Any serious golfer needs to emulate, as closely as possible, not only the practice habits of the worlds best players, but also the commitment they make to having the best equipment that suits their game. However, don’t be fooled into thinking the best clubs for you are the ones you see on TV. The clubs in the adverts and in Pro Shops aren’t the same clubs that the Professionals on TV use. The basics might be the same, but each club has been tweaked, adjusted and tested to make sure they meet the needs of that player alone. It’s not enough these days to walk into a Pro Shop and buy the most expensive set of clubs available. They won’t be the best ones for you.
General Principles for Equipment choices are:
ESTABLISH NEED
One of the biggest mistakes Golfer’s making is them trying to BUY improvement. Yes changing your equipment can help but first you need to establish if there is a NEED for change i.e. changing your equipment helps you hit the ball better/makes playing easier/reduces your risk of injury.
Optimising your equipment in tandem with improving your technique will always yield the best results. This belief is why I offer one of the only truly independent Custom Fitting Services in Scotland i.e. we are not commissioned on sales. Our structure is fee based, meaning we are not incentivised to sell, we provide unbiased advice in order to help you achieve your golfing Goals.Quality = Consistent Performance
Quality clubs provide accurate feedback on why a shot went wrong or right. Inferior equipment alone can sometimes be the cause of a less than ideal shot because it doesn’t give the player the feedback required to make precise adjustments or facilitate the ability to hit important shots under pressure i.e. the same input not yielding the same output on a consistent basis - or the physical limits of the club aren’t up to the stress put on them by a high performing player.Uniqueness is the key to Greatness
We’re all unique so it makes sense that your equipment should unique. Why spend time and effort honing your swing mechanics, improving your fitness and developing the mental discipline required to play consistent golf in competitive conditions only to have equipment that requires you to swing a little differently from one club to the next? Or worse, fit you in such a way that you're grooving a less than ideal swing to match ill-fitting clubs?ENJOYMENT
Their look, feel and sound should please you. They are part of you when you play. You spend hours working with them. You rely on them when the pressure is on. Aesthetics aren’t everything, but your clubs should bring you joy.
Fitting - Find YOUR Recipe
The only way to ensure you’re using the right equipment is to be custom fitted for your entire set (Driver, Fairways/Hybrids, Irons, Wedges, Putter). No two golfers are the same so if you try to buy equipment that’s ‘off the rack’ it’s inevitable that they wont be as precise as the clubs that are tuned to your individual specifications - which makes the game harder. Side Note: you should be measured for your clubs in conditions that are as close to ‘real life’ as possible.
The first thing anyone does when they buy shoes is get up and walk around in them. Similarly, you want to get your clubs fitted so they fit you when you’re making contact with a golf ball, not just standing at address. This process is called dynamic fitting, where you go to the range and hit shots while a trained professional observes and questions; gaining feedback from your comments, the flight of the ball and (ideally) the divots you are leaving. If someone wants to fit you for clubs without seeing you hit, or seeing you hit into a net indoors & using a calibrated machine, they are not getting the full picture of how you interact with the club.
Getting custom fit for clubs is a fun, exciting process. It removes one of the countless variables that must be accounted for to make good golf shots. Some you can’t control - the way the ball sits in the rough, the wind conditions, the presence of hazards or the placement of the hole on the green. Having equipment that works for you is a variable you can control. The cost of being custom fitted is relatively insignificant considering the overall cost of equipment. It takes about an hour to be fitted for each element (Driver, Irons, Fairway Woods/Hybrids, Wedges and Putter), however many Professionals structure their services to enable a full bag fitting in less time (I offer this via my 3 Hour Fitting Sessions).
The clubs themselves often don’t cost anymore than those you would but ‘off the rack’, I “price match” (on behalf of Archerfield) with online retailers for instance. You’re only paying additional for the fitting session i.e. the solace of knowing you’re spending money on equipment you actually need and is right for you! Most manufactures will provide your custom clubs in a week or less.
