This morning, our Golf Club Fitting class met out at the Bear Creek driving range in Chandler for a hands-on re-cap of everything we’ve learned so far this semester. Over the first several weeks, we’ve covered length, lie angle, shaft flex, and clubhead design and their importance as it relates to fit. Today, we finally got a chance to go through a dynamic (while swinging) fit with a lie board to put it all together.
We did two separate fits: a driver fit and an iron fit. Campus Director Tim Eberlein was in charge of the driver fitting portion of the program. He told us that most players tend to slice the golf ball and then proceeded to do a driver fit for a few of the guys in class who said they sliced the ball off the tee.
At this point, Tim reiterated the importance of clubhead design, which impacts both direction and trajectory. After looking at their drivers and watching them slice a few shots, Tim put an offset club in their hands. This did two things right away: it gave them a little more time to square the face at impact (offset heads arrive at impact a split-second later) and it helped them get the ball up in the air (offset heads have a rear center of gravity that results in a higher ball flight).
Then he fit them for the proper shaft. You have to fix the direction before you can fix the trajectory, but trajectory is fairly simple. Based on a player’s swing speed, you can estimate the type of shaft they will need. Stiffer shafts make the ball go lower than more flexible shafts.
Tim made the whole fitting process look easy. Within five minutes after putting an offset driver in their hands, every one of my classmates had gone from slicing the ball to hooking it. Then Tim got them to swing more inside-out, and they started hitting the ball straight or with a slight draw into the middle of the range. It was an incredible transformation to watch especially in such a short period of time.
When a player goes from slicing the ball his entire life to hooking it and then hitting it straight, he’ll buy in to a little instruction too. One of the big things Tim pointed out was the importance of the finish position. Most players don’t know how to properly finish the swing for balance and best results. A properly fitted driver allows the golfer to properly finish the swing on his left side (for a right-handed golfer). A balanced finish results in better golf shots. If the finish position is off-balance, more errant shots will result.
Golfers develop compensations. Most develop a certain body position because of the tools they’re using. Fixing the golf swing begins by fixing those tools. Even when he’s doing a driver fit, Tim will ask a player to bring his 6-iron. He likes to check the irons before he checks the driver because iron swings transfer over to the driver and poorly-fit irons ingrain poor swing habits. In a round of golf, you swing your irons a lot more than you swing your driver.
Then we moved over to the iron fit with PGA Professional Gary Balliet. Gary set up a series of lie boards and then showed us how to put tape on the sole of the club so we could see where the club was making contact with the board. This measures the lie angle. Marks closer to the heel (too upright) will result in a pull or a hook, while marks closer the toe (too flat) will result in a push or a fade. You want the mark on the tape to be in the center of the sole of the club for the best results.
Gary likes to let the player make a few swings before asking, “How did that feel?” He also likes to start the fitting off by giving the player a club that is at the opposite end of the spectrum of what he thinks he’s going to need. A shorter player will likely require a club with a flatter lie angle. Starting him off with a club that’s too upright and letting him make 2-3 swings will give him different sensations and allow him to experience the full spectrum of what it means to be properly fit. Once he feels what it’s like to hit the ball in the center of the club face because of a flatter lie angle, he’ll be sold.
At the end of the day, I came away with a pretty powerful message. Even though I’m leaning toward a career in instruction, club fitting is the first and most important step of the golf instruction process. It makes sense if you think about it. In everyday life, we use different tools to help us perform at our best, and it’s no different when it comes to golf. The proper fit, in conjunction with the proper swing changes, gives a student the best possible chance to succeed, and ultimately, it’s not about keeping lifelong students but teaching them to be able to go out on their own and be successful.
Club Fitting Tip
How often have you gone out to a demo day and hit a club so well that you decided to order it only to discover that you couldn’t hit it when it arrived? There’s a reason for that. There’s no guarantee the specs on the club you’re hitting at the demo day will match the specs of the club you’re ordering even though they should. Instead, when you find a combination (shaft and clubhead) that works for you, ask if you can buy the club you’re hitting right then and there. That way, you’ll avoid any buyer’s remorse.