I am considering havin my driver fitted with a Balance Certified weight, (and possibly my other clubs if it seems to help), I had my putter custom fitted a couple of years back and a Balance Certified weight fitted to the butt which improved my putting almost immediately, but I have heard the place that fitted this for me has closed down now!
Anyone had their clubs fitted with this system, any opinions? Any ideas where I might get this done in the UK? (preferably Scotland, but could make an excuse to travel!).
A balance certified weight is a posh weight which you stick in your club's butt in order to adjust the feel of your club - it makes the head feel lighter. They are somewhat expensive and a waste of money unless you have the correct amount of weight fitted. Such required weight varies from person to person, and there is no magic formula. It is a question of personal experimentation. Hence, I work with a tube insert in the butt, to which I can add or subtract weights until I find the right counterbalancing weight which works for me with my competition drivers. I then permanently glue such into the butt end of the shaft and re-grip. The c/b weighting then becomes invisible.
If you have a stock 44.50" driver within a C8 - D4 swingweight range then if you counterbalance you could lose a lot of necessary 'feel' and hence your driving could become worse, not better. I use c/b weights because I use very long competition drivers whose natural swingweight starts out at a very heavy E8.
Incidentally, incase you are thinking about it, forget about sticking these weights into irons, as to build a good set of irons is far more sophisticated.
I have explained counterbalancing somewhere on my web site. I think it comes under the sale item which relates to me building a customer a driver using their own basic materials.
Setting up any club properly is a very sophisticated operation and cannot be achieved by simply sticking a posh weight into the butt, except perhaps occasionally with a putter!
Unfortunately though the general golfing public believe in both 'magic drivers' and apparently also in 'magic weights.' If only golf was so undemanding.
When I had my putter fitted, it was a 2 hour excercise where the length, loft, lie etc was tested and set up to my optimum, so I appreciate the time and effort required and would never consider just ramming some "posh weights" down the shaft of my driver and expecting miracles and I know from cold, hard experience that it is very unlikely that without investing some considerable time and effort I am unlikely to stumble upon a perfectly fitted driver.
I was anticipating a full fitting session where the driver could be fitted to me in the same manner as my putter was and I understand that the results are unlikely to be as dramatic as they are in the putter...I am at the stage now where I am pretty certain I have the driver head for me with the correct spec. I am now considering having it set-up so it is at the optimum fit for me so I can get the most out of it.
The driver is perhaps the strangest and most challenging club in any golfer's bag. Why do I say "strange?"
By way of analogy, if you were interested in say full bore rifle shooting and you could afford to buy the very best rifle on the market - say one that could shoot 2.00 miles, but an expert advised you to buy one which was only able of shooting a bullett 1.50 miles I could understand it if you stated that you would take a lot of convincing to buy what appeared to be the lesser rifle!
That is very much how it is with a driver which one uses for general course play. A course driver is, in virtually all cases, never set up in order to optimise distance. It is a weapon which will ideally hit significantly far enough, but never at the cost of accuracy.
Course drivers tend to be short in length (compared with competition drivers) and, just like competition drivers properly spine aligned for repeatability / accuracy. And, just like a competition driver choice of shaft, head, and grip is paramount.
That is largely where similarities end. One can then move on to high performance exercises aimed at increasing driving distance: Lengthening one's shaft; increasing head weight; and counterbalancing.
Counterbalancing is essentially a performance tool aimed at securing more distance. Good counterbalancing can often increase one's swing speed by between 3 and 5 mph.
This is great for Long Drive competitors. After all, all we realistically hope for is for two or three balls (out of each six ball block) to land in, and stay in, the grid. We often have to settle for just one! Competition drivers are immensely difficult to control, but are capable of hitting immense distances in the hands of experts. Many L.D. competitors are pros. who are scratch players.
Conversely, on the golf corse we all aim to have at least five out of every six drives finish on the fairway. Anything less is poor driving.