Start with the Ball!
The ball is the most important piece of equipment in the bag. It’s the only piece of equipment you use on every single shot.
Accordingly, the person who is fitting you for your clubs should ideally test you with your preferred ball type or something similar to make sure the clubs performance matches well with your preferred ball characteristics. Testing new clubs with range balls doesn’t cut it.
Don’t choose your ball type based on overall distance characteristics. Premium balls all have similar distance qualities within a range of a few yards.
The most important question: Which ball gives you the touch & control that allows you to feel good about your scoring shots? Knock-down and half shots, flop shots. Chipping & putting are the areas of the game where you really need to be comfortable with your golf ball.
Price shouldn’t be the ultimate obstacle. If your best choice is more than you can afford, then a good teaching professional should be able to steer you to a similar performing ball at a lower price point. For example, a good alternative to the Callaway Chrome Soft is a Callaway Supersoft, which has comparable characteristics but is less expensive.
The Elements of a Good Fitting:
DRIVER, FAIRWAYS/HYBRIDS and IRONS
There are seven elements that go into making sure clubs are properly fitted (methods vary depending on the professional & their equipment/expertise but the methods described are the most common in the industry):
1: Head Design
Establishing the type of head design you require is the first port of call. There’s many factors involved but if we use irons as an example most heads fall into 3 basic categories:
Players: Shorter Blade Length, Thinner Top Line, Higher Centre of Gravity = Enhanced Feel but less forgiving. Favoured by very good players (5 Handicap & Below e.g. Callaway Apex MB)
Players Distance: Medium Blade Length, Medium Top Line, Lower Centre of Gravity = Good Feel and plenty of forgiveness. Favoured by better players (14 Handicap and below e.g. Callaway Paradym)
Game Improver: Longer Blade Length, Thick Top Line, Lowest Centre of Gravity = Ok Feel with lots of forgiveness. Favoured by beginning/improving players (14 Handicap+ e.g. Callaway Big Bertha)
The key is to start in the general category and “follow your nose” with the guidance of the fitting professional.
2: Shaft Weight
The next step is to determine how heavy your shafts should be. The primary measure for this is Club Head Speed. Try different shaft weights to see which helps you maximise your club head speed. Shaft Length also influences this (longer generally increases it) as does head design (more forward CG locations often lead to faster speeds and vice versa).
3: Shaft Length
The next step is determining how long the clubs should be. There’s no fixed answer. Simply put, your clubs should be a length that allows you to maximise ball speed by optimising your strike location. The length of your clubs should never require you to adjust your technique or compromise your balance. Shaft length adjustments can be a small as 1/4 of an inch and that can be all it takes to help you strike the centre of the club face more consistently.
4: Shaft Flex
There is a common misconception that swing speed alone determines the shaft flex (e.g. regular, stiff or extra stiff) you need. Swing speed is important, but how you “load” the shaft in transition and “deliver/release” the club at impact is just as important. The major variable to focus on here is to find the flex that optimises your dispersion i.e. minimises club face to club path variability. e.g.
Take the classic styles of Ernie Els and Nick Price. Both had a clubhead speed around 110 MPH with a Driver. Els, one of the bigger golfers on the PGA Tour, had a long, fluid motion that built up speed slowly and gradually. His return to the ball from the top of his backswing was smooth and steady, as a result the stress on the shaft was relatively low. Prices’ swing however was famously quick, the transition almost violent. This put a huge amount of load/force into the shaft. The result is that Els, the bigger and more powerful golfer required a shaft that was less stiff than the one used by Price.
