Find what you're looking for

Club Champion Resources

If you're looking for more information on fitting, our services or anything else related to Club Champion, please see below.

Tips to improve your performance with a...

Custom Club Fitting At Club Champion

Better Your Ball Speed

The obvious way to increase ball speed is to increase clubhead speed. Yet an even more effective way is to make sure you are hitting the ball in the center of the clubface. Even if you make the club move faster, the ball speed will only increase if the center of the face is hit.

Focus on Flex

Generally, using a shaft that is too stiff will produce a straighter shot, but with a loss of distance. A shaft that is too soft will generally produce a shot pattern that is more erratic, but the distance will be greater. With a smooth tempo and proper timing, you can make a soft shaft work, but pay attention to consistency.

Launch Angle Means a Lot

If you want to achieve maximum distance, you have to launch the ball correctly. Ideal launch angle is determined in relation to how fast the ball is coming off the face. Generally, the faster the ball is moving, the lower the ball can be launched and still result in good distance. The slower the ball is going, the higher it needs to be launched to achieve maximum distance.

Lies Don’t Lie

When the lie angle is correct, maximum energy can be transferred between the clubhead and the ball. The lie angle is most important on irons because they make contact with the ground every time. You have to have your lie angles set up correctly if you want to hit solid shots that are on target!

Like Your Loft Spacing

It is imperative to have consistent degrees of spacing in loft between all of your irons. This will help you maintain a consistent distance step between each of your clubs. The ideal distance between your clubs should be about 10-15 yards. Perfect loft settings will help you know which club to pick at any given yardage.

Settle on Swingweight

Players with slower swing speeds will generally benefit from lighter clubs and those with faster speeds will require a heavier swingweight. You want to play a club that is as light as possible without giving up feel. This will help you optimize club speed without sacrificing too much control.

The Spin on Spin Rate

Through testing, we have found that there are ideal launch and spin conditions for a given ball speed. Using launch monitors and the accurate data they provide, Club Champion Master Fitters can help identify your ideal spin rate. It is important to know your spin rate so that you can be properly fit and able to maximize performance with your custom equipment.

Torque Tutorial

Slower swing speeds generally need a higher torque and faster speeds need a lower torque. Most of the time, the torque of the shaft in your fairway woods will be greater than the torque of the shaft in your driver.

Watch Your Wedge Bounce

Wedges with less bounce are designed for short grass and harder conditions. A wedge with a higher bounce would be better in longer grass, soft bunkers, and softer conditions. Finding the appropriate bounce for you will depend on personal preference as well as the type of course and conditions you play on a regular basis.

Terminology

Club Fitting And Building

Ball Speed

A measurement in miles per hour of how fast the ball is traveling immediately after it comes off the clubface.

Center of Gravity

The clubhead balance point that is controlled by the size of the head and the location of the head weight. The lower the center of gravity and the farther back it is from the clubface, the easier it is to get the ball airborne.

Clubhead Speed

The actual speed at which the clubhead is traveling just prior to impact. A higher club speed will produce a longer shot upon solid contact. There is a direct correlation between clubhead speed and ball speed that is determined by how solidly the ball is struck.

Flex

The relative stiffness or overall bending property of a shaft. Manufacturers typically categorize shafts by ladies, senior, regular, firm, stiff and extra stiff flex.

Frequency

A more accurate and precise way to measure the flex of a shaft. The frequency scale used by Club Champion is based on the length of the club as well as cycles per minute (CPM). CPM is measured by clamping the club at the butt end into a frequency monitor and measuring how many times the club passes a certain point over a given time. A frequency number of 8.0 is extremely stiff, while a 1.0 frequency is exceptionally soft.

Launch Angle

A measurement in degrees of the angle the ball comes off the clubface at impact. This is a key variable in determining the height and length of the shot.

Kick Point

The position on the shaft that exhibits the greatest amount of bending when the shaft is compressed at one or both ends. This reading is important because it helps determine ball trajectory. The lower the bend-point, the higher the ball flight. Similarly, the higher the bend-point, the lower the ball flight.

Lie

A measurement of the angle of the shaft coming out of the clubhead. Lie angle has a direct effect on direction as well as distance. For example, if your 5-iron is four degrees off in lie angle, even a perfectly struck shot may go as much as 40 feet off line.

Loft

The angle of a clubface and the corresponding trajectory of the shot it will produce. Loft is determined by comparing the angle of the face perpendicular to the ground.

Spin Rate

The spin rate is calculated by how many times the ball rotates in a given period of time. The unit measurement is revolutions per minute (RPM). Spin rate directly affects how the ball flies through the air. A ball that is rotating faster, at a higher RPM, will stay in the air longer but not roll as much when it hits the ground. Conversely, a ball that is rotating at a lower RPM will not stay in the air as long. It tends to roll out further.

