Green Grass Golf Shop

1.) I’m going to my first demo day at my new club, what should I expect? First and foremost, for any fitting you should bring the clubs with you that you’re looking into possibly replacing. So if you’re looking to test out some drivers or irons, bring your current driver or your current 6 and 7 iron with you. Some manufacturers fit with 6 irons, most fit with 7 irons, unless you know which one you’ll be hitting I’d be safe and bring both. The reason you do that is most fitters want to know they are selling you something that actually works better than what you currently have. If you ever show up to a fitting and your fitter says you won’t need your current clubs, that should be a red flag. You aren’t going to a fitting to be sold something, you’re going to get or make sure you have the proper equipment for your very unique swing mechanics. What you should be experiencing at your demo day is first warming up with your current clubs, giving your fitter a baseline for what your swing mechanics are, ball mechanics produced by your current gear and swing. Then the next most important part of the fitting should be the fitter asking you if that is what you are looking for as far as launch, distance, spin and so on. If you want the best experience and want to learn the most, your answer should be something along the lines of “I’m here for your expert advice, I’m open to whatever you think is ideal for my swing.” Let the expert be the expert, if you aren’t happy with what they are trying to tell you is ideal, tell them that, be vocal about what you are looking for, a good fitter will work with you while also trying to maximize your clubs performance in your hands. In a proper fitting, you should be testing a variety of different heads and shafts, whether or not your fitter thinks your first test club is perfect or not, you’re putting down the deposit, this is your time and money to make sure you’re leaving no stone unturned. From there if you make the decision to purchase, it will be the location holding the fitting event ordering those clubs for you directly from the manufacturer based on what the fitter tells them. Work with that locations manager or Head Pro to check the process of your order, delivery schedules and things like that. Most manufacturers have a very quick and easy box you can check when ordering to drop-ship the clubs directly to your home rather than picking up at that fitting location, or even your home Country Club if you just provide the address.

2.) I’ve looked high and low, my only option within 100 miles with the ability to do a club fitting are big box retailers, what can I do with that? You can get a very good fitting at a big box retailer. I’ve interviewed with quite a few larger retailers in the golf industry. I can say from experience that you cannot get the title of their Master Fitter or whatever the head fitter is called at your local shop without a ton of experience. The biggest issue and warning I can give to those with this as their only option is to not walk in without an appointment and let just anyone set you up with what they think you need. There are only one, maybe 2 or 3 employees at those retailers that are truly (in my experience) qualified to perform a professional fitting. Most of the employees on the floor did not sign up for that job, they are not there to perform professional fittings, tell you what your ideal launch angle to spin rate ratio should be for your swing speed and angle of attack. With your Dick’s, PGA Tour Superstore, and similar retailers, they certainly have fitters there more than qualified to help you but to guarantee you have their time you need to book an appointment and private fitting to really run through the full process.

3.) What are the absolute best places to get a fitting for new clubs? By far the best places to get your club fitting is with a club manufacturer at their dedicated fitting centers. Most companies, especially all the big boys like Titleist, Taylormade, Callaway, and the rest have at least one, if not multiple nationwide ‘Performance Centers’ or ‘Fitting Kingdoms’ that offer a true tour level fitting experience with the same fitters the Pros work with each year. Now, this comes with a cost, first of all the flat fee just to get in the door to these places. Titleist for example, on top of the cost of the driver if you end up purchasing one, is a $350 fee for the fitting experience at one of their Performance Centers. You get what you pay for with these experiences, on top of the best fitters in the game you’ll also have the option to test every single shaft or club head that you can possibly order from that manufacturer; any length, flex, loft or orientation you can think of you’ll be able to test multiple different versions of that club or shaft. This is not something you’ll find with every fitting cart at every local golf course or retailer. Most have everything they need that combined with their fitting knowledge can provide a quality fitting, but not every location outside of a Fitting Kingdom or similar location will have every single option like that. The next best option in my opinion is a local golf course or country club with a PGA Head Professional in your area. On top of their fitting knowledge being on par with the best in the game employed by your favorite manufacturers, they can also tell you if your swing is the thing holding you back rather than your equipment. These wonderful men and women can help you fix your swing on top of putting you in the right equipment for that swing. They will not be afraid to tell you, if you let them, that you aren’t anywhere near ready for a fitting, you need to fix that grip and posture first, or that takeaway, or whatever you have hindering your game if it’s not the clubs. OR being the professionals they are, they are also not afraid to sell you a golf club if you insist on not wanting to change your swing. For most, this is the true best option, most without money to blow on plane tickets and fitting fees just to test a few extra shafts and get a free bottle of Taylormade logo bottled water…