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There's a lot of good information that comes out of club fittings, which makes it unfortunate that there's often so much confusion around them.
Golfers talk themselves out of fittings for all sorts of reasons: They're changing their swing. They're not hitting it well. They're intimidated. All things that aren't true (we'll get to that) and worse, stop golfers from getting better.
That's why I wanted to get two of my Golf Digest colleagues, Chris Powers and Keely Levins, on the podcast. Both just underwent a full through-the-bag fitting at Golf Galaxy ahead of a high-stakes match against each other (which you can watch right here), and shared some good advice along the way:
1. You don't need a perfect swing
Chris said he got fitted with the shanks once, and he turned out fine. It was a blessing in disguise, in some ways. You're going to miss-hit shots during a fitting just like you do on the course—the point isn't to chase your one perfect swing, it's to optimize the ball flight you actually have.
2. Don't wait until you're 'playing better'
Keely said in the past she kept putting off getting new irons—hers were a decade old—because she figured she'd upgrade once she was playing more. Months turned into years, and now the new iron tech wasn't there to help her when she needed it most. Stop trying to predict the future. Getting fit now is what puts you in position to play better later.
3. Fitting and swing work go together
A lot of us think that we shouldn't touch our clubs until our swing gets into a position we want it to. But Tour players have their club reps and swing coaches all talking at once. Think of them like parallel tracks. They work together, and evolve at the same time. You don't switch one side off and the other on.
4. Don't overlook your wedges and putter
These are the most overlooked fittings with arguably the best return on investment. Lie angle matters even more as loft increases, and your bounce and grind should match how you actually use each wedge—not be one-size-fits-all.
5. Keep an open mind.
Keely had a gapping disaster at the top of her bag. There was a huge zone that she had no clubs for. Her fitter fixed it with a higher-loft 3-wood and a 9-wood. Keely said she had never considered it before—and a lot of golfers would probably shake their heads at the idea. But no, she swears by it.
"It feels as easy to get up into the air as a wedge from 175," she says.
It plays into a nice principle: every club but your driver should land at roughly the same descent angle, which is why a lofted wood holds greens a long iron never could.
6. The adjustment period is shorter than you think
Keely replaced 12 clubs and was terrified it'd take two years to feel comfortable. Instead it was instant. Remember they're built for your swing as it is right now. The adjustment period is shorter than you think.
7. Go in with the right goal
Your goal isn't to use clubs to fix your swing (spoiler: they won't) but to "turn my big miss into a small miss." Chris fought snappy hooks that brought double bogeys onto his card, and well-fit clubs didn't rebuild his swing—they just tightened his dispersion. As the old cliche goes: Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. Or, in this case, progress.
Once again, you can listen to the full pod right below, and see how Chris and Keely's match ended up right here.
Continue reading...
Golfers talk themselves out of fittings for all sorts of reasons: They're changing their swing. They're not hitting it well. They're intimidated. All things that aren't true (we'll get to that) and worse, stop golfers from getting better.
That's why I wanted to get two of my Golf Digest colleagues, Chris Powers and Keely Levins, on the podcast. Both just underwent a full through-the-bag fitting at Golf Galaxy ahead of a high-stakes match against each other (which you can watch right here), and shared some good advice along the way:
1. You don't need a perfect swing
Chris said he got fitted with the shanks once, and he turned out fine. It was a blessing in disguise, in some ways. You're going to miss-hit shots during a fitting just like you do on the course—the point isn't to chase your one perfect swing, it's to optimize the ball flight you actually have.
2. Don't wait until you're 'playing better'
Keely said in the past she kept putting off getting new irons—hers were a decade old—because she figured she'd upgrade once she was playing more. Months turned into years, and now the new iron tech wasn't there to help her when she needed it most. Stop trying to predict the future. Getting fit now is what puts you in position to play better later.
3. Fitting and swing work go together
A lot of us think that we shouldn't touch our clubs until our swing gets into a position we want it to. But Tour players have their club reps and swing coaches all talking at once. Think of them like parallel tracks. They work together, and evolve at the same time. You don't switch one side off and the other on.
4. Don't overlook your wedges and putter
These are the most overlooked fittings with arguably the best return on investment. Lie angle matters even more as loft increases, and your bounce and grind should match how you actually use each wedge—not be one-size-fits-all.
5. Keep an open mind.
Keely had a gapping disaster at the top of her bag. There was a huge zone that she had no clubs for. Her fitter fixed it with a higher-loft 3-wood and a 9-wood. Keely said she had never considered it before—and a lot of golfers would probably shake their heads at the idea. But no, she swears by it.
"It feels as easy to get up into the air as a wedge from 175," she says.
It plays into a nice principle: every club but your driver should land at roughly the same descent angle, which is why a lofted wood holds greens a long iron never could.
6. The adjustment period is shorter than you think
Keely replaced 12 clubs and was terrified it'd take two years to feel comfortable. Instead it was instant. Remember they're built for your swing as it is right now. The adjustment period is shorter than you think.
7. Go in with the right goal
Your goal isn't to use clubs to fix your swing (spoiler: they won't) but to "turn my big miss into a small miss." Chris fought snappy hooks that brought double bogeys onto his card, and well-fit clubs didn't rebuild his swing—they just tightened his dispersion. As the old cliche goes: Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. Or, in this case, progress.
Once again, you can listen to the full pod right below, and see how Chris and Keely's match ended up right here.
Continue reading...
