Most important fitting parameter.

[Chieflongtee]

All right Ladies and Gents in your opinion what is the most important fitting parameter. You can only pick one and tell us why.

Swingweigh/MOIt?
Lie angles?
Length?
Grip size?
Flex?
Face angle?
Total weight?

[BC MIST]

Which item on you list, if extremely out of whack, would have the greatest affect on performance? For me it would be the lie angles of my irons.

[cokelon]

For a beginner I would say definitely: Flex due to the possible lack of swing speed


for an advanced player I agree with BC Mist: lie angles.

[downhillslider]

You can't just pick one because they are all interconnected but if I could pick two as a starting point, they would be lenght and total weight that way, the other parameters are then applied accordingly.

[Chieflongtee]

Which item on you list, if extremely out of whack, would have the greatest affect on performance? For me it would be the lie angles of my irons.

How many times when on the course do you find the same exact lies that you do on a lie board? That is a perfectly flat lie.Not very often.
So while I agree that having your lie angles checked and fitted you will not find these conditions on the course therefore it might be overkill. Also if you are a slicer or hooker you might benefit from lie angles that are not exactly right for you
Moreover unless you are 5 foot 5 or less or 6 foot 4 or more you might do OK with standard lie clubs.

Anyway my guru says that lie angles are number 2 on the list.

[BC MIST]

How many times when on the course do you find the same exact lies that you do on a lie board? That is a perfectly flat lie.Not very often.
So while I agree that having your lie angles checked and fitted you will not find these conditions on the course therefore it might be overkill. Also if you are a slicer or hooker you might benefit from lie angles that are not exactly right for you
Moreover unless you are 5 foot 5 or less or 6 foot 4 or more you might do OK with standard lie clubs.

I use a lie check board and over the last several years with new heads, I have flattened my irons 3*, and I am 5'10".

We get more flat lies than severe side hill ones, but regardless, iron lie angles that are too flat or too upright will affect ball flight. Head lie angles too upright for me will help only on downhill/side hill ones, will cause me to hook on flat ones and severely hook on uphill/side hill ones.

Why would anyone play with irons whose lie angles are less than perfect from flat lies?

[Chieflongtee]

Point I am trying to make is you will hardly ever find a peferctly flat lie on the course. There will always be some variation from the lie board. More severe on some courses than others.
And a slicer or the opposite (who is not willing to take lessons or does not want to take the time or for whatever other reasons) might benefit from more upright angles than what would normally be prescribed even though sole conatact will not be made in the center of the clubface.

[Sakuraba]

shaft flex way too many golfers out there playing "stiff" or "x" I play weekly with a guy who is the longest hitter at Renfrew Golf Club and he uses "Reg" flex in all his clubs. That means 320+ drives with a "reg" flex Taylormade R9. slow it down peeps.

[careyhrrs67]

i'll say the setup and your grip,,i'll be 44 tomorrow, and im the longest one at my club sakuraba,,,funny thing is,,i got sissy stix in my clubs,,LADIES, and i lovem,,,hm,,hm,,hm

[stone_bone]

Length. You definitely need to establish proper length before you fit for lie. It ultimately affects the lie angle. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think its for 1/2" = 1*
Especiallly with the the average golfer that don't know any better and will just grip the club in the middle of the grip, which I see often and can tell their clubs are not the right length. Better golfers will be able to tell that a club is too long or too short and will adjust where they grip it accordingly.

Proper length will help the golfer to be in the proper setup at address which will enbale them to strike the ball more consistently. Too long or too short may result in fat or thin shots, shanked even. Lie angle is then adjusted to fine tune which will help with any left and right issues that it may cause.

[THUNDAH]

Set make-up and playability of the heads. Need I explain?

[downhillslider]

[QUOTE=THUNDAH;424996]Set make-up and playability of the heads. Need I explain?[/QUOTE]

Please do !

[THUNDAH]

The first set of clubs I purchased were Wilson FG17 blades. I even thought it would be even better when I added FG51 1 and 2 irons. Needless to say, I stagnated, never scoring below 100. But those clubs looked good. One year, my wife and I went for a vacation in Florida. I went to a range to hit balls with my father-in-law's Pings. He had three wedges, some short irons and more woods than Sherwood Forest. The set was fitted for him, I adjusted my posture to compensate for the lie and even then I found these clubs much easier to hit than mine. The cavity backs were a lot more forgiving.
My home course handicap is now at 10, I have a 56º SW, a 50º GW, my irons are 6 to PW ultra game improvement cavity backs , 3 Hybrids (23º, 26º, 29º) a 5 wood, a 3 wood, and a 460cc driver that gives me decent distance on mis-hits. My putter has sight lines, heel and toe weights.

[Gapwedge]

Grip size. Without a proper grip, nothing good can result.

[danscustom]

Length and lie are directly related, so both carry the same priority.
If you shorten the length the dynamic lie has flattened, add length the dynamic lie goes upright.
or, just bend the lie up or down to accomplish the same thing.

Correct length and lie will give you correct directional control. As far as the course goes, a golfer has to understand the effects of a ball aboeve or below his feet, and has to adjust to get the desired shot. If your lengths or lies are out you have to do additional compensation (as well as remember every clubs ill specs.

Both are my number 1 goals and you can't do a proper fitting without addressing both.

[Chieflongtee]

According to my source length is the most important fitting parameter. Impact decals on the club face until you find the centre of the face on a consistent basis.

[TourIQ]

I would definitely pick length over lie.
Heads picked and precision of the build are more critical than the actual fitting.