Benefits of custom fitting vs fitting at pga tour store

[Markand4]

For someone with a high handicap like me is there a big benefit of going to a good custom fitting vs just testing at pga tour superstore specifically for wedges 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Markand4

[NM01]

Any fitting regardless of handicap should be done with a reputable fitter. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

the benefit is you are going to have a setup that works for your swing instead of having to force a swing to hit the ball the way you want and engrain bad habits that will be hard to break.

Will you score better. Not a guarantee because you still have to get the ball in the hole. But you will have a setup that will optimize your ball flight and reward good swings and reduce how bad the bad ones are 

For wedges you should find an outdoor fitting where you can hit them off the ground and out of bunkers 

[Markand4]

2 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Any fitting regardless of handicap should be done with a reputable fitter. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

the benefit is you are going to have a setup that works for your swing instead of having to force a swing to hit the ball the way you want and engrain bad habits that will be hard to break.

Will you score better. Not a guarantee because you still have to get the ball in the hole. But you will have a setup that will optimize your ball flight and reward good swings and reduce how bad the bad ones are 

For wedges you should find an outdoor fitting where you can hit them off the ground and out of bunkers 

Thank you so much! 

[Ryno585]

I've done the your van fitting experience for both wedges and driver at the pgass by me. I highly recommend doing this. It's 100 by me and well worth it

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[knotthead17]

On 4/24/2023 at 1:59 PM, Markand4 said:

For someone with a high handicap like me is there a big benefit of going to a good custom fitting vs just testing at pga tour superstore specifically for wedges 

I think both have their place. Going to a place like PGA superstore more than once can be helpful. You can slowly (over a few visits) start to narrow down what you like and dislike. I think that can be helpful for someone who is relatively new. Then you can take that info to a "real" fitting. Sometimes an hour long fitting can fly by if you don't have at least some idea of what you are looking for.

Also since you are talking wedges, you won't be able to demo many different shaft or grip options--it's a bummer for sure. the one biggest piece of advice I can give you for wedges in particular would be to try your best to do an outdoor fitting. The interaction between a wedge and the ground is the number one most important thing and you won't learn much about that from an indoor mat "fitting"  

[NM01]

8 hours ago, knotthead17 said:

I think both have their place. Going to a place like PGA superstore more than once can be helpful. You can slowly (over a few visits) start to narrow down what you like and dislike. I think that can be helpful for someone who is relatively new. Then you can take that info to a "real" fitting. Sometimes an hour long fitting can fly by if you don't have at least some idea of what you are looking for.

Also since you are talking wedges, you won't be able to demo many different shaft or grip options--it's a bummer for sure. the one biggest piece of advice I can give you for wedges in particular would be to try your best to do an outdoor fitting. The interaction between a wedge and the ground is the number one most important thing and you won't learn much about that from an indoor mat "fitting"  

A good fitter is going to have a golfer in a good setup on and hour. It will take them 20-30 minutes to eliminate heads and lofts and narrow down shafts. The next 30 minutes is going thru the shafts and maybe 1-2 heads to fine tune and find the right setup.

 

[knotthead17]

14 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

A good fitter is going to have a golfer in a good setup on and hour. It will take them 20-30 minutes to eliminate heads and lofts and narrow down shafts. The next 30 minutes is going thru the shafts and maybe 1-2 heads to fine tune and find the right setup.

 

I don’t doubt that one bit. What I do doubt is myself. I have second-guessed my choices again and again. Spending a little more time exploring on my own gave me the confidence in the fitters recommendations. I’m able to carry that confidence forward to the course knowing that I’m hitting the best clubs for my game.

I’ve also done multiple fittings within a few weeks of each other and had wildly different results each time. Maybe it’s just where I’m located but I’ve always struggled to find what I would consider a high quality fitter. I finally just started traveling to find better fitters, but I know that’s not for everyone. That’s where I think PGA superstore can help out.

I’m sure there’s lots of ways to be successful this, just sharing what is worked for me in the past

Edited May 8, 2023 by knotthead17
Added more to the post

[NM01]

8 hours ago, knotthead17 said:

I don’t doubt that one bit. What I do doubt is myself. I have second-guessed my choices again and again. Spending a little more time exploring on my own gave me the confidence in the fitters recommendations. I’m able to carry that confidence forward to the course knowing that I’m hitting the best clubs for my game.

