Swing Weight and Mid-Size Grips

[boogielicious]

I would like to get forum members thoughts on swing weight and changing to mid-size grips. I switched back to mid-size grip last year and it has helped my hands a lot. I have a bit or arthritis in my knuckles and also have Dupuytren’s Contracture in my palm on both ring fingers. With standard grips, even with four wraps, my knuckles would hurt and the DC area would get sore.

When I changed last year, there was a significant change in swing weight. I went to Golf Pride MCC+4 grips on one set and Pure DTX Midsize with build up tape in the other.  I’ve had irons in the past that have very light shafts and low swing weight (Titleist 716 AP1). I did not like the feel very much. I felt like I could not feel where the head was.

In both sets I have now, I’ve added an 8 or 10g weight in the shaft tip to get the swing weight in the D2 range. I’ve played with one set all year (Titleist 716 CB with PX LZ 5.5 shafts) and it feels normal to me now. The irons are obviously 10g heavier from the weight and another 10+ from the grip. Typical grip weights are below. Also, Pure is prototyping a +4 grip as well which I will probably go to when it comes out. That may be in the 63g range.

Pure DTX Mid-size 58g

GP MCC+4 Mid-size 66g

GP Tour Velvet STD. ~50g

My question is whether I am being too OCD about this. I do like to tinker, so that helps. What have others done? Curious what @Adam C and other builders do. @Piz, @Darkfrog, @Club Rat etc.

Scott

[ChetlovesMer]

12 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

I would like to get forum members thoughts on swing weight and changing to mid-size grips. I switched back to mid-size grip last year and it has helped my hands a lot. I have a bit or arthritis in my knuckles and also have Dupuytren’s Contracture in my palm on both ring fingers. With standard grips, even with four wraps, my knuckles would hurt and the DC area would get sore.

When I changed last year, there was a significant change in swing weight. I went to Golf Pride MCC+4 grips on one set and Pure DTX Midsize with build up tape in the other.  I’ve had irons in the past that have very light shafts and low swing weight (Titleist 716 AP1). I did not like the feel very much. I felt like I could not feel where the head was.

In both sets I have now, I’ve added an 8 or 10g weight in the shaft tip to get the swing weight in the D2 range. I’ve played with one set all year (Titleist 716 CB with PX LZ 5.5 shafts) and it feels normal to me now. The irons are obviously 10g heavier from the weight and another 10+ from the grip. Typical grip weights are below. Also, Pure is prototyping a +4 grip as well which I will probably go to when it comes out. That may be in the 63g range.

Pure DTX Mid-size 58g

GP MCC+4 Mid-size 66g

GP Tour Velvet STD. ~50g

My question is whether I am being too OCD about this. I do like to tinker, so that helps. What have others done? Curious what @Adam C and other builders do. @Piz, @Darkfrog, @Club Rat etc.

Scott

I don't think you are being OCD. I think its a legit question and I'd like to know the answer.

[Club Rat]

Scott, there are several ways to achieve playability with irons under your circumstances.
My suggestion is consider vibration eliminating shafts with soft oversize grips.
Soft stepping the shafts might also be an alterative.

Given you want to add weight to the club head and counter with grip weight, 
it a fine line to tinker with.

Or you could possibly try different clubs other than what you currently have.
Unless you absolutely luv your setup, ditch them and start fresh.

 

[dennyjones]

4 hours ago, boogielicious said:

My question is whether I am being too OCD about this.

Absolutely not.   It's your feel, it has to be right for you.   

[Darkfrog]

I’ve never tinkered with swing weight before, and when I build a set of irons I usually just settle for the feel of the clubs as-built with the idea that I’ll eventually get used to the different feel.

That said, my main set of irons feels perfect to me (probably just familiarity with them), and adjusting swing weight is something I’d like to be able to do in the future to make my other sets feel closer to them. I’ve just never invested the time to work on it. 

[GolfLug]

Not OCD. 20gs overall is huge. I agree with recommendation from @Club Rat. Try soft stepping instead. Creates a similar feel without having to use so much weight in the tip. The guy a True Spec had me try that last year and it was noticable at impact. 

I also agree with @Darkfrog. Feel adapts over time. Shorter than you would think. 'Muscle memory' is a myth in my experience.

But seems like you have already tinkered and found your resonant set up? 

Edited October 30, 2020 by GolfLug

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

Not OCD. 20gs overall is huge. I agree with recommendation from @Club Rat. Try soft stepping instead. Creates a similar feel without having to use so much weight in the tip. The guy a True Spec had me try that last year and it was noticable at impact. 

I also agree with @Darkfrog. Feel adapts over time. Shorter than you would think. 'Muscle memory' is a myth in my experience.

But seems like you have already tinkered and found your resonant set up? 

20g sounds to be a lot, but it’s close to where a DG 130g shaft would be with a standard grip. My Titleist set doesn’t feel heavy to me either and it it set up that way now. The PX shaft is 115g. I tried a 110g shaft and it didn’t feel as smooth to me.

[Adam C]

So you can do what you did and add head weight to counter the grip weight. You can find lighter midsize grips, which obviously isn't always a viable option. You can also find shafts with more tip heavy balance points. You could also add a little length to the club to get that weight back. All these options have pros and cons.

My personal feeling on SW is that it's mainly about getting a consistent feel through your irons and wedges. I don't care about matching woods, hybrids, putters to an iron SW. Most important for me is a smooth weight progression through the set so each club is getting heavier moving from driver to wedges.

The simplest option is start out with just the new grips and no additional weight at the tip. Use whatever iron you want, and hit some balls with impact stickers, foot spray powder, dry erase marker on balls, launch monitor, etc, to look at your impact pattern. Then start adding some lead tape to the back and repeat the process. At some point you should find your consistency is at it's best and adding or taking away weight from that point is detrimental. Then just add the same amount to the rest (remembering head weight influences longer clubs more than shorter so you may want to shave a gram or two off in the longer irons vs. the shorts).

Only other thing to look out for if you add weight to the clubs is how you hit them at the end of the round when you are tired compared to the start of the round. Most people can handle an 130g shaft for the first 5-10 swings, but not necessarily by the end of the round.

[MiuraMan]

You may want to try the JumboMax JMX Urtralite grips. They are oversize but under 50g.

X-Small (+1/8") 38g
Small (+¼") 40g 
Medium (+5/16") 47g 
Large (+11/32") 49g 
X-Large (+⅜") 51g 

https://www.jumbomax.com/jumbomax-jmx-ultralite/

Here is a review and test to determine if oversize grips affect your consistency

 

 

 

 

[Esox]

It doesn't cost much to add a little lead tape to the head to see what you like. You can even change the characteristics of the ball flight depending upon where on the head you put the tape. I used to have tape on my 2, 3 & 4 irons for better clubhead feel. Putting the tape just below the center of the sweet spot raised the flight a little higher,  the added weight helped me control the clubhead throughout the swing.

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