3 TIPS to NOT Overpay for Custom Fit Golf Clubs

Where can I find a fitter like you in Miami FL? Can you recommend anyone or anywhere?

This is one of the best videos out. Most of us are NOT well versed in club fitting and will get taken advantage of, if we don’t know. Seems like the moral of this story is get a copy of your build sheet, tell the fitter you’ll think about it, go home and research the retail price of each item online. If they are unnecessarily charging you more, go elsewhere to buy your clubs. Presumably, you’ve paid the $200 - $400 fitting charge, so just move on. Since you have the build sheet, you can get another club maker, like yourself, to build them. As always, thanks for the education. Cheers.

Believe it or not the over priced fitting receipt shown here isn’t even that horrible. After you math in all of the supplies, labor, and sales commission it seems pretty fair to assume that this place is just taking good care of their employees as best they can while not offending customers with their actual labor costs. That’s why they add it into the component prices. Everyone’s gotta eat.

New fave channel!

Your videos are very informative. Been through several fittings going back to the first 20+ years. That first was probably the best from the bang for the buck outcome. Since then built my own clubs and for a few friends. Recently went to a recommended fitter for Driver and learned an expensive lesson. The fitter made verbal statements about a shaft being a counterbalance design. I watched him verify the swing weight of the head and shaft combination selected, D2. Picked up the club a couple weeks later. Unhappy after several rounds. Checked swing weight, D8. Went back to the shop and they claimed the club was built as tested. All they offered to do was change weights in the Driver to lightest possible to get D2.

Lessons learned. 1) Get all statements made by a fitter in writing. 2) Get return, exchange or satisfaction guarantee in writing. 3) Test all clubs in a fitting bay before taking delivery. 4) At home if you can, double check swing weight, club length, shaft flex, etc.

Great video. Much thanks.

During Covid I was bored and locked down. So I bought a swing weight , ordered heads and shaft etc… and built my own set, found your channel and learnt a ton plus you answered every question I asked so -
thank you!
And just another note I just got new wedges and ordered 3 , 8 iron shafts that I’m about to change over - again thanks to you

Wish I lived closer to Decatur as you'd have my business. I have researched fitting to the point of mass confusion and stagnation. This may have been your best video yet for me to finally pull the trigger. I have narrowed my club choices to the Srixon and Mizuno hot metal irons based on cost, appearance and reviews. I would be doing the mid level fitting, sticking with no cost or minimal increase in shafts based on manufacturer options. Now the hard part to find a fitter I can trust. For this type fitting would a box store fitting be adequate? Thinking PGA store or 2nd swing. Hate asking for free advice, but there I am.

did Pure drips go under and why did they make the grips so short?

I love your honesty, very rare these days

A basic fitting is free at my local retail golf shop. Last year I hit several model irons; determined the best head, shaft and grip; and paid MSRP (no extra charges). I guess I am not too particular, but the process was great.

Dude from club championship literally told me, ya buy the titleist head if you want to hit it left (trying to fit me into apex callaway) dude I know how to read a trackman😂. Also, they were charging me $100 a shaft when titleist had them at like $15 up charge. Absolutely insanity. KBS tourV 120 X

Why don’t people just pay to get fit then take that spec sheet and order clubs from the manufacturer. Dont try shafts that are not a stock option. Unless you make a living playing golf get over yourself and use a stock offering.

I was recently fitted for a set of T200 irons by Titleist. Beforehand, I thought that I needed a heavier shaft. Previously, I had tried the DG 95 and Recoil 95s and felt that they accentuated my swing quirks. To my surprise, I made my best swings with the Steelfiber I80cw shaft and my 7-iron club head speed actually increased 3 mph. I learned that one cannot depend upon written specs and regarding weight, flex, etc. but must try the shaft in a controlled environment to really know what best suits you.

