More and more golfers are opting to have their golf clubs custom-fitted.
Custom fitting is the process of tailoring your golf clubs specifically for your swing characteristics and narrowing the gap between the result of a good shot and a bad golf shot where it matters most: on the golf course.
Custom-fitted golf clubs can give you more distance, but more consistent scoring can also come from improved shot dispersion, better distance gapping and greater forgiveness where you need it most.
It goes without saying that we are all built differently, have different athletic capabilities, and different objectives in playing golf, so why should we all be shoehorned into using golf equipment that is built for the “average golfer”?
The Different Types of Golf Club Fitting
A custom fitting session can be tailored exactly to your needs. If you are booking your session with Nine By Nine Golf, you can choose from the following.
Full Bag Fitting
A very popular option now for many golfers. We assess where the performance gaps are in your existing setup and identify where changes could improve your game. This in-depth session looks at all the key elements that are vital for improving distance, accuracy, and distance gapping through every club in the bag.
Driver Fitting
For most golfers, the main objective is gaining more distance. While some golfers believe that comes from lowering loft or changing shaft, the key to unlocking those precious extra yards comes down to finding the optimal launch and spin numbers to maximise carry distance. The best drivers of the golf ball in the game don’t just hit it far; they hit it relatively straight, so the session will also look to improve accuracy and performance from mishits.
Fairway Woods Fitting
The rise in popularity of lofted fairway woods means there is more choice than ever before. Getting the right combination is important if you face tight tee shots or lengthy approach shots. Distance gapping is important in this area of the bag through loft gapping. Head and shaft configuration should work for shots off the tee or from the deck.
Hybrid/Driving Iron Fitting
Viable alternatives to lofted fairway woods. The considerations are the same in terms of distance gapping. Head configurations and adjustable hosels can dial in the desired flight and shot shape in hybrids, while driving irons can provide viable tee shot alternatives on courses where more variety is required in shot trajectory.
Book A Hybrid/Driving Iron Fitting
Iron Fitting
Creating consistent launch and spin numbers throughout your iron set optimises distance, trajectory, and stopping power where it’s needed. There’s no point in hitting a seven iron 200 yards if the ball comes in too flat and can’t hold the green. Custom fitting also introduces many golfers to the opportunity of a combo set of irons to offer forgiveness and playability where they are needed the most.
Book A Hybrid/Driving Iron Fitting
Wedge Fitting
Identifying the right number of wedges and the correct loft combinations is one aspect of a wedge fitting session. Finding the correct bounce and grind combinations for each wedge helps to improve ball/turf interaction for the most delicate of shots around the green to full approach shots.
What To Expect During Your Fitting
If you are considering booking your first custom fitting session, we can help you by providing some useful tips to help you prepare.
First off, ensure you bring your own set of clubs with you. It’s important to get a good benchmark of how your existing clubs perform, so having your full bag with you for your session is a non-negotiable.
Before the session gets fully underway, the fitter will want to understand a little more about the state of your game currently. What’s going well, what isn’t going as well, and potentially what you're working on in your swing all help to paint a broader picture of where performance can be improved.
The Launch Monitor
The launch monitor is on hand to accurately record data the naked eye can’t track. Details such as launch angle, spin rate, clubhead speed, angle of attack, and strike location provide figures that help pinpoint where there are strengths and weaknesses in your game.
The launch monitor also accurately records carry distance and shot dispersion, which are highly useful for improving distance gapping and configuring a head and shaft combination to improve accuracy.
The Testing Process
It’s tempting to want to try all the latest heads and shafts, but the fitter will have an idea based on your feedback and what the launch monitor data is showing, as to where to start. Choosing heads and shafts to test isn’t just guesswork; it’s an understanding of what could work best for your specific swing characteristics and measuring where gains are being made through the launch monitor data.
Numbers aren’t the only crucial factor. With each club tested, the fitter will also ask how the head looks and feels, and how the shaft feels during the swing.