So Rob, when you refer to "optimum fit" it is necessary to be crystal clear as to what you mean by this. For example, if you are presently a very good driver and can hit the fairway five times out of every six attempts, how would you feel about (by way of an example) increasing your average driving distance from 280 yards to 285 yards but at the price of only hitting the fairway four times?
That is the harsh reality of driving: The further one hits, the less accurate one is. It is true for everyone.
Do not get me wrong. I am fanatically keen on counterbalancing extra long drivers for distance. But, once one considers c/balancing (standard) drivers with already low swing weights one enters dangerous territory.
It is possible to tinker with a stock driver and increase both distance and accuracy with expert counterbalancing, but I would hazard a guess by saying that in more than 90% of cases that will not happen. That failure percentage could however be significantly lowered after several re-fits over several weeks.
As counterbalancing is of particular interest to me, I genuinely request that after you have had the work carried would you please be so kind as to let me have your club (driver) stats. both before and after the operation and let me know the result on both your distance and accuracy, and your handicap? That would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
What about the cheaper alternative, called Tour Lock Pro. No idea where to get them in the UK though. Not ideal fitting, but if you wanted to experiement they are cheap enough to buy a couple yourself. Think you can get them directly off the Tour Lock Pro website, Golfsmith, Golfworks, Myostrichgolf, etc.
Certainly would be interesting to know what improvements (if any) there are with counterbalancing for the average golfer. Of course hard stats like accuracy, distance, handicap are considered, but for some golfers just a better feel and more enjoyment using the driver might be good enough.
I do consider myself a decent driver of the Golf Ball and distance is not a problem for me, so I am not actively/desperately seeking any increases in that area, (of course if some extra yardage were to come along accidentally I wouldn't complain).
When I had my putter Custom Fitted it instantly added far more control and feel to my putter, to the extent that distance control since fitting is automatic, (which has had obvious benefits), and the putter now feels like a natural extention of my arms..........I guess I'm looking for the same kind of results from having my driver fitted. Increases in Feel, Control and Consistency is more what I am looking to improve, is this achievable using the counter balance system, or is it, as you seem to suggest more about distance?
If it were to take several weeks to get the right fit, I'd be more than happy to take it on if it were likely to yield any meaningful benefits?
Rob - Jon Tate at Ironwrx does balance weights for clubs (he's a GM forum member username rhgusa). Last I saw he had a pile of these things to go down the top of clubs through the grip and some tools to cut the grip and insert them, quite a neat system, as you "tighten" them they sorta expland and grip inside the shaft. Dunno if his are exactly what you are looking for but worth PM'ing him, he's approachable and un-pushy, so if its not what you want he won't be trying to flog you something that isn't for you!
Seems like there are two camps with balance weights, those who love them and those who don't seem to get any benefit. Have a USA mate who is a LD amateur, and he loves the things, sticks 50g in the butt of his club and hits it longer and straighter. Its one of those things thats definitely worth trying in golf, I tried, didnt do anything for me, but I can see for some swings it has potential.
Three years ago Golfsmith carried out a test with fifteen golfers, with an average handicap of 10.5 (unless my memory serves me ill) and all fifteen increased their driving distances by experimenting with five drivers with different swingweights, but otherwise identical specifications. There was no logic as to why different swingweights were more suitable to different players. Pretty conclusive? No, I do not personally think so. I will explain my prejudice, but it may sound silly:
Experienced opinion has it that less than 40% of golfers are reasonably efficient with their drivers. I would personally say that the majority of golfers are afraid of their drivers. Sounds a bit over the top, but I honestly believe such to be the case.
What happens when you are nervous, pumped up, or afraid? Your efficient swing pattern gets at least frayed around the edges: Possibly you swing back too quickly; abreviate your backswing; or even try to lash the ball. Maybe all three plus other faults!
