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I am contemplating getting a club fitting session done at Golf Galaxy. I'm a 16 handicap, but my instructor told me I have a very good swing. My main problem is consistency with the driver and I struggle playing out of really deep rough. My question is this:

Have you had a club fitting session and did you find it helpful?

And at what level do you think it becomes less helpful...in other words...is it a waste of money for a 16 handicap to try to determine exactly what type of shaft torque and kickpoint he needs because he's not consistent enough?

I've been "fitted" when I got my irons to get them 2* upright. I probably could have added a half inch in length, but opted not to. I don't want to waste money on a club fitting session with my driver to find out what I need if I shouldn't be worrying about that until I'm a single digit handicapper, you know? I know the guys at Golf Galaxy are nice, but I doubt they're going to say, "No thanks, buddy. We can't take your money. It would be a waste of time for us to fit you until you get better."

Any expertise or experiences you've had with club fittings like this would be appreciated. Thanks!

I had a club fitting once. It went like this:
"what's you handicap?"
"30" (I've improved alot since then)
"then you need a regular shaft"

Wow. I then tried clubs by myself for half an hour without intervention from anybody, and took one to the counter and paid for it. I got a little tear off till receipt thrown in for free.

That's in New Zealand though, I'm sure Golf Galaxy will do a far better job. I would thoroughly recommend getting fitted for your driver, it should make a world of difference presuming the fittter knows what they're talking about.

I went to a driving range that had authorized PING fittings. I was hitting horrible, so they told me to come back another day. Even got a free small lesson to try to help me hit them well so they could fit me, didn't help though. I'm hitting them good now though, so I might go back tomorrow.

I have, and fortunately for me I'm within the standard OEM specs... which means at this point I can pick up clubs off the shelf and go from there.....

Get a real club fitting (Not like mr sooty's, if you can help it.) They will always help. Players on the PGA tour still get fitted...There must be something to it...

Wow...hard to believe with all these golfers on here that not more of them have an opinion on club fitting. Oh well...

How much does it cost? Fitting sounds neat cause they can tell you which shaft you need to get an optimum launch. Which head you should use for optimum ball spin and speed. The club length gets tailored to your swing. I'm not sure of Golf Galaxy's reputation though and i view golf shop workers with the same distrust i give to new dentists, but that's just me. There is 13-15 year old kids hitting the ball 300-400 yds in long drive competitions with tailored drivers.

Apologies in advance for the long post, but you did ask for information.

Background: I've been playing over 40 years, and my current handicap fluctuates between 11 and 12.

About a month ago I had a club fitting session at a Callaway Performance Center in Central NJ. The last "fitting" I'd had was an informal Ping session about 12 years ago, and since then I've lost flexibility and put on some weight. My current set of irons were based on the old fitting - Mizuno mx-23's, +1" and 2* upright, stiff steel shafts.

The session took place indoors, and the area was equipped with various cameras, and computer equipment. I hit into a net, with a background of a simulated golf hole and green.

After a warm up session, I began by hitting my existing 6 iron, and progressed through hitting 6 irons of the various iron sets Callaway offers. Three hits of each club were recorded. The fitter reviewed the results with me, and clearly demonstrated that my specs had changed. He recommended graphite shafts, regular flex, +1/2" and 1* upright. I ended up purchasing Big Bertha irons - the results between them and my current set were dramatic. And he didn't try and sell me the most expensive irons Callaway produced.

We then went through the same process with my driver - TM580XD vs. the current Callaway line of drivers. The fitter suggested I keep the TM since the results were comparable to the Callaway drivers currently offered. I thought that was pretty honest.

The session lasted almost an hour, and cost $75, with $50 refunded from the cost of the irons. The price of the irons was comparable to on-line retailers, and I saved paying shipping costs. They arrived in less than a week (minus the AW which was back-ordered and arrived a week later).

I'm now striking the ball more consistently and straighter than before, and think the investment in time and money was well worth it. Could I have gotten the mx-23's re-shafted and bent to 1* and seen the same results? Maybe, but I felt pretty confident with the newer clubs.

Good luck if you decide to go through with a fitting.

That's the thing. A real club fitting will tell you so much more than the length of club you need. It's well worth the money.

Golf Galaxy charges $30 for a driver fitting. They said they should be able to tell me what shaft, clubhead and balls best fit my swing. I'm hoping they're good. I wen to a local golf shop that claimed to do a fitting and all they did was find which one of their most expensive shafts worked best for my iron shots and which expensive shaft would produce the best results for my driver. The guy wanted to sell me a $250 shaft for a driver I paid $80 for on e-bay (and that included the shipping). And when he showed me the computer printout for what my driver did vs. what the driver with the $250 shaft did....they were very similar. The only difference was my driver hit just a little wider spray than the other shafted driver. That was it. I'm hoping Golf Galaxy does better than that.

I'll let you know if I do it how it turns out.

Do please. I've been considering a driver fitting at Golf Galaxy. (In fact, I've been considering an overall club fitting. It'll probably have to wait several months though.)

I also had a club fitting session at a Callaway test centre. I booked through Nevada Bobs and the money charged were later refunded when I purchased some clubs.
The session lasted about an hour. I used a 6 iron, a driver and fairway wood.
Like GenErr about the process was indoors with high speed cameras connected to a computer to simulate ball flight.
During the process I tested various shafts with different grips. They also attached tape on the face and at the bottom of the leading edge to determine optimum club lenght and lie angles.

That's what I was hoping...however, my experience left me underwhelmed.

Okay, I'm going to be brutally honest. I went to Golf Galaxy and wasted $30 for a fitting. Yeah, wasted.

As it turns out, they told me that a fitting wouldn't tell me what kind of shaft I need because "each shaft reacts differently with each different clubhead." Therefore, all I did was pay to hit my two drivers and two of theirs to see what their computer said I hit best. I felt like I could have just grabbed a bunch of clubs off their shelf and hit them on their screen and chosen the one I hit best. That would have saved me $30.

To top it off, I had to sit and wait for about 30 minutes while the only guy around watched someone else hitting balls in the simulator. My whole fitting session took less than 30 minutes. I think he gave the person in the simulator more attention than he gave me.

Therefore, my recommendation is that you not bother paying for a fitting at Golf Galaxy, just go hit some clubs on their simulator.

That is horrible, and would not have paid for it. On my fitting, I was on a launch monitor with a driver and 5-iron and putter. They got my shaft length, lie angles, swing speed, launch angles, spin rates, etc etc. I wouldn't ever go back there again....

Just got back from one from an iron fitting. I was hitting the ball pretty well and he fit me for my swing, but then he said, "I dunno if I want to have you order your clubs for the swing you have" Then he had me hit some shots with a different grip, and bent over a little more, then he said, "let me set you up with some lessons, you need to learn the fundamentals" I ordered my clubs anyway. 1/2" over standard, green dot. Got the Ping irons (not sure if he ordered G5's or i5's) I got 5-PW, and a 19* hybrid. I wasn't impressed at the fitting, and wasn't happy he had tried to change my swing and was pushing lessons on me, but the fitting didn't cost me any, so it's all good.
(oh, and the new irons don't hurt much either. And I am going to try and get my dad to order an Ogio bag and Odyssey putter off rockbottomgolf.com for me tonight, not sure how that will work, but I'm paying for it so should be able to get it.)