Club fittings

Cole McCain · July 12, 2023

What’s more beneficial? Driver vs iron vs putter fitting?

NM01 · July 12, 2023

All of them are equally beneficial and should be fine to fill out each part of the bag along with wedges

Krowland · July 12, 2023

I agree with @RickyBobby_PR i'm not sure if one is more beneficial than the other, but both are crucial. Playing a driver not fitted to you, that isn't consistent for your swing, swing speed, shaft flex, etc. is only hurting your game off the tee. With that being said, you'll get to do a lot more work with your irons haha. Which then, having the right irons would be crucial. I think there is a good balance to both.

I got fitted for a driver after never being fitted previously and just playing whatever i felt looked good and was affordable. Right off the shelf, no matter the shaft flex or anything. During that fitting I was amazed to see the data that backed up every change ( different brand, different lofts, different shafts) and at the end of it i thought for sure i narrowed down "THE ONE!"

Time went by, several months for that matter, and i actually had never bought that driver that i thought was for sure the right fit. Mainly due to it being at the end of the season, and living in SD i knew i had several months to go before i'd be stepping back onto the tee box again. When the season came back around, I wanted to confirm previous data and make sure it was still the right fit. Turns out, it was not. Tried several more again and ended up moving from the TM Stealth to the Callaway Paradym. For me it was a feel thing. Now i couldn't be happier. More consistent and happier than i have ever been with my game off the tee. Believe me, fitted or not, you'll still find a tree or two

i was also fitted for irons at the same time as my driver. Numbers were there, felt good, and could see the gain compared to the irons in my bag. I also did not purchase those after the fitting. Still playing my current irons i have been for years with hopes of finding the right irons for me by the end of this season.

i guess i say all that to say this, even if you are fitted, give it time, get fitted again. Just like the golf game for many, things are ever changing and confirmation never hurts. Invest in your game, you may just be surprised at the end results! Good luck and hope you find the right clubs for you! One stroke at a time, may you shoot low my friend! Cheers ️

GaDawg · July 13, 2023

All are beneficial, but I would start with the area that you are having the most issues/concerns with.

CrazyGolfNut · July 13, 2023

I started with the driver which was a great improvement on my game. I started hitting fairways which make everything else easer. Next was the fairway woods then irons. Once I got my game going well I went to a wedge fitting. The last thing was a putter fitting. I know what I need in a putter but I was not happy with the putter that I was fit into so I am still looking. Come to think of it, I went from the top down; Driver - Woods - Irons - Wedges - Putter. Worked for me.

ctg44 · July 13, 2023

At the time I went for a fitting (late May 2022), I was absolutely blasting my driver and hated my irons. My fitter (hockey friend we've known for a while) told me to keep my driver because he couldn't beat it and attributed that to the head being a hand-selected Tour Certifed version of the Epic Flash from several years ago and the shaft being a nice Tensei White Tour X (also a several year old model) shaft that probably was also headed for a pro and thus was likely spine-aligned and very well-tuned for my 105-110 swing speed with nasty quick tempo on the transition.

I also kept my putter at the time, as the SAM putt lab said a 70* toe-hang putter was right for me. Turns out SAM was dead-A** wrong. I started using my son's SIK C-Series 2.0 DW (double-wide) putter last fall when he was not using it because he was too busy being the captain of his hockey team and reffing hockey games to play golf. That putter is face-balanced, and man, since I made that switch has my putting been great. I had my wife get me my own for Christmas, and though she got me the wrong shaft (1" offset double-bend instead of 1/2" offset), once I got used to that it's been great.

I replaced all of my SM8 wedges because the ones I'd bought off eBay all had the wrong bounce or something else wrong with them (probably lie angle going back to my fitting). I knew that going in after having played them and researched it, so once we got going on testing the SM9s and I saw the benefits of those over the SM8s, it was a no-brainer. I kept the stock shafts in the wedges at the time to be able to stay under budget and get all 3 replaced SM8s (50.12F / 54.10S supposedly bent to 55 / 60.04L) with SM9s (50.08F / 56.10S bent to 55 / 60.08M). All were also bent 2* upright for me since I have normal to slightly short arms and am 6'4". After a few months I swapped all of the stock S200 shafts for the same ones in my irons (Nippon 1150gh stiff) and have become deadly with the wedges...I hit so many more greens from inside 125 yards now in 9 holes compared to 2-3 18-hole rounds that it's almost comical how bad I used to be at it and how much I've improved just due to a club / shaft swap into gear that was tuned FOR me and some focused practiced.

Now, back to my fitting and what worked...I went into that hating my then current irons, which were older (2016-2017) Cobra ForgedTecs I'd gotten cheap and used from Golf Galaxy. All had been re-shafted with Project X LZ 6.0 shafts after I broke a few of the C-Taper Lite shafts that came on them because those A) suck for my quick-transition swing w/ strong hands and B) rust out from the inside. Nothing worse than starting your downswing and hearing a loud crack and sending your 4 iron 30 yards down the tee box instead of the ball. I got fitted into the Mizuno Pro 223s with the Nippon 1150gh stiff shafts. We looked at some X-stiff options, but those hurt my swing speed (which was a big problem for distance control) more than they helped dispersion, so we stuck with these. I love their feel, and while they feel soft at the tip when you hit a good shot, they don't twist either, so the head goes where you point it. These were bent to 2* upright and left with their mostly traditional lofts, so it took some getting used to, which was exacerbated by getting hurt playing hockey between my fitting and getting the clubs in.

