Is your goto swing weight always your swingweight?

[SMAC43]

I’ve pretty much always been D2. Typically stiff shafts in the 115/120g range. Recently played a round with my buddies x forged w/PXI 5.5 D2 SW. Loved the feel just know I needed the 6.0s as the 5.5s spun a bit too much and the miss would be too far left when I went after one. So...I built a set of ap2s with pxi 6.0 D2 swing weight and we’re not getting along at all. Trouble feeling where the club is in backswing and transition. Numbers are great on well struck shots just not finding the middle as much.  So my question is...in a situation like this should I be building them heavier like D5/D6 to regain some feel? Or is it just a bad shaft for me and find something else that works well at my normal D2 

[Stuart_G]

3 hours ago, SMAC43 said:

I’ve pretty much always been D2. Typically stiff shafts in the 115/120g range. Recently played a round with my buddies x forged w/PXI 5.5 D2 SW. Loved the feel just know I needed the 6.0s as the 5.5s spun a bit too much and the miss would be too far left when I went after one. So...I built a set of ap2s with pxi 6.0 D2 swing weight and we’re not getting along at all. Trouble feeling where the club is in backswing and transition. Numbers are great on well struck shots just not finding the middle as much.  So my question is...in a situation like this should I be building them heavier like D5/D6 to regain some feel? Or is it just a bad shaft for me and find something else that works well at my normal D2 

 

Swing weight is not an absolute measure of head weight feel so a swing weight value that you've found to work well is ONLY valid for that particular shaft model and weight, playing length and grip.    If any one of those changes,  then the swing weight value that's a good fit can also change.

 

However, the shaft could very well be a bad fit as well.   But since you already have the clubs built, it couldn't hurt to play around with some lead tape on the head.

[Red4282]

7 hours ago, SMAC43 said:

I’ve pretty much always been D2. Typically stiff shafts in the 115/120g range. Recently played a round with my buddies x forged w/PXI 5.5 D2 SW. Loved the feel just know I needed the 6.0s as the 5.5s spun a bit too much and the miss would be too far left when I went after one. So...I built a set of ap2s with pxi 6.0 D2 swing weight and we’re not getting along at all. Trouble feeling where the club is in backswing and transition. Numbers are great on well struck shots just not finding the middle as much.  So my question is...in a situation like this should I be building them heavier like D5/D6 to regain some feel? Or is it just a bad shaft for me and find something else that works well at my normal D2 

You have to remember that swingweight is only part of the equation. You can technically swingweight a club thats 10 pounds to D2 and one thats 10 ounces to D2, and they obviously will feel massively different. Swingweight is telling you more about a certain balance. You need to get the total weight to feel right as well.  Swingweights should just be thought as a guide to get your set to feel similar.

[Adam C]

Go ahead and add some lead tape and see what happens. This is a question you don't need any help answering. It's totally based on you, your swing, and your equipment. The heavier head weight will soften up the feel of the shaft a bit also which might benefit you. As in so much of golf, you just need to throw a bunch of stuff against the wall and see what sticks.

 

Just be aware that making any equipment change, just like any swing change takes time. One range session with different weights will often not be enough time to fairly judge the impact of the said changes.

[Valtiel]

Agreed with everything these three guys said. Swingweight by itself is meaningless and the sooner you work your way out of the "should I do this?" mindset and into the "i'm going to try this and see what it does" one, the better, as it will be a far more useful path to finding what works best for you. This is doubly true for something as easy as slapping lead tape onto a club, which has zero risk. Asking "should I?" types of questions is good for things that are not reversible like shaft tipping/cutting, but not recommend for personal feel things like swingweight since only you can answer. The PXi 6.0 is also a 110g shaft, so in all likelihood you have dipped below your previous comfort zone and need a little extra headweight to get back into it.

The important thing is that your own sense of feel is telling you there is a problem, so trust that same sense to let you know what it is right again when you start adding weight. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Valtiel

[Old Tom Morris]

You don’t have to do anything drastic like D5 or D6.  Just put some tape on them and bring it up to D3.  Might be all you need.

