Professional Club Fitting

Who Needs Club Fitting?

Generally Club Fitting is ideal for players who have a consistent swing and a little playing experience. While it’s arguable that beginners should be club-fitted, we feel that beginners should invest in getting proper lessons first, before spending money on club fitting.

Only under special circumstances, would we recommend a new golfer is fitted, such as someone who is extremely tall or short or who has other physical and/or medical issues that should be addressed early.

So our recommendation is, if you cannot hit 6 good shots out of 10, club fitting should be your second action after receiving some professional instruction.

Where Can You Get Professional Advice?

With few exceptions, Club Fitters are not teaching pros and vice versa. Unless an individual is professionally qualified in both, stick to getting the swing analysis from a qualified club fitter. Ask your club fitter about their professional qualifications and check their credentials before deciding where and who should work on your clubs.

Are You Getting The Right Advice?

We have seen it once too often. A well-built golfer goes and gets a new shaft for his driver and gets fitted with a 70 gram stiff flex shaft; a smaller built golfer automatically qualifies for a 55 gram regular flex; and the senior golfer automatically qualifies for a 45 gram average flex. This is the typically the result of a salesman masquerading as a club fitter.

When you get a new shaft, make sure your swing is registered on a professional launch monitor. Your swing tempo, swing speed, spin rate and power transfer ratio (bang factor) are important considerations in helping you choose the right weighted shaft. A well-equipped club fitter should have a variety of different configurations of club heads, fitted for different golf shafts, on hand for you to test and feel. Even if you are being fitted for a driver, a professional club fitter should always insist on having you hit your 6, or 7, iron to check for corresponding speed analysis.

You should be provided opportunities to see the difference on the launch monitor and feel the difference between various options. Your club fitter should also have the facilities to conduct a thorough golf club health check, in order to establish how you should be equipped and to fill in the gaps, if there are any.

Club Fitting is meant to optimise your playing abilities, hence considerations such as frequency of practice, play, physical condition and equipment investment are all important considerations in deciding what’s really right for you.

3 Simple Rules to Remember When Getting Club Fitted

1.		Evaluate Make sure you are properly and suitably evaluated. Get tested on the launch monitor and have your current clubs checked for suitability. A good club fitter should have the integrity to tell you that your clubs are right for you when they are, and not to tell you otherwise, just because they want to make the sale.

2.		Enable In fitting a golf club, there are so many areas to look out for; from the grip, the weight of the shaft, the flex of the shaft to the shaft’s characteristics. The right change can dramatically improve your swing performance. A good club fitter should be competent enough to identify what needs to be fixed and have the means to fix them in the most objective and effective manner. And that should include the golf swing and not just the golf club.

3.		Equip A professional club fitter should be complemented with a range of professional tools and components. These include a Launch Monitor, Shaft Frequency Analyser, Professional Grade Swing Weight Machine, Head Extraction Devices, Heat Gun, Gripping Station, all the way down to differing Grip Tapes, Solvents and Epoxies. Professional equipment of this nature just goes to show the amount of effort your club fitter is prepared to make, in order to match your needs to what you are willing to pay for.

Frequency Analyser

Loft and Lie Bending Machine

Loft and Lie Gauge

Shaft Puller