- Audio version at the end of this post –
When we completed the PPGS golf school at noon on Saturday, I headed up to Orlando with my brother Ken to watch DJ play on Sunday in the last PGA Tour event for 09 at Disney World in the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. We met some of our old Florida friends at the tournament and made some new ones. A lady and her husband came up and introduced themselves to me, saying that they live only 30 miles from me in upstate South Carolina and had come to the Disney tournament to watch DJ all week and check out his PPGS swing up close. They are members of the PPGS website, read my daily articles, and she planned to take lessons from me.
We met on the first tee and together, with my friends, we walked the entire 18 holes. Naturally the main topic of conversation was about DJ and the PPGS. We got of on tangents now and then, with one being talking about our dogs.
One time, the lady started talking about my many articles and comments about the importance of getting fitted clubs. She was 100% in favor of it and has been fitted numerous times for her clubs. She concurred that I was correct in saying that getting fitted by someone who takes your check, then sends your stats and club specs off to the big club manufacturing company to be made, is not getting fitted the majority of the time. That is because they just go into their vast inventory, pull already made clubs off the shelf, box them up and ship them.
She went on to tell me that her first fitting was with a major club manufacturer done on the range at her club. The fitter measured her and carried out all the points of a good fitting, from asking questions about her game to her choice of clubs for her set makeup. The she hit clubs to test for shaft flex and off the lie board to test for lie angle. When the fitting was completed, he wrote up the order, worked up the cost, she wrote the check and he said he would send the order in to be processed.
She said she got her clubs in a few week and they looked great. What wasn’t great was the way she hit them, all of them. After putting up with hitting too many awful shots with her scores soaring skyward, she read one of my articles on club fitting. The article where I suggest finding a club fitter, preferably a certified fitter, but more importantly also builds the clubs right there in his shop. Then, when the clubs are built, you return and hit them to your and his satisfaction. Then you write the check to pay for them. So she went out and found a new club fitter/builder.
When her new club fitter/builder checked out her new “ordered fitted set” of ladies clubs that she hit so poorly, the problem was simple to figure out. The first thing he tested was the shaft flex. And what did he find? Every one of her shafts that were suppose to be ladies shafts was, in fact, a flex equal to junior golfer shafts. These shafts were way too weak for her to hit consistently. He then re-shafted the heads with the correct shafts and now she hits them well.
So, I will say it again. If you are having problems with hitting any or all of your clubs consistently in terms of solid, straight and controlled, you need to see a qualified club fitter. You need to check your clubs, especially when you feel like you made a good or even descent swing and get poor results. Or, for that matter, if you can’t make a good swing, then you need to get them checked by a qualified fitter.
How do you find a qualified club fitter? For starters, you can ask you club pro who he or she uses. Ask the good players at your club who they go to get fitted and to work on their clubs. The fitter the pros and top players use is the one you want to go see. There is also checking out the yellow pages. But probably the best source, as good as asking the pros and top amateurs, is to go to the club fitter’s website at www.clubfitter.org to find a certified club fitter in your area.
Clubs are like clothes. The better the fit…the better they hit! And that goes for all golfers, including juniors and ladies.
The Surge!
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Tell me what you're thinking... and what part of the golf swing, or this great game... you'd like to know more about. If you want your pic to show with your comment, go get a 
I used the Callaway Golf Center when I was in Vegas. They did a great job, asking me to hit my current 5 iron and then offering various combinations of lie angles, shaft flexes, and models to try. It is a blind test for the person being fitted as you don’t know what specs you are using at the time. The equipment is set up to measure clubhead speed, launch angle and both back and side spin. A video on the wall displays how far and the direction the ball lands in the virtual fairway. They even said the current driver I owned was fine – which suprised me, because it was their competitors brand, which to me lended credibility to their testing.
I would love to know what my fit should be because everyplace i have been tell me something diff.
I have a Adams idea Hybrid 3 iron that is 41″. I’m 5 foot 2 about 30 or 31 INCH FLOOR to hand. i still think my clubs are to long looking at the bottom of my club i hit more at the hill or shaft area when i brush the ground. I wish some one would reply with the right info.
thanks surge for any help you can give
Fenton
Don,
How to start the transition without plunging onto the ball, what sensation to look for? to press on the back knee? to throw the hands in a circle trajectory towards the target keeping the head stable? rotate the forward shoulder towards the target? all at the same time? where to begin?
