It often surprises me how little the average golfer knows about swing-weighting. It surprises me even more when I have to explain it to a scratch golfer. But hey, you don’t have to know anything about your equipment to shoot 72.
As a perfectionist and control freak, I can’t stand not knowing the precise lengths, weight distributions, etc. of my clubs. I can’t say it’s a great quality to have, but for the perfectionists out there, this page is for you.
Page Navigation
- Definition of Swing-Weight
- Weight Adjustment Guidelines
- Swing-Weight “Language”
- Finding Your Optimal Swing-Weight
- Measuring Swing-Weight
- Methods for Altering Swing-Weight
- Review
Let me Start With a Loose Definition of “Swing-Weight.”
In the simplest way I can say it, swing-weight is how the club “feels” in your hand.
To get a sense of what I mean, try the following:
- Flip a golf club upside down, and swing it
- Swing two golf clubs at once normally
I think we all could predict how these two actions would feel, but as an illustration of a “technical” concept, I think it serves its purpose. When you swung the club upside down, you probably felt like your swing was extremely quick, and you had no sense of rhythm. When you swung two clubs at once normally, you probably felt a great sense of where the clubs were during all parts of the swing, but also probably didn’t feel much power.
These lessons apply to your golf clubs! If you have too “heavy” of a swing-weight, you might have an increased sense of the club-head during the swing, but lack the power necessary to return the club at impact squarely. If you have too “light” of a swing-weight, you might feel like the Hulk, but lack any regards to where the club-head is during different positions of the swing, which once again will limit your ability to return the club square at impact.
I’ve played my irons at swing-weights of C9 all the way up to D9 (there’s a huge difference here- explained later on this page), and currently sit around D5, which is right in the middle. I found that when I had my irons at C9 (too light for me), I would over accelerate at the top of my swing with the upper body, and suffer from thin pulls. When I played my irons at D9 (too heavy for me), I felt like I was swinging a sledgehammer, and often my hands couldn’t keep up with my lower body, causing pushes and fat shots.
So you know why you should find the correct swing-weight, but how does one go about doing this? Like always, I recommend some personal experimentation, but I also want to give a few pointers to get you started. The remainder of this page will briefly cover some of the topics found later in the clubmaking course.
Weight Adjustment Guidelines (Useful Reference)
Here are some useful conversions that will help you when swing-weighting your clubs :
*Note: A 1 point increase in swing-weight points would be the equivalent of going from D1 to D2, while a 1 point decrease in swing-weight points would be the equivalent of going from D2-D1.
| Condition | Change in Swing-Weight Points (SW) |
| Cutting 1/2″ off grip end of shaft | 3 SW decrease |
| Adding 2 grams to clubhead | 1 SW increase |
| Adding 5 grams to grip end of shaft | 1 SW decrease |
| 3 layers of masking buildup tape under grip | 1 SW (ex: 90 g shaft=1 SW more than 80 g shaft) |
| Flattening lie angle 4 degrees | 1 SW increase |
| Shaft weight difference of 9 grams | 1 SW decrease |
| 4.5 inches of normal 1/2 inch wide lead tape | 1 SW point or 2 grams |
| 3.15 inches of “high density” 1/2 inch wide lead tape | 1 SW point or 2 grams |
This table represents the general guidelines that I have followed for several years, but they aren’t perfect. Always be sure to measure!
Swing-Weight “Language”
What does C9 mean? How about D9? There are some terms and concepts that you need to understand before proceeding.
Swing-weights are all based on a standardized scale, which looks like this. The scale in effect gives a “ratio” of head weight to butt weight. The heavier the clubhead is in comparison to the grip end of the club, the further down the alphabet your swing-weight will be. Most scales measure from A-G, although if you are using a club that measures in the range of A or G, you probably aren’t playing very well at the moment;) Each letter has measurements from 0-9 (ex: D0-D9).
As a general guideline, most tour pros prefer their wedges to play around D6, their irons around D4, and their woods around D2. Don’t quote me on that, but I think you’ll find that these numbers are in the ballpark.
