Can You Get Your Existing Golf Clubs Custom Fitted? Complexity = Cost

The benefits of a custom golf club fitting are well documented and with good reason.

After completing eight different fitting sessions across six venues, I’ve seen first hand how properly fitted clubs can dramatically improve performance – including gaining 40+ yards off the tee without changing my swing or adding any swing speed.

But what if you already have a set of clubs you like that were bought off-the-shelf and not custom fitted for you?

Can you custom fit your old clubs?

As a whole it is possible to custom fit almost any existing golf club a player uses.

Grip, loft and lie changes are the most common and straight forward modifications, but the complexity and cost of retro-fitting current clubs increases with more substantial changes making the case for getting new clubs stronger.

In this comprehensive guide, Golfing Focus will walk you through:

• What can (and can’t) be adjusted on your existing clubs
• The costs and complexity of various modifications
• Key lessons about custom fitting old clubs from my 8 different fitting experiences
• How to determine if retrofitting your current clubs is worthwhile

Golfing Focused Takeaways For Time Pressed Golfers

• Not all fitting changes are equal: Grips are easy to change, loft and lie adjustments are possible on many (but not all) clubs, shaft changes are more complex and can significantly alter a club’s performance characteristics
• Club weight really matters: Changes to your existing clubs can materially affect their weight which as a consequence can affect their performance if not expertly done.
• Retrofitting costs add up quickly: Multiple modifications can start to approach the cost of new custom-fitted clubs
• The right fitter is crucial: Independent specialists typically offer the most comprehensive retrofitting options and expertise

Not All Fitting Changes To Your Current Clubs are Easy

Many golfers find themselves with a collection of clubs acquired over time.

That can be either through being pieced together from different sources as beginners or, like me, holding onto the same trusted set for years and years because they seem “good enough.”

But if are also like me and become aware of custom fitting and the potential benefits the question as to whether you can get your existing off the rack clubs fitted inevitably arises.

A golfer’s existing or off-the-rack clubs can in theory be fitted for some of the 12 possible fitting elements but not all.

1. Set Makeup
2. Grip Size / Type
3. Loft
4. Lie Angle
5. Length
6. Face Angle
7. Shaft Flex
8. Shaft Bend Profile
9. Shaft Weight
10. Total Weight
11. Swingweight
12. Clubhead Design/Model

“Can your existing clubs, or can the clubs you just bought off the rack in a golf store or pro shop be custom fit to your swing and how you play? For a couple of the 12 key fitting elements, yes, for a few more of the 12 key club fitting elements possibly, but for all of them, no they can’t.”

Tom Wishon – Master club maker and 40-year veteran of the golf equipment industry

The reality however is that retrofitting your old clubs isn’t always as straight forward as we would like.

Which modifications are possible—and advisable—depends greatly on your current clubs’ construction and design.

Let’s examine what can realistically be changed on your existing clubs, and what the practical limitations might be.

So let’s examine the main elements of your current clubs that can be potentially be changed and what the practical limitations might be.

1. Current Set ‘Make Up’ Changes

While not technically a “change” to your old clubs, an important part of the custom fitting process is determining which clubs you should actually carry.

Many golfers today use clubs that aren’t suited for their game.

For example, players with a swing speed of 85-90 MPH or lower can benefit from replacing long irons (anything below a 6-iron) with hybrids or fairway woods.

Golf tech has moved on in leaps and bounds over the past two decades especially and a good club fitting can identify which of your current clubs should be removed from your bag entirely rather than modified.

2. Grip Changes

The most straightforward element of an old club you can change is of course the grip.

It’s very easy to identify poor grips at a custom fitting and get them replaced with ones that not only fit the size of your hands well but also feel better.

However even with grip changes it can be a bit more complex than it first appears.

And that is because of weight.

A big change in the weight of a golf club can affect the overall weight of the club, potentially changing ball flight, launch angles, and spin rates.

While it’s unlikely a grip change alone would dramatically alter a club’s performance, it’s worth noting that some players’ swings are more sensitive to weight changes than others.

And this is clearly evidenced through the grip choices of the best players on the PGA Tour.

So even with what appears a ‘simple’ grip change it’s possible to see the unforeseen consequences that can happen when you start modifying your existing golf clubs.

3. Loft and Lie Angle Alterations

Next on the list of features of your current clubs that can be changed are the lofts and lies.

Loft and lie adjustments are common modifications, particularly for players with forged irons where the soft metal can bend over time.

As a result of my own recent custom fitting for example the lofts of my 20-year-old irons were changed to sort rectify the yardage gapping problems I was seeing between clubs.

However, this isn’t always a straightforward process as not all irons can be easily bent even by an expert club fitter.

