Often, one of the most overlooked aspects of fitting a player is the clubs that he carries.  His set make up.  As a golf professional, you may be a terrific teacher, but not as comfortable as a club fitter.  Or maybe the opportunity doesn’t present itself too often, so you’re not super comfortable doing it.  The good news is fitting a player for the proper set make up is pretty easy.  You don’t need a lot of fancy tools, although they do help – You can do a lot of it by eye.

A couple of rules of thumb. First, golf is a game of hangtime.  We try to maximize the carry distance and keep roll to an optimal distance (10 yards for irons and hybrids, 20 yards for FW Woods, and 25 yards for drivers).  More than that brings in all the trouble on the ground.  Second is the Apex height.  We want this to be the same for every club in the bag.  If you look at a player and his 5 iron flies lower than his 7 iron, it will not carry as far and will roll out too much – this should be addressed.  Third, no one needs a 4 iron to “chip out”.  The Rogue Max 4 iron is 18* of loft – that’s like a 2 iron from when we were kids (yeah, I’m that old…).  There is not enough loft to get it out of the tall grass.  A hybrid has more loft, digs less, and is a much better choice.

So, how do you do it?  Watch him hit balls.  If the ball flies lower as he gets into stronger lofted clubs, it’s worth exploring different options.  A hybrid has a lower and deeper center of gravity than a similar iron, and a FW Wood will have a lower and deeper CoG than a corresponding hybrid.  This means that (if the lofts are the same) a hybrid will fly higher than and iron, and a FW Wood will fly higher than a hybrid.

If a player doesn’t carry a driver 240 yards, he probably can’t hit a 3 wood far enough to make it worth carrying.  The exception would be if the golf course is short and tight and he needs it as a driving club.  Most players would benefit from starting at 5 wood or Heavenwood and adding another wedge.

We look at the apex height.  If the right apex height is 90 feet and a 7 iron goes 90 feet high, this is a good thing.  If the 5 iron only gets to 75 feet high, it’s not the right club.  Try a 5 hybrid.  If that gets to 90 feet, you’re all set.  Then look at a 4 hybrid.  If that’s 75 feet, look at a 7 wood.  And so on throughout the bag…  EVERY player will have a point in his bag where he can not hit the ball high enough.  The club before that club is where you stop going stronger lofted, and move to a club that hit’s it higher.  Once you get to the highest launching club and it still doesn’t fly high enough, you’re tapped out.  At that point, the only way he will hit it further is by adding length.

Re read that sentence.  If he hits the Heavenwood good, but wants something he hits further and a 3 wood doesn’t go high enough, that isn’t the answer.  Have him try a 5 wood at +1″.  At this point, LENGTH is his friend, NOT loft.  This is particularly true with slower swing speed players – women, seniors, juniors.  

Be sure your lower end of the set is buttoned up.  With wedges, no more than 5 degrees between clubs.  4 is ideal.  PW’s are stronger lofted.  Most players with new sets WILL need 2 gap wedges and no longer FW Woods.  Get rid of the 3 wood to open up room for an extra wedge.

With women – consider going every other club.  Just because the USGA says you CAN carry 14 clubs doesn’t mean you HAVE to carry 14.  Find a mix with a nice difference in distance between each club, and add as ability warrants it.  Same with Junior players and even some senior players.

Have fun with this.  This is great talk at the bar after a round.  Start the ball rolling and you can increase sales in the shop by adding a single club here and there.

Hope this helps. Until next time – happy fitting!!