Who buys irons without getting fitted and feels good about their choice?

[jjfcpa]

I've had 3 fittings in the past and the choices I could only qualify as ok.  Perhaps one of the best things I did was go to a fitter after I purchased new clubs and had him determine if they were appropriate for me.  He did make them a little flatter (lie) but other than that, he felt that I was hitting them well.

 

My current clubs (Apex 21's) were purchased without getting fit and I think they are performing really well for me.  Prior to these, I was playing (and still have them) Titleist T300's and once again, I was not fit for these but they performed very well.  Would a fitting have provided me with something even better... not sure, but I'm perfectly happy with my choice and the performance on the course.

[Myherobobhope]

Fittings are only as good as the fitter.

 

If you know what you like, a fitting isn’t going to change that... I could easily buy a new set of irons without a fitting... but I just buy whatever @MtlJeffis playing but right handed.

[lefthack]

I have yet to be fitted, on my 3rd set, no regrets.

[MPAndreassi]

I haven’t been to an actual fitter in quite some time. I used to work as a fitter and builder. I know what works for me, what doesn’t and what I like. That said I do go and check my stuff on a launch monitor to make sure what I’m seeing is actually the truth. It’s more for piece of mind than anything. 

[North Butte]

I've occasionally hit a 7-iron into a net for 20 minutes to get a general idea of how a set of irons are going to swing and feel. But it's impossible for me to judge a golf club any way other than playing rounds of golf with it. So I buy irons I think I'm going to like and never pay so much I can't afford to return them, trade them in or sell them on at an affordable loss. 

 

I'd say about half the irons I've ever bought, I pretty quickly decided (after half a dozen rounds maybe?) they weren't for me. The others I either liked enough to play for a few months then move on or I like them so well I keep them for a couple years or more.

 

But all of those would have seemed much the same to me at a "fitting". A huge factor is how well the soles of the irons handle my often imperfect low point control. That's hard to tell hitting from a mat or even on a sandy, beat-up driving range.

 

I don't have any interest in a "fitting" rather than a demo or trial. Chasing numbers on a launch monitor is pretty divorced to my normal experience of playing golf. It's much the same reason I don't constantly take golf lessons and try to get all technical about my swing. If I'm hitting the ball really badly, I'll go ask my teaching pro how to adjust my setup or posture or whatever and get back and track. And if I hit a set of irons really badly I try another set until I find some that work better. I'm not really into trying to arrive at a swing or a set of clubs by some pseudo-scientific process.

[kcsf]

Me, three times a year.

 

But then again, I'm not well. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by kcsf

[phizzy30]

I've been fit quite a few times but only twice for irons in the past 12 years only because I know what works for me.  Rest of the bag, different story.  I always check the lofts of the iron heads I intend to purchase.  Shafts are strictly graphite now due to age and injury history but always heavy and x flex.  However, I'm still experimenting with my wedge shafts and will eventually move on to graphite in the future.  1.5 degrees flat, 1/4 inch short.  Driver, 3 metal, hybrid different story.  I have to get fitted for those and am always tinkering.  I have yet to get fitted for putter but I know I need to.   

[MtlJeff]

1 hour ago, Myherobobhope said:

Fittings are only as good as the fitter.

 

If you know what you like, a fitting isn’t going to change that... I could easily buy a new set of irons without a fitting... but I just buy whatever @MtlJeffis playing but right handed.

 

It always makes me happy to see people taking my humble advice....which of course is "do literally everything that I do"

[Tree Levino]

I check all of my own numbers on trackman. I know what I need and don’t need. I get fit into the same shafts every time, same lie etc. It’s on course and confidence over the ball that matters to me. I’ll never get fit off mats again. Only off the range at my club. 

[dannynoonan1]

I have done  two different fittings with Ping in the past.  First fitting ended up with G20 irons in a Green Dot. Then The G irons came out looked a bit sleeker and was fitted White dot larger grips and half inch longer AWT stiff shafts. Late last year I was really hooking the ball.

 

well I really wanted a set of Ping I1210 and decided to put the Ping Web fit to use. Using my own measurements It recommended  green dot, standard length , project xlz 6.0 shafts.

 

The feeling of both sets is night and day. I am just loving the feel of the i1210. Something about the project xlz just feels so smooth and stable to me. A well struck shot just holds its line, no more hooks.  I am having so much fun on the course again! For fun I took a few swings of the old Clubs and It made me realize how bad my other set felt. I immediately traded them in for some value at my course. I probably really didn’t know any better. 
 

