dscl

I'm a relatively new golfer who has fallen in love with the game and am looking to get some new clunbs next season. Now I have some questions before I do though.. Everyone says get fitted for your clubs, but what exactly does that mean?

If I go into a pro shop or, gulp, a large golf-centric retailer what does being fitted actually involve?

Now take that to the next level is it worth getting a set of name-brand clubs "fitted" when I could have a set of clubs custom made for me?

So I guess what Im looking for is what happens during a fitting? To what extent are shelf clubs altered after a fitting? And are the name brand clubs technology worth going that route or are truly custom clubs the way to go?

Thanks in advance!

65nlovenit

Just a little general information dscl, most off the shelf clubs, ones bought at a big box store, are generally too long, in particular the driver and fairway woods. Club manufacturers came up with some arbitrary length for a driver, supposedly making them for some guy 6 ft whatever. I'm not sure exactly what height you have to be to have the clubs fit perfectly. SO,,,, what a lot of golfers will do, is either have the store where you bought them, or a bona fide club fitter, adjust the length of the clubs to fit you. There is a formula where they take a measurement from the floor to the bend in your wrist, standing in a typical address position, from there they will adjust the driver and all the other clubs to a preset length to fit that measurement, each iron being approximately 1/2 inch longer then your pitching wedge. Pitching wedge being the shortest, 2 iron the longest. Your 5 wood being typically 4 inches longer then the 2 iron, the 3 wood, 2 inches longer then the 5 wood, and the driver 2 inches longer then that. OK now when your purchasing your clubs, if you buy them from a recognized golf store, they may offer to do the fitting for you. If your buying from a big box store, contact your local golf course and find out who does the fitting for their course. Its usually not all that expensive to have it done, and it DEFINITELY worth the money spent because your starting off with clubs that fit you.

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The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

USMCGolfer

Well I'll respond, but granted I am still a relatively new golfer myself (less than 2 years into this foray) and was only fitted once.

At my fitting, they made sure that the club were the right length for my height/arm length. I am 6'3" tall. A standard size 7 iron is going to play like a 9 iron for me, unless I have the club shafts extended. They originally extended me to +3/4" on my shafts, but that was a little too long, so I had them take it down to half inch extensions. They also measure hand size, in case you need a larger grip. I originally had mid size grips, but went back to standard to free up my wrist speed and keep my grip looser. I am not sure if they are supposed to "fit" you for anything else, I am sure some of the more experienced guys go through a more lengthy fitting period, that probably involves adjusting the clubheads themselves. But for a slouch like me, they just gave me what the measurements called for, and I eventually had to adjust them back a little, but there is no way I should be playing standard size clubs because I would be bent over like an old guy trying to hit a PW.