Do I Really Need to Get Fit for Golf Clubs?

If you’re just starting out playing the game of golf, you are most likely borrowing a set of clubs from a friend or family member. Perhaps you were gifted a budget set of clubs to use for your new hobby. Before too long, someone will mention or ask if you’ve ever been “fit for golf clubs.”

What does this mean? Do you really need to get fit for golf clubs to enjoy the game?

Let’s clear up a few things.

What the Heck is a Golf Club Fitting?

A golf club fitting is the process of seeking advice on the proper golf clubs to play for your skill level from a professional, certified golf club fitter.

This process usually entails traveling to a golf club fitting studio or golf course pro shop, meeting with the certified professional, and testing multiple golf club build options. The professional fitter will offer recommendations on different club options to try based on the shot characteristics you produce with each swing.

Modern golf club builds offer thousands of clubhead, golf shaft, weighting, forgiveness, and other combinations from which to choose. Trying to fit yourself to golf clubs, while possible, can be an extremely daunting task for any golfer. That’s where the keen eye and experience from a professional fitter can be helpful.

At the conclusion of your fitting, you will be provided a “profile” or “build sheet” that includes the golf club recommendations that fit your skill level best. Those golf clubs can then be purchased separately from the fitting studio, pro shop, or direct from the golf equipment manufacturer.

That Sounds Like a Lot of Work and Money

That’s because it is.

There is no sugarcoating this: golf club fittings do come at a hefty price tag for the majority of services available to you. This is due to the time, labor, materials, and shipping inherent within the club fitting process and the professionals who make it happen. Not only are you paying for the equipment itself, but for the expertise of a certified professional.

The final price of this process and resulting equipment options vary widely. However, you can expect to pay a few hundred dollars or upwards of $1000 (or higher) depending on how many clubs you are getting fit for and the type of clubs you end up buying.

No Thanks, I’ll Just Buy My Own Clubs

You can definitely do that if you want. The majority of golfers will. But not so fast.

While the club fitting process can cost a ton of money and a good amount of time, there are undeniable benefits to getting fit at least once. I know this from firsthand experience.

A skilled fitting professional will use the latest technologies (like Trackman, Foresight, SkyTrak, or similar ball launch monitors) and have access to the best golf club options for your game. They will also identify tendencies in your shot data — such as shot dispersion, curvature, spin rates, and distance with each club — and recommend club build options to minimize “bad shots” while promoting more “good shots.”

The majority of golfers are unable to notice and/or understand these tendencies on their own, let alone while at the driving range or on the golf course. Furthermore, most golfers will not realize that their equipment might be the underlying problem as opposed to only their golf swing.

In fact, the worst thing a golfer can do is alter their swing to account for ill-fitting equipment. You’d be amazed how often golfers do that.

Oh. Ok. So I Should Probably Get Fit?

Yes, at least once in your playing career.

Think of it this way: would you purchase a car without test driving it first? Would you purchase a home without an inspection? Would you spend money on a new suit or dress without first trying it on?

If you consider the amount of money that golfers spend on new equipment, the fact that most do so without understanding if it’s the best for their skill level should terrify you.

Getting fit for golf clubs is an investment, but it might be the best thing you can do for your game outside of lessons.

Getting Fit at Club Champion | Episode 199

Nick Sherburne, founder and Master Club Fitter at Club Champion joins the show to talk about the benefits of getting fit, the services available at Club Champion, and much more.

Check out Club Champion at their website here.

The Engineering Side of Golf Club Fitting | Episode 197

Michael Vrska is back to discuss the engineering side of club fitting, including what to look for in new club technology, specification myths, and more.

Follow Michael on Twitter at @vgolfman.

This episode is brought to you by Club Champion.

How Important is Getting Custom Fit? | Episode 123

In tonight's episode I detail my recent clubfitting experience, explain why it's so important to get custom fit, and give an update on the status of my game. Be sure to rate the Golf Unfiltered Podcast five stars on iTunes! Leave comments, because I read them all and read the best on the show.