I guess in hindsight there was always a chance doing it this way wouldn’t work out well for me lol

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by dannynoonan1

[Loose_Ferrule]

Not that I listen to my own advice but you say you have 2 sets you hit very well......then don't over think this and play what you have.

 

The end

[BogeyParBogey]

If the new clubs work great then just go with it 🙂

 

I've bought sets fitted and not fitted.  Either method is a crap shoot in my opinion.

 

Dave

[Myherobobhope]

35 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

It always makes me happy to see people taking my humble advice....which of course is "do literally everything that I do"

I was going to say I wanted the cobra tech irons, but figured this version was more fun...

 

just need to win my masters pool and I’ll buy a set of the copper ones!

[PEI_Golfer]

I'll go for a fitting every few years just to confirm that basically everything is the same, buy used and then build the set I want for half the price or less.  Obviously this is helped by being able to do the work myself (other than bending, no machine yet) and buying pulls for a 1/3 the cost of full retail.

[BallerNate]

I had never gotten a professional fitting until last month, so every club I’ve ever bought and all adjustments were just guesstimates based on feel.

 

At 6’7, what I found out at my fitting is that all the adjustments I had made over the years were wrong, and all the shaft choices were incorrect too (which I could also tell based on feel/experience).

 

I had actually bought a set of irons a month before my fitting and paid $300 to get the clubs lengthened, bent upright, and re-gripped...then found out the adjustments were all wrong.

 

Since the fitting, I’ve sold almost all my clubs and am going through the process of re-building my bag with the proper specs.
 

This will be my 4th different bag setup in the last year...partly from being a Club Hoe, but mostly because I just didn’t have the right information on what specs, shafts, and clubs I actually needed.

[Mcgeeno]

I can chime in on one side of the fence. Probably sacrilege here.

 

I got fitted once. I went there for a dynamic fitting, was swinging poorly, the guy wasnt very good and I bought a set of clubs I hated from day one and never had confidence in.

 

I know what I like, what feel and trajectory I want. I have a good grasp on my game and what I need to make work. Every set I've ordered online from the manufacturer since has been excellent. 

 

A good fitting will help. A bad fitting will set you back. I trust my own knowledge about my game.

[drumdude96]

I usually end up buying a set of irons just for the heads and then rebuild them with my preferred shafts and specs, including lofts and lie angles.  I've never had a fitting.  I figured out what works best for me through a lot of trial and error, with a big emphasis on the error side of things. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by drumdude96

[Justsomeguy]

Never fitted. 4th set of irons. I've gone progressively softer flex and I don't regret it.

It helps that I'm 5'8", and my wingspan is exactly my height.

Standard was made for me - from golf clubs to door handles to sports cars.

It's possible I could benefit from 1 degree upright, but unsure how much. My swing has bigger issues.

I do wonder this though: by following the advice of playing softer and softer flex for my "swing speed," I've lost some distance. Is that father time and injuries, or have I adjusted my speed and tempo to the softer flex shafts?

I don't really know, which suggests a fitting wouldn't hurt, but I like the clubs and when I flush them they're on point, so...?

[Avidswampthing66]

I once played with a friends set on a golf trip on a few holes here and there.  Fell in love...and went and found a set.  I would never buy something i've never hit, unless its some kind of truly amazing deal.  

[Quasimoto]

I think I have had 13 sets of irons in 25 years. All of them without fittings.

Some were mistakes, some were not. But I am an impulsive club ho so fittings would not help unless I went for several each year. Also, I do my own club work so I can change shafts, weighting, etc. I take the irons in each spring to get loft/lie checks done.

[Avidswampthing66]

I think thats a subjective question bc it really depends on the quality of fitter.  For example, getting fit at golf galaxy with someone who's not very experienced or even really cares vs lets say someone super professional and passionate at TXG.  

[Avidswampthing66]

Just now, Avidswampthing66 said:

I think thats a subjective question bc it really depends on the quality of fitter.  For example, getting fit at golf galaxy with someone who's not very experienced or even really cares vs lets say someone super professional and passionate at TXG.  

**not trying to knock GG, just sayin it could possibly be a little hit and miss with big chains like that

[Aviador Naval]

“Fitting” is nearly as over-rated as MOI/forgiveness in irons.  Both are inarguably good in theory but seldom, if ever, live up to the hype in execution.

 

The weakness in execution as it relates to fitting, is that most “fitters” are in reality simply salespeople whose knowledge doesn’t exceed the marketing literature offered by OEMs.  I’ve spent money at Club Champion - poke and hope demo vice actual fitting.  Same for a “highly regarded” outdoor facility in northern Virginia.

 

At this point I know what shaft weight and profile works, what I’m looking for in a clubhead, and where I need help (launch at lower lofts and a bit of bounce and/or camber).  Any fitting  from a mat for anything but driver is a waste anyway.

