Have a customer who has a Callaway XR Driver. Looking to match swingweight to his new PXG....

WSUWarriorPGAPro · September 21, 2021

Hello, Techs!

I am mildly astute as to what to do with many club repair tasks, as I am a PGA Professional who has been doing it for the past 35 years. However, sometimes there is something that comes up where I need some guidance and some help.

I have a customer/member who has a Callaway XR (XR-16) driver at 10.5 Loft. He has the stock Fuji Speeder 565 Evolution R flex shaft in it. The club has a Winn Oversize DriTac LT grip on it, and the club length is 45.75", and the swing weight of the club is at D-4.5. TOTAL club weight is 10 3/8 oz, or 295 grams, if I'm reading that part correctly. The total head weight alone is at 190.5 grams after taking it off the shaft. This Callaway driver is now his secondary driver that he will leave in AZ when he goes down there for the winter this year.

I know this is a weird request, but with the data above, I need to know the following.... What is the weight of the 565 Speeder? 65gram shaft, or 56 gram shaft? (I thought it was a 56 gram shaft.) Anyway... He has a new PXG driver he just purchased. It has an Evenflow shaft in it that is blue. (I know it is counterbalanced, but I don't know what the weight of that shaft is, but I do know it is a stock option for them.) Also, this driver has a D-3 swingweight. He wants to match the two drivers up in swing weight of the PXG one at D-3. Would I get another Evenflow shaft to put in the Callway driver, or what weight shaft would I have to go to in order to drop the 2.5 swing weight points?

I know you probably need more data to help from the PXG driver. I also know (and I would do this) I would purchase another PXG driver of the same specs as the other PXG and sell the Callaway for what I could get for it. However, this Callaway XR driver is a driver he is going to leave in AZ over the winter months when he goes there, and he will leave the PXG driver up north with his main set. He doesn't want to travel back and forth with a driver, since he is flying down, and not driving. (He is also a little frugal, so I can't go crazy with this build of a shaft and adapter for the Callaway driver I'm trying to match up with the PXG he has.

Any advice would be helpful!

Thanks!

Stuart_G · September 21, 2021

2 hours ago, WSUWarriorPGAPro said:

I know this is a weird request, but with the data above, I need to know the following.... What is the weight of the 565 Speeder? 65gram shaft, or 56 gram shaft? (I thought it was a 56 gram shaft.)

Unfortunately knowing that (by itself) is not going to help you with swing weight. Balance point is just as important as the shaft weight and one value without the other is going to be useless for determining any contribution to the swing weight.

But don't you have the shaft? If he wants you to match one club to another, he really should give you both clubs to work with. That's the only way to accurately match clubs.

2 hours ago, WSUWarriorPGAPro said:

Anyway... He has a new PXG driver he just purchased. It has an Evenflow shaft in it that is blue. (I know it is counterbalanced, but I don't know what the weight of that shaft is, but I do know it is a stock option for them.) Also, this driver has a D-3 swingweight. He wants to match the two drivers up in swing weight of the PXG one at D-3. Would I get another Evenflow shaft to put in the Callway driver, or what weight shaft would I have to go to in order to drop the 2.5 swing weight points?

Does he want you to change the shaft of the Callaway? You certainly shouldn't be changing shafts if he just wants you to match the swing weight of the two clubs. That's not really a good reason to change shafts. Especially if he's as frugal as you say he is.

Now if he really likes the Evenflow better, then that's a different situation and it might help but most stock driver shafts are counterbalanced so I wouldn't hold your breath that it will really reduce the swing weight. It may or may not.

What's the playing length of the PXG?

What's the head weight of the PXG? Keep in mind that the Callaway adapter is heavier than the PXG adapter so you need to adjust for that difference when looking at the raw head weights.

I assume, at least, that the PXG has the same grip?

But regardless of all that, the first choice for reducing swing weight is always to reduce the head weight - although I don't think that's an option with that particular head (if memory serves) - assuming there were no tip weights used. I certainly don't remember seeing a factory weight plug in that head - but could be wrong.

The second choice would be to reduce the playing length. If swing weight is that important to him, he shouldn't mind sacrificing a little length (a little less than 1/2" to get the 2.5 pts) to get it and it should be more beneficial than keeping it at the longer length and heavier swing weight.

Playing with grip weight is rarely a good idea so I wouldn't consider that route.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Stuart_G

WSUWarriorPGAPro · September 22, 2021

19 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

Does he want you to change the shaft of the Callaway? You certainly shouldn't be changing shafts if he just wants you to match the swing weight of the two clubs. That's not really a good reason to change shafts. Especially if he's as frugal as you say he is.

He wants to go lighter in the Callaway club for the shaft, as well as longer. I do not have the PXG in hand (I will need to get it, I know), but if memory serves when we originally checked out the two on the swing weight scale the other day, I know the PXG is lighter in swingweight and also at least a 1/2" longer. Grips are the same. I put them on for him. He's been to the PXG guys to adjust his PXG driver to how he wants it. He just wants to get his Callaway one close. (As I mentioned earlier.... I'd just sell the Callaway and get a second PXG driver, if it was me. But it is not.)

I just was wondering if the Blue Evenflow shaft that comes in the PXG was.... #1 counterbalanced, which I believe it is; and #2 if it was lighter than the Speeder that is in the Callaway. I know I'll have to take his PXG apart and weigh the head itself to see what that weight is. That will make things easier.

Stuart_G · September 22, 2021

So if you match shafts, the main problem is going to be that IF the PXG head is potentially lighter than the Callaway, then it's going to come down to a decision of which is a higher priority for the customer - length matching vs swing weight matching.

WSUWarriorPGAPro · September 22, 2021

So, I got the PXG head. I weighed that one and I got the club from the guy to check some specs.... The total weight of the PXG head (with the weights he has in it) is a total of 195.0 grams. (Total head weight.)

I also put the shafts on a digital scale to check them. The PXG shaft weight (with grip and adapter) is 113.5gms. The Speeder shaft on his Callway is 111gms (with grip and adapter). The Lengths of the shafts are different, because of the adapters and how they fit into the adapter and clubhead. The PXG does have a EevenFlow Riptide CB 50gm regular 5.0 shaft. in it. Since it says CB, that makes be believe it is counterbalanced, whereas the Speeder is most likely not, judging by the head weights and where the swingweights are on the two clubs.

Long story short... I pretty much talked him into not going down this rabbit hole. We could put the same shaft as the PXG into the Callaway, and it MIGHT get close, but there are no guarantees. I said just pick up a second PXG driver when he is in AZ, and sell the Callaway XR to make up some difference in the price. Then he'd have two matching drivers, one north and one south. Also, PXG is in AZ, so they could help him more.

Thanks for the overall help. As I mentioned, I am decently experienced in club repair and building, but this is a rabbit hole I do not have the time for, nor the patience to do, when I may (or may not) get the desired results.