How do I achieve D4 or D6 with 1.5” over standard length?

Is it possible? I have REL midsize grips. Bore the heads and weights in the grips? Shafts are ctaper 125g. I personally don’t think it’s possible. What do the tall players on tour do when they are 1”+ over length, just play heavy clubs? That’s what I’ve been doing and curious about options. Thx

There really isn't much you can do given that you are using a heavier shaft. Normally you would use the lightest components to help mitigate the heft of the club and get the sw down a little, but that's not happening with what you want. The one thing you shouldn't do is use counter balance weights to trick the scale. All you are doing is adding heft to the club and going to make it harder to swing. Swing weight is just a number. By going 1.5" overlength, you are really only increasing the total weight of the club by a few grams. You perceive the club to be so much heavier, but really it isn't.

You could grind/drill away head weight, but that also has problems because then if you do too much, you won't have the proper mass in the head hitting the ball. If you can use a head where a lighter headweight is available, that is the route I would go, but that has it's limits. Ping, for example, at a certain point will tell you they can't do anything more and the sw will be what it will be (at +1.5" is will be in the high D range or even E) and you have to deal with it.

Agree with not trying to chase a swingweight number. Guys that are tall are typically quite strong overall so a club that's a little heavier isn't a problem for most.

Don't know what most of the lightweight head versions are but I've seen some heads come out as much as 10 gm lighter then 'normal' (from a +1" TM factory build). And there are a couple heavier shafts (notably the i110 and i125 gm steelfibers) that are butt heavy enough to reduce the SW another 3-4 pts or so compared to more standard balancing DG's. So that's going to be in the ball park of D3-4.

But if the OEM doesn't make lightweight versions of the heads, not a chance, even with most lighter shafts.

Yeah I agree With that. Never been much of a swingweight chaser, and I’m so used to having a heavier club, it feels normal to me. I tried the lighter shaft route and the ball flight was still higher than I wanted. Never been a fan of manipulating sw with weights in shafts or the grip. Seems counterproductive. I’d rather just work out more or swing a weighted club, slowly.

I have a set cobra king mb/cb and ordered uncut ctaper shafts, so I could cut to my exact length, and they bored out the heads a little to reduce the headweight, I’ll post those numbers when I get a chance.

Do you really need an inch and a half up?

Even a quarter of inch shorter can save you 1-2 points on the scale.

Do you really need an inch and a half up?

 

Even a quarter of inch shorter can save you 1-2 points on the scale.

Yeah, i'm 6'4" and was fitted for the length. They feel great, as far as at address and I don't feel like i have to hunch over to feel comfortable.

Brass ferrules 14g

Brass ferrules 14g

Probably should read the thread from the beginning. He is looking to save weight, not add weight.

My MacGregor Custom irons all are D-6, too heavy.

I was cut 0.5 inches off shaft for irons #3,4,5 are D-3. I feel better.

5 irons almost same 6# iron standard shaft length.

Smoking weeds.

I started swinging a momentus for flexibility and its made all my clubs feel lighter, problem solved :)

I have two sets that are D1 at 1” over, so it is possible. You may not like shafts though. Both sets, Mizuno MP32 and MMC, are B weight heads, both have light graphite shafts (Accra 90i and Project X LZ) and 65g Lamkin Crossline midsize grips. I also have a set of Ping i5s with Tour 90 shafts that SW even lighter, but Ping has stopped making heads that light.

Get on the grinder and port out the bottom of the hosels.

Day grinds his soles but adds back toe weight. If you strategically grind the rear sole and port the hosels you can shave 4-5 points pretty easy. Sort of depends on the particular head design and how much meat is in that rear sole area.

Of course you make the clubs worthless for resale.....but that’s a different issue.

I would buy an inexpensive used set of clubs that you know you like and use them as a “guinea pig” set to experiment on. If they don’t work out, throw them in the trash.

I wasn't a SW chaser either, unless I bought some irons that I hit well at first (with stock grips), and then didn't when I changed to my fitted golf grip.

I also learned my backup iron set, has a diff SW than my main. I like the main's better. So I researched what the manufacturer's intended SW was and I'm going back to it.

Here's what I did without much fuss.

1. Get your head weight from Maltby Playability Factor [iron head list](https://www.golfworks.com/iron-head-mpf-ratings/a/870/ "iron head list") (6i),

2. In addition to having the specs for your current components, get specs of other shafts and grips,

3. Go to ValueGolf's [swing weight calculator](https://www.valuegolf.com/golf-club-swingweight-calculator/ "swing weight calculator") and play with it, keeping an open mind that either the shaft or the grip will have to change.

I'm better informed now on what to do. In my case, in order to keep my type of grip (midsize -- which are all 58-65g except for the Tour Velvets which are 53.5g), I need to change my shaft.

