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| Title: | Welcome to the Golf Notes Conference! |
| Notice: | FOR SALE notes in Note 69 please! Intros in note 863 or 61. |
| Moderator: | FUNYET::ANDERSON |
|
| Created: | Tue Feb 15 1994 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2129 |
| Total number of notes: | 21499 |
231.0. ""SEE WHY THEY CALL THEM PROS?"" by WILMER::GLASS () Sun Mar 20 1988 10:59
The following article appeared in this month's issue of Golf Digest
and is worth coping/forwarding due to the vast interest in shafts/
swing weights in other Notes.
*******************WHAT'S YOUR SWINGWEIGHT?**************************
Equipment's most misunderstood measurement, and why it's important
to your game
APRIL,1988 GOLF DIGEST
by Lew Fishman
The most misunderstood concept surrounding golf equipment is
swingweight!
You probably have heard the term a number of times from your club
professional, playing partners or local equipment salesman. Yet
it remains a source of confusion for the average golfer who doesn't
want to spend his weekends worring about such things as fulcrum
points and lorythmic measuring devices.
The easiest way is to think of swingweight as a guage for clubhead
feel. The greater the percentage of clubhead weight to the club's
total weight, the higher the swingweight. Swingweight is expressed
in a letter(A,B,C,D,E) followed by a number(0 to 9). The higher
up the letter scale, the greater the swingweight.
Now, how important is swingweight? Does it matter that the swingweight
of your driver is C-6 when the clubhead feels relatively light,
or that it's D-6 when the clubhead feels relatively heavy? If you're
happy with the performance of your driver and aren't anxious to
make any changes, then the swingweight is incidental. However, if
you are looking to buy a new set or are thinking of altering your
present equipment, you should be aware that each adjustment will
have an effect on the balance, feel and the swingweight of your
clubs.
Before proceeding to more practical applications, let's first take
care of the misconception that the overall weight of a golf club
correlates directly with its swingweight. A hypothetical driver
weighing 100 pounds can have the same swingweight as one one weighing
the more typical 12 1/2 ounces, if the weight of each is divided
in equal proportions. In fact, the lighter club can be made to have
an even higher swingweight than the 100 pound monster, if a greater
precentage of its overall weight is in the clubhead. Conversly,
two clubs weighing the same can feel different depending on how
the weight is apportioned within each club.
If you played golf with only one club, swingweight wouldn't matter
very much. It is important because you want every club in your bag
to have a similar feel.
Let's see how it works:
1.If you decide to lengthen all of your clubs 1/2 inch, you will
without changing the clubhead, raise the swingweight three points,
say, from D-0 to D-3. This holds true whether your clubs possess
standard weight or lightweight shafts.
2.If you take the same clubs and shorten them 1/2 inch, the swingweight
will drop from D-0 to C-7.
3.If your clubs have the standard-weight shafts such as Dynamic
from True Temper and you have a lightweight-steel shaft installed,
the swingweight of your clubs will drop two points, from D-0 to
C-8, even though the weight of the clubhead remains the same.
But, if you replace them with an ultra-lightweight steel shaft
such as Extra Lite, you will drop three points from D-0 to C-7.
Although graphite shafts vary in weight, you can generally expect
to lose between five and six swingweight points when you move
from standard-weight steel to carbon. Reshafting your present
clubs with titanium shafts will result in a swingweight reduction
of two points.
If you go the other way, from lightweight to standard-weight steel
shafts, the swingweight will go up accordingly.
4.If you think your shafts are too flexible and you want to move
up a notch from Regular to Stiff, the swingweight will go up only
slightly less than one point. If you move from Regular to an X,
the difference is barely two points.
5.If you change the grips from leather to rubber, you will add one
swingweight point. If you go from rubber to leather then you will
lose a point.
6.If you have your grips built up 1/32 of an inch, the swingweight
will slide one point, from D-0 to C-9.
7.When you have a wood sanded and refinished without re-balancing,
you can expect to lose about two swingweight points.
