GOLFS HUGE IRON FITTING CON stop being caught out 

The Cleveland chipper I bought after seeing the chipper videos may be the biggest weapon in my bag in 35+ years! Unreal results! Point and shoot! Love it.

I had a gap test years ago and put a note on my phone to help me with clubbing. I've been missing greens short ever since!!

Would love a indoor/outdoor wedge video. Especially covering half/3quarter/full distances. Great channel (best golf one by a million miles)

Love this Mark! Great video and so informative - wish more people were are honest and forthright

Good vid! So glad, that after one of your older videos, some 2 years back, I got myself fitted for how the club feels and swings, and not for distance ^^

Ive thought it but you've just uncovered what my gut feeling was! Great Vlog 😁

I did not know this and am VERY happy to learn it. Eventually will get fitted and will keep this in mind.

Easily the best information / knowledge out of all the tube golfers. Great job chaps.

As always, interesting stuff. I sort of knew range/mat/indoor stuff wasn't the same as on the course, but the magnitude of the difference in this one was an eye opener. Useful knowledge.

I've said this before but..... This is your best video to date..I've watched you for YEARS and this is just fantastic content. You and Coach together is magic

Great video Mark and I do agree that if you are fitted indoors only, this become a selling tool above most anything else. I was fortunate in my fitting to be fitted both indoors and then right outdoors on a grass range. Now the lie was relatively flat outdoors, but at least it was real grass so the turf interaction etc. was somewhat there. My fitting felt more like a lesson which I was thrilled about but unfortunately, I’m still coming up short on most approach shots so maybe more lessons are in order - HAHA!!

I just had a custom fit for a new set of irons. My coach fitted me and i focused on look and feel. Great video very interesting

Thank you for another great video Mark. My current clubs are a complete set of Ping G20s. I have my first club fitting scheduled for next month. My primary goal is finding the ideal shaft, weight and length that best fits my swing.

Thanks for sharing this. It would be great to see the difference with the wedge. WE DESERVE BETTER

I have always accepted that knowing yourself, your game, and your tendencies is the most important part of deciding about equipment. I have only been professionally fitted once and have subsequently “fitted” myself based on what i know about my game on the course. I still use those original fitted clubs from time to time but they work for me because i have paid attention to my tendencies and don’t expect miracles. I love that you address this constantly. Golfers cannot hear about this enough. Big fan!!!

These results are very revealing and give numbers to back up my suspicions, but it seems there's more to the story. Looking forward to the Wedge results. Well done Mark.

I love this video Mark. I find myself at times wondering how it's possible my clubhead speed is that of the PGA Tour yet my distances are near what you see other RU-vidrs reach. It has left me scratching my head and wondering what am I missing or doing wrong. This video definitely shed some light on that fact. I have my gapping and distances established outside on my Mevo. I verify them with my laser range finder. When I practice at the range I'm always shooting distances to verify how far I'm hitting particular clubs. This is a simple warm up routine that I use and can be done relatively quickly before going to play. I've never been fit before, I have a hard time justifying the amount of money needed to purchase a custom fit set. I do understand based on my speed and distances that I'm sure I would most certainly benefit. I currently play Mizuno JPX919 irons in a Dynamic Gold 105 S300 shaft. After loads of video I do think these shafts are too soft. As I'm in the delivery phase of the swing I have a huge amount of shaft lag and a significant amount of unloading of the shaft after impact. This can most certainly indicate a miss left as I'm a right hander.

Best video ever! I have been telling people this forever. I have buddies that get fitted for driver and hit it 300 yards indoors and can’t hit it 260 outdoors.

Spot on in your analysis, plus many fittings use wet range balls which spin even less and therefore go even further…

I have heard of this but don’t really know how each club changes from indoors to outdoor. Yes, please show how wedges and others change. Great video!

We Deserve Better. I'm soon to go and get fit for a new set of irons. Will definitely have this info in the back of my mind while doing so.

I watched this video yesterday. I thought good info but I’m not buying new irons. But I let that indoor outdoor soak in. I knew my indoor numbers to be a number. But I applied the club difference idea and shot the lowest round ever today. Your channel has so much actual golf help in it. Thank you for putting this content out for free. You and lockey thank you thank you

Thanks Mark and Coach Lockey! Great insights. We deserve better.