So this is a big issue for me the regular golf stores aren’t equipped to properly fit me because of limited to stock shafts for manufacturers but I went to club champion and got fitted into a tsr3 with a ventus tr black 6x shaft at 7.25 loft and it costed over $1200 dollars I need a new 3 wood but this is ridiculous to have to pay these prices to get fit into what I actually need

I got fit at Club Champion Brisbane (Pureform Golf) and whilst my swing is not really consistent, the new boutique shafts I got to try TRULY got me some consistency in both direction and draw, a NIGHT AND DAY difference. As for Pure-ing some people say its shit/BS but I for whatever reason I REALLY can tell the difference in my irons, like I can tell which of my clubs are off and which are good before I even walk in.

As for shafts, not alot of variety/availability for shafts here in Australia, especially with shipping which is BAD here.... so for me, the saving of hassle and having it already built is so worth the extra cost.

Nice👍🏻

Another trick that they use. I had a putter fitting at CC and the best putter was a Ping putter that I was rolling really well, but when it was all set and done, that putter was out of production, and it couldn’t be made with the shaft length that I needed. But guess what? The Bettinardi putter I was also rolling well was available. It just happened to be twice as expensive. Shocker.

Wish this video would have been a month earlier. Paid too much for fitted clubs and now I’m regretting it. Great video and awesome content!

What would you say is the industry standard or average charge for iron assembly in the USA?

This is exactly why you will from now on be my fitter!! I’m VERY familiar with that invoice… I through mine in the trash…

One of the biggest reasons I won’t go to certain fitters is because they charge you full price for the head and then again for a shaft even when the shaft is available as a stock offering from that brand.

The shaft pureing drives me nuts. The radial consistency of shafts are so incredibly high now that pureing is absolutely not needed, but all the big fitting companies try to sell you pureing still. It's like the dealership trying to sell you paint protection to your new car.

Club Champion is famous for ripping people off

Great vid mate, I bet I know who that charge sheet came from... 🙄 It looks alot like what I had to pay to get my PXG 317T's in Australia... At the time, they were the only supplier in the country of PXG... They recon they are the only company that gets heads only too... 🙄 So I had to pay $350 AUD for just heads, then they slugged me for the shafts Modus 3 120 which are stock for the majority of brands for $86 each. Then they got me for the pureing and the build $79 each and the $33 for the each grip... I got absolutely screwed but really wanted the clubs and had no other way to get them... 3 months later PXG opened up to 50 sellers in the country... 🤬🤬🤬 Ps my only saving grace is a promo came out 2 weeks after my fitting, with a discount of a couple hundred bucks off any iron order, which I got them to honour... 😎

Truth be Told — Thank You!

Hello Adam, Must commend you for great content and an "openminded" approach to the business of club making. In a previous video you asked for some ideas about what kind of content you could focus on in your channel. It would be very interesting if you created a series with, for example, the title "The journey from occasional club maker to professional club maker". In that series, you can discuss topics that lead the viewer through what it takes to be, for example, an "Occasional club builder, Regular club builder to Professional club builder". Think of it as a way to introduce to the viewer the progressive journey a person can take in club building/fitting world to get from A (amateur) - P (Pro) and also discuss some milestones that might be worth stopping at along the way.

On the channel, you have talked a lot about how clubs are built and tools, etc., but maybe there is some room to develop it a little more into a "Clubbmaker profession" tutorial, for example (suitable training and where to find it, example business models along the way, tools for amateurs or pros, types of premises needed for different types of clubmakers, collaborations with golf equipment companies and what to expect, setting goals for your clubmaker journey, When will a fitting studio become necessary (if ever), etc etc).

Damn good content.

Hi, I enjoy your channel very much.
I travel to the Atlanta area several times a year. Right now I use t300's .
What manufacturers do you rep for custom fitting? Thank you!

This is why I buy my clubs online and not from a local store. If I don't like how they feel, I can sell them for what I paid and move on. Golf shops are getting to be like mechanics.

