Think Your Clubs Still Fit You? What 3 Years Of Swing Changes And New Tech Proved At My Refit

There's always a moment in a fitting. The numbers on the screen do something you didn't expect and you realise whether the club in your hands has been quietly working for you or against you all along.

I've had that aha moment in every fitting I've done. So when I headed to TaylorMade's The Kingdom for a full bag fitting, I wasn't only curious about what might change. I wanted to know what this time's surprise would be.

Why I Wanted To Get Fitted Again

My bag has been built up over time. I got my irons three years ago and the top of my bag – driver, 3 wood, 3 rescue and 4 rescue – a year after that.

My swing has changed significantly in that time and there were two things I thought would affect my specs the most.

The first is speed. I've always had good speed but I know I’ve gathered a bit more over the last two to three years, especially after making the changes I have.

The second is my release. At my last fitting I was a big early releaser of the club. That's come a long way. There's still more to do but it's a very different move from the one my current clubs were fitted to. So my question was: if my swing has changed, have my clubs kept up?

Finding My Swing Profile

We started with driver, which I was quite excited about as it's my favourite club in the bag right now.

But the fitting doesn't start there just so you can rip a few away. Driver is where your swing profile is found. That profile is your swing speed plus your rotation – how quickly you close the face through the ball.

Golfers are sorted into three rotation buckets: low, mid and high. Combined with your swing speed, that identifies the shaft that matches your swing profile and tendencies.

As George, my fitter, explained, there's no right or wrong here. Your swing is your swing. The data simply points you towards the shaft that suits it.

As a data nerd, I love this part. My speed came in at 91-92mph. And my rotation was mid. That was my first surprise as I've only recently grooved that early release out of my swing.

With my profile identified, we tested shafts that matched it – looking for the most repeatable strike. My current shaft actually suited my profile well. But the Ventus Red + 5 S did something I'm not sure I've ever done before.

Four strikes in a row, all from the middle of the face – more central than with my current shaft, which I was hitting lower on the face. Same swing. Different shaft. And four right out the middle.

That, for me, is the power of a fitting. It doesn't try to change your swing. It matches your swing to the spec that gives you a more repeatable outcome. And repeatability is what we want on the course.

With the shaft locked in, we moved on to the head. The Qi4D Core at 9 degrees came out on top, with more ball speed, more distance and tighter dispersion than my current setup.

The Top Of The Bag Got A Rethink

Once we understood my rotation, it shaped everything that followed. My second surprise came here. I hit a 5-wood more consistently, for both distance and dispersion, than either my 3-wood or my 3-rescue. So both are coming out and a 5 wood is going in alongside my 4-rescue. Both using the same shaft profile as my driver.

If I'm honest, I've never felt like I make the most of the longer clubs in my bag. And is there anything worse than standing over a second shot into a par-5 without trusting the club in your hands? It was reassuring to know I don't need a 3-wood if a 5-wood gives me more consistent results.

Making My Bad Shots Better

My irons were the part I was keenest to see. They're three years old and I know I tend to hit the ball high.

My 7-iron speed ranged from 75 to 78mph. I still carry a bit of that shallow release into the ball, so my current Nippon Neo shaft came up a little soft. We moved to the Dynamic Gold 95. It's a similar weight but we went for a stronger tip profile.

That stronger tip is the key for my swing. It gives me a lower launch to tame that high ball flight – which can really fox me playing into a heavy wind – plus more stability through the ball. A big win.

We judged the options on two things: dispersion and carry distance consistency. It's tempting to build everything around squeezing out an extra yard or three. But I've come to realise that dispersion is the metric that matters more.

This is where the new setup came into its own. The dots on the screen gathered in a green-sized cluster. Even the shots I didn't strike as well turned into better misses. And that, for me, is everything. Making my bad shots better.

Gapping And Feel

Next came wedges, starting with the ones I hit full swings with: my pitching wedge and gap wedge. Here the focus was gapping. To keep the distances between clubs right with the new iron setup, both are going one degree stronger. It should also help bring that higher ball flight down, so I can trust it more into the green.

For my 54 and 58-degree wedges, the focus was feel. I’ll often reach for my 58 degree around the green and so with my shallow angle of attack, we moved into the SX grind with 11 degrees of bounce.

That bounce and grind will help the sole glide through the turf rather than dig in. And that's exactly what I want on those delicate shots around the green – confidence in good contact.

The Line I Didn't Know I Needed

Last but by no means least came the putter. I play the TaylorMade Spider Tour X and I love it. There's something about the feel off the face that I've never had with any other putter.

The putter fitting focused on two things. The first was launch: is the ball rolling off the face or jumping? The second was rotation: am I closing the face too much through the ball and sending it off line?

I went in knowing I mostly miss putts to the right. That could be my green reading but the putter in your hands can play a part too.

The data showed I strike my putts with the face slightly open, 0.18 degrees open to the target. That explains why my misses go right far more often than left.

Then came the real surprise. I tried a putter without the alignment line the Spider has and I aimed 4 degrees shut at address. Four degrees. And I set up to that putter believing I was square. That's a putt that never has a chance, however well I’ve read it.

That showed the line on the Spider isn't just a nice-to-have for me. It's what gets me set up square in the first place. It also tells me that drawing a line on my ball would help even more because I could track the ball's line down the line on the back of the putter.

So the Spider Tour X is staying. I'm averaging 32 putts a round with it, so on feel and performance, it has more than earned its place.

How Much Has Actually Changed?

I have a new driver head and shaft. A 5-wood replaces my 3-wood and 3-rescue. My irons have a new shaft with a stronger tip. My pitching and gap wedges are a degree stronger each. My putter hasn't changed at all.

That's a lot of change for a bag that was fitted within the last three years. Part of that is down to me. My speed has gone up, my release has changed and my specs needed to follow.

But part of it is how quickly the technology moves on. Some of my biggest wins came from options that are new, like the Ventus Red + 5 S shaft and the Qi4D Core head.

A setup that was right for me two or three years ago was right against what was available back then. Our swings change and so do the options.

Why Every Golfer Should Get Fitted

As golfers, we work hard to get the most out of our games. A fitting helps you do exactly that.

It doesn't ask you to change your swing and it doesn't bank everything on distance. It's about repeatability: making your good shots more consistent and your misses less damaging.

I made the same swings with different shafts and the difference was clear. A shaft matched to my speed and rotation gave me results I'd be over the moon with on the course.

As a single-figure golfer, I find the margins are smaller now. When there are fewer shots to find, there's even less sense in leaving any of them in the bag.

But that doesn't mean fitting is only for low handicappers. I think it’s for every golfer who feels like they’re leaving better scores out there on the course.

If you're thinking about it, here are three tips I would pass on:

1. Don’t wait until your swing is "ready." A fitting is built around getting the most out of the swing you have now. It's about repeatability, not perfection.

2. Go knowing your misses, from driver right through to your putts. If you can tell your fitter about your patterns, like my high ball flight or my putts missing right, you're giving them clues that help them do their job even better.

3. You don't need to be a tour pro or a single-figure golfer, to want the right tools for this game we love. A fitting is about getting the most out of your game so you can enjoy it even more. All with the swing you have now. Not the swing you think you need.

Follow Jess’ golf journey and see inside her fitting on her Instagram and TikTok.