Does moving driver weights change flight with same strike??

[Barfolomew]

I just got a G410. This is my first driver with movable weights. There are 3 spots... Draw, Neutral and Fade.

 

What is really going on when I move the weight to fade?

Is it making the club turn more open during swing?

Would the flight change if I hit the same exact strike but moved weight??

 

Thanks!

[vmann]

It slows the closing rotation of the head.

[Valtiel]

Moving the weight, especially on something with as wide a range as the G410 line, moves the sweet spot in the direction of the weight. When you miss the sweet spot either heel or toe side, the horizontal gear effects imparted will tilt the spin axis of the ball, resulting in slice/hook "spin". Moving your weight to the toe will shift the sweet spot in that direction (only a few millimeters, but it still makes a difference), making a "center" strike now technically slightly heel side of the sweet spot, which will impart a small amount of axis tilt that will make the ball fade. The opposite is obviously true for putting weight in the draw position.

In most practical cases, you move the weight towards your miss to decrease the severity of it. A fade bias tends to be the more talked about/common due to the fact that bad toe strikes can be more penal than heel strikes, and the idea of eliminating the left side of the course is very common, especially among bigger hitters.

For the pros who have generally grooved strike locations, those small shifts in sweet spot location can be the difference between a straighter flight or a preferred slight draw/fade with exactly the same swing.

[Barfolomew]

Thanks Valtiel you explained it well!

 

 

[BarronDDS]

I have always been skeptical of these changes. I do not feel that a small weight can affect closure rate, as some say... but im not an engineer

[getitdaily]

Moving the weight to fade makes the center of the face impart right sidespin.

Moving the weight to draw makes the center of the face impart left sidespin.

Moving the weight moves the center of gravity so that gear effect is either more pronounced or less. If you move the weight to where you consistently strike the face then gear effect is reduced.

There is truth that moving the weight further to the toe side can slow face rotation but it's marginal at best....especially when the weights are back. A front track heel/toe weight has more impact on face rotation because a front track is aligned on the shaft axis, which is the axis that impacts face rotation.

[cardoustie]

lead tape on the toe has always improved driver performance for me .. YMMV

[Valtiel]

You're welcome! The G410 is currently the king in terms of adjustability range, definitely experiment. Yeah I have always been skeptical of the closure rate idea as well. Moving the CG is definitely a tangible thing that will impact performance, but without some really specific testing, I have a hard time believing the closure rate idea.

[wcgolfer]

Tom Wishon would say “no”.

[Barfolomew]

To what? I respect Tom's opinion of course lol

[Valtiel]

The only emphatic "no" I recall from Tom Wishon was related to adding/moving weight in iron heads due to the relatively small amount of weight you can realistically manipulate in proportion to the much higher weight of the iron heads themselves. I don't think anyone would argue about moving weight in driver heads, provided it is enough weight and is moved enough distance, criteria the 410 easily meets.

There is an argument to be made though regarding the right tool for the right job. If someone comes in to a lesson/fitting with a big slice due to a swing fault, moving weight is not the answer. Same for someone that has an extremely erratic strike pattern. Moving weight to tune performance is for people with reasonably sound and consistent delivery conditions and strike location.

[MtlJeff]

i'm a big believer in the following:

Does it do something? Yes

Does it do something that us slovenly amateurs will notice? Unlikely

 

[wcgolfer]

Wishon’s argument, even with drivers, is that the amount of weight you would need to move to effect anything is impractical.

[Stuart_G]

I believe most of Tom's statements regarding the amount of weight being impractical had to do with adding weight, not moving it. Two different things. When adding weight, the large change in swing weight is what makes the use of weights for that purpose impractical. When moving weights around the head, that's no longer much of an issue. One still need a decent amount of weight to effect performance - but not quite as much as you would if adding weight. That's because moving (for example) 15 grams is the equivalent of removing 15 gm from one place and adding it back in a new location. That makes it twice as effect as just simply adding 15 gm to the head.

 

[asufan550]

Absolutely. Changes in center of gravity lead to changes in spin and launch; changes in draw/fade bias are essentially changes in spin - the more spin typically the higher the flight.