Now for the confusing part…
Swing-weight is not a measurement of total weight. You could have a 300 gram golf club that has a D4 swing-weight, and a 500 gram golf club that also has a D4 swing-weight. As mentioned before, swing-weight is a measurement of clubhead weight relative to the grip end of the club. This is important to keep in mind going forward!
Lets review…
- Swing-weight is universal, and is based on the comparative weights between the clubhead end of the club to the grip end of the club (D9 will “feel” heavy, while C9 will “feel” light)
- Swing-weights range from A0 to G9
- D0-D6 are probably the most common swing-weights (anything you buy at a golf store off the rack)
- Swing-weight is not a measurement of total club weight
Finding Your Optimal Swing-Weight
As I’ve said, experimentation is the best way to do this, but I would recommend starting with lead tape until you have determined a swing-weight that you prefer for different clubs. I recommend lead tape because it can be applied and removed quickly without taking apart the entire club.
There is no “standard” as to how you swing-weight your clubs, so it truly is up to you to figure that out!
Personally, I play my Driver and 3 wood at D3, my irons and hybrid at D5, and my wedges at D7. I love how this composition feels, and certainly have done my share of experimentation.
Measuring Swing-Weight
You can measure the swing-weight of your clubs through a mathematical formula in this Swing-weight DIY Calculator, or you can purchase a scale here.
If you purchase the scale in the previous link, this video explains how to use it:
Methods for Altering Swing-Weight
There are several ways that you can alter the swing-weight of a club. Each of these methods will have corresponding tutorials, so be sure to check them out!
I’m sure there are other ways you could alter the swing-weight, but these are the most common.
Summary
I know this might seem overwhelming to the newcomer, but I have plenty of tutorials regarding this topic, so work your way through them, and I promise everything will start to make more sense!
Quick review…
- Swing-weighting determines the “feel” of the club (does your club “feel” heavy, or light?)
- Swing-weight is based on a standardized scale of letters and numbers from A0-G9
- Swing-weight can be measured through an excel formula, or on a physical scale (probably more accurate)
- Finding your optimal swing weight should be done through experimentation with lead tape
- Use the table posted on this page as a reference. If you want to bookmark the table, I have created a separate page here for it.
hey zach, will adding to much epoxy add swing weight to the head end of the club because i fill the hosel up until it overflows is that too much ?
Nope, this should not significantly affect swing weight. Just make sure you wipe it clean and you should be good! Overflowing the hosel is generally a good technique because it ensures that you are using enough epoxy. The last thing a golfer wants is that club head flying off mid-swing because the club maker didn’t use enough epoxy!
Hi Zach, fellow Perfectionist. 2 issues. 1. I was told (by AAA European Custom Clubfitter of the Year 20xX who is a friend) how to get the perfect Swingweight of an Iron Club Individually for you. Go to Range with say your 7 Iron, Impact Stickers and amounts of pre-cut 2g Lead Tape. Keep hitting balls and adding 2g of Tape until the Impact Pattern is consistent in the center of the face – if the club starts to feel too heavy remove the last 2g strip of Lead Tape. Then use a Swingweight Balance Scale to match the rest of your Set to the Swingweight of that 7 Iron. Its not Rocket Science. The second issue which for some reason gets so little ‘golfing’ conversation it amazes me. Top-of-the Range Irons by the premier manufacturers always state their Iron Model are all the same Swingweight in the Set, e.g. D1 – Total Garbage. They never are and sometimes its not even close. I’ve got 2 Sets of Irons both Top-of the Range -I also own a Golfsmiths Swingweight Balance Scale (I did say I was a perfectionist). Its not economic with the millions of clubs they make from many component suppliers to achieve this on their Production Line so they say +/- Manufacturing Tolerances. So all D1? One of my Sets, for example, were 5I C8, 6I D0, 7I C9.5, 8I C9, 9I C8.5, PW C8, GW C9, SW C8, LW D2 with not one club D1 and the other Set was worse. -this I believe is where the problem starts for the more discerning handicap Country Club Golfer. I know you have a great deal of expertise, but to me these are issues for those who follow you we should all be made aware of.
