A launch monitor, a wall of shafts and a selection of the latest clubs can look impressive. But none of those things guarantees a good custom fitting.
The real value comes from the process: understanding your game, measuring your current equipment, testing alternatives properly and explaining why a particular setup works better.
In our video, The WORST Custom Fitting Mistakes I Still See, Ross Walker takes you through the assumptions and shortcuts golfers should watch out for.
Whether you are booking your first fitting or questioning the results of your last one, here is what a thorough fitting should involve.
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Watch “The WORST Custom Fitting Mistakes I Still See” on YouTube.
1. Failing to Understand Your Current Clubs and Your Game
Before recommending new equipment, a fitter should understand what you already play.
For an iron fitting, that means checking specifications such as loft, lie, length, shaft, grip and swing weight. Without that information, it becomes harder to explain why an alternative behaves differently.
The conversation matters just as much.
What happens on the course? What is your usual miss? Do your longer irons bunch together? Can you stop approach shots on a green?
Your indoor shots also need to be considered alongside your experience outdoors. If the flight you produce in the fitting feels unusual, tell the fitter.
A fitting should begin with a clear picture of your equipment and the problems you want to solve.
2. Comparing New Clubs Against a Poor Baseline
Your first few shots in a fitting bay may not represent your normal golf.
You might be cold, nervous or adjusting to an unfamiliar environment. If those shots become the benchmark, almost anything you hit later could appear better.
Ross explains that golfers should have enough time to warm up and produce a representative set with their current clubs.
That does not mean deleting every mishit. It means understanding what your clubs do when you make both a reasonable swing and a good one.
Give Your Existing Equipment a Fair Chance
Before testing alternatives, ask yourself:
Am I properly warmed up?
Does this resemble my usual ball flight?
Have I shown what my current club can do?
Does the fitter understand where I am striking the face?
A new club should improve on a fair benchmark. Otherwise, you may be measuring the benefit of warming up rather than the benefit of different equipment.
3. Showing You Numbers Without Explaining Them
Being shown a launch-monitor screen is different from understanding the results.
A good fitter should explain which measurements matter for your game and what they are trying to improve.
For an iron fitting, that could include launch, spin, peak height, descent angle, carry distance and the gaps between clubs.
Delivery measurements also provide context. These include how much you hit down, the loft you present at impact, and how the clubface relates to your swing path.
You do not need to become a launch-monitor expert. You should, however, understand the reason behind the recommendation.
For example, if your longer irons fly too low and finish close together, simply finding a longer seven iron may not address the problem.
By the end, you should be able to explain what improved and why that improvement matters on the course.
4. Selling You Iron Distance Without Checking the Rest of the Set
A seven iron that travels further can be appealing. But its number does not tell you its loft, flight or usefulness.
Ross highlights the danger of fitting someone into stronger-lofted irons purely because the seven iron goes further.
The questions that follow are essential:
Does it launch high enough?
Does it produce a useful landing angle?
Will the longer irons still create sensible distance gaps?
Where should the set transition into hybrids or fairway woods?
More Distance Needs a Purpose
Stronger lofts can have a place. In the video, Ross discusses situations where extra distance may help a golfer, provided the compromises are understood and the rest of the bag is built appropriately.
The mistake is treating extra seven-iron distance as proof of a better fitting.
The objective is a useful set of clubs, with flights and gaps that help you play.
5. Choosing Iron Heads From Handicap Alone
“You play off this handicap, so you need this category of iron.”
That shortcut overlooks how you deliver the club.
In the video, Ross demonstrates two different deliveries at approximately 75mph using the same strong-lofted iron.
With a delivery that removed substantial loft, the shot carried approximately 140 yards, reached around 56 feet and descended at about 35.9°.
When he changed the delivery to present more loft, the carry remained broadly similar, but peak height increased to around 79 feet and descent angle to approximately 44.6°.
These were individual demonstration shots, not a controlled study of all golfers. They illustrate why swing speed and a club category label cannot explain the whole result.
Look at Delivery and Ball Flight
Two golfers with the same handicap or swing speed may need different iron specifications.
A fitting should investigate the loft you deliver, your strike pattern and the flight you produce.
The best-performing club in a video may not be the best-performing club for your swing. Equally, the category associated with your handicap should not become a substitute for testing.
6. Selecting Shafts From Swing Speed or Marketing Labels
Swing speed is useful information. It should not make the entire shaft decision for you.
Ross challenges the assumption that a particular speed automatically requires a particular flex, or that a shaft’s launch description guarantees a specific result.
In the iron demonstration, he compares a Project X 6.5 with a much lighter regular-flex Recoil graphite shaft, using the same Wilson Staff MB head.
