Top 10 Tips To Get A Great Fit
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-04-02
Lisa Vlooswyk/iG
I met with master Club Fitter Lyle Helland, owner of Simply Golf, who has been in the club fitting business for over 24 years. He has worked with Tour Players, College Players, elite Juniors and thousands of recreational golfers.
Here are his Top 10 Tips to get a great fit to play better golf:
1. Many players have too many clubs in their bag and/or don’t have the skills to use them. Get clubs that fit your swing and your needs, not what the latest Tour player has.
2. Before you swing for your Fitter, talk about your goals, typical shot patterns and common misses.
3. Hit every club in your current set for your Fitter. Start with Wedges. Check the lies and lofts for proper gapping. These can be easily adjusted and changed to match the distances you need.
4. Next hit your Irons. This is where you start to see clubs that are too long or too short for the player, impacting their performance. There is 4 degrees of loft between each iron. Ladies often need more loft between each club to reach desire yardage differences (up to 6 degrees between certain clubs). A Fitter can adjust this.
5. A common trend is to get rid of some longer irons (3 & 4) and switch to a Hybrid. They are more consistent and easier to hit. Be aware that Hybrids can often go farther than the iron with the same number (example a 4 Hybrid versus a 4 iron).
6. People typically go straight to 3 and 5 in Fairway Woods when purchasing clubs and then have a big gap between their 4 iron or hybrid and their 5 wood. Consider trying a 4 or 7 wood.
7. Driver is the most requested club to fit. The shaft is the big key. Many golfers use the wrong flex of shaft robbing them of distance and accuracy. If the shaft is too flexible you can miss left and right. If the shaft is too stiff it lags behind and slices (goes right for a right handed golfer).
8. Another big key for Driver fitting is that players do not use enough loft. Loft is your friend. Also, many new Drivers are adjustable offering a myriad of options for shot shapes, yet golfers often never adjust it. Learn how to use your tool and adjust your driver and experiment.
9. The Putter may be the most important club in your bag to fit. You will make more strokes with this club then any other club in your bag. The first issue is the putter is often too long, especially for women, and needs to be cut down.
Another easy fix, is a quick bend to adjust lie and loft which can help the ball roll more smoothly. Also, fat Grips are a popular trend. People who use their wrists a lot when they putt (leading to very inconsistent putting) have leaned towards the oversized grips with great results.
10. Know what style of Putter fits your stroke. Many golfers just use an old hand me down putter or buy what their friend has. If you have a more straight back and straight through stroke a face balanced putter would be better for you. If you take the putter inside on the back stroke and down the line on the follow through a toe balanced putter is better.
Use these tips to help you get fitted for your best season yet!
Lisa "Longball" Vlooswyk is is the reigning 8-time Canadian Long Drive Champion for Women. She is a Keynote Speaker, Golf Journalist, Golf Entertainer and just launched a new Instructional Video. Lisa can be reached through her website www.LisaLongball.com or through Twitter @LisaLongball.