When we measure progress or success—whether in sports, business, health, or personal growth—we usually look at the results. Did sales grow? Did the score go down? Did the team win? These are important markers, but they only tell part of the story. To truly understand performance, it helps to think in terms of lead and lag factors.
Lag factors are the outcomes. They’re what show up after the fact: your score at the end of the round, your quarterly revenue, your weight on the scale. Lag factors are easy to measure, but by the time you see them, it’s too late to change them in that moment.
Lead factors, on the other hand, are the drivers that influence those outcomes. They are measurable actions or conditions that happen earlier in the process. Unlike lag factors, you can influence them in real time. For example, the number of practice hours, the quality of sleep, corrective exercises, or the rate of customer calls are all lead factors. When chosen carefully, they are predictive—if you improve them, your lag factors usually improve too.
The key idea is this: lag factors show you where you’ve been, but lead factors show you where you’re going.
How Does This Relate to Equipment?
On the equipment side, we often start with the lag factors and work backward. What are your goals? Are you working on something specific in your swing? Do you need clubs that work for you right now, or are you making a long-term equipment commitment? Many of these answers will influence how we fit you.
Example: Iron Fitting Scenario
An athlete comes in for an iron fitting. His irons are standard: 37” length, 62.5° lie angle, 34° loft, D2 swing weight, stock steel shaft, player’s iron head, and standard grip size. He’s right-handed and complains about missing shots to the right. His goal is to compete at a higher level, and he doesn’t want a quick fix.
After going through our fitting process and measurements, we see his club at impact is presenting 3° toe down along with shaft droop. This toe-down position means the toe of the club is digging into the ground, opening the face slightly, and causing the ball to start right of target—unless he manipulates his movement to compensate.
Now, as a fitter looking at lead and lag factors, the question becomes: What in this athlete’s movement is causing the toe of the club to dig? In this case, he is early extending by 5 inches, meaning the handle and club are moving higher and closer to the ball.
Solutions:
Quick fix: Bend the lie angle more upright to match his current movement. This can work if he needs immediate results.
Long-term solution: Keep the club where it is and focus on movement patterns to improve dynamic posture through impact. In this way, his current club becomes a training tool, giving him feedback—he’ll learn to feel the difference between when he extends and when he maintains posture, based on ball flight. There also could be physical limitations that could make it difficult to maintain posture. Going through a physical assessment is just as important or more important for all athletes to go through to see what possibilities are along with injury prevention.Maintaining proper posture can be challenging due to physical limitations. Therefore, a physical assessment is crucial for all athletes to identify potential issues, prevent injuries, and explore possibilities for improvement.
Key Takeaway
When going through a fitting, be clear about your goals and what you want to achieve. Whether short-term or long-term, it’s important to talk through the process and understand why the ball is flying the way it is. At the end of the day, you are the one controlling the club.