Having a fitting on Monday am newish to golf so very informative. Thanks

Got fit for T100s' 2 years ago. Tried numerous clubs before hand and decided on model I wanted based on feel and looks. The fitting just focused on finding the right shaft, again based on feel

No, I've never been fit for my current set of Ping I20 clubs but they get me down the fairway well enough. However, this has been a real eye-opener. Never considered the difference between indoors and outdoor shot testing! Thank you for pointing that out before I go get fitted for a new set.

Great Video - What you say around gap testing is so true. I did a gap test and had it printed out to have with me when I play so that I can confirm distances before playing. BUT as you say there is such a difference in REAL LIFE that it is difficult to use in actual play. This season I have bought the Garmin CT10’s and am planing to use there stats to build a different picture - just need to get my watch back from Garmin after a battery problem…. So much to think about!

Great video Mark, we do deserve better. I have been fitted for every club but one in my bag. I used to get a free fitting each year at Golftec (where I was taking lessons, inside with launch monitors) and at my local range (outside). I would start with my coach inside and then go to the outside fitting and see if it held true. I had to ignore the distance and look at dispersion and shot shape to make the decision. I did buy the irons that were recommended inside and out, but stayed with my existing driver because there really wasn't a difference with the new driver outside.

Would love to see a lot of different clubs like this tested mark. Had gapping inside done but do find it pretty accurate on the course subject to a good strike.

Wow never figured the stats would be so different, a great insight to the facts, thanks Mark and Lochy

I've had a custom fitting and was trying out the Taylormade P730's , Indoor I was hitting the 6-iron 185 meters ... It was about a club difference from my "normal" . I like that you mentioned the human element to golf , because intention and feel really does influence people in different ways... I now game the Titleist 718MB's and I love being able to hit different speeds and heights / shapes , even though they would have never come out as the longest or the best fit in an indoor fitting

@Mark Crossfield Would be interested to see hybrids or even fairway woods contrasting between indoor/real world spin and distance. Thinking of fitting gaps like Coach mentioned at the high end of the bag and getting that dialed in just using indoor data versus what translates to the course. Love the channel! Cheers

As a fitter myself I totally agree with pretty much everything mark has laid out. The classic semi chunk off a mat that flies 20 yards past a normal shot is a very real thing. In my view irons should pretty much never be fit for distance. There’s a reason you get 8 of them in a set. You should be fitting for consistency of strike, trajectory and dispersion.

Really grateful for this! I've started playing (at least) a club longer when I actually play than what my "numbers" tell me from mats, and never really understood why I was CONSTANTLY so much shorter than I was off what my Swing Caddie (and that's not even a "fancy" GC Quad) was telling me. For about the first month, it hurt my feelings that I was suddenly "shorter" in real life, lol - and then I started scoring better and was like, well....who cares if my 7-iron only goes 170 instead of 180 IF IT LANDS ME ON THE GREEN?! :) Great stuff, Mark. Thanks again!

Makes me feel better about my recent fit. The fitter explained the the spin would be higher and distance would be less outside. I use my experience from playing to determine my club’s distance.

This makes perfect sense now. Years ago got custom fit for some Orka irons and they were a club different on the course to the fit

Always enjoy your videos. Power lofts, shafts low kick high kick , A shafts senior or regular, forged hollow-body clubs , 3 or 4 wood ,wedges steel or graphite just a few ideas.

We deserve better! Love to see you do the entire bag and what is the difference between indoor and outdoor numbers Also, how much does teeing up help in terms of numbers

Gladly I have watched your videos for years, so when I got fitted i just tested for feel and looks (what suited my eye etc) knowing that a loft is a loft and my speed is my speed. Ended up with Srixon Z585. "WE DESERVE BETTER"

Hi Mark and Coach in Oz most of the golf companies do fitting days out doors, giving you a chance to try different clubs shafts at the same time. When I had my fitting @ 66 in 2016 I was looking to get a set of ap2’s. But ended up with Ap1’s as the dispersion was much more controllable for me. As an 18 handicap golfer it made more confident that their recommendations for me ap1 was correct. The fitting also used track man so I could see both results data and what I saw in flight and distances. Thanks for all your content keep it up..Fletch from down under.

