Custom Clubs: Get What You Paid For!

I got a call from RB wanting to set up a lesson to start working on the PPGS. RB is 28-year-old and is 0 to 3 handicap player. He was working on his game, taking lessons, going nowhere to worse, and was starting to get a lot of back pain with the rotational swing he was using. A business associate put him onto PPGS.com and he liked what he saw and tried. He called me to set up a lesson to get the PPGS first hand info from the source.

He tentatively set up the 3 hours on the following Saturday, subject to his newly custom fitted and ordered clubs arriving because he wanted to use them in the first lesson. He told me that he went to an exclusive, private resort course that had a certified fitting center for one of the major club manufacturers for his fitting session. They did a complete fitting, taking all the necessary body measurements. They used a state of the art launch monitor to get club speeds, launch angles and spin rates to be able to accurately recommend the correct specs of shaft length and flex, lie angle, grip size iron head design, fairway woods and the driver graphite shaft and driver head. They gave him the soup-to-nuts fitting, all for just $400.00 for the fitting fee and around $2,400.00 for the clubs!

When lesson day arrived, RB arrived with his wife, who came to listen and, more importantly, to video the lesson for later review. We did introductions and I first wanted to get info on his new custom fitted clubs that I saw in the bag. The irons were ‚½ inch longer, with dynamic gold X 100 shafts and 4 degrees upright. (RB is 6'€2'€ around 230 pounds, athletic and built solid as a rock. He has huge hands attached to arms that I never wanted wrapped around my neck.) His woods were the same flex and same ‚½ inch longer as his irons. He mentioned that he had practiced with them and that he was having problems with his irons, hitting some pretty good shots but also hitting too many low blade shots to the right, almost like shanks. He also added that he couldn'€™t sniff hitting a fairway with his woods, especially with his driver, hitting mostly low pulls and duck hooks.

Immediately after hearing the club problems, I asked RB to give me a detailed history of his practice routine, playing history and his future goals and aspirations. The big issue to me was he had his family and business in place, and was ready to get serious about practicing and competing on the highest level of amateur golf.

While doing my diagnosis, I saw a few too many low squirrely shots to the right. His setup looked good and athletic and somewhat dynamically balanced, except for the fact that his arms looked arched up in the wrists and forearms too much. And, like most all of us'€¦he was aimed a little to the right of his target, to as much as 20 yards or more with a 7 iron. Overall, I saw a good setup and swing with power to spare. RB had high potential to become a superior ball striker and if he could play, that is, get his ball in the hole. He could be a top notch amateur.

I was still not convinced that his irons were too upright based on his arched wrists and forearms, which also did not look too out of form. But when he picked up his hybrid and started hitting it, saying it was the only wood he had a chance of keeping it in the right time zone, the longer and flatter shaft (the woods were standard lies not 4 degrees upright) changed his arm position. I saw a lower setting and dynamically balanced arm position that looked perfect. I knew immediately that his irons were too upright, so I had him address a ball with his 7 iron and with the new arm position. The toe was so high the only part of the club touching the ground was the hosel under the shaft. I had him grip every iron and they all soled the same, with the toe way up. I then told him his irons in my opinion were way too upright, and maybe even more than the 4 degrees up. I asked if he knew of a good fitter near his home he could go and have them checked and bumped down, probably at least 4 degrees or more if needed, to what looked like they were soled correctly and what made his hits feel solid and fly consistently high and straight. He knew a fitter with a lie and loft machine and said he would go see him as soon as he could make an appointment. With the irons somewhat finalized, I then went back to looking at his hybrid and driver, and then we would get into the lesson instruction.

I watched him hit a few descent shots, which would be in play. But as soon as he put a little heat in his swing, the ball hooked left big time. He said it was the only wood he could hit half way descent and have a chance of keeping the ball in play. I took the hybrid and hit three real good straight shots in a row with it, right from the get go. I told him my shafts are set to being a weak stiff and that is around what this shaft was as I could hit it so well. There is no way it was an X shaft, which would be way too stiff for me.

With that said, he grabbed his driver and said, '€œWatch this thing.'€ His first swing was energized and I saw a snap hook like I have not seen in years. We were all ducking in case it came back full circle. He hit a second and third and snapped both shots again. I stopped the show by grabbing the driver and told him I would hit it to see how the shaft felt. Like the hybrid, I hit three really good shots in a row and I said his driver shaft actually felt weaker than the hybrid and my driver, and in my opinion was probably a mid to strong regular shaft that would put it almost 2 full flexes weaker, not even close to an X shaft.

