Contact: Mark Mathews / Smart Golf Academy & Learning Center / Pebble Brook Golf Club
317-714-4932 / msmathews8@gmail.com
Iron Club Fitting Steps
- Club Length
A standard golf club is made for a player 5’9″ tall. But if you’re 6’3″ that doesn’t mean you need to add 2 inches to your clubs! Taller people also have longer arms so their wrist-to-floor measurement won’t be too dissimilar to someone of average size.
We will take a few measurements and check your posture before recommending standard length clubs or clubs that are 1/2 inch – 1 inch longer or shorter than standard. Ultimately club length comes down to proper posture and how the club length can help you automatically get into better golf posture.
- Lie Angle
Lie angle refers to the angle between the sole of the club and the shaft.
From the image below, you can see that a lie angle that is too upright means that the toe of club is above the heel at impact. This can cause a poor strike and the ball to fly to the left of target. A lie angle that is too flat means that the toe is below the heel at impact, which can also cause a poor strike and the ball to fly to the right.
We will place impact tape on the sole of the club that will help us check how the club strikes the ground right at the point of impact. The position of the markings will show whether you’d benefit from a more upright lie or a more flat lie than standard – something that we will adjusted for you if needed.
- Grip Thickness
By adding more or less layers of adhesive tape underneath the grip of a club, a club fitter can adjust the grip’s thickness.
A grip that is too thin can cause overworking of your hands resulting in a tendency to hook more shots. Likewise, a grip that is too thick might cause you to under-rotate your hands increasing the chances of slicing or blocking the ball out to the right.
Grip thickness is all about getting your hands on the golf club properly so that the hands naturally work correctly and as easily as possible.
“THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST OVERLOOKED PIECES OF A PROPER GOLF CLUB FITTING”
- Shaft Flex & Shaft Properties
I’ve left this until last, as it tends to be what takes up the most time during a club fitting session.
During your fitting session, you’ll hit a number of shots in front of a Launch Monitor. This will measure the dynamics of your swing and the launch conditions of the ball immediately after you strike it.
We will look at variables such as your swing speed, the ball speed, the launch angle of the ball, and the amount of spin placed on the ball. We will give you a number of different shafts to try to see how they affect those variables and to get them closer to optimal ranges.
Some of the properties of golf shafts that you might hear about include:
Shaft Flex (Ladies, Regular, Stiff, Extra Stiff etc.): Slower and more rhythmical swings typically benefit from softer flexes, while faster paced swings typically benefit from stiffer flexes. Bear in mind that stiff flex in one brand might be equivalent to regular flex in other brand – a further reason for club fitting.
Shaft Weight: Lighter shafts should be easier to swing and therefore offer greater swing speed and distance. Heavier shafts generally produce less back spin and a lower ball flight and might be preferred by better players who have no trouble getting the ball in the air.
Kick Point or Bend Profile: This defines how the club bends or flexes over its length. Two stiff flex shafts can have different bend profiles, with one being more stiff towards the bottom of the shaft and one being more stiff towards the top for example. Bend profile can affect the trajectory of the golf ball – helping golfers who struggle getting the ball in the air or who tend to hit it too high with too much back spin correct their personal ball flight characteristics.
You’re allowed a maximum of 14 clubs in your bag but with so many choices (hybrids, rescue clubs, specialist wedges, 5 woods, 7 woods) it can be tricky knowing what to include and what to leave out….BELOW ARE A FEW TIPS TO HELP WITH CLUB SET SELECTIONS
Tips for What Clubs to Pick and Play
Woods
I carry a Driver, a 3 wood and a hybrid or rescue club. The lofts on these are nicely spaced apart so that I don’t have two clubs that hit almost the same distance.
I prefer a hybrid to a 5 wood because it offers greater versatility – it’s easier to hit off the ground, it’s more forgiving in a heavy lie and I hit it a similar distance.
An example of evenly spaced lofts in these clubs would be:
- Driver: 10.5 degrees
- 3 Wood: 15 degrees
- Hybrid: 19 to 21 degrees
I see far too many amateur golfers using a driver that has too little loft and the wrong shaft for their flight characteristics…
The lower a club’s loft, the more it will exaggerate any side-spin placed on the golf ball (because it imparts less backspin which counteracts side-spin). An incorrect shaft also increases the chances of the ball carving out to the right if you don’t really hit through the shot. Together, these can turn what would have been a recoverable fade into a wild slice out of bounds!
