7 Pitfalls of Custom Golf Club Fitting

The art and science of custom club fitting is imperfect. Fortunately, perfection isn’t required to achieve a decent, if not good, result. That’s why I’m going to start by telling you that, despite the flaws, you absolutely should get custom fitted for your golf clubs – from driver to wedge and even your ball.

At the same time, it’s important to set sensible expectations. The simple truth is this: custom fitting brings with it challenges and pitfalls. They are unavoidable but by acknowledging and understanding them, you might just be able to navigate them and have a better fitting experience.

So with all of that said, as with many things, my best advice is to use your damn head.

Here are seven things to keep in the back of your mind for your next fitting.

There is no right way to fit

Nearly every fitter has a unique approach. Big box and chain fitters often employ fitting systems.

That’s fine. There’s more than one way to fit a golf club and do it well.

That said, without a universally accepted right set of metrics, individual fitters key on different variables. With that, it’s imperative that your fitter understands what matters to you or what specific improvement you’re hoping to make via your next purchase.

If your fitter is entirely focused on optimizing launch and spin while your biggest concern is narrowing your dispersion, you may end up with a well-fitted club that gives you a bit of extra distance but it may not address the problem you hoped to solve.

Start every fitting by making sure you and your fitter are on the same page.

Job titles are presented as certifications

Fitters, and the companies that employ them, rely on expertise, or the suggestion thereof, to bring golfers through the doors. With that, I’d be remiss not to mention what could be most misleading phrase in the fitting world: Master Fitter.

Big box stores, fitting chains and the OEMs; they all employ master fitters. Many are certified Master Fitters, some aren’t. Ultimately, it doesn’t much matter because it’s not like there’s any sort of universally recognized standard. Everyone certifies to their own criteria.

Some certification processes are rigorous; others, not so much.

Ideally, a Master Fitter has years of experience but often it’s just a few weeks of training (if that) and a demonstrated ability to pass a written test.

I assure you the questions aren’t that hard.

With that, my advice is to think of the Master Fitter as not so much a promise of competency as it is as a job description, because that’s really all it is.

Sure, there are great fitters with years of experience and deep product knowledge – true masters of their craft. I can’t recommend those guys highly enough. But it’s also possible that the master fitter you just booked your appointment with was selling windows three months ago.

The golf ball gets overlooked

This is a story about club fitting. Why are we talking about the golf ball?

Because the golf ball is the one piece of equipment you use on every shot and while some still believe they’re not good enough for the ball to matter, the fact is that performance characteristics vary wildly between golf ball models.

Consider this: just like the driver you’re being fitted for, the golf ball contributes to the speed, launch and spin equation.

If the ball doesn’t matter for you, then the clubs don’t, either. To an extent, a performance evaluation of one is incomplete without the other. With that, you really should be hitting the ball you play during your fitting.

I realize that’s easier said than done.

I suppose you could bring your own ball but radar-based launch monitors struggle to capture data accurately indoors. This is why RCT balls exist but those are exclusive to Titleist.

Likewise, if you’re a staunch Titleist Left Dash guy but Callaway is fitting you for one of their drivers, my guess is they won’t have a bagful handy for you.

Again, guys, fitting is imperfect. At a minimum, get fitted with the ball closest to what you normally play. 

Iron fitting is just one club

Quick question. How many irons are in your bag?

More than one? Interesting.

I’ve been fitted for fairway woods half a dozen times in the last few years and, in every case, the 3-wood and 5-wood were fitted separately. Yet it’s become all but universally accepted that fitting you into a 7-iron will translate perfectly to the other four to seven irons in your bag.

It doesn’t.

Sure, some fitters can tell you they can extrapolate from a single iron. And while I’d wager that the best among them can, a healthy percentage can’t – and a healthy percentage of those have probably never considered how problematic that is.

A decade of iron testing experience has taught me that what you do with a 7-iron offers little promise of what you’ll do with a long iron or a short iron from the same set.

It’s fundamentally why combo sets exist but how can you be certain your combo will work if you can’t hit either end of the set?

The “single iron” approach to iron fitting has never been perfect and it only got worse when manufacturers switched from 6-iron demos to 7. A shorter club with more loft is easier to hit and it also hides some deficiencies that were more apparent when the 6-iron was standard.

With the rise of AI fitting tools, full-set fitting is getting better but you won’t find many of those tools in brand-agnostic environments.

Fitting happens at a point in time

Our swings change (sometimes from minute to minute). Unfortunately, that means the swing you bring to a fitting may not be your best swing or even your typical swing.

Who you are in your fitting may not be who you are on the golf course.

Nerves, the fitting environment, what you ate for breakfast … just about anything influences who you are as a golfer on any given day.

A good fitter will mitigate some of that through a combination of product knowledge and an open dialog about you and your tendencies (it’s on you to tell the truth).

Some fitters can now leverage data from shot-tracking devices to better understand your game before and after a fitting and make adjustments as needed. At a minimum, seek out a fitter willing to work with you on a tweak or two within a reasonable window of your purchase.

Your fitter may not have your best interests at heart

In a perfect world, the club fitter would be golf club biz equivalent of fiduciary; bound to always act in your best interest.

Yeah, about that …

Club fitting is a business and with that there’s always the risk of running into an unnecessary upsell or falling victim to the semi-secret world of manufacturer kickbacks. It’s not uncommon for fitters to have sales quotas.

Is that $800 AutoFlex really what you need to optimize your driver?

Should you pay an extra $400 to outfit your irons with what’s already a stock shaft in the OEM lineup?

Maybe and, almost certainly, not. While upsells benefit the bottom line, they don’t always benefit your game.

You should also be aware that spiffing (providing fitters with incentives to sell specific brands) is still common in the industry. It’s entirely possible your master fitter might have a little extra financial motivation to steer you toward one brand over another.

It sounds obvious enough but nobody can make you buy something you need or want. The choice is always yours.

You may not be able to get out of your own way

Our long-standing fitting advice is to leave your preconceived notions and biases at the door.

If you’re positive you need a carbon face or you’re not walking out the door without AI, what’s the point of fitting? You’re paying a fitter to do what he does best. Get out of the way and let him cook.

When you’ve already decided what you’re going to be fitted into, you’re cheating yourself and putting the fitter in an awkward position.

A reputable fitter will jump through every reasonable hoop to get you dialed in but if you’ve already decided what you want, the business side of things means he’s probably going to sell it to you.

Again, what’s the point in that?

A brief final word of advice

With all of that said, might I suggest you treat your golf game like your health? Research your providers (word of mouth and reputation are your best indicators) because, ultimately, it’s on you to take control of your fitting needs to ensure the best outcomes.