Would love to see the wedge video, I have had a golf coach for about 6 months and have recently asked them to help me with some gapping issues around the 200 yard mark. He instantly brought us to outdoor range and started working there. It is really appreciated when people who know golf help and teach instead of selling.

Great video again Mark and Coach Yes I’ve been fit for my Cobra F9s, bought em cos I could hit them straight! Never rely on a bloke I just met to give me data, Arccos is my friend on gapping and fitting. Cheers boys

Great Video…. I was on a GC2 indoor recently spinning a 7 iron at around 3500. The following weekend my first approach was a 6 iron that stopped 2ft from the pitch mark on a dry green!! I also think I’m shallower indoors as I don’t want to hit the ground whereas on the course I often take decent divots. The more of these videos I watch, the more I believe fittings really need to be looked at.

Yes had my irons custom fit. High handicapper went with Ping G425, expect for wedges which are Cleaveland CBX2.

Yep, definitely would like to see how the wedge differs in-door and out. Am curious too if there is more or less difference in longer clubs like a 4 iron. Also, what do different soles do - wide vs narrow, V-sole vs not, pre-worn leading edge vs 'sharp' leading edge, etc. There's 5 more videos for you Mark 😉😄

I'm ready for some new clubs. I need to update my set. Cheers guys!

"We deserve better" Another great Video Mark. Keep up the great work

We deserve better. Great video sir! I've experienced this first hand when I was fit at a "premier" fitting location...indoors. Paid a ridiculous premium for the set. 2 years later when it was time to replace the irons, I went to my local golf shop, took 4 different demo 7-irons, and spent 3 hours on course, testing them in real situations. Saved hundreds, and was much more confident with the purchase. Would LOVE to see wedges! Cheers

I’ve had fittings, but your right, it’s a sales process, no explanation of difference in distance. PS, I hit further outdoors compared to in a Simulator.

Totally bought a Cleveland chipper because of your videos. If it makes the game easier I’ll try it.

Yes, please; do show the wedge testing. Really appreciate the education!

I’ve bought and sold a lot of secondhand clubs - normally for a wee profit - however, found my favourites now. So not fitted, but a lot of on course testing and great real-world gapping.

Would be very interested to see the wedge version. I did a wedge matrix indoors and found that from 100yds in I am so more accurate now

Mark I 100% agree with everything you’ve said here. I was fit for irons about 3 years ago and nothing was mentioned regarding the difference between indoors and outdoors. The issue I see is that I don’t see any services in the north west that offer this unbiased, teaching and fitting lessons. So as a consumer I don’t believe we have enough options (or certainly I’ve not seen them advertised in the north west).

Great stuff as always. Keep up the good work. Suggestion for a video: golf ball fitting. Low spin vs spinny or low compression vs high compression. For instance, my shots are generally higher flying than I’d like. Found a lower compression ball in one of many adventures into the wilderness. Played it for half a round and noticed significant change in flight. Would love to see your scientific method applied to this topic. Thanks again.

Would love to see the difference in wedge behaviour as I am looking to replace mine soon. Insightful stuff as ever.

Very interesting! I’ve got a deep pile hitting mat in my home simulator set up and I get really high spin on my irons and find I’m almost a club longer off of grass, so the opposite of what you are seeing

Mark I’ve done this same kind of testing just on the driving range, the one closest to me has you hitting on mats, however, you can walk 3 feet forward and drop your ball on fairway cut grass. I’ll hit 5 shots with my 7 iron on the mat, then 5 shots on the grass, and my average carry is 10-13 yards shorter on the grass. So, knowing this, when I do warmups before play, I’ll always hit my last few shots with the clubs I want to warm up with on the grass, so I have a better idea of my carry distances for that round. Good stuff!!

Thanks for this. I've been wondering about this forever. I was like, geez, how are these numbers a thing watching videos of indoor club tests (irons). Are newer irons that much better? I never went and got a new set because of it (and in Germany, I don't have a club fitter in my area where I live, maybe a good things???). So, I just left the question in my head and keep on using my older irons This video answers that open question (to a point). Thanks again.

Never been fitted but I did take lessons indoors a few years ago. When spring finally rolled around the difference between mats and turf results were shocking.

