Quick Swingweight question!

Fore Iron

Hi all!

Quick Q about swingweight for those in the know. I have a set of forged clubs that I am shortly going to have the loft and lies reset on before the season really kicks in again. My clubs are 1/4 inch longer than standard and have a fairly high swingweight of D5. D0 apparently being about average. They're also standard lie and loft now having been 1 degree weak and 1 1/2 degrees upright in the past.

In fiddling with my ball flight I have been pondering with the idea of changing the 6 iron upwards to one degree strong and also thinking about having the shafts cut down to standard length at the same time. In theory the shorter shaft would bring my swingweight down to about D3 or so. But I really don't know how that will change the feel of the club if at all.

Can anyone give me a brief rundown on swingweight and how it affects your golf? And is it really only drastic changes in swingweight that would make a difference?

I've wondered if a lower swingweight would make it easier to manipulate the clubface through impact or maybe it would have no bearing at all and only changes your swing speed?

Any help or guidance appreciated!!

kagni

Can't answer your question about how swingweight would affect your golf but if you want to keep the same swingweight on the shortened clubs you could either use a lightweight grip or add some weight to the clubhead (or a bit of both).
I have an excel sheet that will calculate swingweight based on clubhead weight, shaft weight, grip weight etc. If you send me a PM with your email address I can send it on to you.

Fore Iron

Hi Kagni,

Thanks for the reply. And thanks for the offer of the spreadsheet! I know that if I shorten the shaft, I can bring the club back to a D5 swingweight with lead tape. On average it seems 2 grams added to the head will change the swingweight by 1 point. But I'd just rather not cut a shaft only to find I need to add wieght again to make it feel 'right'. In other words if leaving it alone will be better then I'll put up with the longer shaft and grip down a bit!

Suppose if I knew what difference swingweight would realistically make then I could know what to expect really and whether it would be worth cutting the shaft at all...

Fore Iron

Wow. I've spent the better part of day trying to find some info on swingweight and how it affects your swing. Apart from the general concensus that lower swingweights can give higher swing speeds but less control and higher swingweights lower speed but more control. There really is not much info out there in internet land. I guess perhaps swingweight really isn't that important after all??

Interestingly, some places seem to say people with higher swing speeds should generally go with the highest swing weight they feel comfortable with to provide as much control as possible. On that basis, maybe I'll just leave my shaft length alone and keep my swingweight as it is...

kagni thanks for the spreadsheet!!

Kace

Just in case you're interested here is the swingweight calculator I use http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT

I also use lengthened custom clubs and have a high swingweight on all of my irons as a result.

My driver is the lightest club in the bag by far and has quite a low swingweight also (not really matched to the rest of my set).

By the way - where are you planning to get your club lies and lofts reviewed / changed ? Anyone know how much it is to change the lie on a set of irons ?

Fore Iron

Thanks Kace. Having my loft and lies done at POrtamrnock Driving Range. That's the old one on the racecourse. 50 euro for the full set.

Fore Iron

STOP PRESS!!

My clubs were in terrible shape following the last adjustment. I really didn't trust the numbers that I was told my clubs were at. Brought them to Balbriggan Golf Club to have them looked at there. I didn't know they did loft and lies to be honest.

ANyway, perhaps it was a cheaper job because I arrived in with the number I wanted my clubs set to. All 1/2 degree upright and standard lofts except the 3 and 4 iron which were 1 degree weak. Turns out a good few of the set were way off the lie angle I wanted during the previous setting.

15 euro for the lot. Unbelievable! Hoping to hit some shots in the morning so fingers crossed eveything will be OK.

Kace

Wow ! That's my kind of pricing :eek: