Swing Weights

[Shrek74]

 

As I gear up to start working on my own clubs going forward, I figured I'd start thinking about things like swing weight and ensuring my clubs will be similar going forward. I believe that having all clubs swing weighted in a proper ascending/descending series helps to keep a good feeling throughout the bag. This will lead to good contact and, thus, a better potential to score.

I went through my bag today to get all my current swing weights. Needless to say, I was very shocked at the results. Has anyone had clubs THIS varied from a manufacturer or local builder? I don't have a swing weight scale (it's on my list), so I did the SW by weighing the club and then finding the balance point. Here's what I used - https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-assembled-swingweight-calculator.

The 4 iron through LW are all the same shafts, ferrules, and grips. 4-PW are all Takomo 101 heads, GW is Sub70 286, SW-LW are both Sub70 JBFG.

2 wood: D4.2
Total Weight: 334 g
Balance Length: 32 3/4"

3 wood: C9.7
Total Weight: 345 g
Balance Length: 31 1/2"

5 wood: C7.3
Total Weight: 347 g
Balance Length: 31 1/16"

3 hybrid: D0.9
Total Weight: 387 g
Balance Length: 29 3/4"

4 hybrid: D2.2
Total Weight: 388 g
Balance Length: 29 7/8"

4 iron: D6.9
Total Weight: 430 g
Balance Length: 28 7/8"

5 iron: D6.3
Total Weight: 439 g
Balance Length: 28 1/2"

6 iron: D3.3
Total Weight: 444 g
Balance Length: 28"

7 iron: D6.7
Total Weight: 456 g
Balance Length: 28"

8 iron: D7.5
Total Weight: 463 g
Balance Length: 27 7/8"

9 iron: D7.0
Total Weight: 474 g
Balance Length: 27 1/2"

PW iron: D5.5
Total Weight: 473 g
Balance Length: 27 3/8"

GW iron: D2.7
Total Weight: 476 g
Balance Length: 27"

SW iron: D3.8
Total Weight: 480 g
Balance Length: 27"

LW iron: D2.3
Total Weight: 479 g
Balance Length: 26 7/8"

How big of a deal do you feel swing weight is throughout the bag?

Edited April 8 by Shrek74

[IndyBonzo]

Those are some big differences in the higher irons, and the lengths are unusual.  I would think a change from D6.9 to D3.3 would be noticeable.  
 

Did you intend to have your 6, 7, and 8 irons all the same length?   If not, that may explain the swing weight differences.  

[Shrek74]

14 hours ago, IndyBonzo said:

Those are some big differences in the higher irons, and the lengths are unusual.  I would think a change from D6.9 to D3.3 would be noticeable.  
 

Did you intend to have your 6, 7, and 8 irons all the same length?   If not, that may explain the swing weight differences.  

Nothing is the same length. Those lengths are just the lengths from the balance point of the club to the end of the grip. I didn't expect to have them the same like that, but all irons 4-P are in 1/2" length increments. So the balance lengths are surprising for a few.

I may get out my 5/6/7 irons and just swing them in the house to see if I can feel the difference. I'd assume I would be able to feel a 3 swing weight difference like that.

Even the SW's of the woods/hybrids surprised me being so different like that.

[IndyBonzo]

My mistake and apologies on the lengths confusion. 

I am curious to read if you can feel the difference, and if so how you progress from here.

I am soon building up a set of pseudo-vintage irons for myself, and I intend to try to perfect the swing weights on them as part of the build.  It may be challenging as I play my irons at 1/2" long, and I really don't want to counterweight the shafts, so I may have to learn how to drill out the heads to remove weight in order to make it work.  Please share your experiences if you don't mind!

[Shrek74]

57 minutes ago, IndyBonzo said:

My mistake and apologies on the lengths confusion. 

I am curious to read if you can feel the difference, and if so how you progress from here.

I am soon building up a set of pseudo-vintage irons for myself, and I intend to try to perfect the swing weights on them as part of the build.  It may be challenging as I play my irons at 1/2" long, and I really don't want to counterweight the shafts, so I may have to learn how to drill out the heads to remove weight in order to make it work.  Please share your experiences if you don't mind!

To counter weight the clubs, try butt weights instead of altering the heads. Something like these should help - https://www.golfworks.com/lead-counterweights/p/cwssh/.

Yeah, I'll really get a better understanding of swing weights when I go for fittings in 4 weeks. I'll talk with the fitters about it and see what I ultimately end up with compared to what these are currently. The GW is one of my favorite clubs, and it's 4-5 SW points lower than the rest. D2 is where most manufacturers build their clubs at the factories, I wonder if that is related to it feeling better.

Swing weight is an interesting journey of discovery. Length is one thing, but how a club feels in the swing is very different than it's static weight.

[IndyBonzo]

Thanks!