8.Having your irons re-chromed will cause a drop of two swingweight
points.
9.When you flatten the lie of your clubs by three degrees the
swingweight will climb one point.
10.If you change the insert material in your old driver, the
swingweight will be effected. Going from an epoxy insert to fiber
will add one point. Installing an aluminum or gamma-fire(glass)
insert can raise the swingweight three to four points, depending
on the width of the inlay. Conversely, a lighter material such
as graphite will reduce the swingweight one point.
11.To raise the total weight of your club without disturbing the
swingweight, you will have to counterbalance. For evey one inch
inch strip of lead tape added to the clubhead, two are neeed under
the grip.
Although any one of these adjustments may not significantly alter
your equipment specs, combining two or three might.
Suppose you have a classic driver from the 1950s with a rusty
standard-weight steel shaft and D-2 swingweight. You want to have
it refinished and reshafted with lightweight steel. Your driver
is now C-8. If you then replace the fiber insert with a graphite
one, the club would be C-6.
So, as confusing as the concept may be, there is merit. And now
that you are thoroughly conversant on swingweight, your merit badge
is in the mail.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 231.1 | | OBRIEN::KEVIN | Another up and down day | Mon Mar 21 1988 13:38 | 26 |
|
I thought this was a pretty good article on swingweight. However
I don't think that the guy covered how to choose the proper swingweight
for you. He pointed out that overall weigth is important and that
anything could swing out to C9. He forgot to mention that the most
important thing to getting the maximum performance (accuracy and
distance) is clubhead speed.
Let's say that with a D1 driver you can generate a clubhead speed
of 100 MPH and get 200 yards of carry. There's a theory that if
you increase the swingweight to D3 you could get more distance.
The truth of the matter is that the clubhead speed would probably
drop and the distance would stay the same or decrease. (That's
because distance is a function on �MV� ) What's worse is that the
extra 2 points of swingweight could leave you spraying all your
shots after the 15th hole.
So the point is that when you're choosing swingweight (or overall
weight) the important factors are your ability to handle the club
and the clubhead speed. You really have to make a balance between
clubhead velocity vs swingweight vs distance to properly set up
a club.
KO
|
| 231.2 | It gave me enough to ask for more | SA1794::WELLSPEAK | Pride and Power | Mon Mar 21 1988 14:37 | 18 |
| Good point Kevin. I too, read the article and was left with
the same impressions or questions. It told me what swing weight was,
and how to increase/decrease it, but left me high and dry on how
to determine which swing weight was right for me! I tend to fade
and sometimes slice my driver and often wondered whether or not
I could solve this by changing the swing weight. But most golfers
and pros tell you it's more likely to be in your swing characteristics
as opposed to being the swing weight. My driver is a D2 swing weight.
I would think that increasing the swing weight would not give
you more distance on center hits, but would on off center hits,
due to the fact that the club face would not twist offline as much
if the club head was heavier. This is just a guess on my part,
it's not backed up by any facts.
I have the ability to change the swing weight on my metal woods
rather easily, and if anyone could tell me whether or not this would
help my fade/slice, I would gladly try it.
Beak
|
| 231.3 | "More of a mystery than a game" | WILMER::GLASS | | Mon Mar 21 1988 18:44 | 14 |
| .1 and .2 make very good points as to the Golf Digest article.
The main point is that golf is also a science and it takes a pro
to really decide where our equipment should start to allow us to
make the best of our swings.
As to slicing and hooking,isn't it alot more subtle.If the face
is open when the ball is struck,the spin causes a fade/slice.When
the face is closed when the ball is hit,a hook is the result.So,this
may involve swingweight,but most likely other things such as swing
plane or grip size(i.e.fingers or palms in the swing).
Nothing about this auld game is simple!
Tom
|
| 231.4 | Try lowering the swingweight | OBRIEN::KEVIN | Another up and down day | Tue Mar 22 1988 10:42 | 24 |
|
Beak,
As Tom said in .3 slicing/hooking is a function of the face
angle at impact. It's hard to say if changing the swing weight
will help. If it's easy to change the swingweight then lower it
to say D0 and see what happens. I would think making it heavier
would make a slice worse. Of course it could make matters worse
all around, but you never know until you try.