Bob–These are some great points to bring up. When swing-weighting, feel is a major factor. My only caution would be veering off on the extreme ends of the swing weight spectrum. I would recommend staying between C9 and D9, give or take a few swing weight points. And to your point on manufacturer swing weights, I would second that. I have found that many off-the-shelf iron sets are not perfectly swing-weighted, which is why I would recommend checking this upon purchase and letting the golf store take care of it at no additional cost.
Hi Zach,
I’ve just bought a second hand set of PXG irons gen 1 with steel fiber regular shafts. My only problem is nobody can hit them they feel too stiff. They are swinging at c8. I’ve put lead tape on them bringing them to d2 and they feel so much better now. My problem now is I need screw in weights instead of lead tape. How much weight is there to turn c8 to d2 . I’ll have to get that amount plus the weight(S) of the screws i’ll be taking out. I hope I’m making sense to you. Alex
When you are adding or subtracting weight from the head of the golf club, 2 grams is the equivalent of 1 swing weight point. Swing weights go from 0-9, so if you start with a C8, you will need 4 swing weight points (C9, D0, D1, D2 = 4) or 8 grams of net weight added to the head.
Hey Zach. Great stuff. Quick question. Just got new g410 lst driver. I played some rounds with our pros driver. It is 44 75 inch long. Hzrdus black 62g xflex. Standard golf pride grip.
I asked for same spec with align golf pride grip one xtra tape.
He bought the shaft and cut it down it may be a smidge longer still less that 45inchs.
The club feels heavier overall. The club head doesnt feel lighter even though the grip is 7 grams heavier than standard golf pride grip.
What do you think would expect the swing weight to have dropped? Im not sure what his was playing at but it felt good to me.
If i change to a multicompound golf pride which is about 2 grams heavier than standard and 5 grams lighter than align grip will the head feel heavier and overall club feel lighter.
Or will the club just feel lighter overall and head will feel the same.
Any advice besides cgange the grip and see what it feel like. Does a lifhtwr swingweight affect ball speed or is that more clubhead weight. I think thats part of my worry.
Thanks
Adam–Good questions here. Swing weight is a tricky concept because it is entirely relative. Adjusting swing weight will generally not affect things like ball speed significantly unless you are making huge changes. In your scenario, if you went to the multi compound (awesome grip by the way), then yes, your clubhead is going to feel a bit heavier. The overall club probably won’t feel much different though and you probably won’t see a huge change in ball flight. That said, making a change like that could make the club feel 10x better in your hands, which CAN affect your ball flight. And all the technical jargon aside, that’s what swing weight is really about. It’s about getting the club to feel good in your hands.
My suggestion would be to stay within reason on your swing weights (no need for any of your clubs to be in the low C’s or the E’s), but experiment around to see what feels best. The best way to experiment is to buy a roll of lead tape and put it on different places until you’ve got something that feels good. Then, you can measure how much lead tape you’ve used and put some lead powder in the end of the shaft or some tour lock weights in the butt of the shaft.
Zach, im in a bind. Love your thread by the way. Im going to build a set of irons. Going to graphite. Raw weight is 80grams precut. I will follow tipping instructions to get to stiff flex. My concern is SW. Pulling 115gram shafts and putting on 80gram jumbo grips. Any suggestions?
Are you adding jumbo grips to all of them? If so, I would recommend using lead powder to get your swingweight in the ballpark, and then using lead tape for any small adjustments.
Curious your thoughts on this. I play my irons at D5/6 and my Fairways at D5. My driver is the most inconsistent club and causes all of my issues during a round. I currently am at D5 but I am considering going higher to maybe 7/8. Would I be better off trying lighter with the driver instead?
I have always found it easier to hit a slightly “lighter” driver. But with that comes some nuances. While I generally like my driver between D1-D3, I also like my driver shaft to be at least 65-75 grams. I would check to see what the overall weight of the driver shaft you are playing is, and furthermore, is that driver shaft fitted to your swing?
