Anyone deal with light driver heads .

[alpineto]

Just a rant here but I've dealt with three different OEM's who put out light driver heads , Titleist 915 d2 , Taylormade M2 2016 & Callaway epic sub zero

all heads where 194/5 gram heads when I got the Titleist I wasn't happy with the acoustics of it and had it sent off to be hot melted and it totally transformed that head

as I could now feel the head through the swing , I then upgraded to the epic and same thing club sounded terrible so I went out and bought a digital scale and that head only weighs 194 grams and I always

struggled with consistency with that driver and now I know why as I couldn't feel the head in that one either and now onto the Taylormade I was browsing Craigslist and happened to spot this basically brand

new 2016 9.5 M2 for $125 so I bought it and took it to the range and for the life of me could not get it to go left even with adjustments my friend tried it who's stock shot is a draw and he couldn't get it

to turn over so I took it to our local club builder and he checked it out and said the club head was light at 195 grams and said its probably not letting you kick the shaft and thats why we where having trouble

with it, there is a Diamana 60 gr blue shaft in stiff playing at nearly 46 '' long so it has been uncut and also a large oversize grip that probably weighed 85gr so he's changing the grip and also hot melting both

heads to two hundred grams so that should take care of the problems I've had with these drivers , so do yourselves a favor and buy a cheap kitchen digital weight scales .

I also googled average driver head weight and it says 200 grams .

[anth]

I’m not a tech head but I think 195 grams is pretty standard now, and it’s due to the extra weight of the adjustable sleeves on the tip of the shaft. I suspect if driver heads weighed over 200 grams like they used to they would feel heavy for most golfers

[alpineto]

I like to feel the head so maybe it's just me but the club builder even said the M2 head was on the light side

I just got a mizuno st200 and that head weighs 202 grams anyhow it would be interesting to hear from people and what their driver heads are weighing in at .

[enfuego]

I've been tracking component weights on the drivers I've played and liked. Two ways to go about things. Find a shaft with a balance point that compliments the head weight and your release and I think you'll get along fine. The opposite argument is find a setup of shaft adapter and grip you like and match the head weight when switching. Both can work. Although some heads aren't meant to be played too heavy or too light.

[greenwavegolfer]

It's partly the adapter, but also with the standard length of drivers getting longer over time they dropped the headweight to keep the SW in check. Ping is probably the only company with a stock head weight 200g or more and that's really only because their stock shaft is counterbalanced. I have a G400 LST with an aftermarket shaft (non CB) playing 45" instead of 45.75 and it's perfect (right around D5 IIRC). I hit things like the Epic or M5 at Roger Dunn and they feel like children's toys with the heads so light.

[Stuart_G]

 

200 gm has been the 'standard' (if you could really call it that) for driver head weight for a long, long time. Those that are calling 195 or so light are simply wrong because they are not considering that the adapter is part of the head, not part of the shaft and adds 6-8 gm depending on which OEM's adapter it is. So the real head weights are typically right were they should be. Now it's true that some models have gotten heavier to give the head designer a bit more discretionary weight to work with - especially for movable weight tech or c.g. manipulation. But that really hasn't been all that wide spread, at least not enough to look at it like the standards have changed or that the heads should be heavier.

It's also very common that a lighter feel can actually be coming from the shaft selection and not the head. Shaft manufacturers are making wood shafts with higher and higher balance points to help keep the swing weights manageable with the ridiculously long stock playing lengths coming out of the factories. On top of that stock shafts are getting lighter as well. And both of those aspect can contribute to the head weight (or swing weight) feel or lack of it. That 'standard' 200 gm driver head weight was established when people were playing much heavier steel shafts (although also at a much shorter 43" playing length).

Of course, the standard head weight doesn't mean it will be a good fit for everyone. Some people just need more weight to get a good fit and some people will need it lighter (or need it to play shorter), but that's not the OEM's fault. They have to find a head weight that will work well for a majority of the customers.

So you can't reasonably blame it on the OEM's. Instead if you feel the need to blame anyone, blame the problem on the person doing the fitting or on the buyer not bothering with a proper fitting, whether for shaft weight or swing weight.

 

[alpineto]

Well I got the M2 driver back today and the guy I bought the driver from had made a complete mess of this club

as far as putting a weighted extension on the shaft the club builder even said that the big oversize grip wasn't put on properly

he said who ever did the work was a butcher ,anyhow it is now playing the way it should he put 4 grams of hot melt to bring the head

to 199 grams , I'm very happy with how the club is playing now and am waiting on the Epic head to come back from wills people , I hadn't

realized that the club builder locally does hot melting and would have had him do it as it would of saved me shipping costs and time so I'm really looking

forward to getting the epic head back , I played today with the Mizuno st 200 with the Motore x f1 60 gram stiff shaft for nine holes and hit it great missing two fairways

and not by much and then on the back nine I played the M2 with the Diamana blue 60 gram shaft and I have to say it behaved very well ,but I'd have to give the nod to the Mizuno

but not by much it just flights the ball really really nice so next up will be the epic can't wait should have it back by early next week .

[fastnhappy]

As with any spec, don't pay too much attention to it in isolation. The full club is a symphony of interconnected specs. A 195g head is great if you're a shallow rounded swinger who can control a longer driver. The lighter headweight keeps the swingweight in a manageable range. A heavier head is better for those of us who prefer shorter drivers, but the extra weight also makes the shaft play softer. So 195 isn't right or wrong... but it does require other club specs to be in a certain range to work well with that head.