light and standard weight iron heads

[Klap]

Most manufacturers offer light weight iron heads next to their standard version. Titleist has them at -6 grams, Callaway at -5 etc. (They use them to balance out certain shafts or extra length clubs.)

 

Does this mean the standard head is actually a light head with added tip weight?

[Golfrnut]

That's actually a good question IMO. I would wonder if certain "light" or "heavy" heads are designed that way, or if they are just categorized after the manufacturing process and being measured for weight tolerance(I.E. like TT does when they weight sort the 200s,300s, 400s). You have certain designers(Tom Wishon as an example) that purposely design their heads to be lighter so that weight can be added later, but I do wonder about a lot of the other major OEMs and how they sort the heads out the way they do.

 

If it's done by design, I would image that you would have to change something about them(hosel depth, additional drilling, metal composition, etc) in order to purposely vary the weight. I would think if you made them purposely different in terms of design(smaller, larger, etc), then they would have to be approved by the USGA as an altered design?

[dunn]

It doesn't take much to knock off 6 grams....in the finishing process you could grind off 6 grams very easily....or hosel like you said.....or they just finish em all the same and then weigh em....light ones go in one bin heavy in another...think about it heads weigh like what 280 grams or so....6 grams is nothing

[Shambles]

Personally speaking I doubt a difference ever existed. It's not economically feasible to be measuring each head as it came off production or at a later stage, sorting them and assembling them at a later stage. I think they are simply assembled and it's an urban myth that heads come in different weights except as a result of design differences as in the case of a wedge against a short iron.

 

 

 

Shambles

[Golfrnut]

Personally speaking I doubt a difference ever existed. It's not economically feasible to be measuring each head as it came off production or at a later stage, sorting them and assembling them at a later stage. I think they are simply assembled and it's an urban myth that heads come in different weights except as a result of design differences as in the case of a wedge against a short iron.

 

 

 

Shambles

 

 

Well, it's called quality control. It's obviously done. And a myth? Absolutely not. I have both "L" and "H" stamped heads(Callaway in this case) and I can assure you that there are weight differences that match their stampings.

[Golfrnut]

It doesn't take much to knock off 6 grams....in the finishing process you could grind off 6 grams very easily....or hosel like you said.....or they just finish em all the same and then weigh em....light ones go in one bin heavy in another...think about it heads weigh like what 280 grams or so....6 grams is nothing

 

 

I agree, it's not much...but weight removal in this case doesn't really go unnoticed if done in certain ways. In the case of bore/hosel drilling, it's easy to tell if there has been additional weight drilled from the center. I would have to think it would be some sort of overall mass difference. I know I have some "L" stamped heads from Callaway, and there isn't any additional drilling done....but they are certainly lighter.

[Shambles]

Personally speaking I doubt a difference ever existed. It's not economically feasible to be measuring each head as it came off production or at a later stage, sorting them and assembling them at a later stage. I think they are simply assembled and it's an urban myth that heads come in different weights except as a result of design differences as in the case of a wedge against a short iron.

 

 

 

Shambles

 

 

Well, it's called quality control. It's obviously done. And a myth? Absolutely not. I have both "L" and "H" stamped heads(Callaway in this case) and I can assure you that there are weight differences that match their stampings.

 

I have never seen such but shall suspend judgement in view of your statement. I no longer spend much time mooning over new offerings. In my viewpoint, what sets I already have will outlast me and only something built radically different from what I already have would interest me.

 

As to quality control, many places call a quick look over for color, shine and branding call THAT quality control, which is not necessarily fair but certainly cheaper. Still and all, I shall look at what I can find.

 

 

 

Shambles

[Klap]

Add 6 grams of lead tape, you'll feel it. In the right spot it will even change ballflight. It isn't much ok, more like fine tuning. I had a AP2 set ordered with standard heads and later a set with light heads, all other specs the same and swingweight dropped from e0 to d7.

 

Making one head a little lighter than you would use in the most average setup and work from there with tip weights is probably cheapest and most flexible. (Like Tom Wishon seems to do.) But since the OEMs are so specific about the weights of their lighter heads I wonder if most 'standard' clubs come with tip weights being build from the 'light head'

[Stuart_G]

I wonder if most 'standard' clubs come with tip weights being build from the 'light head'

 

From what I've seen both myself during pulls and from other's posts here, I would say no. There may be some very specialized weight port or plugs being used (such as with Pings), but not standard tip weights.

[rbpwrx]

I pay a heavy head on purpose. There is a huge difference between a 273g 7-iron and a 280g one. Featherweight vs sledgehammer. 7 grams is everything. There's a reason many pros and scratch players add lead tape. The heavier head gets through rough and sand much easier. Even helps when you 'quit' a little on a swing - the head keeps going. YMMV, but I have a list of heads that are a club heavier. Mostly vintage, good stuff, short list. But it's the holy grail, IMHO, for shaving strokes.

