Custom clone golf clubs?

You read a lot about custom-fitting these days. This used to be the preserve of the tour professional. Top tournaments would echo to the sound of clubmakers adjusting and manipulating clubs to fit the specific requirements of their adopted professional.

But custom fitting is now something every golfer has access to. Many pro stores have swing analysis equipment which lets them understand how to tweak the set of irons you just selected so they’re in tune with your particular swing needs.

It’s a great idea. The outcome of a golf shot depends on the interaction between the club and your body. So the characteristics of the former need to fit with the latter. Or to put it simply…you wouldn’t give a tall guy a short club, and vice versa.

Now that begs two questions. First, how can custom fitting work when buying golf clubs online? Surely you need to have someone take a look at you swinging a golf club?

Second, which clone club retailers (if any) offer a custom-fitting service?

The first question is answered easily. Yes, a high-street retailer can look at many things in your swing that an online retailer (obviously) can’t see. So that’s a good argument for buying offline. Well…not as strong an argument as you’d think.

It’s certainly a great argument if you have a consistent swing that you’re not going to change. But most of us haven’t reached a level where we can honestly say we hit the ball the same way each time. And most of us are also trying to improve the way we swing.

So fitting clubs to a specific swing has limited value in most circumstances. Another approach is to fit clubs to your physical characteristics. To numbers like height that aren’t going to change (or only slowly.)

That kind of custom fitting is — fortunately — well suited to online club purchases. It’s fairly easy for you to measure your height, arm length and estimate how far you can hit a golf ball. Online retailers take those numbers and use them to custom fit your desired clubs to your body frame.

In fact, just about every one of the major online golf stores offers this kind of custom-fitting service.

Which leaves the question of whether you can get custom-fit clone golf clubs. The question arises because we associate clone clubs with low prices and assume that a low price doesn’t leave much margin for the retailer to do any club customization.

The good news is that the reputable clone retailers certainly do offer custom-fitting.

If you look at clone manufacturer-direct retailers like GigaGolf, Pinemeadow Golf or Hireko, they all have custom-fitting options. GigaGolf’s eFit system, for example, takes you step-by-step through the club configuration process so you end up with the right club characteristics, shafts and grips for your needs.

In fact, one advantage the clone retailers have is that most are selling direct. Since they assemble clubs themselves, they can build your custom clubs quickly. (My custom-built clone clubs from GigaGolf were dispatched just a day after I gave the order.)

Retailer-only websites have to pass on the customization details to a manufacturer and wait for them to send them the customized equipment. Only then can they dispatch your order. This can lead to extensive delays you won’t get from the clone retailers.