Why will I play better with custom fit golf clubs?

The Performance Factors of Clubfitting from Tom Wishon:
"After spending over 30 years in golf club design and clubfitting research, I am absolutely convinced that every golfer can play better and enjoy the game more by being accurately fit into golf clubs which are custom built to offset the swing mistakes and enhance the correct swing moves of each individual golfer.

Since 1981, I’ve taught thousands of clubmakers the correct principles of custom fitting. In turn, I have received countless phone calls, letters and emails from clubmakers as well as their clients who realize the best set of golf clubs will never be bought in standard form, off the rack from a golf retail store.

Real improvement through custom clubfitting requires consultation with a trained clubmaker who knows how to translate each golfer’s need for game improvement into direct changes in the specifications of the golf clubs which address each area of improvement.

In Common Sense Clubfitting: The Wishon Method, we teach clubmakers that all of the possible game improvement desires of golfers can be summarized in the following ways:

•I want more Distance
•I want to improve Accuracy
•I want to improve shotmaking Consistency
•I want to change the Trajectory of my shot pattern
•I Want to Improve the Swing and Impact Feel of my Golf Clubs

There are a total of 23 different design specifications which can be altered and customized to come up with the right custom fit clubs for any golfer. That’s a lot. Actually that’s too many for any clubmaker to have to think about trying to fit for each golf club in a set. Through my 30+ years of fitting research I have discovered which of these 23 different design specifications will visibly address a change in the golfer’s Distance, Accuracy, Consistency, Trajectory and Feel with their clubs. And that’s what we teach custom clubmakers – to focus on the golf club specifications which will result in the greatest amount of positive game improvement in Distance, Accuracy, Consistency, Trajectory and Feel for each individual golfer and find the golf club specifications which will make that happen.

There are two types of golf club specifications the clubmaker needs to know.

"A" Effect Fitting Specification: An “A” effect golf club specification will create the most visible and noticeable change in Distance, Accuracy, Consistency, Trajectory or Feel. When an "A" effect specification is changed, even by a moderate amount, the golfer should experience a visible change in that game improvement factor the first time they hit shots with the club.

"B" Effect Fitting Specification: This is a golf club specification that will create a performance change which typically will be less than an “A” effect specification for Distance, Accuracy, Consistency, Trajectory and Feel. A “B” effect specification will typically display its effect visibly ONLY if that specification was poorly matched in the golfer’s previous golf club(s).

In short, the more "A" and "B" specifications which are addressed in the fitting, and the more those specifications are different from the golfer’s previous club(s), the more visible and dramatic the game improvement change for the golfer will be. That’s how real custom fitting is better than buying standard golf clubs off the rack.

I Want More Distance.
The “A” Effect Specifications on Distance:
•Clubhead Loft Angle
•Club Length
•Club Swingweight or Moment of Inertia
•Woodhead Vertical Face Roll (Driver only)
•Club Total Weight
•Shaft Weight

The “B” Effect Specifications on Distance:
•Clubhead Moment of Inertia
•Fairway woodhead Vertical Roll
•Clubhead Center of Gravity Location
•Full Set Make-Up
•Shaft Primary Flex
•Shaft Bend Profile Design
•Clubhead Face Design

I Want Better Accuracy.
The “A” Effect Specifications for Accuracy:
•Woodhead Face Angle
•Iron, Wedge and Putter Lie Angle
•Club Length

The “B” Effect Specifications for Accuracy:
•Clubhead Hosel Offset
•Shaft Torque (woods)
•Clubhead Moment of Inertia
•Club Total Weight
•Full Set Make-Up
•Grip Size

I Want to Improve Shotmaking Consistency.
The “A” Effect Specifications for Consistency:
•Iron, Wedge and Putter Lie Angle
•Woodhead Face Angle
•Club Length
•Club Swingweight or Club Moment of Inertia
•Full Set Make-Up

The “B” Effect Specifications for Consistency:
•Woodhead Vertical Roll Radius
•Iron and Wedge Sole Angle
•Iron and Wedge Sole Width and Sole Radius
•Clubhead Moment of Inertia
•Shaft Weight
•Grip Size
•Club Total Weight

I Want to Change the Trajectory of my Shot Pattern.
The “A” Effect Specifications for Trajectory:
•Clubhead Loft
•Driver Head Vertical Roll Radius

The “B” Effect Specifications for Trajectory:
•Clubhead Loft
•Clubhead Hosel Offset (wood, hybrid)
•Clubhead Center of Gravity Location
•Shaft Primary Flex
•Shaft Bend Profile
•Fairway Woodhead Vertical Roll Radius

I Want to Improve the Swing and Impact Feel of my Golf Clubs.
The “A” Effect Specifications for the Swing and Impact Feel of the Golf Club:
•Grip Style/Type
•Grip Size
•Club Swingweight or Moment of Inertia
•Full Set Make-Up
•Shaft Weight
•Club Total Weight

The “B Effect Specifications for the Swing Feel of the Golf Club:
•Club Length
•Shaft Primary Flex
•Shaft Bend Profile

A competent professional clubmaker will approach the custom fitting session by first determining which of the areas of game improvement are most important for each golfer – Distance, Accuracy, Consistency, Trajectory or Feel. Then by measuring the “A” and “B” effect specifications on the golfer’s existing set, the clubmaker can reference these “A” and “B” effect specs for the desired game improvement areas above, and know how much improvement IS possible for the golfer to achieve in an accurately fit set of custom made clubs. The clubmaker then proceeds to guide the golfer through a series of measurements and tests which combine with the clubmaker’s assessment of the “A” and “B” design specifications, to determine the exact specs for the new custom fit set.

That’s real custom fitting, and that is a major reason why custom fit is better than standard off the rack clubs every day of the week, and for every single golfer".