5: Lie Angle (Irons)
The lie angle is the distance (measured in degrees) between the heel of the club and the ground. If the lie is too upright (toe in the air) this means the face of the club is pointing left (for a right handed golfer) and if the lie is too flat (toe into the ground/heel in the air) then the face of the club will be pointing right (for a right handed golfer). Just 2 degrees difference in the lie angle can result in a miss of more than 20 feet with a 5 iron! How the clubhead lies on the turf at address doesn’t tell the whole story, or even part of it because the shaft droops dramatically during impact. The key is to make sure the lie angle is correct for the moment of truth (impact), not when the club is at rest during address. There’s a few ways of finding the right lie angle:
Hit shots off a ‘lie board’: tape is placed on the sole of the club you hit balls off a plastic board. The marks left on the tape will indicate what adjustments are needed to find the ideal lie angle. The goal is to show marks in the centre of the sole of the club, indicating the lie is correct. If the club is too upright, the marks will be toward the heel of the club and the ball will fly to the left. If the lie is too flat the ball will fly to the right (for a right handed golfer).
Face To Path & Spin Axis: Two TrackMan Numbers that are worth taking note of. If the Face to Path is Positive (right) and the Spin Axis is Negative (left), that’s indicating a lie angle that is too upright (and vice versa). Shot dispersion also gives you a good idea; upright lies encourage a ball to go left for a right handed golfer and too flat will cause the ball to go excessively right.
Actual Measurement: High Tech systems like the GEARS 3D System we have access to here at Archerfield and other camera based systems like GC Quad will give you an exact measure on what the lie angle is. This is without doubt the best way to establish your exact lie angle when coupled with accurate ball flight data from Trackman.
6: Hosel Setting and CG Location (Drivers/Woods)
Much like lie angle for irons, many Drivers and Fairway woods allow you to adjust the hosel settings to optimise your ball flight. Manufactures have two fundamental ways of doing this:
1. Cog Systems: e.g. Titleist & Callaway
2. Asymmetrical Tips: e.g. PING & Taylormade
Both have their benefits/detriments but the basic premise of the systems is to allow you to subtly adjust the clubs loft, lie and face angle in order to reduce dispersion and maximise distance.
Adjustable GC Locations allow you to finely tune your club by adjusting the “sweet spot” of your club. Meaning if you hit the ball slightly our of the heel of your Driver, you can adjust the CG to be more towards the heel, helping you to maximise the ball speed you can generate as well as reduce the potentially excessive curve an off centre hit produces (called “Gear Effect”) and vice versa for toe strikes. Some Drivers and fairways even allow you to just the vertical location of the CG but this is mostly done by the design of the clubhead e.g. Taylormade’s Sim Drivers elongated rear end helps to lower and deepen the CG location.
7: Grip
Grip is traditionally the last piece of the puzzle and is primarily thought of as a style/comfort element. However, it’s important to test different Grip widths in order to optimise your face to path variability/dispersion.
Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s a direct correlation between hand size and grip width either. I’ve fitted many 5ft Ladies with Jumbo grips: test and go with what works/feels best.
The Final Word: Pitfalls To Avoid
They look good, and the price looks too good to be believed: buyer beware! If you’re considering clubs that look like top brand equipment but costs a fraction of the price, think again. Chances are they’re ‘knock-offs’ - hastily manufactured fakes that look like the real thing but they aren’t. The lofts, centres of gravity, swing weights, shaft quality and other components are likely inconsistent from club to club and unacceptable for a top golfer. If price is an issue, talk to your golf professional, they may be able to guide you to top quality used equipment.
Once you’ve spent time and money getting custom fitted equipment, don’t be tempted to alter them on your own. Cutting down or adding length to a club alters the balance (swing weight) of a club and also changes the shaft flex and lie angle. Don’t substitute a graphite shaft for a steel shaft, or vice versa. The club heads in each case are weighted to be used with either graphite or steel, not both. Similarly, adding lead tape or drilling holes in club heads to customise feel will only distort the design properties and performance of the club. Millions have been invested in research and development for top grade equipment. It’s highly unlikely you can improve on that on your own.
No matter how compelling the advert is, or how promising the claim, don’t click! Come and see me 😉 (or your local PGA Professional).
Thanks for reading,
Oliver C. Morton