What Does Club Fitting Mean?
Sometimes a single word or term covers so much ground that it’s almost unhelpful. “Car” can describe everything from a Ferrari to a moving van. “Watch” can describe a $10 quartz, a $50,000 Patek Phillipe, or even an Apple Watch, which is really a computer that happens to tell time.
Such is the case with the term “club fitting.” There are now so many options and so many different price points, that one term seems inadequate. But fear not, because I’m going to bring some clarity by breaking this down into five levels of club fitting, explaining what you can expect at each tier and how much each will cost.
Level 1: Basic Specs
At its most basic, club fitting should mean getting a golfer into clubs with the right specs. This should include length, lie angle, shaft flex, and grip size.
Every golfer should be fit to at least this level. No player should feel they need to stand taller, crouch down, or adjust their swing to fit their clubs, regardless of their ability level. You don’t need to be a world class runner to wear shoes that fit. The same is true of your golf clubs. Getting the right specs is just a basic thing that every player should expect. Continuing the shoe analogy: wearing the right size won’t make you faster than you are, but it will keep you from getting hurt and allow you to perform your best.
This level of fitting can be provided by any store that sells golf clubs and should be offered at no cost. Something many golfers don’t realize is that your clubs can be ordered to your spec without additional cost. You may pay a little more if you want a specific grip, but you can get any grip size, any loft, lie, length, and any shaft flex for no upcharge.
Pros: Free. A huge step toward better golf.
Cons: None.
Level 2: Trying Stuff
The next tier of club fitting – which should include getting the basic specs right – is simply trying lots of stuff. This can be done on a launch monitor, on a range, or both. It can be done in one go or over a stretch of days or weeks. There’s no systematic approach, no expert advice, and you’re likely hitting everything in the stock configuration.
Reading that last sentence, you might think I’m opposed to Level 2. I’m not. I think that trying a lot of stuff is a critical step in the journey toward finding the best clubs and growing your knowledge of golf equipment. Also, I think that it’s important to trust your own opinions…to a point.
This approach has clear strengths and weaknesses. To the good, it’s free and fun.
On the other side of the ledger, you might be leaving a lot of performance on the table. You don’t know what you don’t know, so you may skip a potentially excellent brand or model. Additionally, you won’t be able to tweak specs the way a fitter would. This is also a very time consuming method. You’re doing all the math by hand rather than letting a fitter hand you a calculator.
Ultimately, Level 2 is worlds better than walking into the store and saying, “I’ll take the latest from (insert brand name here),” but it’s still well short of the best solution.
Pros: Free. Fun.
Cons: Missing out on improved performance. Time consuming.
Level 3: Big Box Fitting
Let’s start with two points of clarification: First, despite the name, Level 3 does not have to occur in a big box store like Dick’s, Golf Galaxy, or PGA Tour Superstore. You can get a Level 3 fitting at a green grass pro shop or an independent golf store. Two, while the term “big box” is often used disparagingly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a big box fitting.
The reason that I don’t disparage big box fitting is that I was a big box fitter. It’s possible that you can get a great fitting in a big box store for little or no money. The problem is that you can also get exactly what you pay for.
Big box stores – or any non-fitting focused retail environment – has huge variability because of the employees and the tools they have available. You might get to work with someone who really knows their stuff and cares about delivering a great fit to every customer. It’s at least equally possible that your fitter just clicked through the slides to get their fitting certificates and is only interested in getting to the end of their shift.
While high quality launch monitors are more common – you can find Trackman and Foresight devices in most shops – that doesn’t guarantee a good fit. Retail stores don’t have the wealth of heads and shafts that specialized fitters do. What’s worse, they lose components to breakage and theft, and it’s very rare for those components to be replaced. Even if you’re lucky enough to work with a good fitter, they can only fit as well as their tools allow.
Pros: Often cheap or free. Potentially good fitting.
Cons: Potentially bad fitting. Not as many options as a specialized fitter.
Level 4: OEM Fitting
At Level 4, we’re starting to get to the really good stuff. This is a single OEM fitting at either a fitting studio, such as a PXG retail store, or a fitting day at a golf course.
In this tier, you’re virtually guaranteed to get a great experience. The OEMs tend to employ knowledgeable, personable fitters. Also, because these fitters are focused exclusively on one OEM, their depth of knowledge is unparalleled. They all use top end launch monitors. Finally, you’re going to have access to a great array of fitting tools. The OEMs want to put their best foot forward, so you’ll be able to hit all the different lofts and shafts that they offer.
The obvious downside is that you’re only getting to work with one OEM. You might work with the world’s best fitter, but if you need Brand X and you’re at a Brand Y fitting, you’re going to miss out on performance gains. I’d advise that if you’re interested in a Level 4 fitting, try Level 2 first and zero in on the one OEM that you like best.
Pros: High quality fitting.
Cons: Only having access to one OEM. May be more expensive.
Level 5: Premium, Brand Agnostic Fitting
This is the gold standard of club fitting: specialized, full-time club fitters with access to all the best equipment and fitting tools. We’re talking about Club Champion, True Spec, Cool Clubs, and top level independent fitters.
Why is this the best option? We can start with the fitters. At Club Champion, every fitter goes through Club Champion University, a four week, 200 hour training program where they learn about equipment and shadow veteran fitters. Once they graduate, all they do is fit. They don’t stock shelves or fold shirts; they spend every working hour fitting and learning about clubs.
The next reason Level 5 is the the best are the tools. Every Level 5 fitter is going to have a professional grade launch monitor. You’re also going to be fit with the ball you actually play. Club Champion also has AI Co-Pilot [more on that HERE] to make the fitter even sharper and the ability to modify the club you’re hitting. You won’t have to guess that a two degree lie angle change will help your dispersion – they’ll bend the club so you can find out.
Finally, the key difference between Level 4 and Level 5 is the range of choices and the brand agnostic approach. Club Champion carries every major OEM, loads of smaller brands, and they often have access to products that are made only for high end fitters. They have over 65,000 hittable combinations of head, shaft, and grip. Not only can you mix and match all these components, the fitter has no vested interest in what you end up with. They’re focused only on your performance, not pushing a specific brand.
Now let’s get explicit about the boogey man that lives at Level 5: cost. I’m going to focus on Club Champion since they’re the biggest custom club fitter and the one that I know best. Their fittings cost anywhere from $100 for a full bag to $50 for an individual club, with a custom club purchase.
With the standard caveat that, “I don’t spend other people’s money,” I think that the full bag fitting is one of the best values in golf. I’ve been fit dozens of times, and I still learn something every time I get fit. If you’ve never been fit, your mind will be completely blown by a full bag fitting. Even if you don’t buy the clubs, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what you need and how high your golf performance can go with the right tools.
There’s also the cost of custom clubs. Getting your clubs from a high end builder is going to cost more money, but there are good reasons why. When you order clubs from an OEM, they are built to certain tolerances. That might mean the lofts and lies are within two degrees of the stated specifications. The shaft weight might be listed at 120 grams but can range from 115 grams to 124 grams.
With a high end builder, those tolerances virtually disappear. Every club is built by hand to match your exact specifications. Every shaft in the iron set is weight sorted. Each wedge is bent to the perfect loft and lie. Even the weight of the grips is taken into account to make sure the swing weights are perfect. If you’re going to invest in learning exactly what you need to play your best, there’s no reason to stop short and order clubs that you only hope are going to be right.
Pros: The highest level of fitting. You will maximize your performance and try things you won’t find anywhere else.
Cons: Cost.
What Level of Club Fitting Have You Used?
Share Your Experiences in the Comments Section.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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