Custom Fit Golf Clubs: How To

Each golfer is different. Many of today's best golf clubs can be custom fit for lie angle, shaft type and length, grip type and size. Custom fitting golf clubs involves several easy measurements and a quick self-assessment of your game. This custom golf club has become more than a fad that even not so professional golfers test its waters. You might think that going out and buying some new, fancy, utility golf clubs will fix your game, but that won't help as much as having your clubs custom fitted.

The purpose of a custom golf club us is to make sure that the club is nice and square when you strike the ball, given a proper swing.

To custom fit your golf club set, you need to know: your gender (male or female); your height in your stockings or socks; the distance from your wrist (where it bends) to the floor with your shoes off; your age; your handicap or skill level; how fast you swing a golf club; what club you use at the 150 yard marker.

Gender is used to put you into the correct fitting scale for custom golf clubs. The golf industry uses different definitions of "standard length" for men and women.

Your height and the distance in inches from your wrist to the floor are used together to determine the length of a custom golf club that is appropriate for you. Clubs can range from -3 inch to plus 1 inch. A tall person with long arms can very easily require shorter clubs than an average height person with short arms. Only 20 percent of golfers out there fall outside the standard length.

Your age, handicap (if you happen to have one), self-assessed skill level, estimated golf swing speed and club you use at the 150 yard marker are all combined to determined the custom golf club's shaft flex that is appropriate for you.

If you want to fix a slice, custom fitting can help. If you slice the ball it means that the toe of the club is leading into the ball which opens the face of the club. That may be down to a swing problem, but another possible cause is that the club flatter than it should be. So as part of the custom fitting process you can make the custom golf club more upright to help with this. This will mean that the toe of the club will be slightly off the ground at address to compensate.

There are different methods of fitting according to custom golf club manufacturers but ultimately they are all trying to improve your game. To begin with simple measurements such as wrist-to-floor, height and hand size are taken and will point you to the right size club and at what angle it should be to the ground. Then you will take a club and hit some balls. One way of doing this is to put impact tape on the bottom of the club, with an impact board on the floor.

As you hit the ball the board will leave a mark on the tape showing whether the heel or the toe of the custom golf club is striking the floor first. The resulting mark will show whether the club face needs to be flatter or more upright. Then things get a bit more advanced. Analysis equipment can measure everything from your club speed to the side spin of the ball so that you can get maximum distance from your shot. You can also measure the launch angle of the ball, how much backspin you generate and impact efficiency - all which affect distance. The angle in which the custom golf club approaches the ball and the sidespin of it can help fix your game too.

Rather than bringing down your old clubs, it might be better to start from scratch. It's a big misconception that custom fitting is only for good golfers. All can gain. That said, if you plan to upgrade a new set of clubs with the same manufacturer they may be able to adjust your old set to become custom golf clubs.

Lastly, custom fitting is often free of charge. But it is usually on the condition that you buy some clubs once you've been fitted. So it really depends on what your budget is. If you're getting new clubs anyways, you should certainly get them fitted.