[sniper]

I find this topic very interesting. I have a basic understanding of swingweight but not enough knowledge to advise. I love my irons (MP-18SC, C-Taper Lite S +1/2 inch, Tour Velvet Mid Size). I recently realized that my irons are D6.  This is according to the Club Champion build sheet. My first thought is that’s a high swingweight. My second thought is that the swingweight I’ll need to be in when I buy a new set?

 

 

[eth4and]

On 12/30/2020 at 9:51 PM, sniper said:

I find this topic very interesting. I have a basic understanding of swingweight but not enough knowledge to advise. I love my irons (MP-18SC, C-Taper Lite S +1/2 inch, Tour Velvet Mid Size). I recently realized that my irons are D6.  This is according to the Club Champion build sheet. My first thought is that’s a high swingweight. My second thought is that the swingweight I’ll need to be in when I buy a new set?

 

 

Every decision you make in a build will have an effect on SW. Shaft length vs. standard plays a large role in swingweight given that the measurement is taken based on a 14" fulcrum. All things being equal, playing +0.5" will add 3 SW points. Similarly, you opting to play the tour velvet midsize grips rather than the standard tour velvets serves to reduce the SW by 1.5 SW points. Head weight also has an effect (+/-2g = +/- 1 SW pt) as does shaft weight (+/-10g = +/- 1 SW point). 

 

All that being said, I echo the sentiment that SW is not the end all be all. It's an important element attempting to quantify "feel", but I'd argue it is far less important than matching the club head and shaft profile to your swing dynamics. For example, if the MP-18SC w/ the C-Taper Lite S (110g) at D6 is your optimal, it's highly unlikely you'd fit equally well into a different split cavity, say the P-7MCs, with for example a Modus shaft at roughly the same raw 110g weight and same D6 SW. Hope this is helpful!

[Stuart_G]

5 hours ago, eth4and said:

Every decision you make in a build will have an effect on SW. Shaft length vs. standard plays a large role in swingweight given that the measurement is taken based on a 14" fulcrum. All things being equal, playing +0.5" will add 3 SW points. Similarly, you opting to play the tour velvet midsize grips rather than the standard tour velvets serves to reduce the SW by 1.5 SW points. Head weight also has an effect (+/-2g = +/- 1 SW pt) as does shaft weight (+/-10g = +/- 1 SW point).

 

Those swing weight 'rules' are really a poor way to try and really understand swing weight.  They actually cause more problems then they really help.   The swing weight scale and concept was designed to do one thing and one thing only.   To help match the head weight feel though head weight adjustments (and only head weight) for small changes in length.   It was never designed or intended to manage any other changes such as shaft weight or grip weight or even longer changes in playing length.  And as a result it does a terrible job and not a very good tool in the context of those types of changes.

 

 

[eth4and]

I don't use SW as the end all be all, but it's certainly a useful tool matching clubs within a full bag fit/build AND arguably even more important when performing certain retrofits -> e.g. a player likes the "feel" of their irons but wants to regrip their std. MCC +4 grips for the midsize versions; if you don't make a corresponding weight change to the heads via lead tape, hot melt, etc., that "feel" the player liked prior to the regrip will be lost. Further, when Avg. Joe with a 95mph driver SS playing a stock SIM Max comes in and wants to cut down his driver from OEM stock 45.75" to 44.75" in an attempt to find more fairways (no comment on the merits of this line of thinking); as a club builder you better be thinking about how you're going to counteract that change to the playing length to maintain a playable SW for Avg. Joe (likely through additional head weight). Obviously some players are more sensitive to SW differences than others. But I'm yet to find someone who can't feel a SW drop from D3 to C7. 

[ChipNRun]

I played the XR16 Tour driver for four seasons, but it started feeling a bit heavy. It had SwWt of D3.

 

Switched to current EXS driver, got better distance, but it felt a little light. Sure that I would need to buy a heavier head weight screw, I got it swingweighted. The result: SwWt = D4...

 

Go figure! I left things as is, and got used to the head feel after a few more rounds.

 

Hint to others: when you make a change, work with it awhile to see if you can get used to it. There's a learning curve on these things.