Folks. The Puring is a full stop. Waste of cash

I paid $125 for a fitting from a top fitter in my area. Good. Then when I got the invoice for the clubs the head cost was the fully built retail cost of the irons from the manufacturer, plus a 50% markup on the grips, a 25% markup on the shafts. total cost was $400 more than direct purchase + the price I paid for the fitting. Pass...

My favorite when I made that mistake once was the “custom build” — the 7 iron, PW and 58 were all the same length 😂😂😂

Agree at 100%

AJ, what do you think about ordering shafts (legit) online for a discounted price and ordering the components and then having a club builder put the set together versus telling a club fitter what you want and getting charged Msrp prices?? New uncut shafts not pulls.. and what do you think about pulls also?

Thanks for making this video. Really applaud your transparency and honesty around this issue. Like someone else said, wish I lived near you.

So frustrating to want to just get fitted for the optimal shaft to have a set of Maltby or Tacomo or Hogans made up cause no one near that doesn’t just do the big names 😢

I recognize that invoice format :)

So, I did order a set of irons from that company. They had discount % for them though. In my case the "exotic" shafts were $50/ea more than you could buy them for online, but the heads were about $40/ea less than you could buy the clubs for retail. So if you add in the cost to build each at my local shop, it turns out that all together my irons cost me about $20 LESS than I could have bought the shaft/head/grip/ferrule/assembly for. Of course that ignores the fact that I don't have a set of stock shafts I could throw on ebay, but still. It ended up being actually not as expensive as the sticker shock appeared to be.

I also skipped pure'ing. Not only am I not sold at all on it doing much, if anything, I really hate when the shaft logos are visible at address.

EXCELLENT. AJ !! REALLY SPOT ON. !!!

Looks like Club Champions build sheet. In 2019 I went for a custom fit and they pushed ACCRA shafts on the Cobra F9 woods. Found out later on they owned ACCRA and they pushed them for that reason. Also they pured my new Callaway irons at that time too. Never again. I’ve been to 2ndSwing in DE several times since then and they’re much better and more honest fitters and builders

love your videos. they make sense.

Great info from a professional club builder. Couple of days ago my neighbor said he had his 3 wood reshafted and they charged him $100 and it was a simple glued hosel. I looked on golfworks website and the shaft was only $30 so its seems pretty common to overcharge. People should gladly pay for professional service and expertise but not be taken advantage of. Thanks for the great content!

I'm still a pretty high handicap player but have been focusing on improving my game this year, but still playing my stock Cobra S2 Max Irons and off the shelf woods. I've never done a club fitting before and wondering if it's worth it to get one done just to adjust the length and lie of the clubs.

what is your opinion on swing weight? there are zero OEMs that let you customize that. Is that a big problem or does it not matter for most golfers?

My buddy got a set of Titleist irons from a large custom builder franchise and his said each shaft was an extra 150. I asked him if he noticed a difference between those shafts and stock that would come with them, he didn't know because they never those to him.
So it would seem to me only test what is stock, as they are designed for those clubs by the manufacturer, but still hit some upgraded premium shafts. I doubt you'll notice that big of a difference in performance for us mere mortals.

This is one reason I haven’t upgraded to a new set of clubs. I have swing flaws that I am trying to overcome with lessons and drills. I use “vintage” clubs because I want to improve ball striking rather than mask my bad shots with technology. I appreciate what AJ shares with his followers. It’s very important and helpful information.

You make some excellent points. I have some good fitters and a couple not so good. My last set of pings was a bad experience.

It has alsways been a big concern of mine finding a club fitter that you can actually trust. unnfortunately, in my neck of the woods, most of the club fitters are not forrthright. They try to upsell you exotic shafts, puring and other stuff that you don't need., especially if you're an amateur. I'm a 4 handicapper and I don't need any of the exotic shafts nor do I need my shafts pured or any other nonsensical costs they try to push on us. Most of the OEM's have a variety of shafts for the clubheads you choose and one or two of them will work just fine. The only extras I'll pay for are ferules that I like, and branding my wedges with my company logo. Cheers.