Do clubs, shafts, custom fitting actually matter

[FootWedge16]

My handicap (I don't keep an official one) would hover in the 4 to 5 range. I drive the ball well. I'm a decent iron player. I'm good around the greens and my putting is inconsistent (good speed but I struggle in the 3 to 6 foot range). 

I currently play a set of clubs I found on ebay. 21 apex pros with project xio shafts. Epic max ls driver in x stiff stock shaft. Epic speed fairway woods with stock x stiff shaft. Some SM5 wedges I found for cheap. 

 

Never cared if any of these clubs or shafts are actually correct for me. Am I good enough golf to actually see any benefit from being custom fit for clubs? I've always thought it was BS for anyone that wasn't scratch or better but I'm now opening up to the idea. I've been playing for 28 years and have always played random clubs. 

[Hawkeye77]

Yes, even if just to confirm you have the right stuff. 

[caniac6]

If you are happy with your game, I wouldn’t worry about it. A good fitting might help. I have had good fittings, and I have had awful fittings. We have different companies do fitting days at our course, and I usually try to participate. I just see if I like the clubs, and I will do a proper fitting with a guy I have worked with before. 

[david.c.w]

100% a basic fitting will help.  Will it take you to scratch?  No.  Will it save you 1 stroke per round?  Probably.

 

As a 5 index you are clearly capable of striking the ball with some consistency.  At a minimum you should get your lie angle checked and get your driver shaft fitted.  Do you need to spend 6 hours and $600 on the fitting and $6000 on exotic club head/shaft combos?  No

 

It can be done fairly quickly; and cheaply too.  3 swings with each club for lie angle.  10 swings with a few driver shafts on a Trackman.  

 

Any golf shop will do the lie angle for something like $5-$10 per club.  For the driver shaft find a pro that plays the same brand as your driver.  It is very likely that they have some shafts laying around to try. 

 

Edit:  To piggy back on @caniac6 statement, there are 2 types of fittings.  Brand new fitting and getting current stuff adjusted.  Both have value.  I would first get your existing stuff looked at and optimized.  If the optimization is below what you consider "good", then it may be time to look at new equipment.

Edited July 14 by david.c.w

[MonteScheinblum]

There are several issues that help you reach your ceiling.

 

Proper fit clubs is one

Fitness is one

 

However, proper technique, mental approach and course management are ahead of those.

 

 

[getitdaily]

Yes. However, they matter less if you dont have a quality fitter.

 

Iron fitting on mats...terrible. 

 

Driver/3w fitting with range balls...terrible

 

Most "fitters" are just folks who know what a ventus, diamana, and graphite design shaft looks like. Or that mizuno offers kbs 130x and 120s in ctaper, $taper, and tour...

[virtuoso]

Fitting can make quite a bit of difference for some people and none for others; really depends on the individual situation.

 

One thing I don't like is when fitters get out of their lane. There is one guy here in this forum that I know is a club fitter but gives a bunch bad swing advice trying to make people think he's an actual instructor. He needs to leave the swing advice to the experts and go back to his fitting bay, where he can talk about "kick point" and other things that don't matter.

[Phabs]

People on this site alone have probably spent a billion dollars on your topic.  What’s your guess? 

[SNIPERBBB]

You can adjust to clubs that arent right for you eventually. Id rather avoid that pain.

[PedronNiall]

2 hours ago, SNIPERBBB said:

You can adjust to clubs that arent right for you eventually. Id rather avoid that pain.

 

Exactly this. 

 

If you have 8 hours a day to practice like Keegan you can get away with an improper length and still play well. If you don't care about your tempo being grooved to what the shaft makes you do then you can get away with not finding out what weight and profile range works best for you, but no telling how much time you'll waste by doing so. You can also build compensations into your swing so you don't have to feel discomfort after every impact because you dig too much with certain irons or so you're able to avoid those flyers when you catch it a little high on the face, but also in the realm of no bueno. 

 

Better for your ceiling to come from your skill rather than be set by a poor match to your gear. 

[bluedot]

If you watch golf on TV, you won’t see a single player who doesn’t have equipment fitted to them.

 

Then ask yourself if you need MORE or LESS help from your equipment than they do.

[mshills]

11 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Fitting can make quite a bit of difference for some people and none for others; really depends on the individual situation.

1,000 times this. It’s situational. For me, fitting is so important now I am not sure I’d be able to play much without my wild specs (my 7i is 41” long…) but this is clearly a unique situation…..an outlier!

 

The closer you are to mainstream, the less it matters. 
 

Also agree 100% with an earlier point — I’d never do a driver fitting with range balls or an iron fitting off mats. 

[rsballer10]

It depends on how tall or short you are, and how good you are at picking equipment, among other variables. The closer you are to the middle of the bell curve, the less fitting matters.

