There’s a myth in golf that getting fitted for clubs is only for the elite player. Not only is that not true, but believing that could end up hurting you on the course.
Getting fitted won’t fix your swing, but it will ensure you’re maximizing the potential you have and help minimize flaws that exist in your game. Everyone has a different swing, different body type and different needs when it comes to clubs and ensuring you are playing the right equipment could pay off in droves.
“Everybody should be fit for golf clubs. I don't care if you're a beginner that's never touched a golf club before or if you're a PGA Tour player. The level of fitting is based on your ability to take a repeatable golf swing to get a consistent strike,” Carl’s Golfland performance fitter Brad Coffield said. “There's a zero percent chance a fitting is going to change your golf swing, but if you can take a repeatable swing, whether it's good, bad or terrible, we can at least hopefully make the ball flight more consistent. That's kind of our goal.”
Coffield has been a fitter at Carl’s Golfland for over 20 years and has seen every ability level come through for a fitting. While Coffield recommends that each golfer get fitted, it’s not necessary to go through a full performance fitting every time a golfer needs a new club, which is why Carl’s offers two types of fittings with standard and performance.
Standard Fitting
Some golfers have already received a fitting in the past, or know what works for them and are just looking for a new club. That’s where a free standard fitting might come into play.
Equipment specialist Scott Barrow has conducted hundreds of standard fittings that begin when a golfer comes in store looking for a new club. Typically the customer has an idea of what club they’d like to try, but Barrow and the other equipment specialists help to narrow down the list.
“We ask general questions about their game and how they play with shot, shape and miss and everything related to that to get a general feel for what they're looking for and get them to try what we feel is going to be a good option for them,” Barrow said. “The customer goes out to the range and goes through the demo process to try out anything and everything they want to try. Come back in and we rely on their feedback, if they like it, love it or hate it.
“Then we ask more questions from there and get a sense of where our next move is.”
In a standard fitting, you’re able to demo clubs on the range to test each club and get a feel for what might work and what won’t work. It’s more of an individualized process than hands on when it comes to the range to start.
Once the customer has the selections narrowed down, the equipment specialists will go to the range to allow for use with a GC quad launch monitor to match the player’s feelings with data.
“We use the GC quad because the numbers are always going to tell the story,” Barrow said. “If a customer likes a stock setup and we get out there and the ball speeds are in excess of what the shaft is going to deliver, then we’ll be able to make a change. We’re not going to just say a club works if it doesn’t, because we want to get the right stuff into our customers’ hands.”
The launch monitor will help show the equipment specialist ball speed, launch angle, spin rate and a few other areas to help diagnose which clubs are giving the right results. While a standard fitting will get great results, it is not as hands-on and in depth as what a performance fitting will offer.
Performance Fitting
A standard fitting does not require a scheduled appointment and can be done at any time with a team member, but a performance fitting will need to be scheduled out so you get the attention you need.
The one-on-one consultation takes place in our launch pad near the practice area in an enclosed bay. Our fitters use TrackMan technology to monitor your swing and capture 32 data points to process your swing.
The starting point for the visit begins similarly to the standard fitting by asking questions about ball flight, trajectory, shot shape, distance as you warm up with your current clubs. It’s very important to bring your current clubs to get a baseline and comparison point for the new clubs.
“Based on that information and how they hit the ball, we talk about some numbers and go over what their ball is doing,” Caulfield said. “Then we’ll start suggesting that, ‘Hey, your ball is doing XYZ and this type of club would work well with this shaft and weight and length. We run the gauntlet with every manufacturer and keep adjusting as the fitting goes on.”
The options are endless with thousands of manufacturer, shaft and grip combinations, which can sound overwhelming, but the fitters are trained to understand how a variety of clubs and shafts will impact shots to do the work for you.
The fitters aren’t expecting you to hit perfect shots each time, either, and sometimes your misses can help figure out which clubs might work best for you. The object is to find the right clubs, but it’s also to put you in position to have success on the course.
“One of the things we look at is trying to make sure that we get their clubs to gap correctly. Just because a four-iron has less loft than a five-iron, it doesn’t mean it’s going to go 15 yards farther,” Coffield said. “That’s where we can get into combo sets, hybrids, fairway woods and driving irons. We’re taking a deep dive on numbers so we’re not just saying, ‘Hey, this club fits, best of luck on your journey. Just buy a four to pitching wedge.”
It’s a comprehensive look at your bag and what will fit your specific needs. There’s no way to know what those needs are unless you get fitted. It won’t fix your slice or hook, but it might make it less prominent.
No matter your ability level, having an expert run through your bag and find the clubs that will work best for you based on data and technology is always a benefit.
“Nobody picks up this game to be bad at it,” Coffield said. “Is it going to turn a 25 handicap into a five handicap? No, it’s not. There’s other things that need to happen for that, but if that’s their goal, to go from a 25 to five, the equipment is a huge part of it. Making sure it fits your body type and swing and speed is super important.”