Despite the contrasting specifications, his launch and spin were very similar in that session.
The driver comparison told a similar story. Using the same head and sleeve setting, Ross tested contrasting TENSEI White and Red shafts. The averages discussed were around 12.5° and 12.4° launch, with only about 40rpm separating spin.
Similar Launch Does Not Mean Shafts Are Irrelevant
Ross preferred the feel and results of the Red in that driver comparison. He also moved it slightly faster.
The practical lesson is to test how the complete club works for you. Weight, flex, length, grip and head combination all deserve consideration.
These demonstrations do not establish that every golfer will respond identically. They show why a label alone is insufficient evidence for a recommendation.
7. Stopping After One Brilliant Run of Shots
Every golfer can find a good patch during a fitting.
You strike several shots beautifully, the numbers improve and a particular combination appears to be the answer.
That is encouraging, but it needs checking.
Ross describes putting a promising combination aside, continuing the fitting and returning to it later.
Does it work again? Does another option remain competitive? Can the improvement be repeated?
A good run may reflect a well-suited club, a temporary improvement in your swing, or a combination of both.
Retesting helps distinguish between them. Your fitter should build confidence in the recommendation through repeatable results.
8. Failing to Retest Your Own Clubs at the End
This is one of the most useful checks in the video.
After testing alternatives, hit your current club again.
By that stage, you may be more relaxed, fully warmed up or swinging differently. Ross also explains that he may explore small swing changes where appropriate during a session.
If your own club improves too, that changes how you judge the purchase.
A new setup might still be better. But the size of the improvement—and whether it justifies the cost—needs an honest comparison.
Ross describes occasions when a fitted combination performed well, yet the golfer’s existing equipment remained close enough that he questioned whether replacing it was worthwhile.
That is valuable fitting advice, even when it results in keeping your clubs.
9. Recommending Expensive Upgrades Without Testing Alternatives
An aftermarket shaft should earn its place through your results.
Ross’s view, based on his fitting experience, is that many amateur golfers can be fitted successfully using the available stock options.
That does not mean aftermarket shafts are poor products. They may offer a specification or feel that suits a particular golfer.
The important question is whether the benefit appears in your testing.
If an upgrade adds substantially to the price, ask to compare suitable stock options. Understand what improved and whether the difference matters enough to you.
The same attention should continue after the fitting. Obtain your specifications and ask how the finished clubs will be checked against the order.
At EP Golf Studios, Ross explains that checks include loft, lie, length and swing weight, helping ensure the equipment supplied matches the intended specification.
Questions Golfers Are Asking
How Do I Know Whether I Have Had a Good Custom Fitting?
A good fitting establishes a fair baseline with your current clubs, identifies what you want to improve and tests relevant alternatives. Your fitter should explain the results, revisit promising combinations and compare against your existing equipment again. You should leave understanding the recommendation and your specifications, with enough information to decide whether buying new clubs is worthwhile.
Should Shaft Flex Be Chosen From Swing Speed Alone?
Swing speed should not be the sole basis for choosing shaft flex. In Ross’s demonstrations, shafts with substantially different specifications produced similar launch and spin for him. His preferences and overall results still differed. A fitting should test how you respond to the complete club, including feel, strike, speed and consistency, rather than relying entirely on a flex chart.
Should Higher-Handicap Golfers Automatically Use Game-Improvement Irons?
Handicap alone should not determine your iron choice. The video demonstrates how different deliveries at the same approximate swing speed produced substantially different flights with the same iron. A fitter should examine the loft you present at impact, strike, launch, spin, height and gapping. The category name is less useful than understanding whether the club produces suitable results for you.
Why Should I Hit My Current Clubs Again at the End?
Your swing may change during the session as you warm up, relax or respond to advice. Retesting your current clubs helps reveal whether the new equipment retains its advantage under a fairer comparison. It also helps you assess the size of the improvement, so you can decide whether the performance difference justifies the cost of replacing your equipment.
Do I Need an Aftermarket Golf Shaft?
An aftermarket shaft may suit you, but it should be compared with suitable stock options. Ross argues that stock offerings can fit many amateur golfers successfully. The decision should come from testing and your priorities. If a premium shaft costs more, ask what measurable or practical benefit it provides and whether that benefit is repeatable enough to justify the extra expense.
Book an In-Depth Custom Fitting in Newbury, Berkshire
At EP Golf Studios, we start with your current equipment and the parts of your game you want to improve.
We test alternatives, explain the results and help you understand whether a different setup offers a worthwhile benefit.
There is no pressure to buy. Sometimes the right outcome is new equipment. Sometimes it is understanding your existing clubs better.
