Top 10 Reasons To Have Your Golf Clubs Fitted

Think for a second. How many people you know or play with have had their clubs fit? Not just a salesman’s opinion of which off-the-shelf club would be best, or making a change to one of the new adjustable drivers out there, but a real fitting, where clubs were cut, bent, ground or weighted to fit the player. Chances are it isn’t that many. It’s amazing how many golfers take clubs right off the shelf and out to the course. There are all sorts of excuses, like ‘I’m not good or consistent enough to make it worth it’ or ‘I don’t need it, my clubs fit me just fine’. A lot of people think that clubfitting is just a way to take your game to the next level, or bump it up a notch, but the cold hard truth is that if you play with clubs that aren’t fit for you, it can be detrimental to your game.

The key thing to understand is that manufacturers make clubs so that most golfers only need to make a few small changes, and not so that they fit most golfers without making any adjustments. Golf clubs are made with the intent that you will have them fit when you buy them. It would also be unreasonable to expect the manufacturers to make all the club options they do in every different size, like shoes. Club fitting is an essential part of the club buying process, and here are the top 10 reasons you should go see your local fitter if you Vclub login haven’t already.

Kick-Point (Shaft Bend Profile)

What it is: The kick-point is the part of the shaft that bends the most through the swing. The bending profile is a map of how much the entire shaft bends through the swing. Mainly used for shafts on drivers, fairway woods and hybrids.

Why it’s important: A shaft’s bending profile actually has the greatest influence on launch angle and spin rate, two of the most important ball flight factors. While loft is a good way to tweak, or fine-tune, ball flight, you’ll get much better results from a new shaft than you will by adjusting the loft.

Shaft Loading

What it is: How the shaft reacts to the forces applied to it, mainly through the transition from back to downswing. Not to be confused with the flex.

Why it’s important: If you have a quick transition, the shaft needs to be able to take the force of that sudden change of direction and rebound at the right time. If the shaft is too fast or slow for your swing, it can throw off the momentum and timing of the swing. It’s not the same thing as flex, two golfers can have the same swing speed and load the shaft in different ways at the top.

Bounce

What it is: The angle that the sole of the club makes with the ground.

Why it’s important: Bounce can be almost as important as loft for your short game and wedges. Clubs with more bounce won’t dig into the ground or sand as much, but can be harder to manage on tight lies. There’s no ‘general standard’ for bounce, but a good clubfitter will get the right combination of loft and bounce for you based on the way you play your short game.

Grip Size

What it is: How thick the grip is on your club.

Why it’s important: Grips need to have some tack so you don’t have to hold it tight. They also need to be the right size, which is not just about how big your hands are. Bigger grips help dilute the effects of active wrists, but can also reduce feel. The trick is to know your grip size, and I don’t mean ‘jumbo’ or ‘oversized’, these terms literally have no meaning, literally. There is no standard for them, oversized to one shop may be mid-size to another. Measure the grip diameter two inches below the top, men’s standard is.900″, women’s is.890″. If you want larger or smaller grips, you should either know the exact diameter or just how much bigger/smaller you want it compared to the standard (i.e. 1/4″ over-sized).

Head Shape

What it is: Muscle back, cavity back, pear-shape, C-shape, square, high-crown, hybrid iron, topline, offset etc…

Why it’s important: Clubmakers produce all these options for a reason, there is no one shape or style that works best for everyone. Good clubfitters don’t just make your clubs fit you, they make sure the clubs you have are right for you.