Why Every Amateur Golfer Ought to Get Fitted
If you care about your golf game, go get fitted. Seriously, go get fitted. Pick your company, pick your place, but make sure your clubs fit you instead of you trying to fit yourself to the clubs.
I still think a lot of amateurs view club fitting as something reserved for tour players or low handicaps. I don’t see it that way one bit. If you’re going to spend money on golf equipment, why wouldn’t you want to get the most optimal out of it?
Standard clubs are not standard people
A prominent fitter once told me that for decades, manufacturers made standard-length clubs based on Ben Hogan’s fingertip-to-ground measurement. Think about that for a second.
Ben Hogan was a smaller man. Great athlete, strong as could be, but built the way he was built. So of course fitting companies emerged. Those clubs might be too short for one golfer, too long for another, and not right for a whole lot of us in between.
As Craig Renshaw put it, it depends on your arm length and everything else:
short legs and long arms
long legs and short arms
the way you stand to the ball
your overall proportions
You could be 5-foot-9 and need something completely different from another 5-foot-9 golfer. That’s the reason to get fit. A good fitter can point those things out and help you see them.
Your putter deserves the same attention
Let me focus on the putter for a minute, because amateurs miss this all the time.
Should you be fitted for a putter? Absolutely. I think you ought to get to your PGA professional and ask about a putter fitting. If you’re getting golf clubs fitted to you, make sure you include the putter fitting too.
Craig said it plainly, and I’m with him: getting fitted for a putter is just as important as getting fit for irons, wedges, driver, or anything like that.
He likened it to a nice suit or a dress. If you want it to look great and get the most out of it, then a fitting is a necessity.
That makes total sense to me.
What amateurs can learn from the best
We were talking about Scottie Scheffler and how even the best players can go through stretches where things are just slightly off. That should tell every amateur something important: golf is a game of small differences.
If the best ball strikers in the world are operating in the world of micro-differences, then why would an amateur ignore lie angle, shaft length, setup, and putter specs?
Those details matter.
Not because a fitting is magic. It isn’t. But because a bad fit forces you to make compensations all day long. A good fit gives you a better chance to make a freer swing and a more repeatable stroke.
My advice is simple
If you’re having some putting woes, get a putter fitting.
If you’re buying irons, wedges, or a driver, get fitted.
If you care about your scores, your consistency, and enjoying the game more, get fitted.
There are fitting systems all over the country, at PGA professionals, at local golf shops, and at major sporting goods stores. You’ve got options. So go ahead and do whatever you need to do to make sure you get fitted.
Because when your equipment actually matches your body and your motion, now you’ve given yourself a real chance. And for an amateur golfer, that is money well spent.
