The swing weight has a big influence on how you can move and accelerate a club during the swing. Among other things, it determines where the club head is at the moment of impact and how it can be controlled. As you can see, these are all important points that have a great influence on performance.
How does swing weight affect golf clubs?
The swing weight of a golf club is assessed on a 14-inch fulcrum which measures where its balance point falls on the scale. The heavier the club, the more the club will tilt toward the clubhead side when balanced on that fulcrum. Take a look this short video featuring our TOUR team adjusting swing weights for PGA TOUR players.
What is the swing weight of your Irons?
For the sake of simplicity, we are only talking about irons here, because there are definitely large deviations for drivers and wedges. The swing weight of irons probably varies between D2 and D5 for 95% of Tour players. Most will be somewhere in this range.
Does shaft length impact swing weight?
Yes, shaft length does impact swing weight. For every 0.5 inches of shaft length removed, you’ll find that about 3-5 swing weight points are also removed. With PXG clubs, your fitter can counterbalance that weight using our Precision Weighting Technology. What Swing Weight Is Right for Me?
What is the ideal swing weight for irons?
The swing weight of irons probably varies between D2 and D5 for 95% of Tour players. Most will be somewhere in this range. Players with high club head speed like Rory McIlroy or Dustin Johnson tend to be around D5-D6. Players with more average tour club head speed are around D3-D4.
Does swing weight matter in irons?
Why Swing Weight Matters Heavier clubs and a tired golfer means less speed and less speed means less distance. If a golf club feels too light, the golfer will find it difficult to control and keep the club on the proper path through their swing. It is important to have the proper swing weight for your swing and tempo.
How does swing weight affect golf club?
Swing weight is the measurement of the head-weight feel of a club. A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to the club head.
Should driver swing weight be the same as irons?
All of Your Clubs Should Have the Same Swing Weight Make sure all your clubs have the same swing weight. Even if you think your clubs are a bit light or heavy for you, all the clubs in your bag should at least be very close to the same swing weight.
What happens if your swing weight is too heavy?
Since swing weight is how heavy or light a club feels to a golfer, it can significantly impact the game. For golfers that are playing with a club that feels too heavy they may start rushing their golf swing and trying to attack the ball in order to get the club to perform.
Is D5 swing weight too heavy?
If it feels too heavy at D5, you can remove strips of lead tape one by one until it feels right. If your driver is heavier than D5, ask your club fitter to add a heavier grip or a counterweight to reduce swing weight to D5. Get Fitted By A TPT Authorized Fitter.
What happens if my swing weight is too light?
If the swingweight is too light, you will sense you're having a harder time controlling your tempo and the number of times you hit the ball on the heel or top it will increase. If the swingweight is too high, you will find yourself pushing the ball more, and the club will feel too heavy and more laborious to swing.
Does a heavier golf club hit the ball farther?
Together, the speed and mass determine the magnitude of the force that is applied to the golf ball. It stands to reason that given the same swing speed, a heavier golf club will apply more force to a golf ball than a lighter one and will, therefore, result in greater distance.
How do I know what swing weight I need?
An accepted rule of thumb is that increasing or decreasing the weight of the clubhead by 2 grams will increase or decrease the swingweight by 1 and the same impact would be achieved by adding or subtracting 5 grams to or from the grip and 9 grams to or from the shaft.
How do I get more club head speed with my irons?
1:294:32THE ONLY DRILL YOU NEED TO INCREASE CLUB HEAD SPEED ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipHand out in front. Move it to the top feel that split let it go bring it in and again look how muchMoreHand out in front. Move it to the top feel that split let it go bring it in and again look how much more i'm through to target my chest is through the target my belt buckles through the target.
Does losing weight affect golf swing?
There's no doubt that losing that extra weight (particularly in the mid-section) can help improve your swing, while becoming stronger can inject more power into your drive.
What is a good swing weight for a senior golfer?
A swing weight between C-8 and D-1 is the best swing weight for a senior driver, and the shaft should be 55-60 grams. Loft should be 12-13 degrees or higher, and seniors should look for 2-4 degrees of hook in the face or consider an offset driver head to prevent slicing.
Why is swing weight important in golf?
Since distance is the main factor with the driver, swing weight is essential. Many strong players will go to a driver with a slightly lower swing weight. They do this to make sure that they can get the full speed they need from the tee. Sometimes this extra swing speed results in an extra ten yards of distance.
How does weight affect golf?
Since swing weight is how heavy or light a club feels to a golfer, it can significantly impact the game. For golfers that are playing with a club that feels too heavy they may start rushing their golf swing and trying to attack the ball in order to get the club to perform.
What are the factors that determine the weight of a golf club?
There were four main factors used in determining the swing weight of a golf club. The weight of the club head, shaft, grip, and overall length. Making a small change in one of these factors may not change the swing weight overall, but it absolutely can.
Why is my golf club so light?
When a golf club is too light, you will have to change your golf swing in order to accommodate a slower and more controlled motion.
How to change weight on irons?
Aside from changing the overall length of the club or the grip that you put on it, one thing that many golfers will do is put lead tape on the club of their irons. The lead tape is heavy, and it allows players to feel where the club head is throughout their golf swing.
