Written by Geoff Pinheiro, Director of PurchasingIs custom fitting for golf clubs really necessary? The answer is YES! Custom fitting isn’t just for professionals. Today’s golf equipment is so much more technically advanced compared to clubs built five or ten years ago, so it’s really important to get any club fit before you purchase, whether you are a beginner or two handicap golfer. Performance FittingNot so long ago, golf clubs (mainly iron sets, but some woods as well) were grouped by “skill level”.
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I remember hearing terms like “high handicap” or “mid-handicap” iron set being used to describe specific types of sets. The same also went for woods, specifically drivers, when talking about the size of the head.Generally speaking, a larger head (460cc) tends to be more forgiving, but they are harder to control the shape of your shot. Smaller heads (440cc) are less forgiving but easier to shape your shot and have a lower ball flight then a larger head. While some of these characteristics may be true when comparing different heads, why is it that when you look at Tour players, more often then not, they choose the 460cc driver? The skill level of a tour player is incredibly high, so to say the 440cc is not forgiving enough sounds wrong.
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The same can be said about irons, if you look at all the models of irons in play these days on Tour, you’ll see a wide variety of irons from cast to forged, thicker or thinner soles and sometimes even within the same player’s bag. The term “split set” has become popular again, and it is derived from players combining two or more different sets to make one “gamer” set. An example of a split set would be using Titleist AP2’s from 4 iron to 6 iron and then using Titleist CB irons from 7 iron to pitching wedge to complete the set. TaylorMade has recently released a set of P760 which were born from the fact that Tour players were doing this very thing. It’s also very common on Tour to end your set at the 9 iron and then “gap” your wedges to finish your set.So why are we seeing this trend? Well, the answer is Performance.Performance should always be the deciding factor when selecting any new club to go into your bag.
That makes it extremely important to have information ready for your fitting to optimize your abilities and lower your scores. The most important piece of information you can have ready when going into Golf Town for a custom fitting is knowing how or what area of your game you want to improve.Let’s look at an iron fitting and how performance should dictate your fitting versus simply selecting a “game improvement” iron and going on your way. Ball FlightBall flight is a very important factor to consider when purchasing a set of irons. Are you a low ball hitter? High ball hitter? Do you know the difference?
Does your ball hold the green or roll off even on well struck shots? While there are trajectories and spin rates that are suggested or optimal, shot shapes that fit your eye and style of play are extremely important factors and should always get the deciding vote when making a purchase. Part of going through a fitting is to tailor your clubs to your game and not the other way around.Which ever ball flight you’re looking for, the first area of an iron head to look at when trying to decide what an iron was designed for is the sole of the club (bottom normally where the iron numbers are stamped). In general, the wider the sole, the higher the flight. Irons with a thinner sole normally produce a lower or flatter shot.
The reason for this is the mass or weight is below the center of gravity. Normally you will find clubs with wider soles also have hotter faces and very large hitting areas that make the ball fly higher with added technology to help with speed.Here are some good examples of wide sole designs of iron sets.Launch it high and land it soft with a lower CG and refined tungsten weighting for each individual iron. Hit longer shots that hold the green more often, putting you in a better scoring position.The suspended energy core is the engine of the new Big Bertha irons.
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