Getting fitted with a bad swing

I have never been fitted for this reason. I don't believe those clubs will make you an ounce better, but you could be holding yourself back from a better game if you get a repeating swing and then need to be fitted later to maximize your progress.

There may be some experts who can chime in on this topic, but until then I'll share my anecdotal .02 cents. When I started, I had the same thought process as you (which very well might be the true right way to do it). So, I worked on my game until I got to ~12 handicap and went to get fitted while I was swinging it well.

The first 3-4 months with the new irons were awful. I was lost again and maybe I should've waited longer to get fitted, idk. Fast forward to today and I'm playing well again thankfully but that certainly was no "honeymoon period" intially after getting fitted into new clubs.

I mixed. Part of me thinks a fitting only really helps the low handicappers as they prob have a consistent enough swing to measure off of.

I’m a different golfer every month, constantly tweaking things in my swing to just try to hit the ball decent. I’m not sure getting fitted to whatever my swing is that day will really make a difference.

you should probably get length and lie checked. that's more of a setup deal than actual swing based fitting. no need for anything else until you get a repeatable swing.

I would reverse that order. I needed to go to a stiff shaft after lessons.

ETA: Just saw your response above. If you have no clubs, then yeah you might as well go get fitted.

I would say unless you are making a major swing change it will still help. Even bad swings tend to have a repeatable miss, usually a slice which can be helped with lie adjustments. Over time as you get better your miss might change, sometimes because of the adjustments made so you may need
To get refitted in a few years.

Lessons first. Fitting next.

I would get a decent set of used clubs. Probably stiff shaft, take some lessons with those, as you improve and get more consistent start upgrading with the strongest part of your game first.

You can get a great deal on sightly used clubs

2nd swing is a good place to start looking.

I would also look locally, allot of people play and try out different equipment, then move on to something else. Lol, ask me how I know

Where are you located?