Fitting for Swingweight - Part II

by Jeff Summitt

While fitting for swingweight is somewhat a function of the selection of the components, the factors that influence swingweight are head weight, shaft weight, grip weight, shaft balance point and golf club length. It is the clubmaker’s responsibility to fine-tune the swingweight throughout the set in some logical order.  The clubmaker or clubfitter rarely fits for swingweight, other than occasionally adding some lead tape to a demo club in order to see if a customer can tell the difference or not.  However, what if there was a way to fit, but also duplicate the result in a real world situation?

Not only does Hireko offer a very playable head, but also a tool that no custom clubmaker should be without.  That is the Dynacraft Genesis Iron.  This versatile iron has the capability of allowing a wide range of weights for true custom club fitting. You ever wonder what would happen if the swingweight was extremely low or high and how it would effect feel and ball flight. Well now you can.

For those who truly want to custom club fit for swingweight or those that MOI match, having the ability to alter the weight on the fly with a small handful of different weighted screws is extremely advantageous.  Each Dynacraft Genesis iron head is equipped with a 3.5 and 10g weight, making the base weight if the iron approximately 14g less than a normal iron.  This is a two club differential without the weights (i.e. a #5-iron that weighs the same as a #3-iron).  Yes, you can hit the club without weights at the range to see the influence of an extremely lightweight swingweight, but not for play (see stipulations below).

Note: According to the Rules of Golf, two key rules apply with this driver when it comes to posting a score for handicap:

• Never adjust the screws during the course of a round; otherwise you will be violating the Rules of Golf 4-2a: “During a stipulated round, the playing characteristics of a club shall not be purposely changed by adjustment of by any other means.”

• In Appendix II, 4a: “The clubhead must be generally plain in shape. All parts must be rigid, structural in nature and functional. It is not practical to define plain in shape precisely and comprehensively but features which are deemed to be breached of this requirement and are therefore not permitted include: (i) holes through the head.”

For example you have a demo club (or set) built to a D0 swingweight using two 6g weights.  Here are all the possibilities you can test with the various screws Hireko offers.

Weight 1	Weight 2	Swingweight
Empty	Empty	C4
Empty	2g	C5
2g	2g	C6
2g	4g	C7
4g	4g	C8
4g	6g	C9
6g	6g	D0
6g	8g	D1
8g	8g	D2
8g	10g	D3
10g	10g	D4
10g	12g	D5
12g	12g	D6

Take the challenge and see for yourself how the weight of the head affects your or your customer’s ball flight and distance.  You might be surprised you have been playing the incorrectly weighted clubs all these years.  Also, don’t forget iron impact labels.

Copyright © 2007 Hireko Golf