If you’re like many golfers, your first clubs were likely a battered set of hand-me-downs given to you by family or friends. While they may have served a purpose and helped introduce golf to you, they aren’t ideal. Random clubs you find off-the-rack or handed down to you are not customized to your golf swing or your body. The solution is simple; you may want to consider a custom club fitting.
Many amateurs may stunt their development on the course because they believe that only professional golfers should have their clubs custom fitted. Or perhaps they don’t believe it’s worth the cost. So is having custom-fitted golf clubs worth it? And how much does a custom set of golf clubs cost?
We’ll provide answers to these questions, so you know whether or not it’s worth it for you. Let’s begin!
What is a Custom Club Fitting?
Custom club fitting is when a trained club fitter helps design the golf club to fit your specific needs. The fitter will match your body type and unique golf swing to your ideal set of clubs. They will fit you with the proper grips, shafts, lie angle, and clubhead so you can maximize your comfort and performance on the course.
The best club fitting companies offer a “brand agnostic fitting,” which means they don’t specialize in one club manufacturer. They offer hundreds of club heads and shafts from many brands. This means they don’t have to stick to one brand when utilizing various components of the club. The fitter can use multiple brands to provide the best possible club that suits your playing style.
In contrast, a local golf store may have a relationship with a specific club manufacturer, which means they have an incentive to sell a specific amount of inventory. As a result, you may not be getting the most optimal adjustments you need.
Brand agnostic fitters have a wider selection to choose from many top brands allowing them to choose the best golf club materials like grips, shafts, and club heads.
Is It Worth Getting Custom Fit Golf Clubs?
Purchasing custom-fit golf clubs is one way to improve your performance on the course significantly. For people below 5’6″ tall or above 6’1″ tall, it’s imperative that you have your clubs fitted since most standard-sized clubs won’t have the proper lie angle for you.
However, the best way to look at the question is, “are you willing to take golf seriously and improve your game?”
Sure, casual golfers can get away with off-the-rack clubs. However, they could hinder their game development and performance on the course. If you’re someone who is itching to improve and maximize their performance, it’s best to have your clubs fitted. Fitted golf clubs help to improve accuracy, provide greater distance on your shots and add consistency to your play.
Benefits of Custom Fitted Golf Clubs
A custom set of golf clubs provide many benefits that outweigh off-the-rack clubs.
- You’re more likely to drive the ball straighter and longer by having a club shaft and head combination that is specifically designed to complement your swing. If a club is too heavy, you won’t be able to maximize your clubhead speed.
- Custom clubs improve putting accuracy because you can ensure the loft, length, and life of the putter matches your swing.
- During the fitting, you’ll learn what adjustments in the specs are best suited for your game and how they impact the ball flight. You’ll get a good grasp of what type of clubs will give you the best performance.
- Custom-fitting helps to achieve consistent contact with the ball, which improves accuracy on the greens. Accuracy enhances your scoring ability which will help to drop your handicap.
How Much Does a Custom Iron Fitting Cost?
Depending on the fitting service you go to and the brand of club you have, the cost of fitting an iron will vary. However, expect the price to range between $30 to $100 for an iron fitting. Luckily for you, custom club fitting has become increasingly more competitive.
Many large manufacturers and local club fitters offer deals to entice golfers to get their set of clubs fitted. You’ll even find deals where the fitting service will be included free of charge if you order their clubs. Generally, off-the-rack clubs go for around $200, and premium brands will cost about $1,000. However, an entire fitted golf set may range from $2,000 to $6,500.
Should a Beginner Get Fitted for Golf Clubs?
Most people believe that only professional golfers should have custom-fitted golf clubs. However, that isn’t true at all. Everyone who plays golf should consider getting their golf clubs fitted. Even beginners can massively benefit from using fitted clubs. For instance, we all are different heights meaning the club won’t likely be designed to the correct length, which can hamper your progress. In addition, the size of the grip may be too thin or thick for you. Using an innocent grip type, length or size can put you at a severe disadvantage.
It may surprise you that beginners have the most to gain by using fitted golf clubs. That’s because beginners are prone to forming bad habits, which can be hard to break. Beginners who use incorrect clubs may find the game too difficult because they aren’t hitting the ball off-target.
As a result, they may lose the enjoyment of the game and quickly give up. Beginners also will develop their swing form around the gear that they use. If they are overcompensating due to a club that is too long or too short, that will cause you to learn the game with bad form. If you’re a beginner that has plateaued and hasn’t seen improvement in a while, having your clubs fitted can make a significant impact by preventing fewer mis-hits.
How Much Does a Custom Golf Fitting Cost?
Depending on your needs, the cost of getting a fitting for your clubs will vary. The trained golf fitter will determine some of the specs needs, such as the grips, head design, shaft flex, and lie angle. It’s important to remember that the cost for a custom golf fitting service is different from buying custom-fitted golf clubs.
