Anyone else not happy with custom fitted clubs

[Docdent]

Anyone else here not happy with your custom fitted clubs?  About a year ago I went to club champion and got fitted for new irons.   I feel that the fitter pushed me to a certain brand (ping G425) and after the fitting was very pushy. Almost like a used car salesperson. 

 

When the clubs came in they were easy to hit. So, I sold my current irons. After a short period of time I realized the new irons were 1-2 clubs shorter. 

I went back to a different club champion (closer to my home) and the fitter reviewed everything. I was fitted at 2 degrees upright. But, the irons club champion built had different lie angles for each club. Some were 4 degrees upright and other 4 degrees flat. He fixed that. But, that still didn't fix my problem. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Need more information to determine why distance is off. But are you talking carry distance or total distance?

To the questions I have never been disappointed with custom fit clubs.

Ive also never been pressured to buy anything I wasn’t comfortable with the results of. 
 

 

[Docdent]

42 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Need more information to determine why distance is off. But are you talking carry distance or total distance?

To the questions I have never been disappointed with custom fit clubs.

Ive also never been pressured to buy anything I wasn’t comfortable with the results of. 
 

 

Both carry and total distance.  An example is a par 3 where I currently play. My previous set I would hit an 8 iron. With the pings I have to hit a 6 iron. 

In fact I purchased a set of takomo 101s. They are the same loft and lie angles as the pings. I hit the takomos at least 1 1/2 clubs further. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Interesting. I've hit the G425 and they were rockets.

Glad the 101T are better. 

I can't say I have been disappointed. Much like @RickyBobby_PR i also haven't been pushed towards a certain brand or club either which I think is very important.

[SKaye]

That is a bizarre situation. What irons were you gaming before the G425s and what was the shaft you got fitted for?

The Takomo 101Ts are higher lofted than the 425s too, so based on loft alone the 425s should be giving you at least some more distance.

Were you able to see the yardages while you were getting fit? I've never been to CC but when my local fitter fit me for my irons he also gave me a print out with my 7i distance as well as all the clubs I tried in my fit. 

To answer your original question, I'm happy with my fit and the process, it was no pressure, they went over the scheduled fitting time, and didn't push me towards one brand or another. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

19 minutes ago, SKaye said:

The Takomo 101Ts are higher lofted than the 425s too, so based on loft alone the 425s should be giving you at least some more distance.

There’s more to distance than loft on the club. Dynamic loft, launch, spin, face to path relationship, are going to be what influences the ball.

 

20 minutes ago, SKaye said:

What irons were you gaming before the G425s and what was the shaft you got fitted for?

Probably not the reason for his issues unless it’s causing an issue with dynamic loft. Considering the op said the clubs felt fine it’s a good indication it’s not a shaft issue since shafts two roles are weight and feel.

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, Docdent said:

Both carry and total distance.  An example is a par 3 where I currently play. My previous set I would hit an 8 iron. With the pings I have to hit a 6 iron. 

In fact I purchased a set of takomo 101s. They are the same loft and lie angles as the pings. I hit the takomos at least 1 1/2 clubs further. 

Without launch monitor numbers from both sets it’s impossible to say what is happening. 
 

As mentioned above static loft is a small piece of the puzzle

[fixyurdivot]

12 hours ago, Docdent said:

Anyone else here not happy with your custom fitted clubs?  About a year ago I went to club champion and got fitted for new irons.   I feel that the fitter pushed me to a certain brand (ping G425) and after the fitting was very pushy. Almost like a used car salesperson. 

 

When the clubs came in they were easy to hit. So, I sold my current irons. After a short period of time I realized the new irons were 1-2 clubs shorter. 

I went back to a different club champion (closer to my home) and the fitter reviewed everything. I was fitted at 2 degrees upright. But, the irons club champion built had different lie angles for each club. Some were 4 degrees upright and other 4 degrees flat. He fixed that. But, that still didn't fix my problem. 