What I learned about myself: I really like D1 SW in irons. Not so much D0, and not D2+.

> @sshadow2 said:

> 3. Go to ValueGolf's [swing weight calculator](https://www.valuegolf.com/golf-club-swingweight-calculator/ "swing weight calculator") and play with it, keeping an open mind that either the shaft or the grip will have to change.

1) any calculation that doesn't consider shaft balance point is going to be VERY unreliable. If one can get the individual component specs, use the one here instead:

https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-interactive-calculators

2) Doesn't matter what grip you're using - set grip wt to 50 gm and leave it there. That will let you know what the 'true' swing weight will be. Short story is that the swing weight scale was never designed to handle grip weight changes so it's not reliable and it shouldn't be used for that purpose.

> @Stuart_G said:

> > @sshadow2 said:

> > 3. Go to ValueGolf's [swing weight calculator](https://www.valuegolf.com/golf-club-swingweight-calculator/ "swing weight calculator") and play with it, keeping an open mind that either the shaft or the grip will have to change.

>

>

> 1) any calculation that doesn't consider shaft balance point is going to be VERY unreliable. If one can get the individual component specs, use the one here instead:

> https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-interactive-calculators

>

> 2) Doesn't matter what grip you're using - set grip wt to 50 gm and leave it there. That will let you know what the 'true' swing weight will be. Short story is that the swing weight scale was never designed to handle grip weight changes so it's not reliable and it shouldn't be used for that purpose.

>

>

Thx for this and for taking all the wind out of my sails. :-)

However, why set the grip wt and leave it there? I'd imagine I'd have to revisit this whenever I change styles of grip.

> @sshadow2 said:

> However, why set the grip wt and leave it there? I'd imagine I'd have to revisit this whenever I change styles of grip.

You may or may not have to adjust for different grip weights. Most do not BUT there are always exceptions out there.

And for those that it may make a difference, the swing weight scale (or those calculations) are not typically very helpful in dealing with that type of change. The swing weight scale and swing weight concept is a tool that was designed to help roughly match the MOI of clubs in a set - but only under very specific contexts - how to manage head weight when there is ONLY a small change in length - but still the exact same shaft and exact same grip. Go outside that context and the concept of the same swing weight value resulting in the same weight feel breaks down. At that point it's always better to go back to the range and bring some lead tape you can add in increments to find the best feel - e.g. throw out the old SW value target and go find a new one. But in the context of grip weight changes, one will typically get a decent starting point in that testing if you ignore the grip weight changes - match the head weights assuming both the old and new club has the same grip weight (since grip weight will only have a minimal influence on the MOI of the club).

Now because it is a "matching" device, the use of the swing weight scale (or calcs) will depend quite a bit on how you came up with a target value. If you have another similar club - e.g. the club that's being replaced - and it has the same grip and the same shaft and same length and maybe just changing to a new head and you know that original club is a good fit for swing weight - then you can either use the actual grip weight for both clubs or the standard 50 gm value for both clubs in the calcs. As long as you're consistent and it's the same grip weight it doesn't matter all that much about what value you put in.

Thx for taking the time to explain. My context is more about changing shafts than heads where a fitting can leave me with so many options. The specs of my iron components are not told. I got the head weight from MPF. The shaft and grip weights are not stated. It’s a guessing game but the manufacturer does have an intended SW. I like how it feels and I’m going by that (I’m aware of tolerances). As I stated, I easily added 15g+ weight when I changed the grip. I feel like my tempo if off a bit now. I’m definitely changing the shaft. But I’m reconsidering the grip now (not just for weight reasons).

> @sshadow2 said:

> Thx for taking the time to explain. My context is more about changing shafts than heads where a fitting can leave me with so many options. The specs of my iron components are not told. I got the head weight from MPF. The shaft and grip weights are not stated. It’s a guessing game but the manufacturer does have an intended SW. I like how it feels and I’m going by that (I’m aware of tolerances). As I stated, I easily added 15g+ weight when I changed the grip. I feel like my tempo if off a bit now. I’m definitely changing the shaft. But I’m reconsidering the grip now (not just for weight reasons).

The 'intended swing weight' from the club OEM's is really meaningless. The stock values are chosen as a generalization of what tends to be a good fit for a higher percentage of buyers. And it's typically done w/o any consideration to the shaft weight.

Shaft changes can be a bit more tricky. Shaft weight and shaft balance point can influence both the swing weight AND the actual MOI of the club. If the static club weight (shaft weight) isn't changing very much but shaft balance point does change - the swing weight scale isn't perfect but not too bad - it at least might get you near a good head weight. However if the shaft weight is changing - that can actually change what swing weight will be a good fit - so in that case it's best to go back to the lead tape testing to find the new 'best' swing weight. And while grip weight may not have a big impact on the MOI of the club, it can potentially have a noticeable influence on the total club static weight.