Using a nail to experiment with (lowering/reducing)swing weight

[Nickc]

Getting into this swing weight thing.

I am old and play MP-32's with r300 shafts. 

Have been tempted to go for lighter shafts but then realised altering the swing weight may be better.

Recently installed Lamkin Sonar grips (with two wraps as not 0.6 shafts).

Swinging really comfortably and put it down to the+4 grips but maybe also due to heavier grip reducing the swing weight.

So thinking of experimenting with further reduction with minimal cost and hit upon the idea of inserting a flat head nail onto the butt of the grip. Have some 3 inch nails that weigh 12 grams so thought of cutting down to try different weights - 4 grams per swing weight point? (Edit: at the butt end)

Anyone tried this?

Edited July 14, 2021 by Nickc
Added to clarify - at the butt end

[SwingBlues]

No, it's 2 gram per swing weight point

[ShortGolfer]

I've seen 5 grams per swing weight point in the grip but since it is at the very end 4 is likely to be closer.

 

Certainly worth an experiment.

 

I've been using this online calculator to track the swing weight of my clubs.

https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-assembled-swingweight-calculator

Edited July 14, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[rexroh]

I have used steel nails as tip weights.  I do not have access to club making supplies so I have to convert other items at times.   Do not use nails for graphite shafts.  

Try to get plenty of epoxy around the nail so it will not touch the side of the shaft.

[mcounci2]

Weight in the grip won't affect much.  You can give it a try, but I'd try to make it a blind test- maybe have somebody else put the nails in, and tape over all your butt caps, then hit some balls at the range and see if you can identify the clubs that have nails vs the ones that don't.

[Mookieb10]

Very clever idea. Yea, 12 grams in the handle should be 2.5 or so swingweights. Not insignificant. 

[BREWMASTER95060]

The opening post is sending me off on a tangent.
thank you
now I need a vacuum pump

Edited July 15, 2021 by BREWMASTER95060

[North Butte]

You're proposing a solution in search of a problem. What is it you don't like about your current clubs weight and balance?

 

Do your clubs feel too light to you? If so, maybe the butt of the grip is a good place to add a nail-worth of wait or maybe not. Won't know until you try.

 

But the ONLY thing you will accomplish by adding a few grams of weight at the grip end is making the club heavier overall without making the feel more head-heavy. 

 

The fact that it fools the swingweight scale into showing a different number is simply a flaw in the way swingweight scales work.

 

You're doing the equivalent of eating a few ice cubes before taking your temperature. It isn't going to cure your fever but it sure as heck will fool the thermometer into saying you don't have a fever. 

[skraly]

Swing weight scale isn’t meant to work that way.  All you’re really doing is making your club heavier.  Having said that, go ahead and give it a try.  It can’t hurt.

[Nickc]

On 7/15/2021 at 11:26 AM, North Butte said:

 

Do your clubs feel too light to you? If so, maybe the butt of the grip is a good place to add a nail-worth of wait or maybe not. Won't know until you try.

 

But the ONLY thing you will accomplish by adding a few grams of weight at the grip end is making the club heavier overall without making the feel more head-heavy. 

 

Oops have I got this all wrong I thought that adding weight to the butt of the grip would fool me into making the club head feel lighter.

[skraly]

The swing weight scale was developed when almost all golf club components had a relatively narrow range of weights.  Club heads might have varied some but the steel shafts and the available grips were pretty standardized as far as weight was concerned.  While extra weight in the grip end can affect the way a club feels when it is swung, it has no direct effect on the shaft/clubhead interaction.  About the only way to effectively make the head feel lighter is to take weight out of the head.  I suppose if you added a large enough amount of weight to the butt end you might end up making the head feel lighter.  I can tell you that I use a 20 gm. back weight in my drivers.  My perception is not of a lighter head but of an overall heavier club.  I get better center face contact consistency with the driver.  Interestingly, I have not found backweighting to be an improvement in any other club.  Swing weight, overall weight as well as shaft length all play a part in how a club feels in a golf swing.  Any one is not more important than the other.  But since you’re just inserting a nail in the vent hole of the grip go ahead a give it a try.  No harm done.  If you don’t like the results you can just remove the nail.  Back weighting is very dependent on personal perceptions.  What works well for any one golfer may have an opposite effect on another.  You just have to experiment to find what works best for you.

[Righty to Lefty]

16 hours ago, Nickc said:

Oops have I got this all wrong I thought that adding weight to the butt of the grip would fool me into making the club head feel lighter.

You are not wrong in your assertion as adding weight to the butt end of the club will reduce the swing weight and making the club feel "head light" while increasing total weight.  The fulcrum on the swing weight scale is at 14" so any weight added to to the butt end before the 14" mark will reduce swing weight by varying amounts as you move the weight towards the butt end of the  club and any weight added past 14 inches will increase the swing weight by varying amounts as you move the weight towards the club head. Tour Lock Pro and Opti Vibe weights are good for manipulating these parameters...especially the opti vibe weights because you can push them to different depths within the shaft to manipulate swing weight. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Righty to Lefty

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

Spalding did this butt weighting thing with the 1970's Elite MV2 iron model. They spent two years developing a perfectly heel/toe weighted blade and didn't want heel weighted shaft adjustments to swing weights to mess up their design. They adjusted apparent swing weight using a plastic insert in the butt into which was screwed a substantial bolt.

Only found out about this when I regripped a set, removed the bolts of different lengths and fittings with no discernable alteration in playability.

I kept the fittings and bolts to experiment with other clubs....a driver, I remember. That didn't have the desired results either.

I still have the fittings if anyone wants to see.

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, Righty to Lefty said:

You are not wrong in your assertion as adding weight to the butt end of the club will reduce the swing weight

 

Correct.

 

Quote

and making the club feel "head light"

 

For some people yes, for others no.   There is no general rule that's useful for how butt weight changes will change the head weight feel.   Balance is a static property of the club, not a dynamic property so doesn't always translate to the dynamic feel of the club the way most people think it might.   So what happens to the swing weight value is not always a useful representation of how the head weight feel will change.

 

Trial and error testing is the only way to see what the effect of back weighting will be for any individual.

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Stuart_G

[Righty to Lefty]

I agree for 100% that you have to use trial and error to figure out what works for your individually. I was shocked at how much weight was required for me to get my clubs where I wanted them in regards to total weight and swing weight but like you said you have to experiment to figure out what you prefer.