Cast irons, for example, which are made by pouring molten metal into a mould to produce a golf club head, can be made of very hard steel compared to soft forged irons which are hugely difficult to bend.

Other cast irons are simply not recommended to bend for loft and lie changes because they can break during the process.

For drivers and fairway woods, the situation is even more complex.

Many existing drivers – including my own 15-year old Mizuno MP630 that needed to be changed from 10.5º to 8º – can’t have their loft and lie changed because the head won’t handle a bend to the hosel.

Even those drivers with ‘adjustable hosels’ that allow for a change of lofts may only result in a change of lie angle rather than the loft if you rest the sole of the driver on the ground at address.

This is because the change of loft requires the club head to be held with the face square to the target, which only happens if you hover the club head off the ground before hitting the shot.

And while that’s possible with a driver it’s much harder to do with a fairway wood.

So if you need different loft and lie settings on your current driver and woods, you may need to change the club as I did rather than get your existing driver retro fitted.

4. Shaft changes

Switching the shaft of a golf club is possible and something a club fitter can certainly do.

And once again my own experience proves this as I was able to get my current set of old irons fitted with new lighter shafts.

However, there are important considerations beyond the practical aspect of changing shafts.

First, testing different shaft options isn’t as easy with older clubs as it is with modern original equipment manufacturer (OEM) clubs and their fitting systems.

But while the practical element of changing shafts can certainly be done it’s not the only factor you need to consider when it comes to swapping out the shafts in your current clubs.

Firstly, it’s not as easy to switch out shafts and test them out on some older clubs as it is on modern original equipment manufacturer clubs and their fitting systems.

Second, if your shaft change results in a significant weight change (which it often does and certainly did in my case – 132g to 112g!), the performance characteristics of your clubs can change dramatically.

Large differences in golf club weight lead to different shot results – affecting ball speed, launch angles, spin rates, and ball flight.

Despite what you might hear around the clubhouse, shaft weight is actually more important than shaft flex when it comes to golf performance.

As club fitting expert James MacNiven told Golf Digest: “Golfers can just about get away with playing the wrong shaft flex, but getting the wrong weight can absolutely kill your game.”

If you’re considering changing the shafts in your current clubs therefore, be aware that additional adjustments may be necessary.

An expert club fitter might need to add or remove weight from the clubhead to maintain the overall swing weight at a level that suits your swing and “feels” right.

In short, it’s not always as simple as just swapping in new shafts.

5. Altering the lengths of your current clubs

If you’re taller or shorter than the average golfer and bought standard clubs, length adjustments might help.

An experienced club fitter can cut your clubs down or extend them, but again, this isn’t as simple as it first appears.

Because the hard part when you start taking length off or adding it to existing clubs is again the weight.

Irons 1/2" longer. Wedges 3/4 ". About 1 to 2 degrees up! 🏌️‍♂️⛳️ https://t.co/GzWz0rE3Os

— Sir Nick Faldo (@Sir_NickFaldo) September 28, 2020

Cut a club shorter, and the fitter will likely need to add weight to the clubhead to restore the overall weight to what “feels” right for your swing.

And while that again can be more often done on irons it is it’s much more difficult for drivers, fairway woods, or hybrids.

Lengthening an existing club creates the opposite problem – you may need to remove weight from the clubhead.

With irons, grinding weight off the club head is possible, but forged irons will then need to be re-chromed to prevent rusting.

For drivers and woods, removing weight is nearly impossible however as the walls of the head body are typically too thin.

So in brief, shortening clubs gives you a better chance of maintaining their original feel, while lengthening them often results in clubs that feel quite different – which may defeat the purpose of modifying rather than replacing them.

There is a half inch (length) window you can fit within. You can go a little longer or shorter depending on the player (and) can choose one or other – for example slightly shorter if you’re trying to make sure of strike and slightly longer if someone’s got a bad back or can’t get down (to the ball).

simon cooper, master club fitter at precision golf

6. Club head design changes

The most extreme change, especially with your driver, would be modifying or replacing the club head entirely.

While it is technically possible to put a different club head on your existing shafts and grips, the purpose of doing this is questionable.

Not only does it require some analysis by an experienced club fitter to see if it’s possible for your current clubs.

But if the club head of your existing clubs is entirely wrong for you and your swing, it would generally make more sense to buy new clubs rather than attempt this level of modification.

We would strongly counsel against pulling that shaft out of one manufacturers’ hosel adapter and epoxying it into a second manufacturers’ hosel adapter for a new driver. It’s not that it can’t be done, it’s just that given today’s increasing level of manufacturing consistency, that kind of drastic step seems unnecessary.

Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson, Golf Digest Equipment Editors

Is Getting Your Existing Clubs Fitted Worth It?

After experiencing multiple fittings across different venues, I’ve gained valuable perspective on when modifying existing clubs makes sense versus investing in new equipment.

It’s clear that an experienced club expert can make a whole raft of changes to custom fit your existing clubs.

But what sounds like a “simple” change on paper may have a list of other consequences you hadn’t initially considered. The more you change your existing clubs, the more unintended consequences there may be.

You need to be absolutely clear that the result of custom fitting your current clubs, if you’re determined to hang onto them, will improve rather than detract from their performance.

The Cost Reality: When Modifications Approach New Club Prices

Even if the technical limitations we’ve discussed don’t apply to your set and all your desired changes are possible, there’s always the main element to consider – cost.

Let’s break it down:

• Grip changes: At roughly $10 (£7.70) per club, changing grips on a full set of 14 clubs costs around $140 (£110)
• Loft and lie adjustments: Approximately $30-50 (£23-£39) for the club fitter’s time, plus another $30 (£23) on the cheaper end to bend 7-8 clubs
• Shaft changes: The new lighter shafts – Nippon NS Pro Modus3 Tour 105 – that were fitted to my old irons cost hundreds of dollars ($840 / £650) and had I chosen graphite iron shafts the cost would have been even higher.

These costs accumulate quickly.

If your custom fitting assessment reveals that your shafts are wrong – as mine did – and you need new grips plus loft and lie adjustments, the total investment becomes substantial — not to mention the risk of damaging your clubs during the bending process.

In my own fitting experience for example the $840/£650 cost of the shaft changes in my 20-year-old Mizuno MP-32 irons took me almost halfway to the $1.7k-$2.1k quotes I got from my other PXG, Titleist, and Callaway fittings for brand new irons.

Looking at it another way let’s say your current irons cost $600 two years ago.

They’ve likely depreciated by about 60%, making them worth approximately $240 today.

For what other piece of equipment would you potentially invest the same amount or more of its current value to modify it?

This is especially significant when that investment could take you more than halfway toward a fully custom-fitted new set.

And it makes even less sense when you consider in my own case that I’ve just spent $840 getting new shafts in a set of irons now worth roughly $60!

I’m not suggesting that buying new clubs always makes financial sense—given how golf clubs depreciate, it rarely does.

Nor am I saying it’s always a bad idea to get some custom fitting changes made to existing sets.

Although I clearly have to say that looking at the maths of my recent irons fitting decision! 😂

The main point regarding costs is this: if your custom fitting recommends major alterations to your current clubs, you’ll likely end up putting significant money into older clubs whose value has depreciated considerably since purchase.

It is then up to you to decide whether like me you think it’s worth it to get your current clubs modified given how much you like them or the numbers just don’t add up!

When Custom Fitting Your Old Clubs Makes Sense

Based on my experience across eight different fittings, I would say retrofitting is likely worth it if:

• You genuinely love your current clubs and have an emotional attachment to them
• The modifications needed are relatively minimal (grips, minor loft/lie adjustments)
• The primary issues are related to basic specifications rather than fundamental design
• The cost of modifications is reasonable compared to the clubs’ current value

My experience with my 20-year-old Mizuno blades revealed that simply changing the shafts addressed their primary limitation (weight) while preserving what I loved about them.

No current iron model could deliver materially better results beyond a minor 3-4 yard distance gain once this weight issue was addressed.

When Custom Fitting Your Old Clubs Makes Sense

However you should consider new clubs when:

• Multiple substantial modifications are recommended
• The cost of modifications starts making significant inroads into the cost of new custom clubs
• Your current clubs’ design fundamentally doesn’t match your strike pattern
• The technology limitations are genuinely affecting your performance.

If you are very attached to your existing clubs and have your heart set on taking them to the next level with a custom fitting, just be aware the costs can add up and may approach the cost of a new set of custom clubs.

A good club fitter will keep you right and walk you through the good and bad alternatives to your current setup.

Just make sure you go into the process with your eyes open as to what’s possible and what it may cost.

Regardless of whether you ultimately retrofit or replace, the professional assessment itself delivers tremendous value by helping you understand which aspects of your current equipment are working for or against your game.

Before You Go …

To know more about the costs of a golf club fitting check out our next article that runs through in detail what I was charged across all the eight fittings I went to.

How Much Does a Golf Club Fitting Cost? Is it Worth it?

Or if you think you’re ready to go straight and get an assessment of your current clubs at an expert fitter check out our searchable directory of the best fitters across the US, Canada and the UK!

Best Places to Get Fitted for Golf Clubs – A Complete Guide

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