Hi,
Just found your site and I am glad I did. First I am a senior golfer with a slow swing speed. I cut my driver shaft down by an inch to help with accuracy…which it did but the head feels very light now. I didn’t measure the swing weight before cutting the shaft but have now measured it at c8. The manufacturer specs say it was a D4 in the original configuration and I liked that feel…..question is whether it was really d4 before I cut it. Jerry
Hey Zach,
FIrst timer here…website looks great and I can’t wait to explore further. I’ve been trying to increase my “smash factor” for quite some time now and I’m hopeful I found something that will increase my efficiency with the driver.
I have a stock Cobra F8 so the swing weight for this driver is D1…I have access to practice bays and my swing speed averages around 110 MPH with 150 MPH ball speed (Smash = 1.36) and 250 carry approx. I know many other factors go into smash factor but my best ever smash factor was 1.42. I just added 10g to the swing weight and I’m eager to see the results. I know this is a big jump but curious about your thoughts regarding the correlation between driver swing weight and smash factor, all other things considered equal.
Thanks
Let me start by saying that at the moment, I haven’t spent a lot of time with quantitative Trackman analyses. That said, I would not think that adding weight to the club will significantly increase smash factor since that metric is mainly dealing with where you are hitting the clubface and with how much efficiency. Do you consistently hit the center of the clubface? If so, have you checked to make sure that you have a flat lead wrist at impact? A good way to diagnose this is by hitting some wedges/short irons. If you have a 110 MPH club speed with a driver, then you should probably be hitting a 47-degree pitching wedge in the 140-yard range. If that’s not what is actually happening, I would presume the issue has more to do with impact mechanics than equipment.
This sounds about right. If you cut 1 inch off the butt end of the shaft, the swing weight should decrease about 6 points. If you started at D4, that would bring you very close to the C8 that you are measuring at now. Regardless, I wouldn’t worry about returning the driver to the exact swing weight that it was prior to cutting. Get it back to D4 and even if this wasn’t the original swing weight, you should adjust relatively quickly.
Hi Zach,
What are you thoughts on MOI matching? It seems to be a better option than swingweight matching.
If MOI matching can’t be done, what are your thoughts on progressively increasing the swingweight from long irons to wedges (the poor man’s MOI matching?)?
Great article. I have had problems with Ping irons being too light and not being able to feel the club head. I am getting ready to reshaft a new set and this article will help greatly. I was fitted for a driver last year at Club Champion and my best results came with a driver at D8 swing weight. My swing speed is 90-95 mph. The shaft is a 48gm after market. I would have never put this combo together but the results are there. You are definitely correct about it being all feel.
Hey David,
I’ll be honest, I didn’t discover the concept of MOI matching until recently, but thus far, I haven’t found anything wrong with the concept. Like I mention here, a lot of swing-weighting is about feel, and that is exactly what MOI matching is trying to accomplish. Obviously, MOI matching cannot be done cheaply (or at all) from home as it requires special measuring equipment, but to your point on gradually increasing swing weight across the set of irons/wedges, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Like I mention in the post, I keep my wedges much “heavier” than my irons, which are much “heavier” than my woods, which I guess you could argue is my DIY way of MOI matching. I don’t gradually increase the swing weight on my iron set, but generally don’t find that it affects my performance significantly. My recommendation would be to test out your swing weights with lead tape (which can easily be added/removed).
Hi Zach…great article. I’ve played golf for 25 years now and never realized the importance of swing weights. I recently bought a stock driver…it felt ok but after a while felt too long and I was erratic. I brought it into a shop to get trimmed and a new grip. The fitter explained what would happen with the swing weight so he advised I add some weight to the head and trim close to 44″ with a D5 weight. The club now feels amazing and accuracy is crazy better. But…I dropped 3-5mph on swing speed and ball speed. What would be the next thing to check now that feel and accuracy are solved? I’m ~95-98 swingspeed, 55g shaft, playing 11deg loft.