I’ve also done multiple fittings within a few weeks of each other and had wildly different results each time. Maybe it’s just where I’m located but I’ve always struggled to find what I would consider a high quality fitter. I finally just started traveling to find better fitters, but I know that’s not for everyone. That’s where I think PGA superstore can help out.

I’m sure there’s lots of ways to be successful this, just sharing what is worked for me in the past

Yes good fitters are hard to find.

I don’t have anything against pgasuperstore or even 2ndswing but ime not doing their tour van fitting is setting oneself up for a bad fitting or at best a less than optimal one.

Even club champion is going to be hit or miss on whether a person gets a good fitter or not.

Sometimes driving to a good fitter is worth it. A former instructor I had would drive to Long Island from Dc area for his fittings because he trustees and had a relationship with the fitter there.

[adiogolf]

On 4/24/2023 at 2:59 PM, Markand4 said:

For someone with a high handicap like me is there a big benefit of going to a good custom fitting vs just testing at pga tour superstore specifically for wedges 

I believe that everyone should be custom fit and I am opposed to anyone getting fit at any big box store. The amount of detail and data you truly dive into is unparalleled. If you're serious about Golf or making it a part of your life moving forward. Pull the trigger. Also refer to this link for a great short(15min)breakdown to answer questions if you're unsure if you're at a place in your game for this kind of fitting. Cheers y'all hope it helps. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by adiogolf

[ballhawk]

While you've been given lots of good advice, the biggest and IMO the most important offering was "If you're serious about Golf and want to make it part of your life", is the bed rock of what to do! Getting fitted with a less than optimal swing is an exercise in futility. Now I realize that with all the new modern tech that has unfolded, it's greatly beneficial, but only to those that have ingrained a solid foundation, but, there's always a but, even then, they have to put in the time and effort to allow all that tech driven data to download into their physical aspect of the game and if they are not practicing on an almost daily routine, things will change. Everybody is different and there is no perfect swing, only what's functional for the individual. Just watching the tour can validate that. In truth, most really don't know how a really proper fitting is accomplished. RickeyBobby touched on it, but if done correctly, it could/should take 2 or more days and it's really expensive in today's money and again, it only really benefits someone who is super serious about their game and actually has a game.  

[Peejer]

I did a fitting over the winter for Taylormade P790's.  I went to a local, trusted fitter (Gottgolf.com) that's associated with Green Valley Ranch in the Denver area.  The cool thing about this place was they have you hit from indoors with a Trackman, but they have roll-up garage-type doors, so the ball flies out onto a range.  I really liked seeing the true flight, plus getting the numbers.  All my previous fittings were 100% indoors.

But, back to the clubs - I had already made up my mind on shaft/head - I've been a Taylormade iron player for several decades.  I had tried to switch to Mizuno JPX-900 irons, because they had great reviews and I liked the feel - but for me, the on-course performance just wasn't there.  So I dumped them after a little over a year and got the Taylormade M6 irons - which I loved.  A few years later, I am ready for more Player Distance irons.  I went to Golf Galaxy and PGA Tour Superstore, hit several different irons on my own and ultimately settled on the Taylormade P790's.  I really was only concerned about loft/lie.  Something the fitter told me made 100% sense.  He fits every single iron, one by one, based upon my swing.  That made me go back to my fitting I did at Edwin Watts when I got the Mizuno's.  They only had me hit the 7-iron, then adjusted all the lofts on the irons to 2* upright.  When I got fit for the P790's, my set from 4-PW & GW all had slight variances in lie.  Some were only adjusted to .5 degrees, other clubs went as high as 2* upright.

I'd be interested in hearing how other fittings have gone - once you settled in on the shaft/head, did they walk you through each club for loft/lie adjustments?

Thanks, -- Peejer

[NM01]

Most people don’t settle on shaft and head and let the fitter and results do that.

If I already settled on shaft and head I’m not paying someone a fitting fee to tell me loft and lie. Lie is easy to figure one by using the sharpie test. In the one fitting I didn’t where I expected the kbs $ taper to be the shaft I would end up with it was the modus 120 that fit better. 

Loft is also easy to figure out looking at the launch monitor numbers. For every 1° of loft change there’s roughly 200rpm change in spin and 1° in descent angle for somewhere around 150rpm of spin. So depending on how you want or need to affect ball flight you can have someone bend the irons.