Edited July 15 by rsballer10

[alittleoverpar]

There are "fitters" and there are fitters.  If you decide to go to one, ask around and make sure you find a reputable fitter.  Lot's of people call themselves "fitters" now that are just there to sell you clubs.

 

 

[KMeloney]

11 hours ago, SNIPERBBB said:

You can adjust to clubs that arent right for you eventually. Id rather avoid that pain.

I was doing that with my previous set of irons for the last 4 years. Got a Titleist fitting this spring, outdoors, on grass, by a great fitter, and I am hitting my [new] irons really well and with so much more confidence. And between the lack of offset, heavier and different (but still graphite) shafts, and them being bent a degree flat, I'm not fighting a hook with each swing like I was with my previous set.

[sundaypins]

18 hours ago, FootWedge16 said:

I've been playing for 28 years and have always played random clubs. 

 

Hit a bag of beginning junior gear, the question will be answered. 

 

13 hours ago, virtuoso said:

Fitting can make quite a bit of difference for some people and none for others; really depends on the individual situation.

 

Interested on your take, and even this question could easily reduce to 'it depends', but if allowed only one choice for a club either having proper lie, proper length, or proper shaft what would you say carries the most overall burden being correct.    I know it's a question in a vacuum of sorts but my first instinct says shaft.  

[ShortGolfer]

I played Callaway Mavrik Max irons.  They were great for rolling the ball up fairways, but I couldn't hold greens, even with my  7 iron.

I was fitted for new clubs and found the old ones were an inch long.  I cut down the Mavrik Max irons and noticed an improvement, but still couldn't hold greens.

The new clubs had enough descent angle to hold tiny greens with my 7 iron.

 

People seem now surprised at how well I hit my irons.  Part of it is ball striking, but having fitted clubs certainly helps.

As a stroke survivor I doubt I'll ever get back to an average level of fitness.  

Course management doesn't matter as much if you can consistently hit the middle of the fairway.  Or simply pitch out of the rough back on the fairway if you just miss by a little.

 

I believe the fitter selected the shaft for descent angle, and then optimized the head for spin and distance.

I told him I didn't care about distance as I was going to play from the forward tees on short courses.

It may have helped that I had a very consistent swing and could quickly say yes or know with just a few swings.

 

Edited July 15 by ShortGolfer

[virtuoso]

5 minutes ago, sundaypins said:

 

Hit a bag of beginning junior gear, the question will be answered. 

 

 

Interested on your take, and even this question could easily reduce to 'it depends', but if allowed only one choice for a club either having proper lie, proper length, or proper shaft what would you say carries the most overall burden being correct.    I know it's a question in a vacuum of sorts but my first instinct says shaft.  

Your first instinct is incorrect. The shaft is important but for different reasons than people think.

[sundaypins]

5 minutes ago, virtuoso said:

Your first instinct is incorrect. The shaft is important but for different reasons than people think.

 

Glad I'm not fitting.  Sounds like a new thread?

[virtuoso]

34 minutes ago, sundaypins said:

 

Glad I'm not fitting.  Sounds like a new thread?

Yes, in a different forum-not instruction.

[me05501]

Most fittings are meant to result in gear sales of some kind. They can be fun and helpful but not always perfectly agnostic. 

 

It's a strong clue when your fitter promotes the idea of applying your fitting fee to the cost of anything you buy. He's not doing that for your benefit...he's just protecting the value of his time. And if you're inclined to buy it can give you and excuse to go through with. "I'm already $150 in the hole...what's another $500??" This is a mind game that isn't worth playing. 

 

A really good fitting starts with your current bag as a baseline. I want to see the fitter measure all the lengths, lofts and lies on irons and wedges.

 

Let's talk about what I like to see behind the ball. Which parts of my current set are questionable or cause me the most stress? Where am I losing strokes? 

 

Also, what's my budget? How much am I willing to commit if great solutions can be found? 

 

There should be a solid chance that I leave with the same stuff I brought in, maybe with some adjustments to lofts, lies or collar settings. 

 

IMO the best fitters are also instructors. If they happen to see something in your setup or transition that's causing your issues, I'd rather them discuss it and coach me up rather than just fit around it. 

 

[LongNwrong27]

My hot take as a + handicap is that clubfitting is pretty dramatically overrated for vast majority of golfers, even good ones. 
 

if you’re 6’5 with uber short arms or etc, ok ya I can see it. But if you’re an average ish size guy let’s say 5’8 - 6’1 with relatively normal proportions think largely not significant and infinitely less important than lessons/improving your swing. 
 

feel like people just in general blame their flaws on equipment. I have been fit at major OEMs headquarters and don’t really think the results were any different after with the new clubs. 
 

if you’re already taking lessons regularly , doing good stuff in the gym and practicing multiple times a week, then I think I would rec fitting just to make sure not missing anything there but I would say it’s generally much less important than either of the prior 3 things. 
 

good things generally happen when you hit ball in the center of the face with the face generally pointing somewhere near the target 

[bladehunter]

Another note I’ll make.  
 