I'm going to be doing some non-scientific experiments tonight with
our friend "Ace". The last time we were at Billy Max I hit some
balls with his driver. I was able to generate club head speed between
98 and 102 MPH. I think his driver is D4. I just finished fixing
up an old Haig Ultra that somebody traded that I swung out at C8
(I think) If anything interesting comes out of it I'll let you
know.
BTW Since I'm making a new driver for myself, I could easily be
persuaded to part with this cherry Ultra (I even customized the
face to give it a bigger sweet spot) for the tiny sum of $50.
KO
|
| 231.5 | | OBRIEN::KEVIN | Another up and down day | Wed Mar 23 1988 13:13 | 19 |
|
FWIW.
I did the non-scientific experiment with club head speed vs
swingwieght last night. With the C8 and Gene's D4 I was able to
generate speeds in the low to mid 90's. (It must have been the
hangover slowing things down). I seem to remember getting slightly
more carry with the lighter driver although I can't remember if
I was hitting the lighter driver more on the center of the insert.
At any rate we managed to prove absolutly nothing about swingweight
vs club head velocity.
I did notice though that when Gene was hitting the driver, he caught
all of them right on the screws. It's clear that this club is easy
to hit and makes the ball go straight and long. It's still for
sale! 8-)
KO
|
| 231.6 | I concur... | MSEE::KELLEY | Keep_it_in_play, TITANIUM_X-STIFF | Wed Mar 23 1988 14:41 | 5 |
|
I can vouch for the fact that Kevin's driver did have a good
feel to it. He tried to make the sale on the spot too...
Gene (sticking_with_my_D4_TITANIUM)
|
| 231.7 | a little trick | HOGAN::DEADY | | Wed Mar 23 1988 19:44 | 15 |
|
If you are really interested in trying to modify a club to correct
slicing or hooking there are a few options. As I mentioned earlier
in another note the shaft flex can have an impact on ball flight
path. A shaft too stiff can cause constant slicing. If you feel
the shaft is not the problem and want to experiment with weighting,
try to add some lead tape to the toe area of your driver. The tape
should go right over the "Genuine Persimmon" or "Pittsburg Persimmon"
decal on the front of the toe area. This will help to square, or
close , the club face prior to impact. Use enough tape to increase
swing weight by 1-2 points. Lead tape at the heel area of the club
will help to square, or open, the club face for hooking.
Fred Deady
|
| 231.8 | | SPKALI::THOMAS | | Mon Mar 28 1988 08:41 | 19 |
|
Perhaps someone here can shead some light as to the direction
I should go? Two years ago my clubs met with a slight mishap. The
result was a purchase of RAM irons and a reshaft of my Staff 4
wood and my Staff driver. This past year every club in my bag was
great except for the Driver. The driver was originally shafted with
a stiff shaft and that is what I had it reshafted with. Using the
4 wood off of the tie gave good results. Straight with good distance.
The driver was another matter. I couldn't get away form fading the
ball. My swing when analysed showed a slight inside out swing with
a head speed of 107. The face was between 3 degrees closed to 7
degree open.
What can I do mechanically to get this under control? Can a
fly away right elbow contribute to this? From a swing weight
perspective what would be the result if I cut an inch off of the
drivers shaft to get it closer to the 4 woods length?
Tom (searching for answers)
|
| 231.9 | -6 | HOGAN::DEADY | | Mon Mar 28 1988 09:05 | 12 |
|
Tom,
To cut an inch off your driver would reduce the swingweight
by 6 points, ie. if you are currently at D-2 you would drop to C-6.
Before doing that try choking down on the shaft and see if your
consistancy inproves. Also look at the possibilty of using a 2 wood
to tee off with. A 270 yrd. drive means nothing if 30 of those yrds.
are into the woods left or right.
Fred Deady
|