Starting your backswing on plane requires a slow smooth takeaway with the arms and shoulders.  At the point where the golf club is parallel to the ground in the beginning of your backswing, the golf club should cover up your hands if you were looking in a mirror or someone was standing behind you this is what you would see.  If the clubhead is too far in front of your hands, it is too far outside the plane line.  If the clubhead is too far behind your hands, the club will be inside too much.  Both of these incorrect positions will cause problems with keeping the club on the correct swing plane during the rest of your swing.  

Halfway into the backswing, your hands should be set in the middle of your chest.  Also, from this halfway back position, if you drew a straight line down from your left elbow (for the right handed golfer), it should point right at the golf ball.  If your left elbow is pointing more towards your feet, your swing plane is too steep.  If your elbow is pointing too far out away from the ball, your swing plane is going to be too laid off or flat.  This is a great drill you can use to make sure you are starting your backswing on plane correctly.

How To Swing The Golf Club On Plane Correctly is a post from: golf-please.com

Every golfer's body and swing are unique to that individual and that's what custom fitting is all about. Custom fitting golf clubs involves a quick self assessment of your game and several easy measurements. To custom fit your golf clubs, the following information is needed:

• Your gender (male or female)

• Your height in your stockings or socks

• The distance from your wrist (where it bends) to the floor (without shoes)

• What club you use at the 135 meter marker

• Handicap, age, swing speed

Firstly, your gender is used to put you into the correct fitting scale. Then, your height and the distance in inches from your wrist to the floor are used together to determine the length of golf club that is appropriate for you. (About 80% of golfers are Standard length.)

Your age, handicap, estimated golf swing speed and club you use at the 135 meter marker are all combined to determine the shaft flex that is appropriate for you.

Club Length & Flex

With regards to the length of your club there's one main point you should consider: a longer golf club will hit further given the same swing speed - so length can be a good thing. But, as I'm sure you're thinking, it can't be that simple. And you're right! Since the swing arc is longer, it often is also harder to keep under control - so length can be a bad thing. All things being equal, most golfers will opt for longer length to the sacrifice of greater control. But there's still a decision to be made!

The standard length of a steel shafted Driver for a man is 44 inches. Graphite shafted drivers are manufactured 1 inch longer than steel shafted clubs because graphite shafts weigh less than steel shafts allowing us to produce a longer club with the same swing . The proper length of a golf club is a function of your height and the length of your arms. Some golf shop provide a Custom Fitting Wizard that determines the correct length for you with just a few simple measurements.

Flex is the torsional stiffness of the golf club, which is provided by the type of golf club shaft that is used. Generally, stiffer shafts are better for stronger hitting golfers.

The proper flex of a golf club is a function of your strength and golfing skills. Determining the correct flex is most important for your Woods and longer Irons. Short irons, wedges and putters are not impacted very much by the different flexes as the differences between flexes becomes very small in the shorter clubs.

Loft & Lie Adjustments

A lie adjustment requires bending the hardened metal in which an iron is cast. We strongly advise getting your lie fitting done in person. Online fittings while accurate do not take into account your natural ball address. Some players are more naturally upright and some like to lean into the ball. Once you have lie adjusted a club it is usually not a good idea to re-adjust if you later find it was the wrong adjustment.

From years of building experience we find it rare to need more than a 2 degree adjustment upright or flat, therefore we only perform lie adjustments to either extreme.

Woods, hybrid clubs and putters can not be adjusted. The reason these clubs can not be adjusted is because the hosel of each is cast in a way where physically bending the head at all will cause damage. In woods and hybrids it will crack or bend the crown of the club, and putter hosels are not made with the strength required for adjustment after the casting process.

Loft adjustments require a different type of bend than a lie adjustment. Some people receive advice in which they require a certain loft adjustment. We have never understood loft adjustments since it merely changes the loft of the club. We recommend buying golf clubs matching the loft you seek and avoid custom loft adjustments. Bending the loft of an iron weakens the hardened metal and can lead to future metal fatigue, since the actual bend twists the metal to an extent. If the loft of your 5 iron is too strong, use a 6 iron. If it is too weak, use a 4 iron.

Golf Club Custom Fitting is a post from: golf-please.com

Now, let's have a look at the different types of clubs.

Drivers & Fairway woods

These clubs are used to hit longer shots. That's a basic yet apt way to look at it. If a golf hole is a par four or five from tee to green, most golfers would choose to use a wood.

The driver, or the 1 Wood, has the lowest loft of any golf club. Loft is the angle of the club face that controls trajectory and affects distance. A driver has a loft between 7 and 12 degrees. Better golfers have traditionally favored drivers with less than 10 degrees of loft, which require a lot more skill to hit.

Most golfers also carry a #3 and #5 fairway wood as part of their arsenal. A #3 wood has a loft of 15 degrees, and a #5 wood has a loft of 18 degrees. The higher the golf club number, the higher the loft. The #3 and #5 wood are commonly referred to as fairway woods, because they are most often used during the second shot of play, when you are supposed to be on the fairway.

Hybrids

Hybrids are a recent innovation to golf. A hybrid is a combination of an iron and a wood and is an easier to hit alternative to a long iron. Hybrids are versatile enough to be used in any situation. Hybrids come in a range of four lofts - 16 (#2), 19 (#3), 22 (#4) and 25 (#5) Degrees. Hybrids replace their equivalent number long iron, e.g. a #3 hybrid will replace a #3 iron and a #2 hybrid can be used to replace a #5 fairway wood.

Irons

Irons are generally used for shorter distances and more control than drivers and fairway woods. The closer you are to the green, the higher the iron you will use. A standard set of irons consists of #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 and #9 and the PITCHING WEDGE (PW). A sandwedge is generally a good option to purchase for shots out of sand traps. The #3 and #4 irons are harder to hit than the higher numbered irons. Many golfers choose to replace the #3 and #4 iron with higher lofted woods or hybrids which are easier to hit than traditional long irons, resulting in comparable distances.

Wedges

Wedges are really just specialty irons. The first wedge is the Pitching Wedge (PW), which is usually between 52 and 56 degrees in loft. The PW is the highest lofted iron in a standard set and lowest loft of the wedges. Lob wedges range from 58 to 64 degrees and are used for close range short and high shots to overcome obstacles close to the green. Wedges are extremely useful for your short game and it is beneficial to keep a selection of them in your bag.

Sand Wedges are another type of wedge and are designed to get you out of the dreaded sand traps. They have a shorter shaft and a more angled face to get under the ball in order to exit a bunker.

Putters

As the adage goes "Drive for show, Putt for dough". The putter usually gets you in the hole, so it can be assumed, that choosing the right putter is critical to your game. Putters come in various styles and types.: short, belly, long, bent, center-hosel, heel-toe, mallet, and so on. When choosing a putter the main things to consider are the: weighting, balance and feel. Better putters provide alignment aids to help you visualize the line from your ball to the target.

Choosing Golf Clubs is a post from: golf-please.com