C'mon Ian....this is not an experience you can get anywhere else other than TXG. I think this is a topic that is not covered often enough. Thank you for doing it. Now I just have to book a flight to Toronto.

Great video and yet again shows how the entire golf industry lacks these insights and knowledge. Most golf retail stores or driving ranges would never be able to offer such a fitting experience or be able to understand the component effects for that. Everyone bangs on about “get fit”, however the fitting experience for the majority of the golfing public is more than sub standard. Well done guys, very educational.

Once again TXG moves the bar even higher for what counts as great club fitting. Love to see a similar video but for irons

As you mentioned Matt seems to adjust his swing as he sees the ball flight. On a blind test like this I suggest having Matt's screen off and GC4 screen covered so he doesn't subconsciously change his swing in adjustments. I seem to remember you guys doing that in an older video.

Ian is so right on...again! That’s why most fittings done are not correct. We have a couple of highly regarded facilities in my area that do fittings but they are limited on shaft lengths & grip options that it’s not a very accurate fitting! It turns into more guesstimating that fact!! You end up paying a lot of money for something that may not work.

My head is blown away with how you manipulate the weights and how it can affect the feel to the golfer.... I have no idea where my ideal swing weight would be but the clubs I have in my bag seem to work well for me Keep up the great information 👍

Scales and swing weight calculator have been on my customisation table for a while. Made a huge difference to my driver consistency

I have been a club weight/ Swing weight geek for over 35 years and have all the club building toys from Golfworks and GolfSmith in my small club shop in my basement. I have a great gram scale that I now only use for club building ( hmmmmm ) and found this video very reminiscent of some of the club/shaft things I put together to mess with years ago, you guys do it better, love this stuff you do and show. Thanks guys.

TXG is going HARD on these 2020 videos! Keep up the amazing content guys!

It's not just demo day that you can't do this. I've never had a fitting where blowing the grip off to try another was an option.

By far one of the best videos on how to help dial in my own driver

Fascinating and great insightful knowledge. Another inspiring master class from Professor Ian. And this is why you need to go to the professionals to get fit. Well done TXG.

Every time I watch a video I learn something that explains so much about my previous fittings and why I feel they didn't work.

You guys blow my mind every week. Ian explain the tech better then anyone I have ever heard. Love the content

Arguably the best video on KZfaq for golf. We probably spend the most consistently on drivers year in and year out. What a treat for us to see this. I’ve watched probably 50 times everytime I’m rebuilding my driver or testing out new ones

You guys aware killing it right out of the gate in 2020!!! The one thing I dislike about the “fittings” I’ve done off manufacturers fitting carts is only having the option to use standard grips. I don’t have big hands (wear a ML cadet glove) but I like the feel of standard MCC+4 grips built up with 3 or 4 layers of tape (about half way between std and midsize). When I hit demo clubs off a fitting cart I always find myself gripping the club too tight.

I found this video to be one of the most fascinating that you guys have every made since I have made several grip size changes over the last few years to accommodate for physical problems with my hands. I’ve ended up with oversized in my driver, 3 wood, and Hybrid. Everything else is midsize and I’ve had a lot of success with the larger grips, especially in the driver and 3 wood, both from the standpoint of reduced pain and increased stamina in my hands especially on longer courses where I make more “full power” swings. However, in the past I’ve always had the most success with very heavy swing weights in all my clubs but my hands just can’t handle that anymore. This video helped me to understand that there are more factors that could be influencing the success of these changes other than just the size of the grip and while watching this video I had the realization that I’ve also had to smooth out my change of direction tremendously due to the issues with my hands. Imagine going from a 19 year old Sergio swing in terms of drop, insane amount of lag, and tempo to something much more like Fred Couples or Ernie Else when it comes to changing direction at the top of my swing. Could this change in tempo, and therefore not loading the club as aggressively, be a contributing factor as to why I’m finding more success with lighter shafts and lighter swing weights as well?

Absolutely love this type of video . Us gear heads get obsessed with the little details that may not matter for our skill level. In this case, the weight and swing weight varied sufficiently. Another test that may appeal to gear heads is hard stepping and soft stepping (and also tipping in wood shafts) and its impact in measured performance and perceived feel.

Ian’s knowledge about all things equipment and how the various factors individually and collectively influence a golfer’s results is remarkable. Cannot wait until my schedule allows me to get up to Toronto for a fitting.

Nice vid. It seems to me that swing weight is a more significant factor than say shaft stiffness, kick point etc. I've never had a driver fitting. But I bet you most places in uk spend an hour testing heads and shafts. Agree on best fit. Then spend 1 minute at the end picking a grip you like the feel of. Without actually hitting the final build! Bit of a con really.