Choosing the Right Golf Clubs | Fix My Game

My quest to find the perfect golf clubs for my game continues as I turn my attention to the Srixon Z 765 irons. Reviewed earlier last year on this site, the Srixon Z 765s are definitely more forgiving than my current blades; a quality I badly need in my game. But first, they needed a little adjustment.

Tale of the Tape

As mentioned in the video above, the specification differences between the iron sets are subtle, yet specific. The main difference is in loft as the Srixons feature stronger bends than my Miura MB001 set.

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The lengths of all clubs above are the same, and the lie angles on both sets are 1-degree flat from standard (which is a weird thing to say, since there's really no such thing as "standard lie angle" anymore).

The golf shafts are also very different. My Miuras feature stiff steel Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issued shafts ("Pured" because I'm spoiled rotten) and the Srixons feature stiff graphite Miyazaki Kusala Tour Issued shafts.

Suffice to say, I will likely see very different ball flights between the iron sets, which will take some getting used to.

So is this a True Comparison?

I know my readers are gearheads like me and will point out that the golf shaft difference is stark. Swing weight and lie angle are certainly important, but a golf shaft can completely alter a club's performance. It's basically the brain of the club.

However, my friends at Srixon did provide me with irons that should match my ball flight preference per my swing speed. This is definitely not a custom fit -- like I have with my Miuras -- but the shafts weren't randomly chosen.

What do I Hope to Find?

I'm expecting the Srixon Z 765 irons to be more forgiving, offer slightly more distance, and (hopefully) provide more consistency in my iron shots. Shot dispersion to the left or the right won't be as important as long or short, at which my Miura MB001 irons excel.

I'll let you know what happens the first time I need to carry a lake on an approach shot.

Comments or questions? Leave a comment below or send me an email at golfunfiltered@gmail.com.

REVIEW: The Club Champion Fitting Experience

Club Champion has established themselves as a premium club fitting service spanning 15 locations across the United States. I had the privilege of experiencing a Club Champion iron fitting recently, lead by Master Club Fitter Roger Paiz in Willowbrook, IL. Full disclosure: I attended my fitting at Club Champion for the purpose of learning more about Miura Golf clubs, which I will be reviewing in the near future. Walking into the Willowbrook location knowing which brand I was interested in narrowed the scope of my fitting overall, but this did not take away from what was a truly amazing experience.

I met Roger Paiz immediately upon walking into the building, and he was professional and welcoming. After filling out a short questionnaire on my current golf profile, Roger explained what I was to expect that day while asking more questions on my gaming preferences and challenges.

I immediately felt like I was in good hands and had the sense I would be leaving Club Champion more educated about my game than ever before. I was not disappointed.

We made our way to the Trackman hitting bay to get a baseline on my current irons (Mizuno MP-5). After a handful of swings I was loose and ready to start trying multiple combinations of Miura head and club shafts from names like KBS, Dynamic Gold, and more. Within a short while it was clear that we were going to do a ton of experimenting to hone in on the perfect combination for my game.

Roger continuously educated me on what every new shaft or clubhead was supposed to do to my Trackman numbers, validating what I would eventually see in the data after hitting a few shots. I learned a great deal about loft changes, tapered golf shafts, lie angle, and other key aspects to what will eventually become the perfect set of irons for me.

After hitting shot after shot too far to the left, Roger measured a few additional aspects of my current irons and learned I would be best served by a flatter lie angle. Luckily, Club Champion has a massive building workshop fully equipped to customize any element of any club in your bag.

After agreeing and validating which iron combo worked best, Roger walked me through the process to choose which grips would work best, which wedges I should consider to match my irons, and showed me my club build "blueprint" at the end of my session. 90-minutes was all it took to find me the perfect iron build out that is sure to improve my game.

Club Champion is a fantastic club fitting option for serious golfers. Every employee exuded professionalism and a deep knowledge of golf equipment while having the eloquence to explain every detail to customers in layman's terms. Specializing in fitting any and all clubs in your bag, these folks are clearly the cream of the crop. I left my session feeling overly impressed and -- as I suspected I would -- more educated about my golf game than every before.