So what is the point and conclusion of this story? I believe and preach that there are three critical issues to being a consistent golfer at any level. The first is that whether you are a Tour Player, a 0 handicap, 10, 20 or 30 handicap, to play your best you need a matched set of clubs, built to specs that fit you. With the shaft being the engine of the club, having the correct flex and length is critical to being able to have a consistent swing to hit consistent shots, in terms of accuracy and distance.

The second point is the quality and experience of your club fitter, whether he is a PGA Professional or a certified club fitter and builder. Training and experience in club fitting is critical. Most fitters have training, either from the educational programs of the group they are a member of, or they are trained by the club manufacturing company they represent and whose clubs they sell. You should ask for their credentials and references.

The third, I feel, is the most critical, because it deals with the end product: the clubs that you paid for and should fit you to a tee, like a good suit, pair of shoes or your golf glove. Fitters that represent club manufacturing companies likely do not build your clubs. They send the order, with your specs, into the company and your clubs may be custom built or may just be selected out of stock. I also believe from experience with my own clubs, pros I have worked with, and especially with amateur students purchasing fitted clubs from the club manufacturers, the desired specs are not checked well, if at all, before they are boxed and shipped. I know that is a big accusation, but we are dealing with big business and big business is not always about the details. If it looks good, that'€™s great. Box it and ship it quickly so the golfer can have his or her new shiny club heads and shafts and tacky grips and start swinging ASAP.

I believe the system of building stock, and even custom clubs, by big golf club manufacturers will not change and likely get worse as few pay attention to details. Companies get gobbled up or put out of business. This means the problems will get worse about receiving quality clubs and even correct custom fitted, and most importantly, '€œCUSTOM BUILT'€ to order golf clubs to your specs. So, if you buy clubs off the shelf, or even custom order from a big manufacturer, if you are having any problems with hitting from one of them or all of them, take them to a good fitter and get them checked to see if they meet the specs they are suppose to be. In most cases they can be adjusted, unless its shaft flex that is wrong and they need to be re-shafted. Then, you now have a fairly expensive repair.

The ANSWER to getting quality fitted clubs is twofold. First, you need to find a qualified and highly respected club fitter in your area and have him fit you for your clubs. I prefer a fitting where you hit balls on a range so you can see the flight. The feel of the impact and the flight of the ball are the key issues. That is as important as the color of the exterior and interior in buying your car. I am not a fan of hitting into a net, even if they use a flight monitor, because I don'€™t really believe in flight monitors. I believe they are more a sales and marketing tool than a quality and accurate club fitting tool. I don'€™t need a machine to tell me what a good ball flight is. All I need is the feel of my hands and my sight and brain to analyze and decide that is what I am hitting is what I like. I have seen them give data and recommendations that don'€™t fit the player. This has happened to me, DJ and some Tour players and students I have worked with. (Note: I will discuss this in detail in an article(s) just about club fitting.)

Second, I recommend finding a club fitter that is also a club builder. He will actually build your clubs. Which means you go back to him or her to pick up your clubs, and before you pay for them (when you buy from fitters representing manufactures, you pay for the fitting and the clubs right then and there) you go to the range for a trial run. They will work or the fitter/builder will make it right. His work is his trademark, his reputation and his integrity. You will be a happy camper before you leave.

How do you find and a good club fitter/builder. ASK! You ask the pro and the good players at your club who they go to for their fittings and repair on their clubs. Who they use is the person you want to use. My fitter/builder is Billy Delk, a PGA Professional. Billy works out of a golf club that is 72 miles from my home and takes me an hour and 15 minutes to get there. He knows my swing, my swing speeds, how I like my shaft to load and kick and how I like the ball to fly, and has all that info filed away. He re-shafted my whole set of irons, 3 drivers and fairway woods, and they are all spot on pure. I am a happy camper!

Driving an hour and 15 minutes and 72 miles to see Billy and get my clubs fixed or re-built is no problem, because I am only as good as my clubs. Clubs are tools. The better they fit, the better they are built to your specs, the better they perform. Plain and Simple!

Final point! When a club is giving a golfer a problem, most golfers are quick to blame themselves, their swing and overlook that maybe, and especially if it is their expensive putter and especially their $500.00 driver, it may be an ill fitted club. So, if you have a problem club or clubs, get them checked by a good fitter. You may be only a lie adjustment or a re-shaft away from nirvana.

The Surge!