I agree with most of fitting is incredibly important for confidence and consistency. Where I’ll depart.  I’ve yet to be fitted by ANYONE  successfully in one trip.  , which includes titleist reps , a callaway tour van rep …and countless box store amateurs.  And none of the clubs in my bag came from them. ALL save for the putter were self fitted via trial and error.  Or in some cases just dumb luck. Buy a club and hit it great first swing.  As in case of my 4 wood. I’ve hit it on monitor vs everything you can name and it’s never been challenged. I hit it straighter. Farther and higher than anything I test.  My point ?  I don’t know. I don’t have good luck with fitters.  Time is always an issue.  I have a bag full of clubs that won’t be changing. Best wedges I’ve ever owned.  Yadda yadda. And I fit myself over years of trial and error.  
 

( disclaimer -  forking driver can go at any moment. I’ve never loved a driver long.  And I may add a 7-9 wood if I find the right one in favor of dropping the strong 3 wood. 😜) 

Edited July 15 by bladehunter

[MidwestHacker]

I think fitting is really important for driver/fairways to get the proper combo of launch/spin out of your swing so that the club is playable, and for the putter to make sure you can actually get the ball rolling instead of skipping/skidding across the green. Less important for irons and wedges (though having the proper iron shafts again can help get your launch/spin in the best possible window for your imperfect swing) because most people can "make it work" good enough to play decent golf even with very improper iron shafts and wedge grinds. 

[KMeloney]

17 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

 I’ve yet to be fitted by ANYONE  successfully in one trip.  

What does that mean? (What does "fitted...successfully" mean?)

[Dabetic]

I believe you could play just about any head as long as you can stand looking at it, but regarding shaft, the wrong one can make me look like a fool and the right one makes me look like I know what I'm doing. It's amazing what difference a shaft change can make

[SNIPERBBB]

30 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Another note I’ll make.  
 

I agree with most of fitting is incredibly important for confidence and consistency. Where I’ll depart.  I’ve yet to be fitted by ANYONE  successfully in one trip.  , which includes titleist reps , a callaway tour van rep …and countless box store amateurs.  And none of the clubs in my bag came from them. ALL save for the putter were self fitted via trial and error.  Or in some cases just dumb luck. Buy a club and hit it great first swing.  As in case of my 4 wood. I’ve hit it on monitor vs everything you can name and it’s never been challenged. I hit it straighter. Farther and higher than anything I test.  My point ?  I don’t know. I don’t have good luck with fitters.  Time is always an issue.  I have a bag full of clubs that won’t be changing. Best wedges I’ve ever owned.  Yadda yadda. And I fit myself over years of trial and error.  
 

( disclaimer -  forking driver can go at any moment. I’ve never loved a driver long.  And I may add a 7-9 wood if I find the right one in favor of dropping the strong 3 wood. 😜) 

Id hardly consider those places a good look for fitters.

 

Best place I've been to for a club fitting was Man o' War in Lexington, KY. The pros on staff are teaching pros as well as fitters. They arent dedicated to brands either. My dad, brother and I went there for iron fittings. My brother ended up with TM irons, dad callaways and myself mizunos(the ones in my signature). They deal with other brands too, the miuras are well out of my range price wise lol.

[BSI99]

If you're a single digit handicap you probably have a repeatable swing and fitting will probably benefit you. In my opinion, the order of clubs going from most important to least important to have fitted is:

 

Driver

Wedges (never fit these indoors)

Woods

Irons

Putter

 

Driver you could be losing a lot of distance with suboptimal launch conditions. Wedges are your scoring clubs and bounce and grind matter a heck of a lot more than you think. Woods also benefit from the launch conditions but distance is less important than driver. Irons become less of a big deal and I personally am of the opinion that putter fitting is almost useless. If you want to save money I know the PGA superstore does events where they do free fittings into a specific new club release (IE they did a free GT fitting last year when titleist released the GT line). Could go do something like that and just find a used driver with similar specs to what they fit you in. 

Edited July 15 by BSI99

[GoGoErky]

26 minutes ago, BSI99 said:

If you're a single digit handicap you probably have a repeatable swing and fitting will probably benefit you. In my opinion, the order of clubs going from most important to least important to have fitted is:

Even high handicaps have repeatable swings. They just have inconsistent contact that causes inconsistent results.

 

if you put their swings on video or 3d you would see the same swing 

[BSI99]

1 minute ago, GoGoErky said:

Even high handicaps have repeatable swings. They just have inconsistent contact that causes inconsistent results.

 

if you put their swings on video or 3d you would see the same swing 

Do they? Maybe with their swing path sure but strike point, low point, and face angle vary wildly shot to shot.