Am I ok to buy online without fitting?

[tlasher]

I am hoping to avoid another fitting process for my next irons (Taylormade RSI-1 now, will probably buy TM or Callaway next) here is my thinking, am I wrong?:

 

Im 44, 7 handicap. 5-11, 170Lbs. Driver speed is 91-92. 7 iron goes 145 on average. Very consistent ball striker. (Short game has been a work in progress or I’d be a 4-5). Been fitted (full process) 3 times at various shops and it’s always been “regular flex, standard length, and standard lie.” Last fitting was 4 years ago. I’ve worked on my swing and fitness some since then, but minimal change in club head speed or path, no change in my height or weight. I occasionally do the test for lie angle with my current set (where you put a vertical sharpie line on the ball before hitting) and my results are excellent.

Am I right that another fitting is just going to point towards the same standard set up?

thanks!

 

[tleader]

More than likely for flex, loft, lie, length, yes.

Where it may be beneficial is if you want to try a few different shafts. It’s a decent investment, I’d get fit just to rule out the “what if’s”.

[mcc0819]

There’s only one answer. If you can afford it, go get fitted. You’ll discover things about your game that you can never find out just eyeballing it. I’m a 3 handicap and get fitted by a good fitter when i need equipment. You may be leaving a lot on the table by not getting fitted. What you may feel is good may not actually be the right fit for you. Shaft flexes just don’t matter. A good fitter will pair you with the correct cpm and go from there.

That being said, you have to find a very reputable fitter. I’d recommend True Spec, or similar that use Trackman outdoors. Club champion is an option if that’s the only available service around you, but I wouldn’t recommend since they have fittings hitting into a screen.

[Jeff58]

There is obvious truth to the approach that you have a history with a particular shaft configuration that works well for you and staying with it. For many irons that have similar launch characteristics, there’s no significant reason to change.

In cases of newer designs, such as the P790 is my experience, the optimal shaft will be a match to the irons as well as the player. While the basic parameters may be similar to your prior fittings, the specific shaft selection obviously isn’t known.

If you don’t need a ‘full fitting’ as you may know, many stores, clubs, courses, etc. have fitting carts for the major manufacturers with a wide range of shafts, and there’s no general expectation that you should have to pay for their use, particularly if you purchase from them.

[Stuart_G]

Not far off, past fitting information (if it was a good fitting) can certainly be used for future purchases.

The main problem comes with shaft selection. "Regular flex" is meaningless since there is no standard for flex. One model's regular flex could be similar in stiffness to another model's stiff flex or senior flex. So the flex is only useful as a fitting result if it refers to the flex of a specific shaft model. e.g. if you were fit into TT DG R300 (reg flex) shaft, then it's very likely that that same shaft model and flex would work well for you in the next set. But if the next set was maybe a nippon 950gh reg flex shaft (maybe because it just happens to be the stock 'r' flex shaft), it might feel like a super light weight wet noodle and potentially be a horrible fit. Both the weight and stiffness would be significantly different than what you'd previously been fit into.

Which brings us to the second thing. Shaft weight is generally going to be way more important to fit properly than the stiffness or flex. And your previous fittings either didn't fit you for that, or they did it without you being aware of it - as you don't seem to know what the best shaft weight is for you.

Now if you remember the 3 specific shaft models that you were fit into, that might be a lot more useful information when it comes down to getting your next set than it would be to pick some arbitrary 'r' flex shaft.

[Adam C]

Okay, I'll be the person to say skip the fitting. You have the info you need. You know the length, the basic lie. Flex as Stuart said is really not that important assuming that the weight is right. And figuring out weight is really more about matching the weights on all your clubs into a sensible progression, ie lightest driver to heaviest wedges, and having weights that make sense based on your strength. BIG ISSUE with fitting is that you are taking a certain club, shaft, whatever, and swinging it with a swing that has become accustomed to working with a certain feel golf club, that being your current clubs. It's used to that feel. So when something changes like weight, or flex/bend profile, your body senses a change and the result may be better or it may be worse. The problem is that this initial reaction is based on your current clubs and how you swing them. Over time this changes as your body becomes more accustomed to the feel of the new club or shaft so that what may have felt right compared to your current clubs may not down the road and just as likely what may have felt off initially may feel right.

If you take the same golfer and fit him or her for irons but lead them into the fitting having played vastly different irons for the previous year, what are the chances you would get the same "correct fit" for both. If you come into a fitting hitting 130g x100s vs. 95g XP95 S300, what are the chances that you would be fit into the same end club. I would say unlikely. So in the end every fitting is really only useful as a single point in time based off your current club configuration.

I don't believe that any club or shaft is just a perfect fit. It may feel good initially or it may not but all that is based on what you know from your current swing with your current clubs. If you have some basic fitting measurements correct; length that is comfortable, lie angle that is level, and club weight that you can swing and control both on hole 1 and hole 18, the rest is of little concern. Then you have to go hit them, put in the time and get your body used to the "feel" of the new clubs regardless of flex or bend profile.

 

[cristphoto]

What I have done for years is go to my clubs demo day, There I can hit the various clubs with different, lengths, shafts, flexes and lies. So in effect I'm fitting myself. Since I am hitting outdoors I can see the flight and numbers (we also have access to the flight monitor equipment). The one issue with saying "I'm standard lie, standard length, and standard flex is that can change. I'm slightly taller than average and my previous couple sets of irons have been Pings; I was green dot lie and 1/2 inch longer. A few years back Ping (for whatever reason) changed their standards. Now that same lie is a blue dot. Plus they changed standard club length to be a bit longer. So for me the specs have changed even though I'm effectively getting the same fitting. All this may or may not have any effect on your game however as I tend to believe we will subconsciously adapt to our clubs over time.

[tlasher]

appreciate all the info. Looks like there is a true spec 1:30 away at the Greenbrier. I’ll check it out.

[Nessism]

Doubt you'd get much out of another fitting. Just be careful with shaft weight; if you like the weight of your current shafts I'd match them within 10 grams of where you are now and be sure to do some trial swings. Incremental changes are much safer than wholesale changes.