Fit-to-swing or swing-to-fit

I have a question about equipment. When I went for a fitting, I was told that I needed to have my clubs 2 degrees flat and a half inch short. I have been told by numerous people who are very good golfers that cutting the clubs shorter reduces my distance. What should I do? I can play standard length clubs but would the shorter clubs allow me more accuracy?

There are many different types of fittings. The best way to get fitted properly is with an experienced club fitter using a launch monitor, preferably outdoors (studies show that golfers swing different indoors). It is likely that you will lose distance with shorter clubs. That could be a problem depending on your average distance with standard clubs. I believe that accuracy is more important than distance up to a certain point. If you do shorten your clubs, have it done professionally since swing weight can be changed by cutting shafts.

www.usgolfsticks.com

Depends. Are you currently or planning to take lessons? If you’re pretty locked into your swing then fit-to-swing.

The #1 goal out of your irons should be accuracy so if shortening your clubs creates better contact with the ball and thus creates better accuracy then you shouldn’t be preoccupied with a potential loss of distance. Ideally you wouldn’t lose any distance rather you would gain distance because for every yard offline your shot is also losing distance, follow?

This all being said, I recommend you experiment with one or two clubs first to see if these changes are needed and/or they produce better results. There is nothing worse than cutting all your clubs down and install new grips only to find out your swing was in a funk.

usgolf: I do have access to not only an experience fitter (Chip Usher with Usher Golf is a good friend of mine who does all my club mods.), but also to a launch monitor and a simulator. I have an AboutGolf sim in my garage and Chip has a launch monitor in his shop.

everado: I get what you’re saying. I have cut my handicap from 19 to 10 in the last year without lessons. Just practice and reasearch. I plan on getting a lesson but I’m so skeptical because I have heard you have to work with the same person for at least 6 months to really get good results. I’m not sure who to use here in Savannah. Not to mention, I just figure that I need more practice.

Last year I cut my handicap down 25% by practicing less! I simply practiced smarter, making sure every range ball had a purpose. I also used GameTracker to find the real weak spots in my game.

Good luck and have fun!

I agree with everado on practicing smarter. I dropped my handicap from 6.8 to 5.2 last year by practicing with a purpose. I see so many folks on the driving range, hitting with a machine gun mentality. “The more balls I hit, the better I’ll get.” That’s simply not true. When you hit balls on the range, you should be hitting to a target….with every shot. One medium bucket of balls hit with tempo, aim and purpose, does a lot more for you than 3 large buckets hit like an M-50 machine gun. This season I plan to putt on the practice green more often. The goal this year is to get my handicap down to 4.0 or better.