Your bad shots with a driver that has an incorrect shaft will be more damaging than bad shots with a driver that is fit properly (and in most cases getting the proper shaft will not cost more for the shaft)
Irons
I carry a 4 iron through to a pitching wedge (7 clubs). Historically I’d have always carried a 2 and 3 iron, but they’ve been replaced by the hybrid.
This is something I’d definitely recommend most amateurs consider doing. In fact many amateurs would benefit from replacing their 5 wood, 3 iron and even their 4 iron with a couple of hybrids (perhaps 19 and 23 degrees).
Although I have fewer options at the longer hitting end of my bag, this allows me an extra club at the shorter hitting end, which I think makes more sense – as I’ll explain next.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of irons – game improvement irons and better player irons. Game improvement irons tend to be more forgiving and typically produce a nice, high ball flight. Better player irons may be a little less forgiving but allow you to work the ball (FADE or DRAW) more easily.
Wedges
Additional to my pitching wedge, I carry 3 wedges – a gap wedge, a sand wedge and a lob wedge. The lofts on these clubs are also evenly spaced so that I get very accurate distance control.
- Pitching wedge: 46 degrees
- Gap Wedge: 50 degrees
- Sand Wedge: 55 degrees
- Lob Wedge: 60 degrees
My bag is more heavily loaded towards the shorter clubs because I need greater accuracy over my distance as I get closer to the pin. Taking more wedges means that you don’t have to manipulate your swing as much to control your pitching and chipping distances.
Putter
Every golfer already owns one or more of the most used club in the bag – the putter, but most of us don’t really know how to make the best choice and get the best fit available for our best putting results.
There are hundreds of putters on the market and perhaps more than any other club, it comes down to three things that will help to make a better choice for your putter, (proper fitting, personal preference and feel).
There are many putters and putter styles to choose from, I will guide you thru the steps that will help with the fitting of your putter and help you make the best personal choices that will allow you to putt your best more often.
I personally use an older Scotty Cameron Caliente Grande mallet putter.
FITTING OPTIONS & PRICING
ULTIMATE Full BAG FITTING
$275 The Best Value and the most comprehensive option to take your game to the next level. This extensive fitting will cover all 14 clubs in your bag and will take several fitting sessions (2 to 3 sessions) to determine the best choices for your complete set.
$75 We also offer a Junior Ultimate Full Bag Fitting that usually takes 1 session to complete.
$40 We also offer a beginning Junior Fitting that is a basic first fitting that will help the parents make the correct choices for their juniors first set (we encourage the parent to let us help with this important first stage so that the critical golf club weight and flex element is done correctly).
DRIVER FITTING
$100 The big stick is about power, but also needs to be controlled. We will improve distance and accuracy by helping our clients achieve the best launch and spin characteristics possible.
IRON FITTING
$150 Improve control & accuracy—spin, launch & lie angles, (includes an iron set loft & lie adjustment).
Wedge fitting
$100 A complete wedge fitting will include individual bounce angle needs, and wedge lie angle adjustments for proper impact, and loft gapping to achieve the best yardage gaps possible.
WOOD AND HYBRID
$100 Fit properly for the launch angle & swing speed. The results of these very important long game clubs will be improved by searching out the best launch and spin characteristics of each of these clubs.
COMPLETE LONG GAME
$200 Combine your driver, fairway woods and hybrids. The same thorough fitting just focused on the long side of your bag. It usually takes 2 sessions to complete this fitting
PUTTER FITTING
$100 The club that is responsible for approximately 40% of your score. We will guide you thru the steps that will help you make the best personal choices that will allow you to putt your best more often.
Club Building And Repair
Mark Mathews is an expert in all facets of club building, repair and customization. Services offered include:
- Re-shafting irons and woods
- Enhancing a Drivers performance by custom fitting and re-shafting
- Re-gripping and re-sizing the grip size of your clubs
- Custom Wedge Bounce grinding
- Swing weighting and reweighting
- Loft and lie adjustments on all brands and club types
- Internal weighting using a Hot Melt process for metal wood heads
- Frequency matching shafts and custom tuning the flex on driver shafts
- Face angle (Loft adjustments)
- Ferrule replacement
- Shaft extension and trimming (shortening a club)
- Almost anything else that can be done to a club
Contact: / Mark Mathews / Smart Golf Academy & Learning Center / Pebble Brook Golf Club
317-714-4932 / msmathews8@gmail.com