[Nessism]

I pay a heavy head on purpose. There is a huge difference between a 273g 7-iron and a 280g one. Featherweight vs sledgehammer. 7 grams is everything. There's a reason many pros and scratch players add lead tape. The heavier head gets through rough and sand much easier. Even helps when you 'quit' a little on a swing - the head keeps going. YMMV, but I have a list of heads that are a club heavier. Mostly vintage, good stuff, short list. But it's the holy grail, IMHO, for shaving strokes.

 

7 grams heavier is only 2.56%. This will not have a functional effect on how the head performs. What it WILL DO though is feel heavier and increase swingweight, and that very well will affect the person's swing using the club. That's the reason some manufacturers offer heavy/light heads, and why other companies like Ping created their CTP methodology for swingweighting. They are trying to keep swingweight within the customary window most customers prefer despite differences in shaft weight and length.

[rbpwrx]

7 grams heavier is only 2.56%. This will not have a functional effect on how the head performs.

 

YMMV. 7 grams is a 3.5 swingweight difference. That's going from D2 all the way to D5 or D6. That's not minor.

 

I think, because I favor a stout shaft (130g X), that I need a heavier head to balance the club. I can certainly feel a difference of 2 or 3 grams. I have auditioned clubs on the range, identified heavier and lighter heada, taken them home and disassembled, and found significant differences (sometimes as much as 14 grams).

 

Of course, it also matters how the weight is distributed on the head. Longer hosel or shorter. More mass behind the sweetspot, or more evenly distributed across the head (of course all blades). My current favorite combo is a Mizuno MP-29 head with a KBS Tour X 130 shaft, standard length, midsize grip. But even between Mizuno MP-29 7-irons of the sam model year I have found headweight differences.

 

I hate the look of lead tape, but I understand why real players use it. Many of us need a little more weight. And who has the time to sift through all these heads? (FTR, early Hogans were mega heavy. I have a set of Sabers that are almost too much.)

[Pepperturbo]

Historically, OEM's had two heads, one for steel another heavier head for graphite. But I suspect costs being what they are, they've eliminated one head.

Having played Titleist with steel for most of the time, seen first hand where they been adding weight mostly in the hosel tip to get D2-D3 SW with stock S300 130gr shafts. Also, .some cases hosel was a tad longer.

OEM choice in stock shaft plays a role too. I suspect that's the case with my current 716CB's. My 716CB's came stock with AMT S300 106-130gram shafts, so head weight had to be adjusted to get to D2-D3. I had those shafts pulled and went about testing shafts. With current shafts SW is D3. :beach:

[Stuart_G]

7 grams heavier is only 2.56%. This will not have a functional effect on how the head performs.

 

YMMV. 7 grams is a 3.5 swingweight difference. That's going from D2 all the way to D5 or D6. That's not minor.

 

Swing weight can be very important - but it is because it can effects the swing and how the player performs - but it doesn't really have any affect on specifically how the head will perform. It wont make any difference in how the head moves through the rough nor will it have any noticeable affect on the c.g. or how the c.g. affects the ball flight.

[Pepperturbo]

7 grams heavier is only 2.56%. This will not have a functional effect on how the head performs.

 

YMMV. 7 grams is a 3.5 swingweight difference. That's going from D2 all the way to D5 or D6. That's not minor.

 

I think, because I favor a stout shaft (130g X), that I need a heavier head to balance the club. I can certainly feel a difference of 2 or 3 grams. I have auditioned clubs on the range, identified heavier and lighter heada, taken them home and disassembled, and found significant differences (sometimes as much as 14 grams).

 

Of course, it also matters how the weight is distributed on the head. Longer hosel or shorter. More mass behind the sweetspot, or more evenly distributed across the head (of course all blades). My current favorite combo is a Mizuno MP-29 head with a KBS Tour X 130 shaft, standard length, midsize grip. But even between Mizuno MP-29 7-irons of the sam model year I have found headweight differences.

 

I hate the look of lead tape, but I understand why real players use it. Many of us need a little more weight. And who has the time to sift through all these heads? (FTR, early Hogans were mega heavy. I have a set of Sabers that are almost too much.)

 

How a given clubhead performs has to do with its design. How the user performs with the clubhead and shaft combination has to do with clubhead design, shaft, and swing weight fitting the user. My Titleist SM6 - 58.8, M is eight (8) degrees of bounce with stock DGS200, @129 gram but lengthened OA to 36" moving SW to E0 :beach: Stock SW of that club is D5, so adding length = 5 grams moves it to E0 which makes a big difference for me.

[Howard_Jones]

My old Callaway X-Tour 2005 came from Callaway as plus 1.0 inch with heads thats 10 grams below standard, and thats over and beyond any "Tolerance", so they are not from the same production, but was designed to be lighter