What is swingweight? A professional clubfitter explains! golftips

[@azahansafetyman1161]

Just got adjusted. My fitter set the weight at C9 Feeling much better of where the club head is during the swing

[@scottwatson9479]

Very informative video, I also prefer heavier swingweights of about D3 in my irons and D4-D5 in my lofted wedges, I am looking for a new hybrid to replace a driving iron and tested a few different models yesterday and the Cobra Darkspeed 17 degree performed really well but the 41.5" shaft is just too long for me plus the swingweight was slightly light (D1 I think) so if I was to order this club at say 40.75" then what would be my best options of getting the swingweight back up to at least D2?

[@golfclubcoach]

The cleanest option would be to get a clubfitter bring up the swingweight (which will be even lower at the shorter length) either with lead/tungsten powder and cork down the shaft or with hot melt. You could also do it with lead tape, adding it inch by inch untill the club feels good. I can totally understand you wanting to go shorter with the hybrid and prefer to build hybrids to corresponding iron lengths or at the most 0.5 inch longer. Sadly manufacturers generally make them much longer to be competitive on the launch monitor when testing.

[@LucyBonilla-t2o]

Hello, I'm about to fit my Mizuno MP-52 with Fijikura Vista Pro 60i graphite shafts with Super Stoke midsize grips that weigh more or less 49g according to the manufacturer. My question is, what swing weight should I put on them? If I could tell you how much weight I should put on the tip of the shaft approximately, you are the expert, please advise me, thank you.

[@golfclubcoach]

@@LucyBonilla-t2o It is very hard to get a good result be calculating the needed tip weight beforehand, just by checking the component (shaft, grip) lengths and weights. The only way to be anywhere near accurate is to dry fit the components and the put it on the scale. Even then you have to guesstimate the weight that the epoxy will add. I don't use tip weights anymore, but always use cork and powder after installing the head and before fitting the grip. It is the only way to be spot on with your swingweights.

[@golfclubcoach]

Have you ever felt the difference in swingweight between clubs, or is it irrelevant for you? I always pay attention to the swingweight when I build or adjust a club. Mainly because I am super sensitive to it myself, so I know the difference that it can make for some players.

[@DefenderTIM]

A couple years ago I installed a midsize grip on my driver because my hand is right on the cusp and I wanted to try it out. What I didn't realize is that the heavier grip dropped my swing weight by a lot. I struggled to hit that club ever since until two weeks ago when I went back to a standard grip that was 20g lighter. Now the club swings at D4.7 and it feels fantastic. Most of my woods and irons are lighter than that (C7 to D2) and my swings with them are all over the map, so should I start putting lead tape on everything to get the weights up?

[@golfclubcoach]

Back in the day, this bigger grip experiment is exactly why I got into clubmaking. If you like your Driver SW at D4.7, then you can be sure that irons as light as C7 will not work for you. I suggest at least matching your driver SW and from there test with one or 2 points above that. My guess is you will like your irons better at D6, but you can test to be sure. Wedges can be a bit heavier still. Let me know how you get on.

[@DefenderTIM]

@@golfclubcoach Thanks! I've got some lead tape on order. If my numbers are correct then I need to add about 80 grams total to get my woods to D4, irons to D5, and wedges to D6. My putter has always felt a bit light, too, so I'll be experimenting with that as well.

[@DefenderTIM]

@@golfclubcoach my lead tape finally arrived, so I went through the bag and did some finer measurements. I don't have a swing weight scale; instead I put everything in an online calculator and got my before-and-after results--which were kind of surprising. I didn't adjust my woods at all--I think I'm going to re-shaft both of them and add tip weights at that time. For my irons I had read about MOI matching and thought I'd give it a try, so I based everything off my 60º wedge which calculated at D4.1 and worked my way up the set adding tape to aim for 0.7 points decrease per club from 9i thru 4i. In some cases the swings changed way more than expected: for example, my 9i needed 4 points to get to D3.4, so I added 7 grams of tape expecting to get close. It ended up remeasuring at D5.5, a full 2 points higher than target. The calculators are helpful to garage-shop weekend warriors like myself, I think, but to do anything more precise would undoubtedly require a proper scale. At least I was able to get a good progression of swing weights thru the irons even if I wasn't quite able to dial it in. I haven't hit any balls with them yet, but already the extra heft of the clubs when swinging in the backyard makes it so much easier to feel the club head through the arc of the swing, and I'm finding it much easier to slow things down. Hopefully I can get some weather that isn't crazy thunderstorms or thermonuclear heat soon so I can spend a couple hours with them at the range.

[@golfclubcoach]

@@DefenderTIM Maybe you can pick up a used scale somewhere if you want to keep the costs down. Back in the day, I messed with one of those calculators as well, but in practice it is not even close to being a good replacement for a scale. Especially if you want to try MOI matching as you tried to do now, a scale just makes the whole job easier and a lot more accurate. You won't regret getting one. For proper MOI matching you would probably want a digital scale because the increments are very small. But maybe you prefer classic swingweight matching, then an old school scale with a ruler will do the job just fine.