Yep, I’ve been fitted at a couple facilities iron wise. Each time it has come down to a different shaft, my swing varies from day to day. I’m a 10hc.

Love the video, and I'd love to see the wedge one! I spent more time this off season indoors on simulators then ever before and dialed in my distances quite a bit, but I'm definitely finding that as a rule of thumb, I basically always need to go at least 1 club higher outside then I'd think.

Did not know about this and was not told this during my fitting. But I do agree that driver seems closer indoor versus outdoor versus irons.

Great video. I am definitely interested in learning how wedges perform indoor v. outdoor.

Just had my first fitting, play just above 100. Was nervous, but happy with the results

I always hated hitting indoors so I haven't for probably 10 years , I found it almost useless for testing clubs .You get a altered sense of sound , feel , turf interaction and distances caused by the reduced spin rates . I think where the indoor hitting helps is keeping your golf muscles in shape over the winter with the snow on the ground ( I'm in Canada ) and working on swing changes and not much else . I agree that if your testing drivers its going to compare them head to head just fine indoors but Its always better outdoors to see how wind effects flight etc . Love the videos Mr. Mark , nice job !!!!

I was recently fitted for my Mizuno 225's. I don't tend to rely on the figures I see indoor at the fitting. I hit my own clubs to get a base line and then hit various head and shaft options and could compare the results, feel etc between my original clubs and the new ones I was testing. On the course, I have a pretty good idea of how far I can hit my irons and I do, quite often go one club stronger as you recommend Mark. We Deserve Better. Off the mats at the driving range I often hit up to 10yds longer once I am in to the groove but I know that is very hard to replicate on the course.

I had a fitting for my mizuno irons a few years ago and the fitter did say that there would be a difference in the numbers indoor/outdoors. But I was fortunate that the fitter was a former colleague and had played with me a few times and knew where my numbers outdoors already were.

Excellent Guys, always quality and informative and yes I look forward to the wedge review as this should be key to the game in properly understanding gapping / approach play dare I say 'shots gained' opportunities 😀-- cheers

Excellent video and advice Mr Crossfield. I needed some new irons. I went to a large retailer to try to spend an hour on the range (over a few sessions) with each of my short listed clubs to get a proper feel for them prior to any fitting. They literally laughed at me.. "that's the worst possible way to do it...you need to get fitted... we can do it now...". I. did not go ahead but found a fitting centre. Had a one off fitting session of an hour and a quarter. Rapid process of whittling down all the irons on offer. Minimal time for me to get a feel for them both physically and mentally. It was a huge waste of money. I was sold the most expensive irons, which I then got rid of after a year.

Great video got my set of p790 custom fitted. I think your 100%right on distances

Mark you said it at the end I was thinking about Driver. I think the only fitting that will be just about spot on indoor vs outdoor would be driver because no interaction with the ground

I have just had an iron fitting at silvermere. I can say it was an excellent experience they made me hit my own clubs and then gave me a range of alternative clubs to cross-reference against my own. Very good experience. Bad news is waiting 2 months to get the new clubs.

We deserve better! Never been custom fit, high handicap lefty playing a set of ping I3 blades i picked up used many years ago.

Love the reality check this presentation gives us. Just as a follow up to the fitting question- can the equipment be tweaked to maximize the results and thereby influence the choice of products? I was fortunate a few years ago to find an honest fitter and wound up purchasing a set of Wilson D350 irons. All I heard from anybody was "nobody plays Wilson anymore!!" But they work for me. Still, as other commenters have said, age, swing speed, fitness affect whatever equipment's results. Really liked the video- more, more, more.

I DEFO didnt know this. Makes sense and will make me look at club sales differently 4 Sure Thanks

My current irons I had fitted outside, now I can only find fitters that are inside only. After seeing this I'm staying with my current irons. Thinking about this issue, maybe the only way around this is to take my current irons to the fitting and compare results, which is difficult today with the new irons and their stronger lofts. Love to see woods and hybrids on another video.

When I was fit, it was super important for me to hit it straight and also feel the clubs are light---but not too light. Ended up with the Cobra F-Max One Length 7-GW, hybrids for 5-6. Forgiving, straight and long (for me, a senior). Distance is good, but hitting it straight all the time means more to me.