With my thanks for your advices
Marcel Chatel
Okay Surge, thats my goal now to get fitted. My current clubs were selected the next best way which was by hitting them first at “golf Galaxy” along with many other models. Then of course deciding how much money I was willing to spend. Generally I’ve been happy with my choice however I have noticed that there are always certain clubs in my bag I can’t hit well and others that are my favorites. part of the reason could be the “fit” or not factor you’ve talked about.There are no club fitters from club fitters.org in Las Vegas so I have to ask around. Thanks for always giving us more ways to examine where we might improve.
Keep ‘em solid n straight, Robert
Hi Surge
Thanx for the e mails you send me on the golf swing, it starting to become clear to me, but i have a major fault the dreaded over the top down swing. I have tried all sorts of things to stop it happening but my swing breaks down and I push the ball out to the right or fade it quite badly. Please could you give me a practise thought I can take on the range to sort this out, i’m starting to get desperate. ps i swing my driver beautifully and the ball goes as straight as an arrow, but my irons which are custom fitted Pings are driving me crazy.If you saw me hit my driver you would think i am a 5/6 handicaper, if you then see me hit my irons you would think i had just started this great game. please help me please!
Thanx Alan O
When measuring the length of your driver, how do you do it? From the tip of the grip to exactly where?
Hey Clark (above) Thanks, maybe I’ll try the Callaway Center!
Dear Don,
Could you PLEASE advise me of a GOOD club fitter in CANADA….preferably in Toronto…as I don’t know of any good ones….the Pros tried to fit me, but it doesn’t work…..
THANKS in advance
Ilda
Hi Surge, I’m eighty [80 ]years old, play golf [18 holes] three times a week. I recently had grafite shafts put on my clubs [ senior flex ] from steel. Now I’m hitting behind the ball, fat shots, I’m talking about my irons.
Fenton,
I am a certified fitter and have been working in the business for 5 years. The measurement you mentioned should be taken while standing erect, wearing shoes, and your feet should be approximately 12 inches apart. Stand as you would normally and measure from your wrist to the floor. If the measurement is 34 inches most clubfitters would tend to direct you to a standard length club, however, a true fitting should be done in a dynamic situation-swinging the club.
Howeverr, your actual swing will determine what club you should be using. There are 15 to 20 different aspects of the club fitting process, depending on how detailed you want to get, that should be considered in a professional fitting. Some things that need to be reviewed in a proffessional fitting are;
– Club speed
– When you load the shaft in the swing
– Where you hit the ball on the face of clubhead (on average)
– The angle of attack
– Are you taking lessons? If so, your club requirements may change quickly.
– As mentioned, a lie board test will determine if your clubs need to be adjusted from standard.
– How long are your fingers? That will determine the grip size.
– Do you have any health issues? Can’t bend in one direction due to a permanent injury?
– How is your flexibility?
– How often do you play and what is your handicap?
In closing, there is a lot to consider and a young sales clerk in most retail stores will not be able to properly fit you. I have a four page form that I use in my fittings. following the fittinig, I make one test club, usually a 7 iron, and meet the customer on the range again with the lie board. From the test club I make the set. Then we meet on the range again and hit each club. I ask the customer to call me after he has played three rounds and let me know how the clubs are doing. Usually, they can’t wait and call me after one round to tell me how much they like the clubs. If they ever have a problem with the clubs they can bring them back and I will adjust the clubs, free of change.
Surge is right to recommend asking your Pro for a recommendation to finding a clubfitter. Surge suggested one organization and they should be able to help you, however, I belong to the International Clubmakers Guild, http://www.clubmakersguild.com, and they should also put you on the right path to owning a fully fit set of clubs in your bag.
You need complete confidence in your clubs to play this game. Golf is hard enough as it is. Best of luck. Keep it in the short grass.
Aloha,
Jim
What is the difference between having the Driver shortened by 2-3 inches or just choking down 2-3 inches when gripping the club?
Sir,
I am still waiting for a reply from your organization. What exactly will I get for the $19.95 that I paid? Can you please be a bit professional and respond?
I only have access to the Bonus video series. Is this what I got for $19.95
Thank you in advance.
Edward, please contact customer support. 800 603 2706
Brian,
My opinion, I don’t believe this has been vetted through the industry, is that the characteristics of the club and the swinging of the club are different when comparing chocking down to trimming the length of the club. There are Pros on tour that prefer to chock down the club one to two inches. Doing this, in essence, provides weight to the handle end of the club. This is sometimes referred to as ‘back weighting’. By either shortening the club or chocking down on the club you have made the club shorter and, thus, more accurate. What you give up is distance. This is a tradeoff you may prefer if you are within a scoring shot distance or a tight fairway you need to navigate. I will often chock down on a nine iron, using a 3/4 swing, for the confidence of accuracy when a full pitching wedge would would work-if my all out full swing can handle the pressure. Good question. I believe it comes down to personal choice.
