Ninety Minutes, Broken Down Honestly
Fitting sessions are frequently described in vague terms. Here is the actual shape of one, including the parts that feel slow, so you know what you are booking before you arrive.
-
Warm-Up, Off the Clock
You get ten minutes with your own clubs before anything is measured or recorded. Cold swings are not representative and there is no point paying for bench time to produce them. The technician uses this window to ask what brought you in and what you want the club to do differently.
-
The Baseline Block
Eight to twelve shots with the club you brought. Impression tape goes on the face, a lie board goes under the sole, the camera runs from down the line and the radar records ball data. Nothing is changed and nothing is judged yet. This block is the reference every later comparison gets measured against.
It is the part of the session that feels least like shopping and matters most. Skipping it is how studios end up recommending changes that cannot be proven to have helped.
-
Reading the Pattern
We take the tape off and read it with you standing there. Where did the cluster sit vertically and horizontally? Did the lie board mark toward the heel or the toe? Does the video show a low point in front of or behind the ball? Ten minutes of this usually narrows the whole session to one or two variables.
-
First Variable
Whichever variable the pattern implicates gets tested first, and only that one changes. If the strike is low on the face, tee height and head design come before shaft. If the lie board marks heavily toward the toe, lie angle and length come before anything else. Each test is another block of the same size.
-
Second and Third Variables
Once the first change is settled, the next one is introduced. In a ninety-minute session there is usually time for three variables tested properly, which is far more useful than eight tested carelessly. If we run out of clock with a question still open, we book a free follow-up rather than guessing.
-
Confirmation Block
The winning configuration gets one final block, and we compare it to the baseline side by side. Both sets of numbers go in the report. If the improvement is marginal, we will tell you it is marginal rather than dressing it up.
-
The Written Specification
You leave with a printed sheet and an email copy: head, shaft, length, lie, loft, swingweight, grip and grip build-up, plus the baseline and confirmation numbers and a short written explanation of the reasoning. It is yours to use anywhere.
-
Build, If You Want One
Order through us and Dell builds it in the workshop upstairs. Stock parts run three to five working days; special orders one to three weeks. Every finished club is checked for length, lie, loft, swingweight and frequency before it leaves.
Instruments in the Bay
- Ball and club dataDoppler radar
- Strike locationImpression tape, every block
- Sole contactLie board
- Delivery position240 fps down the line
- Turf interactionLow point strip
- Putter face1,000 fps at separation
- FrequencyBench analyser
One Good Swing Proves Almost Nothing
The single most common error in club fitting is drawing a conclusion from a small number of shots. Carry distance for a mid handicap varies by a wide margin swing to swing, and it takes a surprising number of shots before the average stops moving around. Below roughly eight, you are mostly measuring noise.
Blocks also protect you from a specific trap: the club that produces one spectacular shot. Every fitter has watched a player fall in love with a configuration because of a single strike that will never repeat. Comparing block averages and, more importantly, block spread makes that much harder to do by accident.
The spread number is often the more useful one. A configuration that carries two yards shorter but halves the left-to-right dispersion is a better club for scoring, and the report says so.
Getting the Most From the Booking
Come Rested
A session after eighteen holes measures a tired swing. Mid-morning or early evening on a day you have not already played gives a truer picture.
Bring Your Ball
We stock premium range balls, but if you play a specific model bring a sleeve. Spin differences between ball types are large enough to matter on wedges.
Say What Bothers You
“I lose it right off the tee under pressure” is more useful than “I want more distance.” Specific complaints direct the testing.
Do Not Pre-Diagnose
Arriving certain you need a stiffer shaft narrows the session before it starts. Bring the symptom and let the tape suggest the cause.
The Follow-Up Is Part of the Service
About a month after a build we send a short message asking whether the dispersion actually improved on the course. If the answer is no, bring the club back in. A recheck block is free, and occasionally it uncovers something the original session missed — a grip that has swollen, a lie that has drifted, a swing that has moved on.
We Keep Your Numbers on File
Every session record stays in the file so a second visit starts from data rather than from memory. That matters most for players who come back annually: seeing lie drift or frequency change across three seasons tells you things a single visit never can. Your record is never shared and you can request a copy or deletion at any point.
Book the Session That Matches Your Problem
Single club, iron set, putter lab or the full bag. If you are not sure which, describe the symptom and we will point you at the right one.