What frustrates you most about clubfitting?

[Richie3Jack]

My biggest gripe is when I specifically order my clubs a certain way and then when they are measured, they are not up to the specs I ordered.




3JACK

[jerryg]

I think going to a store that does clubfitting by a guy that looks like he just got out of jr. high, has all the answers and no questions can be a bit disconcerting.
Also, it seems the computers are jacked up so you hit it about 20 yards longer than you really do and you hit it straighter than you really do.
I also got a kick out of a guy doing a fitting on the range last summer. He had a computer set up that took readings, but the balls being used were old enough to have social security numbers. Old golf balls with no dimples do not give very good readings.

[fearlessgolfer]

I went through about 30+sets irons in my 20+yrs of golfing.

Yeah, since NO wife trading was available and trading cars were expensive, trading clubs became an addictive hobby. LOL Of course, I told her sweet little lies about the deals I was able to get........but knowing my wife, she knew of my lil white lies. My sets were Pings, Daiwas, Yonex, Titleists, Hogans, Callaways, Clevelands, Hommas, Marumans, KZGs, Taylormades and many more but never Wilsons and Cobras.

Anyrate, out of all the sets I bought(all of them fitted), Mizuno clubs were most consistent and close to the specs. But even Mizunos were off from ordered specs many times, including MS-series before they became MP, MX series. They had to be checked and adjusted many times,especially the lofts.

The quality of the clubs has gotten better in recent years due to the computer designs and competitiveness amongst companies.

Just traded my Mizunos for Ping's G-15(hackers delight) and loving them......Grins.

[jerryg]

Last year one of my high school players went to a "certified" club fitter and came back with +1.5" irons and jumbo grips. Granted, he is fairly tall at about 6'2", is a bit wispy in stature, has thin fingers and wears a L glove. The grip filled his hand. He had a tough year.
I just got together with one of my former players who is now a college player and asked if I would reshaft and regrip 3 of his clubs. He had purchased the shafts and the grips and would be going back to school today, otherwise I would teach him how to do it himself.
This fellow is another wispy kid who was a terrific h.s. player and had a great 1st year in college, D-III. He is in his second year and had a less than stellar fall season. Last summer he went to this same club fitter and now has +1" irons and oversize grips. Not midsize, oversize.
I just don't get the enamor with long shafts and fat grips. Am I nuts?

[kevcarter]

Not nuts at all. I'm a certified fitter for both Titleist and Ping, have been for years, very rarely do I fit someone into more than 1/2" extra length. Most tall guys have long arms. Usually tweaking the lie gets us where we want to go...

Kevin

Feb 20, 2010 12:06:11 GMT -5 jerryg said:

Last year one of my high school players went to a "certified" club fitter and came back with +1.5" irons and jumbo grips. Granted, he is fairly tall at about 6'2", is a bit wispy in stature, has thin fingers and wears a L glove. The grip filled his hand. He had a tough year.
I just got together with one of my former players who is now a college player and asked if I would reshaft and regrip 3 of his clubs. He had purchased the shafts and the grips and would be going back to school today, otherwise I would teach him how to do it himself.
This fellow is another wispy kid who was a terrific h.s. player and had a great 1st year in college, D-III. He is in his second year and had a less than stellar fall season. Last summer he went to this same club fitter and now has +1" irons and oversize grips. Not midsize, oversize.
I just don't get the enamor with long shafts and fat grips. Am I nuts?

[Richie3Jack]

Clubfitters are really good for golfers who are struggling with their game and don't want to work that hard to get better. My dad is a good example. He just wants to shoot high 80's to low 90's, get the ball up in the air, not be completely overpowered by the golf course...which is a problem as he lost a lot of distance about 20 years ago and it continued to drop off, but recently has more or less subsided.

For the better player that wants to work to improve their game, especially for a really good near scratch player...I would avoid nearly 90% of the clubfitters because their agenda is different from my agenda and I hate to say, but most of them can't break 80 and they really don't understand the game.

The clubfitter I went to for my Mizuno's I actually like in the sense that if I need something done...a lie angle or loft bent, a new shaft put in, etc...they will do an exceptional job.

But as far as fitting clubs I'm just not that nutty about it. And that's not a knock just against them, almost every other clubfitter is the same way.

For instance, when I was in my senior year of college I decided to get some Titleist 962's as part of a suggestion from my coach to start 'playing for my misses.' Went to a clubfitter and he wanted +1" shafts. But in order to keep the weight down, we bought the clubs with steel shafts, took the steel shafts out and inserted +1" graphite.

About a year afterwards I wound up taking an 8-year layoff from the game. A big part of that layoff was due to at the time golf being ridiculously expensive in Atlanta, but the other part of that was being burned out and frustrated with the game...particularly the equipment side.

When I went to get my Mizuno's, the clubfitter again wanted to get graphite. Why? Because from the clubfitter's side he looked at Trackman and saw I could hit graphite about 20 yards further and when I hit it flush, I could hit it just as straight as steel. But, this doesn't factor in trajectory and consistency.

Fortunately as somebody who experienced the issues with long shafts and graphite, I stuck with steel. Still, I got irons about +1/4" longer and 2* upright.

I'm 6'4" tall and I'm able to hit some 1963 Hogan IPT's that are -1/2" shorter than standard and are 4* flat (effectively making them 5* flat).

We'll see where my swing goes with Lag's ABS modules, but it does show the effect of iron specifications and design can have on the golf swing and how golfers can adjust to it. I don't believe that 'you can never be too flat', but I do believe that in general flat is better than upright and if these golfers that are of lower handicaps and want to work hard to improve, they are just setting themselves up for a lot of frustration and disappointment going with longer shafts, upright lies, lighter clubs, etc.

Fat grips suck as well. Why? Because they lighten the club. I'm going to experiment with some of the ultralight grips, but heavier grips are really bad IMO, unless you're ready to dole out the lead tape.




3JACK

[jerryg]

Thanks Richie. I appreciate your input.
I just hate to see these kids being taken advantage of. If you don't mind, I will actually refer them here.

[Richie3Jack]

jerryg - please DO! I know EXACTLY the struggles this person is going thru and wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. I also think I can talk some sense into him AND improve his game just by getting some cheap clubs to practice with.





3JACK

[jerryg]

I did and I also included a reference to your latest piece on clubfitting.