Are Your Golf Clubs Too Heavy? Trust Your Feelings & The Numbers

Like many golfers, I used to believe in a simple rule: better players need heavy clubs with stiff shafts, while everyone else should use lighter ones with regular flex.

It seemed logical, but a recent iron and driver fitting showed me just how wrong I had been and completely changed my understanding of a club’s weight impact.

Because when it comes to how golf club weight affects your shots, and deciding whether your own clubs are possibly too heavy the answer will not be found by relying on any general rule of thumb.

The reality is that every golfer needs to experiment with different club weights to find their optimal setup.

While weight is arguably the most critical feature of any club, its effect on distance and accuracy varies between players due to the uniqueness of every golfer’s swing.

And the key to finding your perfect club weight lies in the combination of what ‘feels’ right backed up by solid launch monitor data.

It’s a personal journey but take it from me – it can significantly impact your game for the better!

Golfing Focused Takeaways For Time Pressed Golfers

• Choose the right weight before worrying about flex – incorrect weight destroys performance while wrong flex can be managed
• Even minimal weight changes (4-5 grams) can affect shot consistency
• Optimal weight varies between clubs – test different weights for different clubs
• Reassess as you age – club weight requirements change with swing speed
• Trust feel and verify with data – combine personal preferences with launch monitor testing to confirm your decisions.

Club Weight Definitely Matters … A Lot!

Golf equipment decisions have become increasingly complex as the number of options available to players of all standards has grown and grown.

Once you’ve talked about golf club weight, you’ve then got to talk about shaft flex and bend and torque and sometimes it can seem you can never reach an answer on a golf club topic without immediately being asked a follow up question.

But among all these variables, weight stands as the dominant factor in club performance. So if you focus on only one aspect of your golf clubs’ make up this one is definitely worth it.

I discovered just how critical weight is during my recent iron fitting.

While I went in wondering if my twenty-year-old Mizuno MP-32 irons were simply too old or the shafts the wrong flex, the real issue turned out to be the heavy 130g shafts I’d been using in them.

After testing various options, we found that switching to shafts around 20g lighter significantly improved my consistency as I now longer had to work so hard to swing the clubs.

The distribution of weight in the new shafts also proved important.

Because my hands are ‘active’ during my swing, choosing a shaft with the weight toward the bottom of the club further improved my performance.

And to top it all off my trusty old irons now carry 6 yards further on average – despite my club speed dropping by 1mph on average from 4-iron to pitching wedge!

The topic of club weight was also proved very relevant in my driver fitting where even 4-5 grams changes in shaft weight noticeably affected my delivery and consistency:

• With a driver shaft that was too light – 62g – my timing suffered.
• Shafts that were too heavy by comparison (70g+) required me to work much harder to square the club face, but
• The sweet spot of shaft weights (65-66g) stayed in sync naturally.

So if you ever need proof of how important weight is when evaluating your golf clubs hopefully my fitting experience can show the potential rewards on offer.

The Reality of Club Weight

In a typical set of golf clubs, your driver is the lightest club while your sand or lob wedge is the heaviest.

For the average male golfer, a driver’s total weight breaks down to approximately 310 grams:

• 200g driver head
• 60g regular flex shaft
• 50g standard grip

Ladies clubs by comparison are usually lighter because they have lighter shafts and often lighter heads but these are just averages.

The main ways weight of your clubs can be changed is to alter the shaft and / or grip.

And todays’ golf market offers tremendous variety in club weights. For example you can easily find 20-30g+ of weight difference across drivers shaft models while iron shafts can vary even more in weight from 65g to 130g.

“Golfers can just about get away with playing the wrong shaft flex, but getting the wrong weight can absolutely kill your game”

Jason MacNiven, club fitting expert

But the reason such variety exists is the same one as why the weight of a golf club matters.

And that is because weight affects every golfer differently.

In my club fittings I saw firsthand how changes in club weight impacted everything from ball speed to launch angles, and spin rates.

The same golfer hitting two different clubs with 30g of weight difference can find very different results:

• Lighter clubs may reduce back spin but improve launch angles
• Heavier clubs by comparison might generate more ball speed but reduce consistency

Whatever the results what we are really talking about here are ‘distance’ and ‘shot accuracy’ – the two keys – and in both of these respects the weight of your clubs is a decisive factor.

Along with your golf swing of course!

The Warning Signs of Too Heavy Vs. Too Light

While it is easy to talk about the importance of club weight how can you actually tell if your clubs are too heavy or too light?

As with everything in golf there are some common generalisations which apply and in respect of golf club weight you will often hear the following:

• Golfers with slower swings and smooth tempos should use lighter clubs
• Players with fast tempos and swings need heavier clubs.

While these guidelines offer a starting point, even manufacturers acknowledge there are no absolutes in club weight selection.

They’d love if it were that simple – imagine the marketing possibilities of “Lighter clubs guarantee longer drives!”

