If you're not getting custom fitted for your golf clubs and simply buying them off the rack with a little bit of guessing about which specs are right for you and your game, then you may as well be burning your money.
Getting custom fit by a professional will make sure you're hitting the right equipment, from the head and shaft down to the grip. And, more often than not, those fittings are free. So why aren't you getting custom fit?
For a lot of golfers, they don't get custom fit because they don't have the time and they don't know where they can get custom fitted near them. Let's fix both of those problems.
What to expect when getting custom fit for golf clubs
The typical experience of getting custom fit for golf clubs can take anywhere from 1-2 hours, particularly if you don't come to the fitting with a good idea of the clubs you'd like to purchase.
You're going to hit several clubs in your bag for the fitting, which typically include the driver (duh), a mid-iron, a short iron and a wedge. You're going to work through each club with several different configurations, including different shafts with different loft and lie setup. Each shot will be recorded with some kind of launch monitor product to give feedback on tweaks, dialing in each club until the best shot pattern emerges.
As the fitting goes on, you can get even more specific with your fitting, including trying different grips to see if they affect your performance.
Where to get custom fit for golf clubs
You'll need to find a place to get custom fitted for golf clubs, and there are a variety of companies with some kind of national footprint that you can expect to do a great job for you. You can go to places like Club Champion, Cool Clubs, GolfTEC, Hot Stix and PGA Tour Superstore, all of which have stores in different places. They have all of the major manufacturers -- both club heads and shafts -- at their disposal. They're brand-agnostic, with a goal of simply finding the best clubs for your game. These folks are PGA of America members by and large, and you'll be using the latest equipment to measure your swing and performance.
Go to their websites, find a location, make a call and get an appointment, which you can make online in many cases. They'll walk you through the whole process and make it very easy.
Short of being able to go to one of these stores/companies that are fairly easy to find, Golf Digest just published a top 100 list of clubfitters organized by state. Many of the options we've mentioned are on the list, but some independent clubfitters are on there, too.
