Swing weights question...

[fsmullet]

Ok, I bought new clubs, twice. I never new that there was a "swing weight" I could know before buying....duh! I went from Callaway BB to Fusion, hated them, I went from the Fusion to TM XD, don't care much for them. With 20 swings the head came unglued. I took the TM to the pro shop and told the guy what I was feeling. They had a lefty 455 Macgregor. I LOVE the weight!

He checked the TM, D-0 swing weight, check the Fusion, same. The clubs I feel good hitting are d-1 or heavier, Why?

I hit my Taylor made XD in the simulator, good hit were 155-160 with the 7 iron. He added lead tape to the same club. Good swings were 152-158 but I was MUCH more consistent. I hit it true much more often with the d-2 weighting. Why?

So do I muck up the TM's with lead tape, or "re ebay" them and get 455 macs, BB's, Sz-9, or some other D-2?

Any recommendations??

[jorruss]

Swing weights can be adjusted simply by adding lead tape to the head, or by a clubmaker with a powder or weightplugs down the shaft at assembly.

Keep in mind that 2 different clubs can have the same swingweight but a totally different static weight. If you have a steel shafted iron with a D1 swingweight, it will be much heavier overall, but may feel similar to swing than a graphite shafted iron with the same swingweight. Because graphite shafts are much lighter, more of the weight of the club is in the head, leading to a heavier swingweight.

Try adding or removing weight using lead tape. I have always advocated swinging the heaviest club you can manage. My irons are D4 to D8, and my wedges are E0. They all have steel shafts. My woods have graphite and have swingweights of D6.

Basic physics really, the more mass on the club, the greater the energy transfer to the ball when you hit it and the further it will go. There is a point of diminishing returns of course, if your swing speed starts to drop, the club is probably too heavy. Give it a try!

[Stacey_E]

I think getting the correct swingweight is very crucial! It's just something you find based on trial and error. One method is to take an iron (6 or 7) and place impact tape on the face. Hit some balls gradually adding lead tape until the spread of the hits decrease. At some point, when you get too much SW in the club, the contact spots will spread back out and/or you will start regripping the club a the top of the back swing.

I personally need at least D1 but D2-D4ish is my preference with irons and woods. Many will say you can't tell a difference in one swingweight, but I'm not completely sure that is true. As the previous poster alluded, you can have a light club with a heavy swingweight, a heavy club with a light swing weight, and everything in between. A too light swing weight (regardless of overall weight) causes me to jerk down from the top, loose the clubhead in my swing, jerk the club away at address and overall destroy my tempo and timing. But a too high of a swingweight actually does the same for me.

One thing I've found is the lower the shaft weight the more swingweight I need. I can handle even D1 in Nippon 90 gram steel shaft, but in a graphite shaft I need at least D2 and a minimum of 60-65 grams. I once had a Cleveland Launcher with 55 gram NV and C9 swingweight. Hook machine! I could kill every golpher down the left side of the fairway and rough out to about 200 yards.

[jorruss]

A too light swing weight (regardless of overall weight) causes me to jerk down from the top, loose the clubhead in my swing, jerk the club away at address and overall destroy my tempo and timing. But a too high of a swingweight actually does the same for me.

To your point - Moe Norman, far and away the greatest ball striker of all time, used very heavy clubs. His theory was that a heavy club couldn't get offline as easily as a light one, and a heavy hammer hits the nail harder! I have also noticed that a heavy club is always more forgiving than a lighter one.

Again, because of the laws of physics: energy = mass x velocity. So, the faster you can swing the heaviest club possible, the further you will hit it. The trick is finding a club that is as heavy as possible while being able to maintain your max effective swing speed.

[RC]

Momentum is mass x velocity. Energy is 1/2 mass x velocity squared + changes in potential energy. So it is true a more massive club swung at the same speed as a less massive club (all other factors being equal) will hit the ball further... but one reaches a point where too much mass cannot be swung at a speed that leads to greater distance. Going the other way, at some point too light a mass cannot be swung at a significantly greater speed to offset the loss of mass and one loses distance. Modern clubs, shafts, shaft lengths, etc., have all been pretty well optimized for the range of golf swings for which they are intended. There is no secret break-through waiting to happen with mass. Despite all the work on moment of inertia, all it does is produce more uniform distance on off-center hits, not more distance on flush hits. Just a little physics update... Remember total energy and momentum are conserved in a golf swing but kinetic energy is not conserved.

[jorruss]

Thanks,
I guess we can tell why I failed physics in college!

[DaveLeeNC]

From a physics point of view for a "simple collision" between a clubhead and golf ball, the relevant equation is

VB = VC*(1+COR)/(1+MB/MC)

where VB is the ball velocity after impact, COR is the coefficient of restitution, MB is the mass of the ball, MC is the mass of the clubhead, and VC is the clubhead velocity at impact.

For the case of a typical driver (MC = 200 grams) and a 100 mph clubhead speed, raising the swingweight 9 points (adding weight to the clubhead) yields 2 additional mph ball speed (assuming no change in VC). There isn't much to be gained in adding weight to the club (from a collision perspective). The leverage is even less for heavier clubheads (like basically every other clubhead in your bag).

dave

[fsmullet]

Kinda makes sense. When I played softball I preferred heavier bats than everyone else. I like a really end loaded bat. Whenever I used light bats I didn't feel like I had enough control. Also felt like maybe I got handsy with the light bat, maybe my hips have time to clear with the heavier club.

[TommyD69]

The cheapest way to increase your swing weight is to add "length" to the club (1/2 an inch will add about 3 whole swing weights... i.e. D0 becomes D3). Shaft extenders, and new grips are much cheaper than buying a new set of shafts or clubs. Lead tape is cheap, but it "boogers" up your clubs.

The only down side to making your clubs longer is, the extra length also makes your shaft flex a little "softer" (i.e. more whip).

There is almost an infinite number of possible combinations, but the "hunt" can be half the fun...

Good Luck!