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ALSO SEE: Directory of Southern California golf club fitters Facilities such as Irvine’s ChampionshipFitting offer a state-of-the-art experience. It may not seem as exciting as buying the latest high-tech driver or set of irons, and it may not be as cut-and-dried as taking a lesson from your local teaching professional. But talk to experts in the field of game improvement and golf equipment, and nearly everyone will agree that the most dramatic way to improve your game is to have your clubs custom fit. “Anyone buying a new club, or set of clubs, should absolutely get fitted,” said Ruben Padilla, a clubfitting specialist at Cleveland Golf’s Fitting Studio in Huntington Beach. “I’ve been a clubfitter for 20 years and have never seen two golfers with the same swing. No two people are going to fit into the same exact golf club, even if they both have the same handicap.” Although there’s a growing awareness among golfers on the importance of fitting, there are still plenty of misconceptions about the process. Here are the five most prevalent misconceptions according to top Southland fitting experts: Misconception No. 1: Only advanced golfers can benefit from fitting With the prevalence of launch monitors — high-tech devices that can precisely measure almost every imaginable aspect of a golf shot — nearly every player, regardless of skill level, can benefit from custom fitting. “Anyone thinking about buying new clubs will benefit,” said Chris Lesser, director of marketing for KZG, a North Hollywood equipment manufacturer that offers custom fitting. “Even a higher handicap player will see major improvement with the right shaft, loft or lie angle. The only way to properly know what works best for you is to be fitted.” Padilla notes there is one exception to this standard: “You have to have a consistent swing in order for a fitter to gain enough information about your tendencies. Anyone with a handicap of 25 or lower should be fitted, but with anything higher than that it’s really hard to get numbers for.” Misconception No. 2: Fitting leads to a complete equipment overhaul Clubfitters analyze all of your swing tendencies, determining everything from optimal shaft flex to ball spin, but often the biggest adjustment has nothing to do with the actual club. “When someone comes in to get fitted, one of the first things I look at is the size of their hands,” Padilla said. “If they have hands that are too big for the grip on their club, they’ll have a tendency to turn the clubhead over and hook the ball. It might not have anything to do with the club itself, it’s the size of the grip. There are a lot of subtleties that good fitters look at. We’re not out to always push a higher-performance shaft, we’re looking at the entire package.” Misconception No. 3: Fitting is expensive and time-consuming Most people can be fit in less than two hours and get their customized clubs from major manufactures within three days. “There’s an interview process in the beginning where we analyze a golfer’s game. Then, we go through various shaft combinations on the launch monitor,” Lesser said. “We feel that an hour-and-a-half is plenty of time to fit most golfers.” As far as expense, most major manufacturers include clubfitting in the purchase of a new set of clubs. “Fitted clubs used to be a lot more expensive, but that’s not the case anymore,” said Bob Grissett, director of instruction at The Golf Academy by The Sports Club/LA. Grissett also notes that adjustments such as loft and lie angle can be done in a short amount of time without significant expense. Misconception No. 4: Fitting cannot occur until clubs are purchased Today’s fitting technology allows golfers to go through the process with their current clubs and be given specifications for a new set — if they decide to buy it. Often, the specifications are adjustments to elements such as lie angle or grip size. “We’re here to tell people what we would fit them into, how new clubs could help them, and other ways we could make changes, such as grip size and lie angle,” said Joey Farrow, manager of the Player Development Center at Vista’s Shadowridge Golf Club, one of a few local facilities that offers state-of-the-art Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade. Misconception No. 5: Only a PGA professional can fit you “Fitting is a completely different set of skills,” said Pat Mateer, founder of Orange County-based ChampionshipFitting, which also utilizes M.A.T.T. “A PGA professional could be a PGA professional for his entire life, but without clubfitting experience and training, would not be able to fit a golfer into a set of clubs with the technology there is right now.” ChampionshipFitting has two full-time fitters certified by TaylorMade — Nick Petralia and Dave Rubin. Mateer believes their undivided attention to fitting is essential considering the rapidly evolving nature of golf equipment technology. “Clubs, shafts, grips and heads change. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep up with all of that and how one thing relates to another,” he said. ALSO SEE: Directory of Southern California golf club fitters |
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RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
Great to see you spreading the gospel of club fitting. I've added some comments on your five misconceptions. Although I agree they're myths, I have a slightly different view as to your responses.
Bob Hickman
Campo Custom Clubs
www.campocustomclubs.com
1) I disagree that getting valid data from high handicappers is difficult. It can be time consuming, but worth the effort. On the contrary, much can be learned regarding important fitting issues such as appropriate head design and shaft bend profile. That's why I use two launch monitors; one for ball performance and the other for swing characteristics such as swing path and face angle. 2) If, as stated, the biggest adjustment often has nothing to do with the actual club, then what would be the benefit? The answer is the goal of a fitter is to help eliminate as many variables as possible in the bag so that clubs are not the fault of poor performance. These variables exist because of the lack of standards in the golf industry for things like shaft flex that can fluctuate four flexes or more for the same flex designation. Fitting could lead to a complete equipment overhaul in a case like this if the grips are correct and the underlying clubs are a poor match. On the other hand, an honest fitter should also be prepared to recommend swing instruction in lieu of clubs if appropriate. 3) I agree that most fitting is not expensive, but some major manufacturers still define custom fitting as grip size, length, and lie angle. There's a whole lot more to it than that. 4) I agree, but most companies still require a purchase to actually try clubs outside of their facilities and then only offer store credit if there is an issue. That's why I insist my clients "try before you buy" so we can duplicate the results we observed on the launch monitors in the real world. 5) Couldn't agree more. I had a PGA teaching pro advise one of my clients last week that shaft labels should always point down like all of the major companies do to ensure the shafts have been spine aligned. Couldn't be further from the truth as far as shaft balancing is concerned.
| Comment at 9/24/2010 |
There are a lot of good clubfitting outfits out there including the major manufacturers but then it stops there. When you assemble clubs there are a lot of variables that should be considered. Head weight, shaft frequency(I don't mean cut each shaft a half inch as you go through the set), the FLO(Flat Line Oscillation) then you get into loft, lie and grip size. You can do all the fitting you want but most manufacturers tip then glue logo down. I've always believed a fitting should be a total package with an instructor to insure good swings, the fitting and then proper assembly. That's why my company insists it's people are certified in all aspects.
| Comment at 9/24/2010 |
