Lighten driver swing weight, reduce head weight or add to the butt?

[man0fsteel]

Here's my dilemma - I was recently fitted by Tru Spec focusing on my driver. They cut all their aftermarket shafts to have a 45" length from the butt end. The data said for me to get a TS2 9.5* head with a Fujikura Atmos Black Tour Spec shaft, Stiff.

 

I wanted the club fast as I was headed to a golf trip with the boys and Tru Spec couldn't get it to me in time so I purchased a TS2 with a Smoke shaft and then got the Fujikura Atmos shaft separately. I got both right before getting on my flight and didn't really have time to check them out. Turns out the Atmos shaft had a triple wrapped midsize grip so I regripped it where I was. However, I couldn't hit it like I was during the testing earlier in the week! So I played the Smoke shaft, which I also hit well but not as far on the trackman.

 

So I'm at home now and when I weight the club with the Smoke shaft, it's swing weight is right about a D2. With the Atmos shaft, it's swing weight is a D5.

 

I prefer to play a 45" shaft but don't want to cut from the tip. I also prefer the D2 swing weight. So I need a lighter weight in the head, or need to add weight to the butt end. Any suggestions on which is preferable? I know I can get a lighter weight for the head (not sure if Titleist makes one light enough though) but thought adding a weight to the butt of the club might be easier for me to try to make sure this was the factor. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

[jvincent]

Before you do anything, what grip was on the Atmos when you were fitted?

[Valtiel]

There are a couple very important things to note here and a little more information necessary to make a recommendation. First, adding grip/butt weight does NOT make the club lighter. It tricks the swingweight scale by shifting the balance point but if you think about it logically, you are ADDING weight. This means the club gets heavier, not lighter. Yes the weight is under the hands so it is less noticeable but both the MOI and the static weight of club increase with a heavier grip, so do not use this method to achieve a lighter swingweight if that is your goal.

 

Second, if those shafts are measuring that far apart in terms of swing weight then they are either different lengths or have different weight grips, unless the Smoke shaft you are referring to is the Smoke Yellow which is counterbalanced (need you to clarify this). Overall, if you want the club to be lighter then you need to decrease either head weight or shaft weight, with head weight obviously being the easier option. However, do NOT decrease headweight just because you think you prefer D2. Swingweighting is an outdated and imprecise method of measuring overall club feel since it was intended to used with a more static set of variables that these days are very much NOT static.

 

If you are simply looking to lighten the club, then just go with lighter weights for the head. If you are looking to actually fit the club to you to achieve the best possible results, follow this thread:

 

https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/909991/diy-driver-tune-up-diy-fitting/p1

[Stuart_G]

> @man0fsteel said:

> So I'm at home now and when I weight the club with the Smoke shaft, it's swing weight is right about a D2. With the Atmos shaft, it's swing weight is a D5.

>

> I prefer to play a 45" shaft but don't want to cut from the tip. I also prefer the D2 swing weight. So I need a lighter weight in the head, or need to add weight to the butt end.

 

Sorry, important question. Do you want to lower the swing weight because the scale says it's too heavy or because it actually feels too heavy when you hit with it?

 

The first way is not a good way to fit for swing weight. The swing weight values, by themselves are meaningless. They will not tell you what you need to know about how heavy the club will feel for you.

 

But if it really does feel too heavy and you really do need to reduce the heft of the club, then either lighten the head weight, reduce the playing length, or in some cases reduce the shaft weight. You can not reduce the heft of the club by adding more weight, no matter where you add it.

 

 

[man0fsteel]

 

 

> @jvincent said:

> Before you do anything, what grip was on the Atmos when you were fitted?

 

Iomic midsize with triple wraps (I didn't know it was like that...got it off ebay) Replaced with Golf Pride Tour Velvet, no wraps. So I definitely know there was a weight reduction there.

