My advice is be open to options that you might not have considered or used in the past.

My only advice would be quality over quantity on swings. My first ever fitting, my thought was to hit as many shots as possible to get as much data as possible. I wish my fitter would have slowed me down. I tried multiple brands of irons in an hour. The swings that I took during the last 20 minutes or so were just rough. It was hard to compare the clubs I hit during that time with the clubs that I tried early on.

As I mentioned, it was my first ever fitting, I'm sure I was nervous and overswinging to begin with. It was a great experience, just maybe not a great club fitting. I have signed up for some Titleist Thursday in April before I pull the trigger on new clubs.

Keep in mind you will hit good shots and bad shots with every club you are trying out. You can go down the rabbit hole of minutia with trackman launch/spin etc. While that is helpful info, it still comes down to looks/feel/sound. Once you decide on which club you like then your fitter can help optimize that club with the right shaft/length/lie/loft/grip. Also pay attention to the top and bottom end of your set so it blends well into your wedges and hybrid/fairway woods. Enjoy the experience, if you disagree with your fitter feel free to have them explain why, if you are not comfortable with the direction they are going, speak up, ultimately you need to be happy playing them, i have fit a lot of guys that weren't "good enough" for MB's but they just loved the look and feel and were ok if it wasn't the best club for them, they just loved the look enough that they will make them work. Other times i have good ball strikers that opt for the most forgiving

First, you’re paying for professional advice. Either trust it or find another fitter. Don’t push for what you think will be best if the fitter encourages a different direction. If the fitter uses one model and one shaft, dig deep why you aren’t being

how does one avoid bias from either a golf shop or golf pro regarding what margins they make on selling you a given brand?

Goes both ways whether people admit it or not the consumer is far more brand biased than the fitter. I fit guys that have only played (brand x) their whole life and only want to look at (brand x) - fine by me, as a fitter it makes no difference to me what the consumer likes. If the consumer is open to my opinion i make suggestions that i think they would not only benefit from, but also like playing. Part of that is my own experience in product testing or if a certain product line is really resonating with consumers i am happy to throw it in the mix. If a fitter is too pushy on a certain product, find a new fitter. I honestly couldn't care less what the consumer decides on, as long as they are happy comfortable and confident in their choice. Better than having them leave with buyers remorse and returning or cancelling their order altogether.

....I'd get a fitting from Dave M.
My only experience with bias was at a big box retailer and the fitter(s) were trained clerks. I don't know if it was what they used (and they were over 30 years younger than me) or if corporate had a back-end deal to move X quantity of Brand X clubs that month. But that wasn't what was working for me. That's how I, by sheer accident, sought out a club pro shop that was WI's only Premier Fitter for Titleist looking for a balanced approach. It was my choice to pick png or Titleist.

Appreciate the compliment Don O! I love working with people that are open to my suggestions/feedback and honestly most people are. Once I get a feel for the players swing and results I can quickly pick out a better club/shaft combo that wasn't on their "list" but the results speak for themselves, sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't, part of the fitting is letting the consumer try multiple options just to confirm they made the right choice. Had a guy last week, totally refused the notion that he should consider graphite shafts in his irons, after he tested some clubs in steel he was liking one model, but still not getting enough height, put a graphite shaft on that model and ended up ordering a full set of graphite shafted irons - result based fittings.

Outdoor off real grass with give you truer results than indoor off of mats. Not just the strike but also to see the trajectory. I even went twice, a few week's apart because my swing can be inconsistent and I wanted to factor that into the results. Also, make sure you tell your fitter what you are wanting most out of the new set. It's okay to let them know if you need height over distance or accuracy over everything else. The more you tell them up front, the more they can help you get the fit that you are looking for.

**UPDATE ON FITTING**

First off, thank you for the tips and advice TT!

I had a great fitting experience and can’t wait to put some fresh irons in my bag! The fitter who helped me out is the PGA pro at my home course. We started the fitting by hitting some warm up shots on the Trackman with my current 7i. After I felt warmed up we started recording shots with my current iron. We’ve played together and he has a good idea of my game and we previously discussed what I was looking for in a new set.

He started me off with the T100 and I’m unsure of what shaft. I actually didn’t even look at what iron he handed me first to hit. I didn’t want to know anything and simply went off of feel, sound and how it looked in my hands. The first 10 or so shots I hit were decent but not anything great. We went through a number of shaft changes and got to a point where we started to narrow down what shaft felt good. After maybe 30 to 40 shots we switched irons and again he handed me a different iron but I didn’t look to see what it was. As soon as I set it down in front of me I noticed it was a bigger head and much wider top line. It turns out he handed me the T200. I realized that after hitting the T100 that I didn’t like the look of the T200. It only took me maybe 4 shots to realize that I also didn’t like the sound or feel of the T200. After maybe a total of 15 shots with the T200 I told my fitter I wasn’t feeling the T200. At this point we had narrowed it down to the T100 with either the NS Pro 880 AMC or the Tensei AV AM2.

Next, we took the iron and two shafts outside along with the Trackman. We got setup on a nice flat spot of turf and picked out a target. He had me hit shots at the target with each shaft. It was blatantly obvious that I liked the NS Pro shaft over the Tensei after hitting off the turf. Next I freely hit balls on the range to get a better feel of the club and to get a chance to watch my ball flight. I instantly felt myself gaining confidence with every shot I took. I especially like the higher ball flight I was getting from this iron. The T100 just glides and releases so nicely. After hitting around 15 shots or so I tried hitting some balls with my current 7i. As soon as I put it down in front of me it just looked so big and bulky. The T100 just looks and feels so good!

Overall, my fitting experience was exactly what I was looking for and my golf pro/fitter answered any questions I had and did exactly as I wanted. In the end I decided on the T100 5i-W with the NS Pro 880 AMC 2* with the GolfPride MCC align grips. I’m actually a little surprised that I ended up with the T100. I honestly went into my fitting expecting to choose the T200. I’m so excited to game these irons and really think these are going to up my game and confidence. Thanks again TT for the info and happy hitting!

What a great summary and so excited for you. Too many times we read here of the rare negative experience. This one sounds great and exactly how the majority of fittings go. Enjoy the new sticks when you get them!