Aloha,
Jim
Brian,
I misspelled choke/choking. Still on my first cup of coffee. Other than the misspelling all else applies.
Jim
enjoy reading your expertise keep them coming getting better.My problem is quit my job and practice more.
Dear Surge,
I really enjoy your audio version of your post, thank you for all the good information, and keep up the good work.
Hi Surge (or anyone that may want to comment)
I would love nothing more than to get fitted, as all of my clubs are 15 years old or older and were off the rack. Here’s the problem though. I live in the middle of North Dakota and there are no fitters anywhere within 200 miles. The closest thing is an Austads 150 miles away who told me that they fit everyone who buys clubs.
What does someone in my situation do?
I recently purchased the instructional package and quickly received the 10 lesson download. I thought my purchase included additional material, such as a manual. Your response would be appreciated.
Thanks…
Robert Meade, the problem you have with different clubs being so different is easily solved. Go to 1Iron.com. The solution is elegant
You talk about cutting 1 1/2 inches off the current driver length…. as if it is that simple. I suspect that this practice would make the shaft much stiffer. I assume that I need to see club fitter to make the change?/
Dave
It had been suggested by some in this forum to read Ernest Jones “Swing the clubhead method”, so I did. It was like explaining rocket science to a 5 year old, and the kid getting it! Todays golf instruction can get so complicated, needless to say mind-bobbling. This book was a revelation to me in as much as I learned I was a huge leverage man. Once one senses and feels the clubhead through the stroke of a true swing then one has the foundation in which to build upon to be a good, if not great, golfer. Clearly, Dons system of PPGS has much merit. But unless we first first learn to SWING the clubhead and FEEL its presence throughout that swing, we may be doomed to repeating the same old mistakes time and time again.
So, if you are struggling out there, even with Dons system, RUN out and get a copy of that book and read it carefully. Like me, you will be happy you did!!!
marcel,
go out and get Ernest Jones’ “swing the clubhead” method for the answers to all your questions.
To Dave C.
Cutting the shaft at the butt end, where the grip is does not make the club stiffer and if so it is insignificant. It can change the swing weight a little and a club fitter can check for that and adjust with adding a little lead tape on the head.
The Surge!
Steve,
I will discuss your question about what to do when the closest fitter to you is quite far away and hard to get to.
I will guess that a good fitter can ask sufficient questions over the phone, have you take your knuckle to floor measurement, glove size, questions about the distance you hit clubs and make a pretty good set of clubs from the information you give him. They certainly would be far superior to a stock set of clubs off the shelf. and, i would say that the fitter would want your feedback after he ships them to you and you try them and would want them or whatever ones may not work well back to fix them based on how you tell them they were mis-firing.
My present set of irons were made by one of my fitters, i used for the first time without seeing me hit a single shot. I gave him the specs form my old set and I did give him instructions on how i wanted to see a higher ball flight than i was getting with my old set. He nutted the set adn I am hitting them super and higher naturally as I wanted.
I will talk to a few of my fitters and get their comments of if they do phone fittings and see if any of them would write an article on this so you an get a complete answer from a fitter.
The Surge!
To Edward: Your purchase includes the Bonus Videos plus the Foundation Manual which is under the MY PRODUCTS section of the Fast Start Guide. To better assit you I need more information like your last name or an E-MAIL address. Please call me Ken Trahan at 888-847-9464 if I can be of any more assistance.
Visited my pro on Sunday again. This time he filmed my new ppgs from the rear view. Using a driver my 70% swing, so I thought, was quite alarming. My hands were definitely in the SBG. My club @ the top of my swing was perfectly parallel to my target, but also to the ground. It felt like a half awing!
I’m finding it impossible to stop in time. Set up is good and my back knee is no longer wandering back.
Helppppppppppppppp
Hi Surge,
I went and got fitted at Titliest’s club fitting centre in Huntingdon. The new clubs fit much better than my old Callaway X14s, and I hit them much more solid and straighter. The divots are straighter and more uniform too.
We were using computerized equipment, and I noted that my old Cobra 440 went straighter and further than any of the newer clubs. Saved me money on a new driver.
My view is that club fitting is essential for anyone who wants to play to their potential. That’s right it’s not an option for ladies or gents. I don’t like to be dogmatic about anything to do with golf, but this is one area where everyone can benefit.
Colin,
Merseyside England
Surge,
I am looking to get fitted for new irons. I found two fitting facilities in my area and would like your feedback as to which one you believe I would be better off with. One facility uses the TrackMan system (claiming to be #1 on Tour Worldwide) and the other facility is a Callaway Performance Center. What do you recommend???
Thanks,
Dave
Bridgewater, NJ