I was warned about CC when I was shopping places to have my second fitting.  I opted not to go to CC because of their aggressive sales approach and high pricing. Concerning the inconsistent build of your G425's (i.e. lie angle), that's a bit surprising since PING uses their color code system . PING's indestructotanium alloy is not readily bendable and I should think they would just order in whichever lie angle you were fit for.

As for distance, that seems odd as well comparing the two make/model lofts.  I guess the one advantage of CC is their guarantee to get it right.  Hopefully they will.  Good luck and keep us posted on how things go.

[Javs]

15 hours ago, Docdent said:

Anyone else here not happy with your custom fitted clubs?  About a year ago I went to club champion and got fitted for new irons.   I feel that the fitter pushed me to a certain brand (ping G425) and after the fitting was very pushy. Almost like a used car salesperson. 

 

When the clubs came in they were easy to hit. So, I sold my current irons. After a short period of time I realized the new irons were 1-2 clubs shorter. 

I went back to a different club champion (closer to my home) and the fitter reviewed everything. I was fitted at 2 degrees upright. But, the irons club champion built had different lie angles for each club. Some were 4 degrees upright and other 4 degrees flat. He fixed that. But, that still didn't fix my problem. 

Is there a difference in the shafts between the two sets? That could add significant difference. If the shaft is not right the flight could be ballooning and spinning too much.  

[AzRoger]

The different lie angles don't make any sense. They only fit you to a 6 iron so why would they adjust the other irons to anything different than a 2 degree upright lie angle? Not sure how CC works, if they already have the standard Ping heads in stock and bend as needed of if they custom order from Ping with the required specs. I have a hard time believing Ping would have made that mistake. Almost sounds like you had a mixed set of G425 iron heads that weren't checked, wonder if the S/N's even matched.

Edited April 30, 2023 by AzRoger

[Javs]

20 hours ago, Docdent said:

Anyone else here not happy with your custom fitted clubs?  About a year ago I went to club champion and got fitted for new irons.   I feel that the fitter pushed me to a certain brand (ping G425) and after the fitting was very pushy. Almost like a used car salesperson. 

 

When the clubs came in they were easy to hit. So, I sold my current irons. After a short period of time I realized the new irons were 1-2 clubs shorter. 

I went back to a different club champion (closer to my home) and the fitter reviewed everything. I was fitted at 2 degrees upright. But, the irons club champion built had different lie angles for each club. Some were 4 degrees upright and other 4 degrees flat. He fixed that. But, that still didn't fix my problem. 

I re-read this and I am confused. Why did they change the setup for each club? I would thing if you are 2 degree upright that would be consistent in the iron set. Only difference would be your wedges which usually are a degree different than the other irons.

[Subdiver1]

14 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

There’s more to distance than loft on the club. Dynamic loft, launch, spin, face to path relationship, are going to be what influences the ball.

 

Probably not the reason for his issues unless it’s causing an issue with dynamic loft. Considering the op said the clubs felt fine it’s a good indication it’s not a shaft issue since shafts two roles are weight and feel.

I was reading this and thought back to the reason I got my first fitting, quite a few years back; I was experiencing about 1 - 1.5 club length drop in distance and couldn't figure out what was going on (MP-52s with S300 shafts).   I stopped in at a PGA Superstore while I was on travel and was bouncing around and asked to hit a couple of clubs.  The rep asked me what I was looking for and we talked for a bit and when I started hitting balls my spin rate was around 9000.  Shaft change was one part of the fix, but that alone brought my distance, and spin rate, back into the normal range and led to me getting a full bag fitting at CC a while later.  BLUF: hight spin was killing my distance and just a shaft change fixed both, for me; so why would that not be a factor here?  Anyway, interesting conversation going on her. 

[Subdiver1]

12 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

I was warned about CC when I was shopping places to have my second fitting.  I opted not to go to CC because of their aggressive sales approach and high pricing. 

