I’m writing to make apologies to an industry, in advance, of my evisceration of it. Ready? The club-fitting industry, for amateurs, in any-and-all places and forms, is ruining golf swings and feeding the instruction industry at the same damn time. I have a newest account to talk about but, may I just say, what a crock!

A gentleman phoned to get some advice on their Open Stance pursuit, which I accommodated. After asking him a battery of questions to triangulate the root cause of his trouble (a persistent slice), I suggested a disciplined practice regimen and what to expect over these next months. As always, I detailed the benefits he would see. Additionally, my description laid out his possible pitfalls, primarily club set-up and, specifically, lie angle.

My initial example centered on an upright lie angle and the damage it would do to anyone’s progress. He then confirmed with a groan and immediate acknowledgement that although he had switched to a standard lie club a couple weeks ago he had, for the two-plus years prior been fitted with irons that were FOUR DEGREES UPRIGHT! Some (under-learned) club-fitter thought they could correct his slice with club set-up and sold this good man on their scam! And yes, I am upset.

Our club set-up, most-specifically our lie angle, is the single-most consequential and least addressed tumbler in the codex of ball-striking success. NO other factor plays as large a part in the silent film of learning to move than the unspoken narrative that feedback provides to guide us as hopeful golfers. Club-fitting steals our joy and wrecks our feedback until, naturally, we submit to its will. In doing so, we believe when our ball doesn’t do what we want, that said destruction is our own fault. We blame ourselves! IT. IS. OUR. CLUB. SET-UP!

For anyone who has seen The Passion of The Christ, I see club-fitters for amateur golfers as the pallid, floating Satan moving just behind the crowd, looking on in delight and enjoying the destruction he hath wrought. And, although it may be harsh to make that comparison, what is demonstrable is this…. Club-fitters, writ large, are stealing time and effort away from us and lining their pockets with our misplaced trust. I want it to stop. ‘Inmates should never run the asylum’, and all that.

You may remember me lauding club-fitter to the Indian pros, Gurbazz Mann and few years ago. Bazz is working from a set of assumptions that are much more homogenous than the average club-fitter. Players at that level already have neutral lie angles. Consequently, changes to tour professionals’ club set-up are very minute. However, when Bazz looked at my own swing and results, there was not a word said until I hit one offline. Then, my club set-up became the issue – never mind I was cold and tight from sitting around waiting to greet him.

There is a seed of interpreting facts to support their own conclusions in EVERY club-fitter regardless of pre-conditions, context, or cause. Club-fitting is an industry BASED on ignorance, willful or otherwise, of contributing factors. If these folks asked enough questions to locate the real problem, they would be out of business immediately.

The reason? Because with a neutral club set-up we would never need a club-fitter OR an instructor. If the toe of our irons sit on the level ground so we might fit a quarter underneath, that is the right set-up. An appropriate shaft flex is assumed. Thereafter, we would only need an Open Stance and Intention.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Fittings vs Lessons 3-4-14

Clubs Too Upright Are Your Swing’s Dynamite