The Honest Truth
While the data and player feedback may point towards a new head and shaft combination, that isn't always the outcome. For some golfers, the honest answer at the end of a fitting is that their existing club or clubs still offer the best performance.
If an agreement is reached on the specification of the improved club or clubs, the next step is the build process.
Creating Your Custom-Built Golf Clubs: Your Own Personal Tour Truck
At Nine By Nine Golf, once the fitting specification has been agreed, the selected head and shaft are built to the required length, loft and lie, with the chosen grip and any other agreed build specifications incorporated. The completed club can then be checked against the fitting specification before it reaches the golfer.
We can also manage customer expectations more effectively by knowing exactly how long it will take to build a club or clubs, which means the customer has a realistic timescale of when they will receive their tailored clubs.
Some fitters don’t have the functionality to build your clubs on-site, and have no option but to send the spec sheet off to the chosen manufacturer for them to build the club or clubs.
The problem here is that the fitter can’t control the chosen manufacturer’s turnaround time for the build, and if different manufacturers are involved, the build time may vary.
Are Custom-Fitted Golf Clubs Worth It And How Much Does Custom Fitting Cost?
Custom-fitted golf clubs aren’t built to perform to their maximum potential in a fitting bay simulator. They are designed to perform where it matters most: on the golf course, and that’s why a custom fitting session can be a valuable investment.
Your fitting session can open a window on how you and your equipment perform, and the fitter will provide precise reasons why the recommendations they are making will help to improve your game.
Taking that knowledge and new equipment to the course bolsters your confidence.
That confidence can come from gaining some extra yards off the tee while finding the fairway more often, having more success at finding the target on long approach shots, better scoring on par threes, or getting up and down more often.
Custom fitting doesn’t necessarily mean committing to the most expensive equipment available. There is a set price for the fitting session, which you’ll find on our website, while the eventual cost of the clubs depends on the specification that works best for you.
There is no obligation to buy, and at Nine By Nine Golf, our fitter can establish a budget you are comfortable working within. With heads and shafts available from a range of manufacturers and at different price points, the fitting can take that budget into account from the outset.
Selecting Your Equipment
The custom fitting session is a progressive journey that takes you from identifying areas where improvement can be made, testing combinations of head and shaft that will demonstrate improvement before coming to a conclusion about what is best for you.
Ultimately, the fitting experience gives you that peace of mind that the club or clubs selected can help you shoot better scores.
When it comes to things like driver, fairway wood, and hybrid fittings, getting the right loft and head profile is one element. The fitter can then enhance shot shape or trajectory by accurately determining the correct setting in these clubs’ adjustable features such as the hosel and movable weights.
Going for the off-the-shelf equivalent will still provide the option to play around with settings. Without launch-monitor data, it is difficult to quantify whether those changes genuinely improve shot shape and ball flight.
With irons, consistent distance gapping helps make the club selection process on the course easier. Combo iron sets can add a new dimension by blending different models that can provide better forgiveness and allow you to go after pins with the scoring clubs.
A combo set can only successfully be created through assessing the launch monitor data during a fitting to understand where one model blends into the next.
Wedges are about building and maintaining a score, so guessing which loft, bounce, and grind is not the way to get the best out of this department of the game.
Fitting doesn’t just find the right head; it marries the right shaft to that head.
Stock shafts in stock clubs are designed for the “average golfer”. Golfers have different clubhead speeds and their own delivery characteristics shaped by their swings.
Understanding shaft flex is the tip of the iceberg. The right shaft weight, profile, and, in some cases, material are established during a fitting session.
The fitting will also determine the correct shaft length and lie angle for each club, because again, every golfer is built differently.
The difference between buying off the shelf and buying after a custom fitting isn't necessarily the brand or model of club. It's knowing that the head, shaft and final specification have been selected because they have demonstrated an improvement for your game rather than because they happen to be the standard configuration.