The cost of the fitting session typically varies on how many clubs and the types of clubs you want to have fitted. Obviously, fitting an entire bag of golf clubs would cost more than an individual club. Some fitting facilities, such as the Titleist Performance Institute, charge between $100 to $125 per custom golf club, while others cost more. In contrast, Foregolf charges $110 for an hour of club review, and the Callaway Performance Center charges $150 per session.
In general, here’s what to expect to pay for a custom fitting service based on the type of clubs.
| Clubs | US | UK |
| Full bag | $250 to $600 | £60 to £300 |
| Driver | $50 to $150 | £30 to £125 |
| Hybrids and Fairway Woods | $40 to $100 | £30 to £100 |
| Irons | $50 to $150 | £30 to £175 |
| Wedges | $40 to $100 | £30 to £85 |
| Putter | $40 to $150 | £30 to £125 |
Furthermore, custom fit specialists may offer bundles to entice customers to get multiple clubs fitted. For example, they may offer a short game bundle that covers the putter and wedge. Or a long game option could be available, which covers the hybrid, iron, fairway wood, and driver. The specific elements of the custom fitting, such as custom grips, club heads, and shafts, will also affect the final cost of the fitting.
What Happens During the Fitting Process
Most fitting services require a professional studio, trained professionals, and various tools. Every fitting should follow these steps:
Typically, it starts with an interview with you and the fitting specialist to determine your goal. The fitter may even ask questions such as:
- How far do you hit with your current club?
- Do you typically hit off-centered shots to the left or right?
- Do you want to hit the ball lower or higher?
- Is there a favorite player that you model after?
- Are there physical limitations that could affect your swing?
Your playing style, goals, and budgets will help the fitter determine how to make adjustments to the club to meet your needs.
Next, the custom fitter will take static measurements of your body from head to toe. First, they’ll measure your wrist to floor distance and height to gauge a starting point for the length, shaft, and lie angle of your clubs. In addition, they’ll take measurements of your longest finger length and hand length to determine the grip size.
A fitter will utilize dynamic fitting through specific technology such as a launch monitor. This small electronic device measures many aspects of what happens to your ball during impact. For example, it’ll provide data on how far you hit for each club, the amount of spin you have on each shot, your swing speed, and more.
Utilizing the launch monitor data, the fitter can optimize the club-lengths, grips, shafts, club heads, and lie angles. They may test a few different options with you so that you walk away feeling comfortable with what you’ve chosen. Custom fitting gives you the best opportunity to hit the ball center with good clubhead speed consistently to maximize results.
Things to Consider When Receiving a Club Fitting
Even if you’re a beginner, it’ll be beneficial to understand how various components of your club can make a significant impact on your playing ability.
Shaft Flex
A club’s shaft flex is the ability to bend in response to the force generated during the swing. The shaft flex helps make solid contact with the ball; therefore, it should match your swing speed. There are five different swing ratings, which include:
- Ladies (under 75 mph swing speed)
- Senior (75-85 mph)
- Regular (85-95 mph)
- Stiff (95-110 mph)
- Tour/Extra Stiff (over 110 mph)
Shaft Kickpoint
A shaft kick point is the portion of the shaft that bends the most during the swing. Depending on your clubhead speed, that will determine the optimal shaft kick-point for you. Faster clubhead speeds mean you’ll need a higher kick-point, while a slower clubhead speed works best with a lower kick-point.
Shaft Weight
The weight of the shaft will determine the total weight of the club. The total weight of the club should match your swing tempo to help you with improving consistency and timing. If a club is too heavy, you will have to put in additional effort and will likely sacrifice clubhead speed and balance. In contrast, a club shaft that is too light will hurt your ability to stay in control during the swing. The shaft weight plays a significant role in determining the feel of the golf club throughout the swing.
Club Lie Angle and Shaft Length
The optimal club length helps you get into an athletic address position, which allows you to have more consistency in your shots. As mentioned earlier, standard length clubs aren’t ideal for short or tall players. Tall players will need to stoop low, while short players will need to stand too upright.
Your hand positioning, address posture, and height will determine the lie angle. When you have the proper lie angle, the center of the club head will strike the ball more frequently. An incorrect lie angle will strike the ball with the toe resulting in a slice.
Driver Loft
Drivers typically have the lowest loft angle of all clubs except putters. Loft can be described as the angle formed between the clubhead and a straight line from the ground. The fitter will match your swing speed to the driver loft to provide you with the optimal carry distance and launch angle.
Golfers with a fast swing speed will benefit from having a lower loft driver to prevent the bill from “ballooning” and allow the ball to penetrate through the air. Slow swing speed golfers will need a higher loft angle which translates to a high trajectory and longer carry.
How Much Does a Custom Set of Golf Clubs Cost – Conclusion
Custom fitted golf clubs are for everyone. Some may even argue that less-skilled golfers will need them more because they can’t compensate for poorly fitted clubs. It’s important to keep in mind that custom-fitted clubs won’t magically fix your problems.
However, they are a great way to take your game to the next level. They can help provide consistency and allow you to enjoy the game more. Investing in high-quality clubs that are fitted allows you to feel more confident on the course and perform better. We’ve hope you’ve found our article helpful!