I was definitely a little shocked at the $350 price tag for a full bag fitting, but I have to say it was a positive experience overall.  I had my fitting in Bellevue, WA and I didn't feel any high pressure sales push and we went over time with no comment or second thought from the fitter.  I've been happy with the experience and results. 

I did a PXG fitting recently and also had a great experience there.

[Docdent]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:24 PM, RickyBobby_PR said:

CC takes stock black dot irons and bends them to your specs. The shafts in the pings are Accra shafts.   CC has a fit guarantee only for the first 90 days. After that they will only chage the loft / lie angle. 

 

Both carry and total distance.  An example is a par 3 where I currently play. My previous set I would hit an 8 iron. With the pings I have to hit a 6 iron. 

In fact I purchased a set of takomo 101s. They are the same loft and lie angles as the pings. I hit the takomos at least 1 1/2 clubs further. 

CC takes stock black dot irons and bends them to your specs. The shafts in the pings are Accra shafts. CC has a fit guarantee only for the first 90 days. After that they will only chage the loft / lie angle. 

[Javs]

41 minutes ago, Subdiver1 said:

I was definitely a little shocked at the $350 price tag for a full bag fitting, but I have to say it was a positive experience overall.  I had my fitting in Bellevue, WA and I didn't feel any high pressure sales push and we went over time with no comment or second thought from the fitter.  I've been happy with the experience and results. 

I did a PXG fitting recently and also had a great experience there.

Fully agree with you on the PXG fitting. I had a great experience. Plus, now every time I call to make an order they can pull up my specs and we talk about what I’m looking to achieve. I really like the service with PXG. The hero’s program is awesome!

[Subdiver1]

1 hour ago, Javs said:

Fully agree with you on the PXG fitting. I had a great experience. Plus, now every time I call to make an order they can pull up my specs and we talk about what I’m looking to achieve. I really like the service with PXG. The hero’s program is awesome!

Their Heroes program is definitely an appreciated factor.  That is a good point on pulling specs for a new order; I am still mulling over the Gen6 3-wood, but the discount off-sets the $100 shaft upgrade quite nicely.

[Javs]

15 minutes ago, Subdiver1 said:

Their Heroes program is definitely an appreciated factor.  That is a good point on pulling specs for a new order; I am still mulling over the Gen6 3-wood, but the discount off-sets the $100 shaft upgrade quite nicely.

You know what I have done in the past. I ordered the club I wanted with the stock shaft and then purchased the one I wanted at the local golf shop. The PXG site hasn’t carried the Hzrd Smoke Yellow shaft in awhile. So, I get them locally with the PXG tip. Works great and never paid more than 80$ for the change. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

10 hours ago, Subdiver1 said:

BLUF: hight spin was killing my distance and just a shaft change fixed both, for me; so why would that not be a factor here?  Anyway, interesting conversation going on her. 

Contrary to what many want to think/believe shafts don’t spin. Shafts impact dynamic loft. So switching shafts helped you clever the club better thus resulting in better contact, less dynamic loft and thus spin reduction. It could be the shaft but based on what we know from the op is everything was fine it at least acceptable during the fitting(not ignoring the feeling the op had of being pressured). But the op said everything felt fine so that’s would be an indication that the swing wasn’t feeling different.  Another possibility is the design of the pings doesn’t work with his swing and could be too low spin compared to the takomo or previous set.  There’s just not enough information to say what’s causing it. We don’t have lm numbers for any of the sets to compare launch characteristics. No swing from any of the sets to see what the differences if any there are.

 

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1860305-shafts-when-to-change-and-when-to-tweak-lofts/

 

https://www.golfwrx.com/6419/tom-wishon-talking-to-wrx-readers-10-myths-about-shafts-factual-info-about-shafts-to-help-you-all/

[fixyurdivot]

10 hours ago, Subdiver1 said:

I was definitely a little shocked at the $350 price tag for a full bag fitting, but I have to say it was a positive experience overall.  I had my fitting in Bellevue, WA and I didn't feel any high pressure sales push and we went over time with no comment or second thought from the fitter.  I've been happy with the experience and results. 

