If you’ve ever thought about building your own golf clubs or are interested in tinkering around with a club by putting on a new grip, shaft, or maybe even adding some lead tape to the clubhead, you’re going to want to know how to weigh your clubs.
Kenneth Smith Lorythmic Swinging Weight Scale
By weighing your clubs, I’m talking about a swing weight calculator. Now backing up a little bit, I have an old swing weight scale. You can find various versions of swing weight scales which range from around $85 or so up to a few hundred dollars plus. To give you an idea, the one (ancient) I purchased was around $200.
Without getting into too much detail a swing weight scale will use a 12 inch or 14 inch fulcrum and then find the point at which the club balances and then weigh the club to give you a swing weight.
If you prefer to watch a video, this is the process you go through to find the swing weight of a golf club.
Let’s Use A Swing Weight Calculator
What you need to get the swing weight calculator working for you:
- Scale that measures in grams
- Tape measure
- A thin marker
- Golf Club
So for starters, if you don’t have a scale, you will want to pick one up that looks similar to the below. Just make sure it can weigh in grams down to the smallest amount and up to at least 500 grams at the bare minimum. I was using my wife’s scale that she used to measure 1/4 lb. burgers, etc… until she got word that I was weighing my golf clubs with it. So I was kind and purchased a scale at Harbor Freight that looks similar to the one on Amazon that I am showing. It works very well.
You are going to need a measuring tape. Nothing fancy but a good tape measure showing markings out to 1/16th of an inch. Something as simple as this will work if you don’t have one at home.
Finally, If you have a fine tip marker that you can wash off the shaft of the club, that would help.
I grabbed my Sub70 699 8 iron which is 1 inch shorter than standard (I stand all of 5′ tall when I stretch) and I have a 25 gram grip on the club.
How to Use the Swing Weight Calculator
- Type up the description of the club you are attempting to get the swing weight of. For me it is a Sub70 699 8 iron.
- Make sure to zero out your scale and weigh your golf club in grams. Type that number in Input Total Weight. My 8 iron weighed 367 grams.
3. Take your finger and find an exact balance point (balance fulcrum) on the golf club. I mark that balance point with a thin marker.
4. Measure from the butt of the club to the balance point. Put that number in the calculator below. For my club it is 30 7/8″ which equals 30.875.
5. You should now have the calculated swing weight. My Sub70 8 iron comes out to have a D2.8 swing weight.
If all is working well, use the swing weight calculator below to enter your club info. If this goes haywire for whatever reason, my recommendation is to visit the link below and download for your personal use.
Swing Weight Calculator
A Golf Shaft Weight Calculator?
I think what some people may not realize is that you can use the scale as a golf shaft weight calculator or a grip weight calculator. Maybe I am explaining that wrong but I can tell you what I do. With a different golf shaft or grip along with finding the balance point, you can calculate the swing weight of the golf club in question. So I keep (instead of throwing away) old golf shafts. Golf shafts come in a number of weights, materials, flex, and ummm errr prices. Especially when it comes to driver, I like to buy a new shaft every now and then and give it a test.
I will also take an old grip, cut down the side and then place it on a golf shaft. I’ll even put on the ferrule and clubhead without epoxying them in place. Then I can find the total weight of the club and balance point to figure out the swing weight of the club using the swing weight calculator tool above.
So in that way you can try a 75 gram shaft for instance with a 45 gram golf grip. Then maybe you would like to go lighter and try a 50 gram shaft with that same grip. If you like a specific swing weight, then tinkering or changing out the shaft or grip in this manner is a great learning tool to get what you want. How cool is that.