Can you “buy” a better golf game? Some golfers still believe that buying the major manufacturer’s latest and greatest will give them everything they could ever want to improve their...
Can you “buy” a better golf game?
Some golfers still believe that buying the major manufacturer’s latest and greatest will give them everything they could ever want to improve their golf games.
Websites like E-Bay are full of golf clubs for sale that were bought to give longer drives, more accurate iron shots and wedges that could have the ball dancing next to the hole better than John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever.”
There is a far simpler, time-efficient and ultimately cost-effective manner in which you can improve your golf game through the equipment choices you make.
Being custom-fitted for not only your driver but for your entire bag can make a massive difference in your game.
And it’s something that more golfers need to be aware of.
So why would custom-fitted golf clubs be better for your game?
Here at GolfTech UK we specialise in fitting and helping golfers of all abilities create a golf bag containing clubs that are shown to help their games.
From our experience, we outline 5 key reasons why you should consider custom fitting before your next purchase.
Education
So, let’s start at the beginning.
If you come for a custom fitting session, what do you experience?
For starters, we will get some baseline numbers from your existing club or set to provide a benchmark.
Whilst this is happening, we want to understand more about your golf game.
What are you looking to get from a new club or set? What is the pattern like for your misses etc?
We’ll also take the opportunity to note the specs of your existing club/clubs and see how good a match they are against the data that is being produced.
Gathering some base numbers to work with is not the only highly piece of useful information we are collecting at this point.
Using the TrackMan system, we can then start to demonstrate to you just exactly how you deliver the club face into the ball.
We can identify how the ball reacts due to the way the club face is delivered which can have a big impact on launch angles, carry distances and backspin or sidespin characteristics of how the ball flies.
Once we have a good data set and the chance to review the findings, we can begin looking at different club options that can help your game.
Distance gains
Let's be honest, we all want to hit the ball further - even the best professionals in the world look for ways they can eke out a few extra yards!
So how does custom fitting help towards adding distance?
When we go back to the data set we captured at the outset, we can look at things like spin numbers, launch angles and peak heights.
If we are talking about driver, to avoid being robbed of overall distance we would look to optimise the spin rate in order to hep maximum distance and control.
Playing a driver with too high or too low spin will result in a wider dispersion from the tee which can cause problems with consistency.
The golfer’s club head speed is also a key indicator.
If the golfer doesn’t generate high enough club head speed via the stock driver they purchased off the shelf they could be getting robbed of distance because the loft or the shaft flex isn’t suitable to deliver the optimum numbers for that specific golfer.
Using the data, we can fit the golfer with a head with the correct loft and weighting set-up to a shaft that can deliver the optimum launch and spin conditions to maximise overall distance.
Accuracy
Distance is important but if you can’t hit the fairway or greens more consistently then hitting the ball further doesn’t give a huge advantage.
If we look at the long clubs adding accuracy can come in the form of a more suitable shaft and even the length of the shaft can play a part.
Only recently, we have seen Rory McIlroy reduce his driver shaft length for no loss of power and a “drive of the year” contender when he carried the ball 340 yards onto the front of the 18th green at the WGC Dell Match Play.
Having a marginally shorter shaft can add accuracy to a golfer’s game but it will also help them find the sweet spot more consistently.
Modern graphite shafts are increasingly being designed with a mix of materials to aid the shaft’s stability which translates into tighter shot dispersion.
For irons, lie angles can be very important to help accuracy.
Not every golfer is exactly the same height and build which means that “stock length” shafts and lie angles can work against them.
An iron’s sole should lie as flat to the ground at address as possible with neither the toe nor the heel of the head off the ground.
If the iron is too upright - the heel could be marginally off the ground at address you can lose shots to the left of target.
The opposite is the case if the iron is too flat where the toe can be slightly off the ground which can lead to losing more shots to the right of target.
The worst thing that can happen is if the golfer tries to compensate in their setup and swing to accommodate clubs which aren’t best suited for them.
Irons cans easily be set up to the correct lie angle which will aid accuracy and the quality of the strike.
Distance gapping
Custom fitting can also help bridge distance gaps in your bag setup.
There are two areas where this becomes really important:
Fairway woods/hybrids
Using TrackMan can start to highlight distance discrepancies between fairway woods and the longer irons as an example.
There may be times when you haven’t got the right club in the bag to cover a certain distance which means you then have to compromise and throttle back a lot on a longer club or try and smash the shorter club harder to cover the distance.
Hybrids can be a suitable replacement for long irons but can be blended in with the fairway woods to maintain a reasonable distance gap between each club.
Wedges
The principle is the same when we come down to the scoring clubs.
If there is 30 yards difference between how far you hit a pitching wedge and your next wedge then you will have problems on the course.
Again with the use of TrackMan, we can dial in your wedge distances and maybe add an additional wedge to keep the gapping distance consistent.
Confidence
A very important but often overlooked consideration of custom fitting is the confidence golfers can gain from knowing that their clubs are tailored specifically for their game.
In conclusion, golfer’s skill levels are measured by the handicap system but why should golfers “handicap” themselves by using clubs that just aren’t right for them?
Going through a process of custom fitting for your clubs will give you an insight into your game which will not only make the options for choosing the right clubs easier but will give you more confidence when you play.
The beauty of custom fitting is that it's available to every golfer regardless of their ability plus it’s a valuable investment to an overall better golf game.
Get in contact with us to book a session for custom fitting and see how much a tailored set of clubs will improve your game.
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