Will improving my swing have a large effect on club fitting?

Tonic · July 6, 2023

I'm a 12-15 handicap and have been playing for about a decade. I've really been working on my swing this year after taking the last couple of years off and it's getting a lot better. My swing wasn't bad per se, just a bit inconsistent due to my weight transfer, takeaway and getting a bit over-rotated with my arms. I'm a good athlete with great hand-eye coordination so I can still hit good shots when I timed everything up just right, but my margin for error was just too big. But I've been adamantly working on all of it and my swing is getting more consistent week by week.

Despite being 6'5, I've never been properly fitted for clubs (I do play +1" and 2deg upright based on static recommendations) and want to get a "new" set of clubs as all of my current clubs are 7-10 years old. While I plan on playing for the rest of my life, this is the last summer that I'll be able to play as much as I want. I will probably buy everything gently used other than wedges, mostly due to time constraints of wanting to get everything as fast as possible so I can enjoy it as much as possible this year.

So my question is, as I continue to improve my swing will my fitting for clubs (especially shafts) change all that much? I'm not looking to add distance and I don't really want or expect my good shots to get that much better, I just want to hit them more consistently. I just want to make sure that the fitting will be worthwhile and not a waste of time/money if my swing will drastically change what I get fit into. My common sense is telling me that the fitting won't change very much as I'm not going to get any taller, stronger or my swing will change all that much other than making my good swings more frequently.

betarhoalphadelta · July 6, 2023

If you're playing with non-fitted clubs (i.e. only static recommendations), at 6'5" I'd say you should get fit.

You're likely working on your swing with clubs that are currently ill fit for you. It's even possible that some of your inconsistency is based on compensating for clubs that are ill fit for you.

I'm a believer in fitting for most players. But I'm also 6'5" and think fitting is especially important for people of our size. As shaft length goes up, it throws off a lot of the feel a club compared to off-the-rack sets. For example at +1" you've added 6 swing weight points, so while everyone else might be swinging clubs built to swing at D2, you're swinging at D8. My old iron set was +1.5" and measured out as E0. My current set is single-length but built +1" longer than standard, and I think I'm somewhere in the D6-D7 range. Now, that might be good for you (I actually prefer a heavier feel as my tempo goes to hell if a club feels too light), or it might not.

If you're mostly "tweaking" your swing right now rather than making wholesale changes, I'd say it's a lot more important that you get a set that is at the very least in the ballpark. It's possible your current set is well outside it.

Tonic · July 6, 2023

Thank you! Yeah that's definitely a good possibility that my clubs are not a great fit. They're KBS Tour 120s in stiff and I do hit them pretty high but that's also a pretty mid shaft across the board. I also probably qualify for x-stiff as I average 280 off the tee with my M2 w/ HZRDUS black 6.0.

betarhoalphadelta · July 6, 2023

Honestly, with your height and swing speed, KBS Tour 120 in stiff probably isn't a terrible fit. Maybe not perfect, but probably at least "in the ballpark".

I don't have enough control to go "all out" off the tee, but can poke it out there 250-260 with a controlled swing, and my 32* 7i is my 170ish club with a controlled swing. In my fitting I narrowed it down to a final three KBS Tour 120S, Modus Tour 120S, and Steelfiber i110S. I didn't like the feel of the KBS, so it was the first one I rejected of those three. I loved the feel of the Steelfiber, but the Modus had better dispersion so I stuck with that.

You might be just fine with the current clubs.