By: Ed Travis
Most golfers have heard the easiest way to improve their game is to play with professionally fitted clubs. Not just the driver, but also irons, wedges and putter.
Professional fitting is what Club Champion does and after a fitting session, my game improved immediately. Changing to a new driver, with a different shaft raised my smash factor (the ratio of ball speed to clubhead speed) from an average of 1.40 to 1.46, which is a major transformation.
That one number added an effortless gain of 15 yards, plus a switch of shafts in my irons gave me a pure one-half club increase in carry!
Golfers in metro Cleveland will find their own improvements after a visit with the Club Champion pros at their new location, 4069 Richmond Road in Warrensville Heights. The 3,000 square-foot facility includes two hitting bays with launch monitors by Trackman, the same model used to by PGA Tour professionals.
A driver fitting takes about 90 minutes, or three hours for the entire bag.
My fitter asked about my game, how long I had been playing, how often I am able to play and my most common mishit.
More importantly, he asked, what I wanted to achieve from the fitting. I surprised him, when I didn’t answer distance.
“I wanted a more consistent shot pattern.”
After a warmup with my current driver, he turned on the Trackman to measure the results of the next several swings.
He viewed the data and suggested five various shafts for trial. He mounted each into a clubhead identical to mine and zeroed-in on the shaft that produced the best results for me. Next, we tried that shaft with various clubheads to maximize both distance and accuracy.
Volia! It was almost magical!
Special interchangeable hosels allow for easy switching and the fitter can identify the right club. Club Champion is the only fitter offering 35,000 interchangeable shaft and head combinations at every location.
They aren’t restricted to one manufacturer and are not biased to any one brand name like, TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway or PXG …just what is best for you.
The second very important point is that Club Champion only employs experienced club fitters, who are required to complete an additional 180 hours of training in the Club Champion methodology.
At the end of your session you can order your most effective driver and Club Champion will custom build it in their Willowbrook, Illinois facility, plus they guarantee every custom club.
The gains you see in the hitting bay will be the same you see on the course, or they will fix or replace your clubs at no charge.
Time spent in the Club Champion’s Science & Motion (SAM) PuttLab, measuring 28 stroke parameters, showed my current putter was the best for my stroke. The only recommendation was to replace my grip with a mid-size to quiet my right hand, as the putter accelerates through impact.
A Golf Magazine study, completed in August, reported results, that are truly game changing. The average yardage gained off the tee was 22 yards for golfers after a fitting by Club Champion.
An earlier Golf Magazine study also found as many as 90% of golfers are playing with the wrong clubs.
This evidence is impressive. Being properly fit will help lower your scores.
As part of the Cleveland location opening, Club Champion is offering a golfer-friendly price of $175 for a full bag fitting, which is half of the regular $350 price. Plus, they are offering 33% off the price of a driver, fairway wood, iron, wedge or putter fittings.
If you’re ready to play better golf, visit ClubChampionGolf.com or call (888) 340-7820 to schedule your personal club fitting.