[@citanullunatic4084]

Good video. Informative and well presented. What is that grip on your 7 iron, looks like it's got red grooves on it? Or are my eyes deceiving me?

[@golfclubcoach]

Thanks! The grip you see in close-up is not my grip, but the one from my mother's 7I, because we needed that shot in the edit. The red accented grip is a SuperStroke swinggrip and are very similar to a Winn grip, though a bit more durable. The grips on my clubs are Golfpride CP2 Wrap. What grips do you use?

[@citanullunatic4084]

@@golfclubcoach Snap! I use CP2 Pro Standard with 2 layers of tape. You're right about the Wynn grips lack of durability, only used them once and they started to fall apart after a dozen games.

[@golfclubcoach]

@@citanullunatic4084 I build up the lower hand of my CP2 Wrap Midsize with 2 layers of tape, then the whole grip with an extra layer. Too bad about those Wynn grips, because that soft grippy feeling is good for a lot of players. Especially ladies tend to like them. But those SuperStroke's are a good and more durable alternative. I used them a lot for my clients.

[@Norstein49370]

Interesting, but keeping the swing weights as is, but counter balance using weights, the club weight overall would increase, but the swing weight would go down, is this a good solution? Example: my Ping max driver, with std, tungsten weight and 60gr shaft, swing weight E-0, is same as my current 7 iron. I like my 7 iron but I’m looking to lighten my driver, in order to increase driver club head speed.

[@golfclubcoach]

Wow, E0 is pretty heavy, but yes, using a counter weight in the grip will get the swing weight down and might improve your club head speed. Depending on the model of Ping, you could alternatively swap the tungsten weight in the head for a lighter one to decrease swingweight. But keeping the head weight and using a counterbalance will probably give you better ball speeds

[@Norstein49370]

Thank you.

[@johnsnider2094]

I have to have my irons fitted + 1/2” putting my swing weight at d5. Is that too heavy for irons?

[@golfclubcoach]

Not at all. I would be perfectly comfortable with hitting irons at D5. If you are a very smooth or slow swinger then it could be too heavy, but for faster players it usually isn't a problem. If you want to lower the swingweight but keep the length then you could put heavier grips on them or get them counterbalanced.

[@Slim-r2h]

Should all of the swing weights of the irons be the same ? 4i-9i?

[@golfclubcoach]

Dear god, that is how I prefer to have my swingweights set-up. You can also have your swingweights decrease a little with each iron lower to create an MOI matched set, instead of a traditional Swingweight matched set. I have tried that myself but personaly felt it lacked feel. But I was a pretty aggressive swinger at the time.

[@stevenshaw718]

Can I ask please how do I know what my swing weight preference is? Is it all trial and error 🤔 thanks Steve

[@golfclubcoach]

Good question Steve, To an extent it is indeed trial and error. A good clubfitter can help you test with different testing clubs and by using lead tape. You can test, by adding an inch of lead tape at a time, yourself as well. But you need a swingweight scale to tell you where you land at. A good swingweight for you can lead to better clubface control. Too light can make you deliver the face closed, too heavy can make you deliver the face open. Let me know how you get on.

[@cechua574]

Will heavy swing weight slow down the swing speed?

[@golfclubcoach]

Not necessarily. It might even speed you up. It all depends on which swingweight is right for you. To find out, you have to test it.

[@skylercutsforth8595]

does having a heavier swing weight cause you to miss one way more than the other? Does it promote and open face? Or does it not really apply to that?

[@golfclubcoach]

Good question. Yes it definitely can. A swingweight that is too high for you can make it harder for you to close the face, thus leaving it open on impact, leading to a push start direction. On the other hand, a swingweight that is too light can cause you to close the face too fast, thus delivering a closed face on impact, leading to a pull start direction.

[@34dawgsgo]

As a hobby club builder I still don't get this. Assume making the club the lightest while the player can still control it. I've refitted all my personal clubs to senior flex shafts as they are lighter. Slow swing speed.

[@golfclubcoach]

You are absolutely on the right track. For slow swinsgspeed or older players, it can definitely help to bring down the total weight of their golfclubs by using lightweight components. The key is the controlability. If such a player has an aggressive transition, possibly due to a shorter backswing, we need to give that player enough swingweight to still feel where the cluhead is in the swing. A higher swingweight also gives you something to "pull" on, to create some speed. Imagine swinging and releasing a feather, too light will not create much force or speed.

[@AMurderOfLobs]

What is Tom Waits though?

[@golfclubcoach]

Tom Waits is an American singer and actor, born in 1949 in Pomona, California. Well known for his deep and gravelly voice.

[@AMurderOfLobs]

@@golfclubcoach Oh great, thanks for clarifying. Your knowledge of golf clubs truly is expansive!