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Is Swing Weight Necessary?

SuperStroke
After my recent fitting at CC my build sheet said D8 for the driver. My first reaction, being the informed internet hacker I am, was that seems pretty heavy on the scale.

But after getting it in my hands i could care less what the SW is, i just know i love the swing results.
 
Building to a specific Swingweight is a bit different of an argument than what I was expecting and something I could agree with.

SW is still a bit flawed but is much cheaper than measuring moi.
 
I couldn't even come close to telling you what the swing weight is on any club in my bag. It all comes down to feel in hand which lately I seem to like a heavier feel. I couldn't tell you what that rating would be though.
 
My driver SW is D4. It has a CB shaft. It does not “feel” like it is D4. In fact, it feels like I’m swinging an alignment stick. It feels like I can swing it very fast but I worry a bit that I can’t quite feel enough where the head is and how this light feel affects my swing tempo. Been pondering getting the next higher weight. Stock is 8 gms. Next one up is 10 gms. Just see what it feels like.

I’m on a steep learning curve after 15 yrs off from playing!
 
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Swing weight is important to me. My irons/wedges are +2 inches. I need graphite shafts as the fitter told me with steel shafts the swing weight would be approximately E6-E8.
 
I think you could tell me you fit me to swing weight, give me clubs with a completely different weight, and I wouldn't be the wiser.
 
I think that it's like a lot of things, not just in golf but the world in general.

We like it when we have one or two measurements that we think can be used to describe either the quality or the characteristic of a product. Simple is better, especially for marketing.

IMO, swing weight is but one factor in a good fitting, but chasing it at the expense of overall weight is a mistake.
 
There might be some merit in taking a look at the system as it stands now and maybe adjusting for new trends in technology. But SW definitely matters. Even for people who aren't looking at it from a technical standpoint, they still know what FEELS right and a lot of that is due to SW. There have been tests on how much it matters (Plugged In Golf did one awhile back, etc.) and it can affect literally everything from ball speed to distance and accuracy. Even if we adjust/update the way we look at SW, I feel like it's important to address it in fittings and when clubs are tuned to a specific person's swing.
 
TT SC said:
The Swing Weight (SW) debate: I will voice my opinion, I don’t believe in building a set of clubs to a Pre-Defined SW is critical, I hear comments “I must have D-2”, in fact may be detrimental to the consistency of the club system. I do believe in the SW concept, to create a consistent dynamic feel thru a set of irons. I believe you should play the lightest- most flexible shaft you can CONTROL, I will focus on weight in this SW post. Let me elaborate…. grab a beer.

SW (Skip to next paragraph of you already know what SW is, Keenan @+7 KPTT says skip it): SW: The resultant torque of an assembled golf club around an arbitrary point, defined since about 1934 at 14” from the grip end. Each component of the assembly (head, shaft, grip, tape, glue…) has a contribution, its mass and location relative to this 14” fulcrum. The engineer takes each component, mass (F) and its center of mass (CG) relative to this 14” pivot (R), with a few equations summing all R x F you a resultant torque, this value is converted into an Alpha-Numeric system we all know, C-8 having less torque (lighter feel) vs D-9, (heavier feel) could be presented in-lb or N-m but then the magic is gone.

My biggest issue with building to a SW is there are so many ways to cheat the numbers game, it often leads to potential inconsistencies. Here are a few extreme cases:

Example 1: Shaft: when lightweight graphite iron shafts were introduced, some assemblers (using same head weight as steel) just lengthen the shaft length (longer club) so the head was farther from the SW pivot to achieve D2.

Example 2: Grip: replacing a stock 52g grip with a larger 78g grip, yes it lowers the SW, so I need to add weight to the other end of the club to achieve D2. Dynamically IMO you are going to feel that dynamically.

Example 3: Being custom for new clubs you’re recommended to play ½” over. Do you really want to add weight to under the grip just to maintain D-2. In this case a premium builder they may find lighter head weights to achieve this one.

I have done a lot of player testing, from high handicap to the tour player and everyone has a defined feel that they like. Some can quickly tell total weight is light or heavy when the club is first picked up, others during the swing, feel the dynamics of all the mass. I have had a lot of success with many player profiles especially when moving toward lighter shaft, to have a lighter swing. I have also adjusted those clubs (added head weight) to a D2 and received some undesirable comments about a heavy head feel.

So to recap, SW is a great tool to keep a set matched, but building to a “D2” can potentially alter the club performance the shaft designed wanted to achieve. Just remember you can swing weight a telephone pole to D2, so SW is just a number, to be considered along with a lot of other variables that results is a feel that works for you.
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golfbandwagoner said:
There might be some merit in taking a look at the system as it stands now and maybe adjusting for new trends in technology. But SW definitely matters. Even for people who aren't looking at it from a technical standpoint, they still know what FEELS right and a lot of that is due to SW. There have been tests on how much it matters (Plugged In Golf did one awhile back, etc.) and it can affect literally everything from ball speed to distance and accuracy. Even if we adjust/update the way we look at SW, I feel like it's important to address it in fittings and when clubs are tuned to a specific person's swing.
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First, welcome to THP. Congrats on recent nuptials. I think the post above sums up what I was saying well. A measurement can matter, but tweaking is necessary because the equipment has changed so much since it’s inception.
 
I haven’t been too hung up on SW in the past. I got a set of irons from a manufacturer this past summer that I was fit for but couldn’t hit to save my life when they showed up. I had them swing weighted and found them to be all over the place and very light. Since that experience I actually think it’s very important for me personally.
 
So I ordered my AP1's with MCC plus4 midsize grips 66gr, stock comes with tour velvet 50gr with all clubs being D2 swing weight stock. What did i do to the swing weight by going with the midsize grips?

In theory, making the weight heavier at the grip means less "feeling" for the weight of the club head?
 
racerfreed said:
So I ordered my AP1's with MCC plus4 midsize grips 66gr, stock comes with tour velvet 50gr with all clubs being D2 swing weight stock. What did i do to the swing weight by going with the midsize grips?

In theory, making the weight heavier at the grip means less "feeling" for the weight of the club head?
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Adding 16 grams to the grip weight will lower swing weight by 3 points. However, the clubs will "feel heavier" because the added grip weight increases the overall dead weight of the club.
Some players notice a swing weight change from D2 to C9, others do not.
Most players notice a 16 gram increase in a club's dead weight.
I am not sure about Titleist's club assembly policies and standards, however (when receiving a request for heavier than standard grip), some companies will use lighter heads so that finished swing weight meets the company standard.
Regarding your specific question about "feeling the weight of the club head", yes, heavier grip weight will effectively reduce a player's sense of the club's head weight. But the most significant factor in whether or not a player "feels the club head" is grip pressure technique. In other words, if a player grips the club with too much pressure he/she will not "feel the club head" (no matter how light or heavy the head may be.). Conversely, a player using light grip pressure can easily feel the club head (even if the head is light or grip weight is heavy).
 
I've never put much thought into swingweight, but if it is quantifiable and can be part of the equation in optimizing clubs for an individual's swing, I think there's a need to properly account for it.
 
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