I have read that the counterweights do change the calculated Swingweight, but do not affect the feel as much due to the increased weight of the club.
 

Also, I use ShotScope and wonder whether plugs would interfere with the tags at the butt ends of the grips.
 

  I have never tried counterweights myself so I am open to disagreement on this point.  Following along with interest!

Edited April 8 by IndyBonzo

[Shrek74]

2 minutes ago, IndyBonzo said:

Thanks!

I have read that the counterweights do change the calculated Swingweight, but do not affect the feel as much due to the increased weight of the club.  I have never tried counterweights myself so I am open to disagreement on this point.  Following along with interest!

My understanding of adding weight to the butt end of the club with counterweights is that the club will feel lighter/easier to swing since there's more weight in the hands versus the head. Some say that helps them, others feel they "lose control" of the head if the SW gets too low with too much weight in the hands. I have a feeling anything lighter than D0 for me will be too light for irons.

[IndyBonzo]

OK @Shrek74, I went for it.

My best club in my bag is my Gap wedge, which plays at a swingweight of D2-ish.

So, I needed to regrip anyway, and I counterweighted my irons (which are 1/2" long) down from swingweights of D6-8 to D2 territory.  I did not use the plugs b/c I have the ShotScope tags in my grip ends.  So, in a move sure to appall the purists among us, I made candy canes with lead tape, hung them on the butt end (sticky-side on the shafts), and put grips over the top of them.  Some of the butts are not so pretty now with the lumps under the grips, but in my first round yesterday I really loved the feel, had some extra distance, and my buddy said he saw me hit a few of the best iron shots he has seen me hit.  The do feel lighter, smoother, and I don't notice the added gross weight at all.

Based on early returns it seems your suggestion about counterweights was spot on.  Thank you!
 

[Kenny B]

5 minutes ago, IndyBonzo said:

OK @Shrek74, I went for it.

My best club in my bag is my Gap wedge, which plays at a swingweight of D2-ish.

So, I needed to regrip anyway, and I counterweighted my irons (which are 1/2" long) down from swingweights of D6-8 to D2 territory.  I did not use the plugs b/c I have the ShotScope tags in my grip ends.  So, in a move sure to appall the purists among us, I made candy canes with lead tape, hung them on the butt end (sticky-side on the shafts), and put grips over the top of them.  Some of the butts are not so pretty now with the lumps under the grips, but in my first round yesterday I really loved the feel, had some extra distance, and my buddy said he saw me hit a few of the best iron shots he has seen me hit.  The do feel lighter, smoother, and I don't notice the added gross weight at all.

Based on early returns it seems your suggestion about counterweights was spot on.  Thank you!
 

How much weight did you add?  Could you achieve the same with a heavier grip?

[IndyBonzo]

3 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

How much weight did you add?  Could you achieve the same with a heavier grip?

I did it by trial and error, but in most cases I added 20-25 grams plus three layers of tape.   The clubs played really heavy before, as you can probably tell.  I didn't think about doing it simply with grips.  I mean, of course not, that would be too simple, right?.  That said, I wanted to use the Iomic grips I already had in hand.  

[Shrek74]

OK [mention=113024]Shrek74[/mention], I went for it.
My best club in my bag is my Gap wedge, which plays at a swingweight of D2-ish.
So, I needed to regrip anyway, and I counterweighted my irons (which are 1/2" long) down from swingweights of D6-8 to D2 territory.  I did not use the plugs b/c I have the ShotScope tags in my grip ends.  So, in a move sure to appall the purists among us, I made candy canes with lead tape, hung them on the butt end (sticky-side on the shafts), and put grips over the top of them.  Some of the butts are not so pretty now with the lumps under the grips, but in my first round yesterday I really loved the feel, had some extra distance, and my buddy said he saw me hit a few of the best iron shots he has seen me hit.  The do feel lighter, smoother, and I don't notice the added gross weight at all.
Based on early returns it seems your suggestion about counterweights was spot on.  Thank you!
 

This sounds awesome, @IndyBonzo! Love hearing this a lot.
Sounds like your irons were just overweight for you, and slimming them down a few SW points is giving you back better control and a stronger iron game.
These might help you get a proper counterbalance, save the grips, and still provide you a hole to allow the SS sensors to be inserted. https://www.golfworks.com/lead-counterweights/p/cwssh/

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[IndyBonzo]

14 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

This sounds awesome, @IndyBonzo! Love hearing this a lot.
Sounds like your irons were just overweight for you, and slimming them down a few SW points is giving you back better control and a stronger iron game.
These might help you get a proper counterbalance, save the grips, and still provide you a hole to allow the SS sensors to be inserted. https://www.golfworks.com/lead-counterweights/p/cwssh/

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 

Fantastic!  Thank you, @shrek74!  I did not know those were available with the center holes.  Again, much appreciated!