There are a lot of misconceptions about golf club fitting and how it can help your game. Most people are concerned about what length their golf clubs should be. They may be taller than the average person and think that perhaps they need longer than standard clubs, or if they are short they think they need shorter clubs. This is not generally the case, nor is it the goal of proper club fitting.
Tall people generally also have long arms (in proportion to their body), thus the distance between their hands and the golf ball when they address it for a shot is the same as a shorter person whose arms are also in proportion to their body. Now if you are tall and have short arms, you may in fact need longer clubs to set up to the ball properly and comfortably. But most of us have arms in proportion to the rest of our body and club length is not a huge issue. Beware of any club fitter that just takes a tape measure to your wrist and the ground – they are doing you a disservice.
What club fitting is really all about is loft and lie of the club to fit your swing. There are two types of golfers that are coming in to be fitted. The first is a novice golfer and their swing might not be very effective. This person is more in need of instruction on how to hit the ball than they are of club fitting. An expert fitter can fit them with a good loft and lie for the swing they have today. But will they have that swing tomorrow? And will they have it next season, or after they have taken 10 lessons from their professional? Probably not. Before getting clubs fitted to your swing you should be pretty sure that the swing you have is the one you’re going to continue using in spite of any limitations that it might have.
This second type of golfer is the one who will benefit the most from a good fitting of loft and lie. Loft is generally a matter of preference as some people wish to hit the ball higher with the thought that it will carry farther and stop quicker upon landing. Others may wish to hit the ball lower and have it run out more. But if your swing plane is very steep (and you do not wish to change it) and the ball goes very high robbing your of distance, then a stronger loft (less loft) can help. The same is true for someone who has a flat swing plane and wants to get the ball up more, higher loft adjustment can help them as well.
Lie angle is the most critical area in club fitting, as it will effect how solidly you hit the ball on the sweet spot, and it will improve your directional control. If your clubs are too upright for your swing plane you will tend to hit the ball to the left (for a right handed golfer) and vice versa. You can easily demonstrate why this occurs to yourself.
Take out your nine iron and aim it at a target using your normal set-up. The sweet spot on the clubface is aimed at your target. Now lower the shaft of the club down to the ground. Look where the face is pointing. It is about 40 degrees left of your target. This is due to the geometry and loft of the club. If you do the same thing with a 3 iron, the amount of “left” will be less, but only because the club has less loft. So if your clubs are too upright for your set-up and swing plane, you have effectively lowered the club at the handle when you set-up and closed the club face. But if you have the lie angle adjusted to fit your set-up and swing plane, then the club face will remain pointed at the target and you will find you hit it straighter with the same or even less effort than ever before.
There are many other aspects to club fitting relating to the swing weight of the club, the proper grip size, the flexibility of the shaft as well as its kick point, and torque. All of these things will affect the trajectory and shape of your shots. Every golfer has a different body, different strength, different timing and hand eye coordination and a proper fitting of your clubs can go a long way toward increasing your enjoyment of the game, and lower your scores.