I was fitted for PXG irons last year. The fitter had me bring my clubs which I hit first after warming up. We recorded the data then I hit the PXG irons. He told me he would not try to sell me anything that did not outperform my old clubs. This was my first ever fitting and would recommend this approach for all your future fittings.

I had a fitting last year and was given good advise. the problem I now see is when pro shop only stock certain brands. Although I like my Pings, after trying Callaway and srixon I will keep trying other brands over the next few years before purchasing my next set and checking if they are suitable to my current game.

Very interesting watch, I always add about 1k spin from indoor to outdoor, but very interesting to see that it was around 2k difference. I have been to a couple of fittings with certain brands, but I would like to do a brand agnostic fitting like i did for my putter. Would love to see the varying clubs throughout the bag and have numbers differ indoor to out.

I started golfing at the end of last summer (July) and purchased Sim 2 Max irons off the rack..bought into the distance, “forgiveness”, wanting Taylormade because a lot of people rave about the brand, and wasn’t properly fitted. This was such a waste of money unfortunately…not being properly fitted and just buying clubs off the rack. I got a lot better over the fall and am currently at a 12.1 handicap. My goal is to be single digits before the end of the year. I was properly fitted and went with Titleist T200s and hit them like a dream. Getting fitted outside is so important! The feel, how the club looks, and how confident you are to make the next golf shot makes such a big difference. Thanks for such an educational video, love everything you put out!

This was a very good segment! Thanks for doing it. Personally, as I'm an older player, I have a very slow swing speed and it's sometimes embarrassing how short I am on some shots. It really is a big difference off the mat vs. off the grass!

You just described exactly what happened to me at a custom fit and my disappointment when I got on the course! Feel like I was mugged now!

It would be interesting to see the wedge differences. Thanks for the video.

You guys just have way to much fun!!

Flightscope has something called the Environmental Optimizer which allows us to change altitude, humidity, wind speed and direction, and temperature. It's an improvement but still not perfect as you demonstrated. There's rarely a flat lie. Indoor turf is not the same as real grass. And there's a very big difference between trying to hit targets than just whacking ball after ball after ball and deleting shots in order to create a narrative. As always, excellent video, Mark and Coach.

We deserve better. That's the cleanest I've ever seen your 8 iron brah.

I bought in 2020 and now play Mizuno 921 Forged, fitted on just hitting a 7 iron, never again all my yard gaps are all over the place. Just like you mentioned we focus on the distance and really not the average carry. I wish I had kept my Adams CMBs knew them inside out.

Really interesting. I have just been fit after hitting head to head vs my current irons and doing a gap session once they arrive. I would be interested in how to apply the learnings from gap session inside to outdoor gaming situation

Great video Mark, really thought provoking. I’m about to get fitted for a new set, my current clubs came out of the Arc. I’m concerned now about what to do. Where do I go so that I can trust the results rather than helping someone hit a sales target?

I use a Fiberbuilt mat in my sim & my distances translate perfectly to the course. I don't take my LM to the course but spin seems very close as well.

We deserve better! Thanks Mark!

Yes I’ve known this for years. I see 10 or 12 yds more indoors with a monitor than I really carry on real grass on the golf course. It’s extremely important to know your real carry numbers.

Fair play to my fitter, he told me not to pay that much attention to the indoor trackman numbers as they would fly a little further indoors due to the controlled conditions. Tour X in Wigan 👌🏻

The first thing I said to the fitter on my current set was "I don't care about hitting long, I need accuracy." Right away this put the fitter in a different mindset, instead of offering sets based on distance we spoke mostly on sets that give better grouping, gapping, shot shape, spin etc. I also tried to limit my effort in each shot during the fit as to not blow out the numbers. Was my fit perfect? Not even close, I made a lot of errors looking back at it, but I think I did a fair job considering my experience levels at getting fit. Next time I hope to do a better job.

Superb, keep exploding those distance / performance myths. Would love to see the wedge video.

Great video. Such good information. I love that you are challenging the accepted marketing hype and focusing on what's best for golfers. Keep up the good work.

Great advice. Take one of your current clubs to the fitting. Hit it first AND last. Hit the new clubs in between. See if they can better your existing equipment. (bet they don't!) Better to go to a fitting at your course and compare there.

Brilliant video!! We deserve better!