 

 

[man0fsteel]

> @Valtiel said:

> There are a couple very important things to note here and a little more information necessary to make a recommendation. First, adding grip/butt weight does NOT make the club lighter. It tricks the swingweight scale by shifting the balance point but if you think about it logically, you are ADDING weight. This means the club gets heavier, not lighter. Yes the weight is under the hands so it is less noticeable but both the MOI and the static weight of club increase with a heavier grip, so do not use this method to achieve a lighter swingweight if that is your goal.

 

Thanks for the explanation. My goal is to get the club/shaft combo to perform the same as it did the day of the testing, which, as we all know, can have a ton of 'other' factors influencing things....but I did feel like I was swinging the driver 'normal' and my ball flight/distance with my original set up (Titilest 910 9.5* w Atmos Black S shaft - not tour spec) was doing what it always did. high ball flight, lots of spin, about 250 yards.

 

>

> Second, if those shafts are measuring that far apart in terms of swing weight then they are either different lengths or have different weight grips, unless the Smoke shaft you are referring to is the Smoke Yellow which is counterbalanced (need you to clarify this). Overall, if you want the club to be lighter then you need to decrease either head weight or shaft weight, with head weight obviously being the easier option. However, do NOT decrease headweight just because you think you prefer D2. Swingweighting is an outdated and imprecise method of measuring overall club feel since it was intended to used with a more static set of variables that these days are very much NOT static.

 

 

Yes! I was really just assuming the club wasn't performing the same because the swing weight was different from what I tested. The HZRDUS Smoke shaft I have is just the regular 60g,/6.0/ low spin shaft. It's actually just about a 1/4" longer than the Atmos Tour Spec Shaft. Both have the same Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip.

 

>

> If you are simply looking to lighten the club, then just go with lighter weights for the head. If you are looking to actually fit the club to you to achieve the best possible results, follow this thread:

>

> https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/909991/diy-driver-tune-up-diy-fitting/p1

 

I'll follow up after reading the thread.

 

Thanks again!

 

[Valtiel]

> @man0fsteel said:

> > @Valtiel said:

> > There are a couple very important things to note here and a little more information necessary to make a recommendation. First, adding grip/butt weight does NOT make the club lighter. It tricks the swingweight scale by shifting the balance point but if you think about it logically, you are ADDING weight. This means the club gets heavier, not lighter. Yes the weight is under the hands so it is less noticeable but both the MOI and the static weight of club increase with a heavier grip, so do not use this method to achieve a lighter swingweight if that is your goal.

>

> Thanks for the explanation. My goal is to get the club/shaft combo to perform the same as it did the day of the testing, which, as we all know, can have a ton of 'other' factors influencing things....but I did feel like I was swinging the driver 'normal' and my ball flight/distance with my original set up (Titilest 910 9.5* w Atmos Black S shaft - not tour spec) was doing what it always did. high ball flight, lots of spin, about 250 yards.

>

> >

> > Second, if those shafts are measuring that far apart in terms of swing weight then they are either different lengths or have different weight grips, unless the Smoke shaft you are referring to is the Smoke Yellow which is counterbalanced (need you to clarify this). Overall, if you want the club to be lighter then you need to decrease either head weight or shaft weight, with head weight obviously being the easier option. However, do NOT decrease headweight just because you think you prefer D2. Swingweighting is an outdated and imprecise method of measuring overall club feel since it was intended to used with a more static set of variables that these days are very much NOT static.

>

>

> Yes! I was really just assuming the club wasn't performing the same because the swing weight was different from what I tested. The HZRDUS Smoke shaft I have is just the regular 60g,/6.0/ low spin shaft. It's actually just about a 1/4" longer than the Atmos Tour Spec Shaft. Both have the same Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip.

>

> >

> > If you are simply looking to lighten the club, then just go with lighter weights for the head. If you are looking to actually fit the club to you to achieve the best possible results, follow this thread:

> >

> > https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/909991/diy-driver-tune-up-diy-fitting/p1

>

> I'll follow up after reading the thread.

>

> Thanks again!

>

 

Sure thing, best of luck!