What is the most important thing about golf irons?
When it comes to golf irons, swing weight is yet again important. With the golf irons, the most important thing is consistency. Knowing that a golf iron has a certain feel and that feel is repeated among all the irons in the set will help you become a better golfer. Speed is important with the irons, and you will want to make sure ...
What swing weights do senior golfers use?
Senior golfers tend to do best with swing weights in the low D range or high C range. As golfers age, their swing speed starts to slow down a bit, impacting the overall performance and distance that a player gets.
Why is it important to use a heavier swing weight in wedges?
The heavier swing weight in the wedges and short irons can possibly help club and club face awareness for greater precision. It’s important to remember that swing weight and overall weight are mutually exclusive. A heavy club can have a light swing weight and vice versa. That’s because swing weight is merely addressing the balance point ...
What happens if you swing heavy?
A light swing weight can prohibit the golfer from properly feeling where the head is during the swing and cause issues with squaring the face at impact, while a heavy swing weight can cause fatigue and negatively affect performance over time. ADVERTISEMENT.
Is swing weight too heavy?
Finding the proper swing weight for your game is mostly preference-based, but according to Tim Briand, Senior Vice President of GOLF’s sister company True Spec Golf, issues can arise if swing weight is too light or too heavy. A light swing weight can prohibit the golfer from properly feeling where the head is during the swing ...
Why is it important to have the proper swing weight?
It is important to have the proper swing weight for your swing and tempo. An incorrect swing weight can throw off your swing and lead to more off-center strikes and inconsistency. A swing weight that feels right keeps your swing on the correct path and tempo, yielding consistent, accurate results swing after swing.
What are the factors that determine swing weight?
The four factors that come into play when measuring swing weight are: Weight of the club head. Weight of the grip. Weight of the shaft. Length of the golf club.
What is swing weight?
Swing weight, simply put, is how heavy a golf club feels when you swing it. It is not a finite measurement and is not something measured in grams like the weight of a golf club’s shaft or grip. This measurement was invented in the 1920s to describe the dynamic feel of a golf club as the player swings it.
What does the swing weight scale indicate?
Once the counterweight balances the entire club, the swing weight scale indicates what the swing weight of that club is. Robert Adams of Adams Golf fame is credited with inventing this system of finding the proper balance in golf clubs.
How is swing weight measured?
How Swing Weight Is Measured. Swing weight is measured using a special balance scale that places the golf club at the proper fulcrum point. The fulcrum point is where the golf club is evenly balanced on both ends and does not tilt to either side. Once balanced at the correct fulcrum, club makers move a sliding weight that measures the amount ...
What happens if a golf club feels too heavy?
If a golf club feels too heavy, the golfer has to swing harder, can find it difficult to swing, and tires out through the round. Heavier clubs and a tired golfer means less speed and less speed means less distance. If a golf club feels too light, the golfer will find it difficult to control and keep the club on the proper path through their swing. ...
Do golf clubs feel good?
Every golfer has played with golf clubs that just felt right. You were able to make your best swings consistently, the clubs felt good in your hands, and they made you a more confident golfer.
Why is a heavier swing weight heavier than a lighter swing weight?
A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to the club head. As with the fitting of the shaft weight, the club fitter also has to evaluate the golfer’s transition force, tempo, strength and any pre-determined feel preference the golfer may have ...
What is the difference between a baseball hitter and a golf swing?
He has to rely on quick eye-hand coordination. In contrast, the golf swing is just that – a swing of the club.
What is shaft weight?
Shaft weight is by far the biggest contributor to the total weight of the club, which is simply a measurement of how heavy a club is. Swing weight is the measurement of the head-weight feel of a club. A club with a heavier swing weight will feel heavier to a golfer than one with a lighter swing weight, because its balance point is closer to ...
What happens if you don't hold your golf club properly?
Then you learn good posture and setup. If you don’t start in a good position, the body can’t perform the swing motion properly. With a good grip and a sound setup posture, I believe anyone can learn a functional golf swing pretty easily.
How wide is a golf ball?
The ball is 1.68 inches in diameter, and the functional striking area on a golf club is about 1.5-inches wide. If you vary in your setup by even 3/4 inch, you have imposed a serious obstacle to success. If you do nothing else to improve your golf game, learn how to set up the same way every time.
Do you fit shaft weight and swing weight at the same time?
Both elements — shaft weight and swing weight — are influenced by the same golfer swing characteristics, which is why good club fitters will fit for both the shaft weight and the swing weight at the same time in the fitting process. In the actual fitting process, however, the shaft weight comes first. This is because the test clubs required ...
Is swing weight measured in grams?
Remember, swing weight is NOT an actual measurement of weight as are grams, ounces or pounds. Swing weight is an arbitrary measurement of the relationship of weight in a golf club about the 14-inch fulcrum point on a swing weight scale.
Why is swing weight important?
This is because other variables like choosing the right driver head and driver shaft are more primary factors for increasing distance. Swing weight is a secondary factor, but that doesn’t minimize its importance.
How to reduce swing weight to D5?
