Regret choice of clubs from golf fitting

I had a fitting and got a driver. We didn’t get on over the course of last year. Went to another fitting and got a different one while trading the old one in. Sometimes you need to trust your instinct about how it feels in your hands rather than what they say it does on the computer

First off, the clubs are not the problem here. Countless times I’ve seen guys at my own club say fitting is a waste of time etc. because the clubs aren’t suiting them. The problem is, amateur golfers aren’t in any way consistent. So how you set up to the ball and how you swung at the club fitting is probably totally different to what you’re doing at the range and will probably be very different again when you go out and actually play a round of golf. The clubs were fitted to you based on how you were hitting the ball on the day.

Don’t forget, the majority of amateurs pull up to the course about 30 mins before their round and hit a few chips and putts and expect to go out and play good golf totally cold. If you’re not practicing then you’re not going to be consistent. I know you’ve said you went to the range but did you only go to try the new clubs?

This is not true, swings are way more similar from day to day even for high handicappers, high handicappers don't swing like Rory McIlroy when they hit a good shot and to paraphrase David Feherty, swing like an octopus falling out of a tree when they hit a bad shot. Speed, swing path, release patterns etc don't change much from day to day and how many people can you recognise from a distance because you know how their swing looks even though you can't see them properly.

So what does change from the good shots to the bad, where the golfer hits it on the face of the club, where they contact the ground and where the face points at impact, and guess what, having the right clubs makes this easier and having the wrong clubs makes this harder. This is not saying that getting the right set turns an 18 handicapper to a scratch golfer but it can get them 2-3 shots better easily enough.

There are multiple ways to get better at golf, having the right clubs is one of them, and it is low hanging fruit. The only work and effort involved is buying a new set. All the other ways to improve take time and effort.

I have yet to hear an answer to this question from the anti-fitting brigade, we know that different clubs perform differently so how does the player find out which clubs suit them best?

Also for the golfers saying it took them quite a long time to get used to new clubs, this also shouldn't happen, with new clubs better shots should appear immediately, the judgement required of the different shots might take a few rounds to figure out but if anyone after a couple of months is saying that they're not getting better results from their new clubs, they wasted their money.

Final, piece of rant, consistency doesn't exist for any golfer, even the best players in the world have a variance in their performance. Having 20 points every time you play is consistent, does anyone want that? No, they want to be better, stop looking for consistency, look to be better.

Personal view and I know you often hear that higher handicappers benefit more from a fitting but I think a fitting if above mid double digits handicap is not the best use of the money. Lessons would be money better spent until such a time as you have a reasonably repeatable swing and have a good overall idea of your game, particularly if you are new to the game. That said i don't know if you'd notice a massive difference between the clubs anyway between 10 and 19 unless you were fit to SGI type clubs or your miss went from slice to hook maybe. I think the modern clubs like a p790 or any irons with inserts are very usable across a wide range of handicaps and see a lot of players fit into them. Once the shaft is ok I think you could happily keep using that sort of club well into single digits.

To the OPs question, it really doesn't sound much like a fitting to me. Distance should not be the goal of any fitting really unless you are specifically looking for it, especially with irons. Dispersion is far more valuable with irons than distance, no point in hitting a 7i 170 if you're dispersion is a 50-70 yard window. The scoring clubs need tight dispersion, not distance so not sure why you ended up with the clubs you did but doesn't sound like any fitting i've had. In saying that I would give them a bit of time, first time out with new clubs is always going to take a bit of adjustment regardless of what some posters are saying but you should be seeing results fairly soon even if the consistency may not be there. Not sure what options are available to you but you'll take a big hit trading them in now regardless of whether you keep them for another week or two IMO so no harm give them another while before swapping them. Definitely don't go back to the same 'fitter' either.

Similar story for myself last year was fitted for the wrong steel shafts. numbers in the fitting can be over exaggerated on trackman. Took them on course no distance high spin too light. Took them back to the fitter and was given something more to my spec for no extra charge and they admitted their fault.

a fitting should be focused on the management of the bad shots and what distance and dispersion they go rather than the pure strike 1 or 2.

the fitter if anyway decent should offer a refit and swap the shafts

Stick with them, it can only take one good shot on the course to start liking them & get confidence in them.