Swing-weight is a scale of measurement the golf industry use to show how heavy a club head will feel in your hands in relation to the rest of the club. (it has nothing to do with actual club weight) Swing-weight is expressed as a letter and a number, e.g. C10 or D2. Measurements range from A0, the lightest, to G10, the heaviest. A club that is measured at D5, for example, will feel heavier when swung than a club that is measured at C7. Every time a golfer picks up a club that's not his/her own and gives it a waggle or ½ a swing, they are subconsciously feeling for a familiar swing-weight. At Strike Right Golf I strongly recommend you try a few different swing-weights before you buy new or modify your existing golf clubs.

It's important the swing-weight is the same in all your golf clubs to give a consistent feel throughout the set, however, there are exceptions to swing-weight matching. It's not uncommon to find a Driver often has a lighter swing-weight than the other club in the bag. The pitching wedge in your bag should be a couple of swing weights heavier than the rest of your irons, in order to give extra feel in the club head, and the sand wedge should swing the heaviest, to give the club head more momentum through the sand.

A few words of warning on this subject, the swing-weight of a golf club is extremely sensitive to small changes, the difference between one swing-weight is only 2 grams at the head of the club and 4 grams at the grip and should you change a golf clubs length by ½" you will change the swing weight by 3 points. When making even the simplest of physical changes to one of your golf clubs (new grips, shaft length ect) you must always calculate the effect on the golf clubs swing-weight, you can then build in necessary compensations to maintain the golf clubs original feel.

Here is a typical scenario that may help you understand the above; after trying out a number of different drivers on the range a golfer walks out of the golf equipment store with a new driver and visa slip for £300.00. After three rounds of golf he's not too happy with his new driver, he's hitting a longer ball, but he's missing a lot more fairways and his game is suffering. One of his playing partners eventually takes pity and points out to this unhappy soul that his new driver seems to be a bit longer than his old driver, so the two golf clubs are compared and sure enough, at 45" his new driver is 1½" longer than his old club. Not to be thwarted by an inch or two, the golfer gets on his computer, logs onto Ebay and finds a replacement grip for £3.50, now it's just a matter of removing the old grip trimming the shaft by 1" or so and popping on the new grip. Three rounds later there's £300.00 worth of new driver sitting in a garage and the old drivers back in the bag.

Why? By reducing the shaft length of the club by 1" the golfer reduces the swing weight of his new driver from D2 to C6 a total of 6 swing-weights, (although he only reduced the actual/physical weight a few grams) he has upset the overall balance of this club, rendered the club virtually unplayable, the golfer will get no feel or feed back from the club head during the swing, leaving the club lighter and stiffer than before.

From this relatively simple example you can probably guess the point I'm trying to make, changing the specifications on a golf clubs is a job for a professional club-maker.