If your driver is heavier than D5, ask your club fitter to add a heavier grip or a counterweight to reduce swing weight to D5.
What part of the clubface strikes the ball?
What part of the clubface strikes the ball? The center of the clubface is typically thought to be the best place for distance, although some golfers do improve performance when they impact the ball slightly above the sweet spot, slightly toward the toe, or a combination of the two depending on the driver head design.
What is the mass of a club head?
The mass of the club head including the mass of the first 4 inches of shaft attached to the club head is the only mass that will affect the ball at impact. All other things being are equal, the heavier the mass of a clubhead plus the first 4 inches of shaft, the more ball speed (and thus more distance) will be created.
Is optimizing swing weight easy?
Most golfers are happy to hear that optimizing swing weight is fast and easy. In most cases, it’s as easy as adding a little lead tape or choosing a different golf grip. P.S.
Is swing weight a secondary factor?
Swing weight is a secondary factor, but that doesn’t minimize its importance. Get swing weight right, and your driver could become your favorite club in the bag. Get swing weight wrong, and it can screw up an otherwise perfect driver. Most golfers are happy to hear that optimizing swing weight is fast and easy.
Does Sinclair test swing weight?
Sinclair does check to see if a lighter swing weight will provide more speed . Checking both scenarios allows the fitter to maximize distance. But the good news is that a trend around swing weight has developed during Sinclair’s thousands of hours of testing TPT shafts with golfers of all abilities.
How does swing weight affect performance?
The swing weight has a big influence on how you can move and accelerate a club during the swing . Among other things, it determines where the club head is at the moment of impact and how it can be controlled. As you can see, these are all important points that have a great influence on performance. But why is the swing weight not right ...
What is swing weight?
Swing weight is probably something that only a fraction of all golfers have ever heard of. Every player knows the difference between steel and graphite shaft. Or between stiff and regular. But if you ask a player what swing weight he has in his irons, you'll probably only get questioning looks. And yet, the swing weight is of elementary importance.
How many swing weight points does half an inch of shaft make?
And that is the last thing you want: a set of irons with varying length and swing weight. With the shaft, you can roughly say that half an inch makes up about 3 swing weight points.
What weight swing does Sergio Garcia use?
The wedges are extremely heavy, but the long irons are very light. Sergio Garcia plays with a swing weight of C-8, which is very light. On the other hand, he plays one of the heaviest shafts of all, the Modus 130, and adds some weight to the end of the shaft.
How to make a club head lighter?
To make the club head lighter, the shaft must be removed, the weight removed (drilled out) and the shaft remounted . Both processes are not very simple and require a lot of experience.
Can you make sure the swing weight does not fit you?
On the contrary: by making small changes you can even make sure that the swing weight does not fit you at all. Two short examples: - You buy a new iron but choose a shaft that is 1 inch longer because you are quite tall. The manufacturer makes this club for you by simply adding a longer shaft.
Is shaft weight a reliable indicator?
Always assuming the weight distribution in the shaft is identical - which it rarely is. In this respect, the shaft weight is not a reliable indicator, especially since one rarely knows the exact weight distribution. The grip also has a great influence and is often underestimated.
Glowbal
I am a scratch player former tour pro and CPGA Pro I have a very consistent swing and i rarely ever have a wild miss hit. I have been playing for 40+ years.
jvincent
You've made a pretty significant change to your setup that somebody of your skill level would notice immediately.
mesomike
Usually hits them all perfect. Lol. You should be on the tour making millions.
wkuo3
So you hit your friend's iron a few times and liked it so much that you changed your own set up which you had been using for 40+ years . All of the sudden you're not hitting sweet shots like you could have done with your eyes closed ?
How to measure torque on a shaft?
One way to measure torque is to clamp one end of the shaft and apply a constant couple-moment (turning force) to the other end. The more the shaft twists, the higher the torque.
Where is Erik from Ping Golf?
Erik currently manages the Innovation and Fitting Science Department at PING Golf. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2010 from Arizona State University, where he studied plasma physics and micro-satellite propulsion. Since starting at PING in 2010 as a research engineer, Erik has played a part in the development of various technologies and projects, including iPing, Turbulators, nFlight fitting software, and the PING Custom Fitting Manual.
Is there a difference between high and low torque?
From a performance standpoint, there was little difference (at least statistically) between shafts of high and low torque. There did appear to be some minor evidence to suggest shafts with lower torque delivered the face more shut, while shafts with higher torque delivered the face more open relative to path.
Does a shaft work with one driver model?
Another important thing to note is just because a shaft worked well with one driver model or set of irons, does not mean it will perform optimally for the same player in another model. The way a shaft behaves and delivers the club head depends on the characteristics of the head itself. The mass properties of the head (things like total mass and center-of-mass location) can change quite a bit from model to model. As a result, a player may find that one shaft works really well in one model, but another shaft works best in another model.
Does a ladies flex have more stiffness than an X flex?
The amount the shaft bends corresponds to its stiffness. In general, a Ladies flex will bend much more than an X-flex using this method. In many cases the softer the overall stiffness, the greater the launch angle and spin rate. This is not always the case, as players can respond differently to variations in stiffness.