Since my fitting, my handicap has gone down from high single digits down to about 3.9-4.2...it fluctuates depending on the day and how well I play on which of our 2 courses (1 is harder than the other, but I play better on it because of my length than most people). I would say it would be more important to know what is and isn't working in your current setup, do some research so you have an idea what you need (not what looks shiny or cool...it's really easy to be swayed by all the "new" stuff they have available that may not be better), and be realistic with your budget. I could have paid another $1,800 and gotten custom-built wedges and a new driver / fairway (each over $700 due to upgraded shaft costs to get the newer Tensei White in tour X). However, nothing was going to beat my current driver by enough to make $700+ worth it, and that's still the case w/ another year of new gear and 3 more driver fittings since then (1 each with last year's and this year's TaylorMade Stealths and 1 with the new Paradym....the Stealth 2+ almost knocked the Epic Flash out of the bag, but not quite enough accuracy. I kind of wish I'd at least spent the extra $300 to get my fitter to build out my wedges for me with the shafts I needed instead of suffering through 6 months of the crappy stock shafts and then having to mess with doing it myself, but there is something satisfying about sticking a shot close from the fairway with a club you ripped apart and made way better all on your own, so there is that.

ccostel18 · July 13, 2023

Went for my very first fitting back in January of this year. Club Champion was running a special on a complete bag fitting so I went with it. First and foremost I would recommend a fitting to anyone who is even remotely thinking about it and is somewhat serious on game improvement. Now it will not be an instant game changer no matter what anyone tells you. It will however give you the opportunity to have a professional, who understands what your swing data is showing, make setup changes to improve the performance of your swing. They are NOT there to work on any swing mechanics or point out swing flaws. They may make minor suggestions but don’t go into it thinking they will “fix” anything with your swing. A golf coach is what you are looking for if that is your goal.

As far as your actual question I agree with the previous comments on here that all are beneficial, but like @GaDawg I would focus on what part of your game you think needs the most improvement. I went with the total bag because I was mostly happy with my game but I wanted to see what the numbers were actually saying. Turned out that I was able to be fitted into a driver and irons that both improved my then current numbers. Decided to purchase the driver as I felt this area was my weakest. I liked my distance off the tee prior to fitting but my dispersion was less than desirable. After 5ish months of playing with the new driver I am amazed at how consistent my accuracy as well as distance have become. All without changing a single swing mechanic.

So the fundamental question really is “what are you looking to get out of a fitting?” If it is someone to analyze your swing mechanics then pivot to looking into lessons. If you are fine with your swing and looking to optimize your equipment to match that swing then I would go all in on a fitting. The type is up to your particular needs.

Dweed · July 13, 2023

krowland and ccostel18 welcome, welcome to the forums. Glad to see you are posting right away. Hit the flightline running. Krowland also. thank you for your service. Enjoy and share.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Dweed

ccostel18 · July 14, 2023

1 hour ago, Dweed said:

krowland and ccostel18 welcome, welcome to the forums. Glad to see you are posting right away. Hit the flightline running. Krowland also. thank you for your service. Enjoy and share.

I have read mygolfspy content for years, not sure why it took me so long to get involved. Glad to learn and contribute!

higherplane · July 18, 2023

irons are critical for fitting and also follow to wedges, then Driver. If I could only afford one would do irons

Mr Orange · July 28, 2023

They are all super important. Personally I would say the right fitter is best. I got a full bag fitting at a golftec last fall and was very happy with the results except I was disappointed in the putter fitting as it really was minimal. They fitted me into 31-32 inch oddysey eleven series. I never bought the putter but this summer I did a putter fitting at 2nd swing on the quintic putting system and it was vastly superior. I went in wanting a mallet specifically a Scotty phantom x 2019 series mallet. Found out based on the numbers I needed something different as a mallet didn’t fit me.

Almost ended up with a double wide Scotty mallet but ended up with a 33 inch oddysey og white hot 7. Was told I shouldn’t go shorter than a 33 inch putter. Couldn’t believe the difference. Night and day in the feel with the putter and the numbers couldn’t be beat. Just could tell the ball was rolling perfect off the putter. Went out that day and had my best putting of the year.

Shrek74 · July 28, 2023

I agree that all are beneficial - driver, fw, hybrid/utility, irons, wedges, putter, and even the ball. But I take a slightly different approach to the order.

I look at what club has the most influence on my score and start there. To me, it's the putter. You tend to hit the putter more than any other club in the bag. So I'd get that fit first.

After that, there's not really a perfect direction through the bag. Driver, irons, wedges, long game is probably how I'd go about it after putter. It really is a matter of what you feel is most to least important to your game and what needs the most help as well.

I'd also set a budget for each one of those pieces before going for the fitting and be honest about it. No sense in getting fitted for an $800 driver if all you have handy is $500. A good fitter can fit you into a club that meets your budget that will definitely help your game.