Swingweight

Swingweight is also known as the “feel” weight of the club. To determine the feel, simply hold the club waist high and note how heavy the head feels. Some golf clubs will have a heavier swingweight than others by design. Variables in swingweight can result from length of the club, shaft material used, head weight, and grip weight.

Torque

The amount of resistance to twisting that a shaft has is called torque. Each shaft has a different torque, and it is important to match the correct torque for each individual swing. The lower the torque number, the less the shaft will twist when force is applied. This also will make the shaft feel stiffer.

Total Weight

The overall weight of a club after it is fully assembled is total weight. The lighter the total weight, the faster the club may be swung.

What is Club Fitting?

This article was originally published by LINKS Magazine as an editorial piece.

Is a Club Champion Club Fitting Worth the Money?

I started playing golf at the age of seven, and as one of six sons I naturally started with an older brother’s hand-me-down clubs. Over the years, my clubs gradually lengthened and changed, but I never owned a set fit for my swing. Despite this, I hit my irons pretty well, on a good day my drives go about 280 yards, and, if I’m concentrating, I break 80. So like many other golfers, I’ve wondered “Why do I need to get fit for clubs?” Here’s why.

What is Club Fitting?

I started playing golf at the age of seven, and as one of six sons I naturally started with an older brother’s hand-me-down clubs. Over the years, my clubs gradually lengthened and changed, but I never owned a set fit for my swing. Despite this, I hit my irons pretty well, on a good day my drives go about 280 yards, and, if I’m concentrating, I break 80. So like many other golfers, I’ve wondered “Why do I need to get fit for clubs?” Here’s why.

Let’s start with some basics. Club fitting is a process in which a trained fitter creates a set of clubs that is perfectly matched to your swing. To do that, every aspect of the club is studied—from head and shaft to grip, loft, lie angle, and feel.

Club Champion is the fitting company closest to me here in the Carolinas, but they have locations throughout the U.S. It offers what is called “agnostic fitting,” meaning it has no allegiance to any one manufacturer and can offer hundreds of clubheads and shafts from dozens of brands. The idea is that its fitter will create the best clubs for you, regardless of who makes them.

Being brand agnostic is the biggest point of difference between Club Champion and your pro shop or most local golf stores. Pros have relationships with certain companies and your local golf store has inventory they’re looking to move. Plus, Club Champion generally provides a much more in-depth and detailed fitting than you could find at a golf store.

I chose to be fit for irons and a driver, a process that took just under three hours. You can also get fit for fairway woods, hybrids, wedges, and putters.

The Fitting

The fitting process at Club Champion is similar—but not necessarily the same—to what you’ll find at most agnostic fitters (Hot Stix, Cool Clubs, True Spec Golf, and others). The process starts by hitting your current clubs and using a launch monitor to track and store your distance, spin rate, and many other data points. This provides a baseline: Subsequent clubs and shafts are measured against it.

The fitter starts by selecting the same, or very similar, clubhead to what you are currently playing and then experiments with shafts of different weight, length, flex, and flex point until finding the best one for that part of your game. Once the shaft is set, the fitter does the same

Club Champion 3

Club Champion 4

Adjusting lie angle using tape and lie board

Buying

Once you’re fit, there is no obligation to buy. Another golfer I met in the Club Champion parking lot told me he went in for a driver fitting and was told that what he was currently using performed great against newer offerings. The fitter said there was no reason to buy a new driver, so the customer only paid for the fitting.

If you do decide to buy, Club Champion orders the component parts, assembles them in its Chicago headquarters, and mails them to you. Club Champion charges the same price for a club as any shop or big box store. The difference is that Club Champion removes the stock shaft, which in most cases is an average quality shaft ordered in bulk by the manufacturer, and puts in the right one for you. Shafts can significantly up the cost of your completed set since iron shafts usually range from $25–$75 each, driver shafts from $100–$400 and even higher.

Check the Club Champion website for the exact cost of a fitting without buying the clubs, but expect to pay from about $80 for a wedge fit to $350 for the full bag. Again, this is just for the fitter’s time and expertise; the price of the clubs is extra. The website also shows occasional deals. Club Champion’s policy is that if your expectations aren’t met when you take your new set to the course, you can bring them back within 90 days and the fitter will work with you again to make them perfect.

So… Is it worth it?

Going by my experience, the answer is yes. Just the peace of mind and confidence you have in your “perfect” set makes it worthwhile. But more than that, my fitting dramatically helped my game by fixing my typical misses with both irons and the driver. And while it’s something of a cliché to say this, it really is true: Clubs aren’t cheap and how you play is important, so why not get the right set for you?

But club fitting does have one downside: You’ll never be able to blame the clubs again.

Find what you're looking for

Club Champion Resources

Tips to improve your performance with a...

Custom Club Fitting At Club Champion

Terminology

Club Fitting And Building

What is Club Fitting?