me +1.75 and they told me the description is just to say how much you COULD add if you wanted. None was actually added.
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u/nameichoose Jan 24 '21
Ahh so it’s the length of the tip on the shaft. That makes sense. Thanks for following up and for sharing. I’m also a long armed, lanky 6 foot 3 with a fast swing speed and a hook miss. Never been for a fitting, but this could convince me!
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
I am lanky with long arms too. I was surprised I didn’t extra length. I’ve been playing 1” longer clubs for 20 years. So between too long and too light no wonder I struggled.
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u/Conscious-Group Jan 24 '21
What's your height? They could be too long.
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21 edited Jan 24 '21
Great point - I actually called back because I definitely did not intend to add 1.75. What I typed in above was the item description on the order form and it confused me. My order was for standard length based on lengths of my arms.
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u/the_grand_apartment Jan 24 '21
Did you read the content of his post..?
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u/GSD1309 Jan 24 '21
My fault on a misleading reply with the +1.75 - I typed in what I though was a model description but actually was just a note in the order form that the max length you can order is +1.75. Shows how much I know about this stuff!
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u/Hotpwnsta on the DL Jan 24 '21
Shouldn’t you get lessons first before fitting since your swing will likely change?