[dekez]

5 hours ago, Justsomeguy said:

Never fitted. 4th set of irons. I've gone progressively softer flex and I don't regret it.

It helps that I'm 5'8", and my wingspan is exactly my height.

Standard was made for me - from golf clubs to door handles to sports cars.

It's possible I could benefit from 1 degree upright, but unsure how much. My swing has bigger issues.

I do wonder this though: by following the advice of playing softer and softer flex for my "swing speed," I've lost some distance. Is that father time and injuries, or have I adjusted my speed and tempo to the softer flex shafts?

I don't really know, which suggests a fitting wouldn't hurt, but I like the clubs and when I flush them they're on point, so...?

 

I am also 5'8".  I like to tell everyone that I am 5'9", though.  It makes me feel better.  But like you, I don't benefit much from iron fitting.  I have been fit in the past and always comes back standard lie and length.  My 16 handicap doesnt provide enough repeatability for any variability in the numbers to be valid.  I know which shafts I like, so I prefer the used club carousel.

 

[rufus mangler]

I'm a dinosaur. I've never been professionally fit and don't really equate indoor numbers with what happens outside.

 

I've always bought irons I like and had them bent afterward. I buy low lofted drivers with higher launching shafts. I like soft to flex shafts in S flex, and stiff feeling shafts in R flex.

 

I guess I fit myself.

[Itsjustagame]

In the past 10/15 years I have bought all my golf equipment on-line. Don't get see it or touch it until UPS/FEDEX leaves the box on my porch. No fittings, no demo. Then I take it to the course for several weeks to decide if I am going to keep stuff.

[bladehunter]

Never been “ fitted “. By anybody but myself. 
 

it’s literally impossible to fit an iron indoors and/or on a mat.  Do you fit your clothes onto other people in the store then buy them and take them home and hope they work for you ?  Nope.  So why do it with an iron or wedge ?   Turf interaction and flight are two of the major deciding factors in an iron.  You can’t tell a thing about either on a monitor. Why ?  You cant recreate outside spin rates or strike. Can’t be done.  

Edited April 2, 2021 by bladehunter

[North Butte]

7 hours ago, Mcgeeno said:

I can chime in on one side of the fence. Probably sacrilege here.

 

I got fitted once. I went there for a dynamic fitting, was swinging poorly, the guy wasnt very good and I bought a set of clubs I hated from day one and never had confidence in.

 

I know what I like, what feel and trajectory I want. I have a good grasp on my game and what I need to make work. Every set I've ordered online from the manufacturer since has been excellent. 

 

A good fitting will help. A bad fitting will set you back. I trust my own knowledge about my game.

Or then there's the fitter who spends the first 25 minutes of a 60-minute fitting trying to get the golfer to move closer to the ball, increase his knee flex, cup his wrist in the takeaway and start his downswing by firing his hips. 

 

P.S. Back in the dark ages before Trackman, etc. I did have an initial "fitting" with my teaching pro before buying my first set of clubs. I'd been playing golf for a few weeks so he let me hit various irons from a fitting cart and establish my basic needs. As it turned out I'm 6'0" 200lbs and pretty normal proportions so the results were that off-the-shelf standard specs worked fine. But we did try 1-up, 2-up, 1-flat, 2-flat and three or four different lengths just to be sure.

Edited April 2, 2021 by North Butte

[ColinKelvin]

8 hours ago, BallerNate said:

I had never gotten a professional fitting until last month, so every club I’ve ever bought and all adjustments were just guesstimates based on feel.

 

At 6’7, what I found out at my fitting is that all the adjustments I had made over the years were wrong, and all the shaft choices were incorrect too (which I could also tell based on feel/experience).

 

I had actually bought a set of irons a month before my fitting and paid $300 to get the clubs lengthened, bent upright, and re-gripped...then found out the adjustments were all wrong.

 

Since the fitting, I’ve sold almost all my clubs and am going through the process of re-building my bag with the proper specs.
 

This will be my 4th different bag setup in the last year...partly from being a Club Hoe, but mostly because I just didn’t have the right information on what specs, shafts, and clubs I actually needed.

 

Been there done that (although I am relatively short at 6'4) - based on a poor fitting a few years back.  Did you find you were hitting good shots left as they were too long/upright?

[TheDeanAbides]

I fit my clubs to the swing I want to achieve. To that end, I have all of my irons bent 4* flat. Never seen a noticeable playing difference in any shaft flex I've tried, but I do like a certain range of shaft weight. All of these things are determined by buying used and adjusting.