Finding the right club fitter will do wonders for the average golfer’s game.
In fact, I would argue that the average joe golfer stands more to gain from a good club fitting session than a professional golfer. I tried two other club fitters before the 3rd one had me fitted correctly. That’s right, the third time was the charm. Quite possibly the best club fitter in southwest Ohio is Mr. Kirby Bolen of Golfstix. Golfstix recently relocated within the Swingview Indoor Golf Facility (more on that technology real soon) in Loveland, Ohio.
A proper golf club fitting will tune you in to the right golf club, the right shaft, kick point, tip stiffness, shaft torque, and the right loft among many other variables. Believe me, there are a lot of them. The first club fitter I visited had me swing a driver on his launch monitor about ten times and then said 10.5 degrees and a regular Grafalloy Pro Lite 35R shaft. Let me tell you, he was dead wrong. I went back to him and said that the shaft is too weak, I am hitting it high and to the right very consistently. Then I asked about tipping the shaft. He said, "Nope it’s the right shaft for you". I never went back to him again and I sold that driver on eBay.
The second club fitter analyzed my swing correctly and told me I should play a 12 degree lofted driver because of my ball flight’s tendency to not climb enough. He was correct in that I don’t "hit up enough on the ball". Everyone swings differently, so the loft number on the club’s sole really may not matter. For example; I was launching the 10.5 degree test driver at about 8.5 degrees fairly consistently. That might be fine if I had a 100+ mph swing speed, but I do not. However, he was dead sold on a certain brand of golf shafts, none of which seemed to really fit me correctly. He really wasn’t interested in getting me aligned with the proper shaft. Since I seem to fall between a stiff and regular I seem to be a tough person to fit with the proper graphite shaft. Again, I never went back to him and my father in law got himself a brand new, barely hit driver that I pretty much hated.
About 3 weeks after the seeing the second club fitter, I stopped in at Golfstix in Cincinnati on a whim in 2006 and was fitted for a new driver, again. Kirby also took into account that even though my swingspeed wasn’t off the charts, I made a strong move at the ball and utilize a pretty strong grip. He recommended a 12 degree driver as well, but this time I was fitted with a Graphite Design YS 6+ stiff shaft. Once I combined that with the KZG Gemini driver I was set! I was hitting the ball pretty straight and even gained some yardage. Or so I thought.
While playing Black Lake Golf Club in upstate Michigan this past summer I made the mistake of trying out another guy’s Cleveland High Bore with a Grafalloy Pro Launch Blue shaft in it. I killed this guy’s driver, not once, but three times and right down the middle. This had me thinking that I could get more height and distance (we all want that right?) with the Pro Launch Blue shaft. I took my driver to Golfstix and and asked Kirby about swapping shafts so I could try it out. Afterall, I was convinced the Pro Launch Blue was a better shaft for me than the Graphite Design. Kirby told me right off the bat, "You won’t like it". However, he humored me, swapped the shafts around and off to the range I went. It took me less than 10 range balls to figure out that I was dead wrong. I took the club back, ready and prepared to eat some crow, but all Kirby did was smile, and rehaft the driver with the Graphite Design shaft. I won’t be trying anyone’s driver anytime soon, if I ever do again.
Kirby Bolen was recently named the International Professional Association of Clubfitter’s Clubfitter of the Year. He obviously knows what he is doing when fitting all types of golfers. Kirby got into the club fitting business purely by accident. While golfing in Myrtle Beach he went to see a custom golf club fitter for custom clubs and was amazed at what it did for his own golf game. His handicap dropped from a 7 to a 3, practically overnight. He was impressed so much that he went back to Myrtle Beach and trained under that same club fitter. He then left his job in commercial and industrial sales and started Golfstix in Cincinnati.
Kirby Bolen was selected as the 2006 Club Fitter of the Year.
Many of us have visited the big box golf stores, hit into the indoor range monitor and walked out with expensive golf clubs based upon the sales clerk’s quick recommendations. These recommendations will most likely fit a wide variety of golfers to a point, but the golf clubs will not be ideally suited for you as an individual. If you are thinking of visiting a clubfitter, ask around for recommendations, and when you get there, be open to what they have to say, ask the technical questions about shafts, lie adjustments and the other components that vary based upon your personal swing tendencies. A great club fitter, like Kirby Bolen, not only fits you properly, but explains things so that you can understand what is actually going on.
Although Kirby is an authorized KZG dealer, he will repair, or improve anything that you might bring him. It’s OK if your dead set on that old Burner Bubble driver that is smaller than any new 3 wood available today. Want to check or adjust the lie on your irons? Not a problem. He’ll work with you personally and without the car salesman sales pitches.
I am sure that many of you have had similar club fitting experiences and understand the importance of finding the right club fitter for you. If you seek to take your game to the next level, and feel that a proper club fitting is in your near future you’ll more than likely reap great rewards once on the golf course.
Kirby Bolen can be contacted here: 