I regularly meet poor golfers on my local driving range who hit bad drive after bad drive with their stock drivers. I love occasionally approaching them with a very long competition driver and saying something like "This club is absolute magic. Take your time and wait for the head to come through and you will hit brilliantly." Invariably they hit magnificent ball after magnificent ball. Bear in mind that I have placed a strange driver in their hands which is possibly 500% more difficult to use than their own driver. It is 4" longer than what they are used to; the shaft works very strangely for them; and loft is possibly three degrees below their normal loft. Yet, they believe in the magic driver and also the guy (me) applauding them. They are confident, optimistic, excited and even joyful! A transformed golfer consistently hitting 20 yards further! Golf magic (not)!!!
Now transpose my own experiences over to the Golfsmith tests.
True testing takes place over several outings, with one's normal hat on, and with no-one applauding.
The problem with most types of counterbalancing weights that slide into one's butt grip end is that they come in sizes like for example 25g, 40g, 50g, 75g, 100g. The cheapest ones will cost you a tenner, and the posh weights around £20. each. The problem is that golfers can distinguish a 2g difference in swingweight and using those sorts of fixed weights one would need on average 10 or fifteen weights in order to match such to each player, assuming that they came in so many sizes which they certainly do not.
Hence, I use my inexpensive matching system. The other system is a Golfsmith strapon to the shaft which can be weight adjusted. I do not know if it works, and I do not see it in their latest catalogue.
Efficient c/balancing takes almost endless experimentation. And, unless you can work on your own clubs to constantly adjust you will very quickly make your club fitter a wealthy man. It is an exercise for Long Drive fanatics trying to find their final two yards or so of distance. I will leave it to the reader to decide if it is really worth the trouble for regular golfers.
(MY several paragraphs dealing with whether or not c/balancing increases accuracy were destroyed by a fault on this site. Essentially I said that it varied from golfer to golfer but poor players could potentially benefit from 'poor' counterbalancing which increased head weight / increased feel / reduced swing speed / but increased consistency. Club building is as much an art as a science).
I did a very crude and quick test. Taped up a bunch of 2p coins to make around 50g and 100g weight. Taped them to the top of the grip and took a few putts at home. The coins do make gripping a bit tricky and lengthens the putter. But first impressions did seem to suggest a better feeling of control over the putt with the extra weight in the grip. Of course that is just me, another golfer might not like it at all.
I spent about four weeks playing about with counterbalance weights in my putter.
Allready have a custom fit Dave Hicks iXi mallet....31.5" long and 4 degrees flatter lie than most "standards".
But I like a heavier putter in terms of static mass (heavier than they typical 520g total weight) so spent much time adding lead tape (I found decorative lead window tape ideal) around the lower portion of shaft and then counterbalancing with TourLock Pro weights in the butt.
With differring additional head weights of 10,20,30,40 and 50g and then 50,75,100 and 150g counterweights there was obviosuly a huge number of possible weight combinations for me to try.
It didnt take long to identify that some weight combinations were totally unsuitable for very long or very short putts. They either robbed me of distance control or totally destroyed the natural balance for "knee tremblers".
Eventually I settled on 35g additional headweight in the form of tungsten powder down the shaft and a 100g counter weight. This combination seems to deliver most benefits at most distances.
I'm not sure that adding counterweight for the "sake of it" is a particularly beneficial thing to do....it may well help but it is equally likely to hinder.
I personally wanted to raise the mass of my putter to aid stability in the stroke and give it a bit more "heft" in my hand. Simply adding a 150g butt weight would have delivered the extra mass but would have made a real mess of the putter balance overall. Likewise stuffing 50g of tungsten down the shaft would have given it a bit of "heft" and made it feel head heavy....but it would have done little for long distance control.
If you have an idea of what you are trying to achieve then by all means have a go....but dont just throw in a weight and say..."ohh that feels better"...job done. The 10g weight you stick in the butt of your driver might make an improvement....but it still might not be the best solution for you... your 10g could be good, but 6 or 14g might have been even better!!
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