We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Shaft weight vs Swing weight

Nippon Shafts
jspangs

jspangs

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
3,774
Reaction score
82
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Handicap
8
I pose this question and maybe there is no good answer, but here we go.

Earlier in the year I was fit for a 915 w/73g shaft(fujikura pro series 73) club works great I'm as consistent as I've ever been with a driver and the distance is right there.

But to the question, I am trying to find a shaft for a 915fd I have laying the garage. I recently picked up an Attas Elements 6s(65ish gram shaft) but I'm just wondering if I'm going to lose some of that consistency with the lighter shaft as I'd normally go with a heavier shaft.

I am really going to notice the difference? And if so could I change the weight on the FW so I could match the Swing weight to make it fell the same?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Odds are most people wont even notice a difference in 8 grams of weight if swing weight is similar. 8 grams is less weight than 2 nickels.
 
JB said:
Odds are most people wont even notice a difference in 8 grams of weight if swing weight is similar. 8 grams is less weight than 2 nickels.
Click to expand...

Ok, then another quick question, what's the reasoning in increasing shaft weights through the bag?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Weight is an interesting topic. You get a lot of black and white opinions on it, which I'm never too fond of. I'll say first off that I think it plays a very important part in how somebody responds to a golf club. The golf swing is tempo and rhythm driven and you have to marry both of those things to a 3 to 4 foot stick with a hunk of metal on the end. Swing a yard stick if you don't agree. Or a 10lb piece of rebar. Both are great (albeit, extreme) examples of how weight and swingweight play a part in the golf swing. Weight also affects speed and power. It's very much a balancing act (literally and figurativel) of creating something that gives us the opportunity to swing as fast as we can while maintaining the ability to keep the things needed to time the delivery of a square face.

I also think it's a topic rife for bro-science and ego-driven decision making. Not saying that's the case for you, but even I have been guilty of it in the past (mostly regarding total weight).

It is also a product of our preferences, which are important. They aren't always exactly what is 'textbook' best for us, but preferences are real things since our tempo, timing, and rhythm are all influenced by what we feel is 'right'. Not to say they can't change, and change quickly for that matter, but they are a big factor.

We adjust weight via the shaft, because head weights are mostly static numbers. Some variance there if we have clubs with interchangeable weights, but even then we are talking small numbers compared to what we can do with a shaft. Weight and swingweight is something we notice more in a backswing and into transition. That's important to note, and I'll expand in a minute.

To answer your question though, a 130g shaft on a 200g driver head would feel unweildy to most people and would be quite difficult to swing with any sort of power. A 50g shaft on a wedge would (in many cases) be difficult to swing with the tempo we use our wedges for.

As the club gets shorter and our goals change, so does the weight of the club. A wedge head alone is going to be almost 100g heavier than a driver head (generally speaking). If we want a club to feel balanced, where it's not like an anvil on a stick or a feather on a stick, shaft weight is the easiest place to accomplish that. Going back to the backswing comment, the reason you'll see higher weights and swing weights in wedges for example, is that we are more likely to use those clubs for partial swings, where it's vital to know how far we've taken the club back and how to introduce tempo into a somewhat foreign swing, so we avoid things like deceleration.
 
To answer your first question though - I don't know. You're going to have to make that call.
 
What Hawk said. Can't really say it much better than that.
 
Hawk said:
To answer your first question though - I don't know. You're going to have to make that call.
Click to expand...

I love the response, thanks for taking the time to type all that. I understand a bit about fitting, but it can be confusing. Plus I don't get a whole lot of time to try how different things react.

So my question would be, would it be better to try and match Swing weight through your woods, because ultimately that is how a club is going to feel through the swing.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yes, I think having a similar swingweight in your woods would be worth your time. May not matter, but certainly wouldn't hurt and is an easy thing to accomplish.

Should note though that conventional thought is that 2 points is generally indistinguishable by most people, so if you're not dead on I wouldn't be too concerned.
 
Hawk said:
Weight is an interesting topic. You get a lot of black and white opinions on it, which I'm never too fond of. I'll say first off that I think it plays a very important part in how somebody responds to a golf club. The golf swing is tempo and rhythm driven and you have to marry both of those things to a 3 to 4 foot stick with a hunk of metal on the end. Swing a yard stick if you don't agree. Or a 10lb piece of rebar. Both are great (albeit, extreme) examples of how weight and swingweight play a part in the golf swing. Weight also affects speed and power. It's very much a balancing act (literally and figurativel) of creating something that gives us the opportunity to swing as fast as we can while maintaining the ability to keep the things needed to time the delivery of a square face.

I also think it's a topic rife for bro-science and ego-driven decision making. Not saying that's the case for you, but even I have been guilty of it in the past (mostly regarding total weight).

It is also a product of our preferences, which are important. They aren't always exactly what is 'textbook' best for us, but preferences are real things since our tempo, timing, and rhythm are all influenced by what we feel is 'right'. Not to say they can't change, and change quickly for that matter, but they are a big factor.

We adjust weight via the shaft, because head weights are mostly static numbers. Some variance there if we have clubs with interchangeable weights, but even then we are talking small numbers compared to what we can do with a shaft. Weight and swingweight is something we notice more in a backswing and into transition. That's important to note, and I'll expand in a minute.

To answer your question though, a 130g shaft on a 200g driver head would feel unweildy to most people and would be quite difficult to swing with any sort of power. A 50g shaft on a wedge would (in many cases) be difficult to swing with the tempo we use our wedges for.

As the club gets shorter and our goals change, so does the weight of the club. A wedge head alone is going to be almost 100g heavier than a driver head (generally speaking). If we want a club to feel balanced, where it's not like an anvil on a stick or a feather on a stick, shaft weight is the easiest place to accomplish that. Going back to the backswing comment, the reason you'll see higher weights and swing weights in wedges for example, is that we are more likely to use those clubs for partial swings, where it's vital to know how far we've taken the club back and how to introduce tempo into a somewhat foreign swing, so we avoid things like deceleration.
Click to expand...
Fantastic response!
 
Hawk said:
Yes, I think having a similar swingweight in your woods would be worth your time. May not matter, but certainly wouldn't hurt and is an easy thing to accomplish.

Should note though that conventional thought is that 2 points is generally indistinguishable by most people, so if you're not dead on I wouldn't be too concerned.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir. I got a TourSpx Attas 3 Elemants 6s DK for $40 on eBay so worse case scenario is the shaft doesn't work and it goes on the BST.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jspangs said:
I pose this question and maybe there is no good answer, but here we go.

Earlier in the year I was fit for a 915 w/73g shaft(fujikura pro series 73) club works great I'm as consistent as I've ever been with a driver and the distance is right there.

But to the question, I am trying to find a shaft for a 915fd I have laying the garage. I recently picked up an Attas Elements 6s(65ish gram shaft) but I'm just wondering if I'm going to lose some of that consistency with the lighter shaft as I'd normally go with a heavier shaft.

I am really going to notice the difference? And if so could I change the weight on the FW so I could match the Swing weight to make it fell the same?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Other issues to consider, along with the weight, are the flex point and tip stiffness of the shaft. Do the Fujikura and Attas fit the same shaft profile except for the minor difference in weight?

I'm sure you've already considered these questions. I raise them, obtusely, only because I learned the hard way (with my irons) that two shafts with the exact same cpm measurements and very similar weights can produce vastly different shots depending on other characteristics that I previously, and foolishly, considered "minor."
 
What Hawk said 100%. Not sure anyone could have said it better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top