But the reality is more complex.

Your swing is as unique as your fingerprint, making the impact of different club weights on your golf shots unpredictable in general terms.

The consequences of clubs that are too heavy or too light are therefore different for different players simply due to the idiosyncrasies of their golf swings.

However, there are common warning signs that your current clubs might be the wrong weight:

Signs Your Clubs Are Too Heavy

• Decreased club head speed and distance
• Lower ball flight
• Poor timing
• A laboured swing resulting from the pressure you feel to swing perfectly every time to get good results.

Signs Your Clubs Are Too Light

• Ball launching too high with excessive spin rates
• Wide dispersion of misses (both left and right)
• Not knowing where the club head is during the swing
• Altered swing mechanics including early unhinging of the wrists in the downswing and deceleration.

If In Doubt Go A Little Lighter

In short having the wrong weight of golf club can cause a multitude of issues for different players depending on how sensitive their swing is to changes in weight.

The bad news therefore is that this makes universal rules impossible.

Heavier clubs don’t automatically provide better control, and lighter clubs don’t always increase club head speed.

In fact, some players need additional weight to build speed, as it helps them maintain timing and rhythm.

Launch monitor data meanwhile shows that only 12% of golfers achieve their best club head speed with the lightest club option.

However, when it comes to irons, slightly lighter clubs tend to produce better results for most players.

This principle becomes especially critical when introducing children to golf.

The single most important equipment decision for young golfers is avoiding clubs that are too heavy – both in head and shaft weight.

“Start with golf clubs that are light enough for you to swing properly. I see so many 6, 7, 8, 10 year olds swinging these full-length clubs that are cut down, and they don’t swing the club; the club swings them. I actually started out with a U.S. Kids set …. I used women’s clubs – my mom’s backup set – when I was in middle school, and then moved to my dad’s old set when I was in high school.”

Maverick McNealy, PGA Tour player

Lighter clubs allow them to develop proper mechanics while their strength builds naturally.

And as my own experience has taught me very well the rewards are out there for adults too if you can find the right weight of clubs for your swing through a bit of trial and error with an expert fitter or coach.

Finding Your Weight ‘Window’

One of the most revealing insights from my driver fitting was also discovering the concept of weight “windows” – the narrow range where a club performs optimally for your unique swing.

The width of this window, I learned, varies between players based on their swing characteristics and pros provide great examples of how swing dynamics affect these windows.

Justin Thomas for example, with his quick transition and rapid acceleration, has a narrow ‘weight window’ while Bryson DeChambeau, who builds momentum more gradually during his swing, can effectively use clubs within a broader weight range.

And the results from my own weight testing revealed clear performance windows for my own irons and driver:

• Driver
  • Original 70g shaft: Had to “save” shots with hands
  • 62g shaft: Lost control of clubhead
  • 65g shaft: Club stayed in sync through impact.
• Irons
  • Original 132g shafts: Required perfect timing to hit well
  • 115-120g shafts: Harder work requiring more effort to build up swing speed
  • 112g shafts: Natural timing, better consistency
  • 110g shafts: Ball speed not as good. Not one shot within 6 yards of optimal shaft.

Weight in The Face of The Club Also Matters Too

What I was also amazed to discover during my fitting that where the ‘weight’ sits in your club head also matters a lot too.

This insight came while testing new technology-packed irons against my old Mizuno blades.

The modern irons, with their weight positioned ‘lower’ in the club head, caused me to generate more spin than ideal. Why?

Because my natural ball strike position occurs higher on the clubface, where these clubs had less mass.

My old blade irons actually produced better results because their mass (i.e. weight) is concentrated higher up the face and closer to where I typically strike the ball with a normal good swing.

So it is not always only about the overall weight of the club.

The distribution of weight within the club head of your clubs also matters and can affect your results!

Weight Changes As You Age

Back in 2004, when I bought my first serious set of irons, club fitters followed a simple philosophy: heavier shafts gave players more control.

So if you had decent club speed, you were automatically fitted with heavy, stiff shafts – they were essentially the only options available.

Two decades later, the landscape has completely changed. Modern fitting offers countless weight combinations to match your evolving game and physical capabilities.

This variety is crucial because your ideal club weight will likely change over time.

Golfing Focus’ in depth look at how far you should hit a driver by age shows that the decline in driver distance accelerates as golfers head over the 60 year old mark.

And this is no small part due to the 0.5mph of swing speed that players typically lose annually after reaching this milestone age.

This natural progression therefore often requires gradually lighter clubs to maintain performance and enjoyment of the game.

Trust Your Feelings About Golf Club Weight. And Use Data Too

So how do you determine your ideal club weight when all is said and done and given there are no universal rules?

While the golf industry inevitably suggests professional fitting – and this approach undoubtedly worked in my own case – the core process remains the same whether working with a fitter or experimenting on your own – systematic trial and error.

The Testing Process

Start simply by trying clubs at weight extremes and gauge the results. Pay particular attention to:

• Strike consistency
• Distance control
• Shot dispersion
• Overall comfort

Which club weight gives you the best outcomes across all these elements.

And launch monitor data is there to help you verify your feelings and decisions.

During my own testing as a straight forward example, switching from a Project X IO 110g shaft to a Nippon Modus 105 GH immediately reduced ball speed, with no shots coming within 6 yards of the heavier shaft.

And since my ‘club to path’ and ‘face to path’ numbers on the Trackman remained consistent, we knew the shaft weight, not my swing, caused the difference.

Feel Is King

But while data maters feel remains the overriding factor in club weight selection.

You must ‘feel’ comfortable with your club’s weight.

If it ‘feels too heavy’ you’ll maybe have the sensation that it’s hard work to swing the club. If it ‘feels too light’ you might think that you have no control of the club head at all.

And of course ‘feel’ is different for everyone.

Some players barely notice substantial weight changes, while others, like Tiger Woods, can detect minute differences.

During a Nike testing session back in the day for example, Woods identified one driver as “two cotton balls” heavier among four supposedly identical clubs.

It is also thought regular players often struggle more with weight changes than occasional golfers, who are often able to make a bigger change if they find it helps their game.

Remember too that perfection is rare – you’ll likely need to compromise somewhere:

• A heavier club might add distance but reduce accuracy for example, while
• Lighter clubs could improve consistency but sacrifice some yards

Whatever ‘feels’ right for you is also unlikely to give you wins across the board.

Preferring a light driver doesn’t mean you automatically need light irons.

Treat each club type independently, and priortize feel.

And the ultimate test? When your clubs are the right weight, you’ll stop thinking about weight entirely and focus purely on playing.

The Weight of Clubs is More Important Than Flex

Before we leave any discussion that involves shafts we also need to talk about shaft ‘flex’.

Golfers often talk about flex much more than weight and obsess over whether they should use ladies (L), senior (A), regular (R), stiff (S), or extra stiff (X) shafts or whether any pros are using regular shafts.

Many seem convinced their entire game hinges on this single characteristic.

However, industry experts unanimously agree – shaft weight matters far more than flex when it comes to performance.

Consider these expert opinions:

• “If a golfer can’t feel a shaft that’s properly weighted, the other factors (flex, torque, bend profile) are moot.” [Nippon Shaft Representative]
• Club fitting expert James MacNiven put it this way: “Golfers can just about get away with playing the wrong shaft flex, but getting the wrong weight can absolutely kill your game.”

Even governing bodies acknowledge flex’s secondary importance in a roundabout way.

The USGA and R&A don’t regulate shaft flex designations for example, meaning there’s no standardized definition of what makes a shaft “regular” versus “stiff.”

That is why choosing a club based only on shaft flex is not a good idea.

Having the wrong flex of shaft for your swing however can indeed affect your golf shots and master club fitter Simon Cooper of Precision Golf offers a revealing insight into both why this is and why flex has historically dominated discussions.

“Flex has been all that’s been talked about for years because it’s what was believed to be a dominant feature in terms of control. But a Regular to a Stiff or a Stiff to an X-Stiff shaft is only 3 to 5% of the bend of the shaft – it doesn’t materially affect the face orientation enough to be the dominant factor in performance however the feel element (governed by flex) will affect how the player swings (and therefore confidence) .. so (flex) materially to the numbers isn’t important but to the person swinging it is.”

Simon Cooper, master club fitter, Precision Golf

So flex does matter however it’s a myth for example to generalise with statements like slower swinging players can’t use stiff shafts.

Shaft flex requirements don’t correlate directly with swing speed, as many believe.

But irrespective of that in any case it’s the weight of the club that is more important!

Before You Go …

While some golfers wonder whether their clubs are too heavy others are concerned whether it may be time for an equipment upgrade based on age.

So if you are wondering whether your clubs are “too old” to keep using check out our next article.

Are My Golf Clubs Too Old? It’s Performance Not Age That Matters

More top articles related to this topic:

• How Much Does a Golf Club Fitting Cost? Is it Worth it?
• Can You Get Your Existing Golf Clubs Custom Fitted? Complexity = Cost
• Are Hybrids Easier to Hit? 7 Reasons to Choose the Easy Way
• What Hybrids Should I Carry? It’s All About Ego
• Should I Play Blades or Cavity Back Irons? Use Your Head
• What Handicap Should Play Blades? Don’t Bother!
• Do Pros Use Regular or Stiff Shafts? They’re Stronger Than That!
• Do Pros Use Game Improvement Irons? They Also Want Forgiveness!
• How Much Do Golf Clubs Cost? A Giant Guide With 32 Examples
• Do Golf Balls go Bad? Have you Got a Dime or 5p?