Fitting or Fit up?

[bagfull]

As I was on vacation in the USA decided to buy a new set of irons. Taking the advice from this site I rang a number of shops and requested a fitting for club length, grip size and angle. I went to 3 different outlets and received 3 different reports. I either need club extension of 1/2 inch with a 2 degree increase or 1/4 with 1 degree or no extention with 2 degree increase.



It was worth noting that as I was on vacation and I needed the clubs within 2 weeks. Suddenly the club length was fine and the clubs did not need sending away for adjustment.



I finally went to one store (Dicks) and just chatted to their golf pro, then spent 15 minutes just swinging clubs. It got down to Big Berthers, King Cobras and Nike NDS. I finally settled for the Nike clubs.

And no he did not think I needed to change the clubs, only this time I believed him.

Anyone else have fitting stories?

[Ian Hancock]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

Hi Bagfull,

This is an strange story, fitting is very simple and also very effective for your game.

You should seek out a good pro and have a proper fitting just to make sure, your clubs can be bent quite easily if they are found to be slightly out. Hopefully you will have the correct shafts.

You could always check the lie yourself, ask at the range for a base tape for your 6 iron and hit a few balls of a hard board, check the marks on the bottom, if it scratch dead centre then they are fine, nearer the heel means they are to up-right, marking the toe means they are to flat.

The pros who you went too should have done this?


Ian.

[gord962]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

I'm not sold tat all of the golf superstore staff are actually qualified. Stick with professional clubmakers whenever possible: http://www.proclubmakers.org/

[ubizmo]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

Isn't it important to have a fairly consistent swing before getting clubs adjusted? I'll hit near the toe one time, near the heel the next, and then in the center.

[MJE77]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

Yeah, it's hard to know in what way you need your clubs adjusting if you are a beginner or inconsistent. I'm sure my clubs are too long for me and I need a flatter lie but I adjust my setup to put the club flat behind the ball and not on the heel or toe.

The other day I came across a club maker's website and it had a table for your height and the distance between the floor and your wrist and told you what length club and what lie you needed. I can't remember where it was tho.

I know for my height and wrist to floor it said for 0.5 >1.0 inches shorter than standard for club length and it said I needed a flatter lie.

[gord962]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

To figure out your lie adjustment, you need to test on a lie board. This will leave a non permanent mark on the sole of your club where it impacted the board, telling the clubmaker how much the lie needs to be adjusted up or down. Charts are okay for a generalization, but no where near as accurate as a lie board. Hard for a chart to tell if I have a 1PS or a 2PS, which will have much different requirements based on the amount of bend in the waist.

[LowPost42]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

To figure out your lie adjustment, you need to test on a lie board. This will leave a non permanent mark on the sole of your club where it impacted the board, telling the clubmaker how much the lie needs to be adjusted up or down. Charts are okay for a generalization, but no where near as accurate as a lie board. Hard for a chart to tell if I have a 1PS or a 2PS, which will have much different requirements based on the amount of bend in the waist.

Amen. WTF (wrist to floor) charts are a good starting point. A good fitter will dial it in for you.

[HEATHCLIFF]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

Be very careful about who you get to fit your clubs as a lot of guys who work in golf shops are not qualified or experienced enough.

A guy I play golf with had his clubs 'custom fitted' in store when he bought them. All the shop did was take a hacksaw and cut about 1 inch off the shafts. He hits everything out to the right 'cos the lie angle is too flat and the swingweight is miles too light.

I'm on my third set of custom clubs now - the first set were very,very expensive by a company that drags out a cart of clubs (lets call them GH's) and the pro hands you club after club to hit. After a year of horrible golf I gave them away. They felt great but anything would have been better, really - anything.
This same company fitted a buddy of mine for clubs 3 inches longer than standard.

The second set were fitted and made up by a clubfitter using Golfsmith components. I paid extra to have them swingweighted carefully - they never did it and the SW's were all in the C2 - C6 range. At first delivery was going to be 4 days, then another 3 days...then another 4 days. In the end it took them 3 weeks to hacksaw and glue them.

My third set is 3/4 inch shorter than the 1st set and 3/4 inch longer than the 2nd set...just right. I hit them dead center.

If you decide to make up your own clubs from components it is really easy to do and all the info you need is freely available in books or the net. Just remember that unless you invest in a minimum amount of equipment you won't know what you have made.

I recommend finding a fitter with a pro looking shop (many do it in their garage) who deals in quality gear like Wishon and SMT. Haunt the clubmaker forums like www.wishongolf.com so you can cut through any B/S and pure sales talk.

Good luck.

[wildwilly911]

Re: Fitting or Fit up?

you did the right thing, as far as i know dicks does have a pga pro at all of its stores that are very knowledgeable. ive been to 3 stores and was very empressed by each one of the pros, even went golfing with one one day (it will be a bit before i hit the tour)that and they have all the equipment there to really see if theres any changes to be made. you have to watch out for the guys out to make a buck.