I did a PXG fitting recently and also had a great experience there.

I went to TrueSpec in Scottsdale when they had a 50% off a full bag fitting (Covid period) and that was $150, so the price you paid seems about right.  Based on posts from other spies it seems the fitting experience and degree to which they push the customer towards purchasing from them varies quite a bit. TS did push a little but not to a point it felt awkward.  They ended up acquiring Fairway Jockey, which is who I had build the clubs (for about 35% less), about 6 months later. 

I have an offer from PXG near me for a free fitting (not w/ purchase of clubs) and as soon as my back is feeling better, will see how that goes.

[RickyBobby_PR]

11 hours ago, Subdiver1 said:

I was definitely a little shocked at the $350 price tag for a full bag fitting, but I have to say it was a positive experience overall.  I had my fitting in Bellevue, WA and I didn't feel any high pressure sales push and we went over time with no comment or second thought from the fitter.  I've been happy with the experience and results. 

I did a PXG fitting recently and also had a great experience there.

When you consider it’s $250 for the top of the bag and $175 for irons and $125 for putter if you did them separately $350  full bag non putter and $400 for full bag including putter those are a good price. You are spending over roughly 5 hours with a fitter. Most good fitters charge $100+/hour. 

[Golf2Much]

I had a less than stellar Club Champion experience with a putter fitting two years ago.  I was visiting my hometown and realized that they had a Club Champion nearby.  So, I decided to do a putter fitting as I was struggling a bit with the flat stick.  My Brainstorm Golf Happy putter has the capability to adjust the lie, loft, offset and weights to yield the desired combination for your swing.  I communicated prior to the fitting that I wanted to see about optimizing the settings on my existing Happy putter and possibly look at new alternatives.  After warming up I asked the fitter if he was familiar with the Happy putter and he said yes.   We created the baseline with my Happy putter and then it was pushed aside.   Everything after that was focused on purchasing a new putter.   As mentioned before, there was a hard push to buy.   I ultimately did purchase an Evnroll Outback putter.  When it came, the length was not consistent with what I hit or what we discussed.  Now I'm 1500 miles away with a putter that's different than I hit and I never was able to optimize my existing Happy putter to better match my swing.   I wrote their corporate headquarters and they agreed to set up another fitting for my Happy putter but the closest facility was over 150 miles away.  I bit the bullet, drove there and felt I was not taken seriously and was blown off.   I was able to ship the putter back to the original fitting location and they cut the length an inch and a half, but the overall experience made me not a CC fan.

[Fongle]

I went with a mate to a fitting for him recently, because I've been sort of coaching/teaching him how to play, and it was a pretty frustrating experience to watch. My friend is definitely a beginner, with a slow swing speed, and doesn't make great contact, and the fitter kept pushing him towards the Rogue ST Pro irons, with stiff flex shafts, because when he hit them dead centre they were going far and straight, but the numbers clearly showed they were amongst the least consistent irons he tested.  

Was just through a local pro shop/range, but they are listed as official fitters for basically all of the big brands, and I expected better from them, mostly just seemed like they were trying to clear some old stock they had with them having the Paradym stuff in now too. In the end we just got his length and lie numbers, and found a shaft that fit him, and he's ordered a set of Takomo 101 irons instead.

[CanadianleftyNick]

Most  of these so-called fitters haven’t a clue what they’re doing. 

Invest in golf instruction instead.

[T-Less]

I’ve been going to club champion since 2020 to be fitted for putter, 3 wood and most recently driver. Two different fitters and two different locations (first one closed and bigger one opened nearby) and I had two entirely different experiences. First one was pushy and definitely was looking to get me in something and out the door quickly. When I had issues with the putter they were fixed but took some following up to do. The most recent experience was great. Driver took some tweaking and it was done with zero issues nor rushing as I went back 3 times to make adjustments to the driver length and weight. Fitter even followed up a week later.


