Golf Club Swingweight

One of the largest factors affecting swingweight is the weight of the clubhead.  Looking through various golf club component catalogs you will see that a typical 5 iron clubhead can weigh anywhere from 254 grams to 257 grams.  Everything else being the same, that is a 1.5 swingweight difference. 

Another thing that you will notice in the catalogs is that the difference in weight from one clubhead to the next, for example, the difference between a 5 iron and a 6 iron, will always be 7 grams.  This is to make up for the 1/2 inch difference in length of the club.  If this were not done, the club would be 3 points lower on the swingweight scale.

Note:  For every 1/2 inch of increase in length, and everything else being equal, the swingweight will increase by 3 points.

Another big factor is the weight of the shaft.  I have seen driver shafts ranging in weight from 52 grams to 84 grams.  For every 28 grams of weight reduction in shaft weight, an iron will lose 3 points on the swingweight scale, and a wood will lose approximately 5 points.

One interesting thing that you can do is to add 4 grams of weight to the grip end of the club.  This actually decreases the swingweight of the club by 1 point.  Different grips can range in weight also, which will affect your swingweight in the same way. 

If you are trying to hit a very specific swingweight number, you need to account for your grip tape, ferrule, and epoxy.

1 wrap of grip tape, which normally will run about 2 grams decreases your swingweight by 1/2 point.  Your ferrule and epoxy (approx. 1 gram) together will increase your swingweight by about 1/2 point, canceling out your 1 wrap of grip tape.  However, if you add buildup tape you will decrease your swingweight 1/2 point for every wrap.

I know some of this seams a bit extreme, and maybe it is, but a true golf clubmaker takes all of this into account because he is a true craftsman.

It is true that the best of golfers cannot tell the difference of 1 point on the swingweight scale, so why worry about a 1/2 point here and there?  Because our goal here is to provide as much consistency from club to club as possible.  Just because a golfer cannot perceive a difference does not mean that his swing cannot.

There are clubs that you will want to vary your golf club swingweight a little:

1. All of your irons, 2-9 iron, should be built to the same swingweight. 
2. Your pitching wedge and gap wedge should be 2-3 points heavier than your irons. 
3. Your sand wedge should be 4-6 points heavier than your irons. 
4. Your lob wedge should be 2-6 points heavier than your irons. 

There is a lot to remember when swingweighting your clubs, but the most important thing to remember is to build each club the exact same way and you should end up with good consistency. 

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