Originally posted by: JoLLyRoGer
Wow, thanks for the tip. I always figured that fitting stuff was for the golfer who had a well developed swing that was engrained in his/her muscle memory. The fitting part was just another way to get an added egde on an already good game.
That's half right. For a true beginner a fitting is a waste of time. They need to develop at least a semblance of a repeatable swing before clubs can get fit to it. It's like buying shoes for a 3 year old that will fit him when he turns 6, just guesswork at that point. But once you've been playing for 6 months or longer and are to the point where you can make fairly solid contact most of the time then your swing is grooved to the point where a fitting will help. You think a 6'0" guy that swings at 97mph, a 5'6" guy that swings at 84 mph and a 6'3" guy that swings 106 mph are going to hit the same club well? Nope, but each is likely to go into a pro shop and buy a standard set of clubs based on what their favorite pro is hitting rather than what they *should* be hitting. Even tiny details like grip size can have a huge impact on ballstriking and having a set with the wrong shaft flex or lie angle would be like Shaquille O'Neal trying to ride a kids tricycle, it's just not going to work out no matter how much you practice. If you're at the stage where you play often enough and seriously enough to want to buy a new set of irons then you're also at the stage where you need a set that fits you.
Quick golf economics lesson: A good set of iron heads like Acer, Dynacraft DFS II or P3 will cost maybe $50-80. A set of True Temper Dynamic Gold or similar shafts maybe $70. Grips are $20-$40. Add it up and the components for an excellent set of irons costs maybe $150-$200. A typical clubmaker will usually do a set of irons for in the neighborhood of $100 or so, $12 per club is pretty common for fitting and building the set. I'm not a professional clubmaker, just a hobbyist who sells based on word of mouth. Fit one guy, he improves, so the guys he plays with want a set, then they improve and their friends want a fitting, etc etc etc. I usually fit people into heads from Dynacraft as they make really good iron heads, shafts from True Temper as they have a huge line with different playing characteristics and grips from Golf Pride as they have the best selection of different sizes and feels. Almost no sets come out to being more than $300 and most are in the $250-$275 range and each set is different. Player A might need upright lie angles, soft shafts and oversize grips, Player B maybe flat lie, stiff shafts and standard grips. Player C standard lie angle, but shafts with a really low kick point to get the ball up in the air easier, etc etc etc. There is no standard set that fits most players, everyone needs something a little bit different. Even if you think you're average height and weight with an average swing, an average set of clubs wouldn't fit you any better than an average suit or average pair of shoes would.
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