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[Hosel Head]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:50 PM, Docdent said:

Anyone else here not happy with your custom fitted clubs?  About a year ago I went to club champion and got fitted for new irons.   I feel that the fitter pushed me to a certain brand (ping G425) and after the fitting was very pushy. Almost like a used car salesperson. 

 

When the clubs came in they were easy to hit. So, I sold my current irons. After a short period of time I realized the new irons were 1-2 clubs shorter. 

I went back to a different club champion (closer to my home) and the fitter reviewed everything. I was fitted at 2 degrees upright. But, the irons club champion built had different lie angles for each club. Some were 4 degrees upright and other 4 degrees flat. He fixed that. But, that still didn't fix my problem. 

I've been fit by Club Champion twice. The fitter was never pushy at all and even told me he couldn't beat my current (at the time) driver. In the most recent fitting he told me my Srixon ZX5 irons were fine but he didn't like the shaft for me. I ended up replacing my Recoil shafts with Steelfiber. However, I didn't get the results on the course/range that I got in the fitting. I attribute that to being fit indoors. I don't think club/ball/turf interaction off a mat is the same as off grass. Also, it takes me a while to make good contact hitting inside. I feel claustrophobic and feel like I'm going to hit something other than the ball. My next fitting will be outside. The only clubs in my bag that I was fit for are my TSR4 driver and my 3 Vokey wedges and they were all fit outside. I'm much more confident in those fittings. Good luck with your ongoing search.

[OssiansFolly]

I'm going to say yes and no. Yes, I'm not happy that the time I received wasn't sufficient and its not feasible to really test enough club and shaft models when you do a full bag fitting. But at the same time, no I'm not unhappy with the fitting overall. My fitter was awesome, the experience was great, and they were very accommodating for the experience. Sadly, I was fitted into a driver and I loved it and hit it well, but turns out a make and model that I didn't test is just overall better for me in both distance and consistency.  I happened to buy the driver on a whim when they clearanced the end of the line stock last year, and here I am with a $700 driver sitting at home while a $180 driver hits bombs down the fairway. I wish mostly that there wasn't a deal to do a full bag fitting when they should know the time to do so exceeds the time they block off to get it done. Either break it up into 2 days, or make the cost of a half bag fitting equivalent to half of a full bag fitting.

[IndyBonzo]

I had a bad result from a fitting in March.  Was it my swing or the fit?  Regardless, the light shafts for which I got fitted have been awful - so bad I have already abandoned the clubs completely and will be selling them soon.  With the exorbitant prices charged for those clubs, I will be out at least $1K when it's all over, even after a sale.

I've had three fittings in my lifetime.  One (driver/FW woods/hybrids) was excellent.  One was middling (good result, but only stock shafts involved, so I think it could have been better).  And this one (awful).

I doubt I do it again unless I find a wizard.

[RickyBobby_PR]

51 minutes ago, IndyBonzo said:

I had a bad result from a fitting in March.  Was it my swing or the fit?  Regardless, the light shafts for which I got fitted have been awful - so bad I have already abandoned the clubs completely and will be selling them soon.  With the exorbitant prices charged for those clubs, I will be out at least $1K when it's all over, even after a sale.

I've had three fittings in my lifetime.  One (driver/FW woods/hybrids) was excellent.  One was middling (good result, but only stock shafts involved, so I think it could have been better).  And this one (awful).

I doubt I do it again unless I find a wizard.

Did the irons work fine in the fitting? If not why buy them?

[IndyBonzo]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Did the irons work fine in the fitting? If not why buy them?

I think your question answers itself. 

[Middler]

I had a bad experience at CC with a driver fitting, I’ll never go back. I’ve detailed the story when it happened, I’m tired of repeating the story and others are tired of reading it. I’m sure CC has good fitters, and I know they have some just blindly following the CC script. I buy at manufacturers demo days now, a much better experience to me. I did have a great putter fitting at TrueSpec NC, but the specific fitter came with good recommendations.