Incredible stuff guys... can't thank you enough for getting this data out there. Also... do you think you could try to fit Matty into that light weight set up, but put the weights way out in the toe to help keep his face open? He actually struck the ball well and all his speeds went up... would be interesting to see something like a light and toe biased build vs a heavy and heel bias build. Would be a really cool video to see that if you get some time.

If only you were in Minneapolis, then I wouldn't have so much lead tape on my driver!! (cut my driver down to 44.5" and added the MCCplus4 grip) Absolutely love the content and constant education!!!

Wow! I really wish I lived close to a place that would conduct fittings in this manner.

Guys, OMG this is the greatest video! This is exactly what happened to me a few months ago. Several people recommended I go to midsized grips as I have large hands. I regripped all of my clubs with GP CP2 midsize and all of a sudden I lost a lot of yards with my irons and hybrids (it didnt affect my driver much). What I didnt realize was I was going from a 50g grip to a 65g grip and that was making my clubs go into the "C" range. I felt I could swing the clubs faster, but was losing yards. Can you please do the test and show the affect on irons? Perhaps also show how the change can be mitigated by adding lead tape (or using lighter midsize grips)?

This video is fantastic...can't wait till March to get up to Toronto to have my fitting with Ian

This is one the BEST vids you have ever done. Please re-do this again with another golfer!

That was a great video. I’ve always considered myself pretty thoughtful with my equipment, but who knew that there could be such a disparity in grip weights? I would have never known to ask about its weight. I have recently put the align grips in my wedges and irons. I noticed that while I love them in 6-pw, my 4-5 just felt a little off. It is not enough that I would pull the grips, but I have made minor adjustments. Keep bringing that golf knowledge!

😳. This is by far the best comparison test of how SW & total weight affect your ball flight/ball striking efficiency!

Holy sht, no one else but you guys do the research this far and published it on KZfaq. Great job, the best scientific golf channel on KZfaq

Do you guys ever do MOI matching? I personally don't like the swing weight measurement alone because you can trick the swing weight scale with counter balance shafts and what not. Also Most people get so caught up in swing weight as if their entire golf game will crumble being a few swing weight points off. But if swing weight was that important then we should see that when choking down on a club would make it unhittable because choking down an inch is reducing swing weight significantly. Plus nobody grips the club in the exact same spot every time anyways so you're never really swinging with the exact same "swing weight feel" if that makes sense. I think total weight swing weight and all of that need to be assessed together. But you're gonna have tons of comments now from people getting way too worried about their swing weight

You guys have quickly become my favorite KZfaq channel! Great content! Keep it up!

Great video.. I play the Golf Pride Midsize Align grips but no body ever suggested checking the swing weight and what impact that may have.. getting fit for a new driver this year will get the swing weight checked.. thanks for the info.

All time video by you guys! So good!

One word...wow. Unbelievable information, guys.

I guess there is a preferred swing weight range for every golfer. Is that something you kind of find out as a fitting goes? Or can you have an idea beforehand (and then how?) and organize your fitting session around that presumption/data?

I’ve spent so much money on a fitting and this has never been done as it pertains to grip changes etc. everyone says what grip would you like after the fitting. I mean why is there no consistency within this industry? It’s frustrating that I now feel like I have to fly to Canada to get fitted.

Yeah like everyone is saying I've been to fittings and we will never get anything like this until we make a trip to TXG...

This is interesting because grip weight on its impact on a club has never been mentioned before in a fitting or when I just wanted to try a new grip. I just went from the z cord standard size grip to a mid sized tour velvet.

Interesting video. I have very basic club building skills, and I knew grip changes can change swing weight. What I take away from this video, yes, a club fitting at TXG would be the best. But, I can also start fitting myself. If I find a club combination that feels the best, weigh and measure everything. Probably better than going to the local club fitter!

This was a GREAT video, probably one of your best and you guys ABSOLUTELY make the best golf youtube videos bar none! Ian, would you say Matt's results are likely typical of most golfers or are the effects unique to each individual? My daughter is a budding young (12yo) golfer who typically hits a draw with her missing being a hook. Her irons were all built to C7, hybrids to C9 and woods are about D0. I'm wondering if increasing the swing weight will reduce some of the left bias to her swing.

A lot of discussion about closure rate. Can't recall you testing for this. Heard Dr. Sasho Mckenzie talk about this. He said that in all his 3D studies of golfers at all levels, this was the most significant difference between all level of golfers. Top pros had the least closure rate at contact even compared to scratch amateurs. I took this to mean the club face was more stable through the ball and less dependent on timing. Perhaps you can do something on this.

This was incredibly helpful. I am a returning amateur and after 10yrs, and a true fitting, I could definitely feel different aspects of the club, but couldn’t really describe it. But, I also have bigger hands, so after I found the club/shaft combo I wanted, I chose the align grips, which I DID NOT HIT WITH. I’m a little afraid that moving from the standard fitting grips to a heavier grip is going to screw with me. Especially, as I ‘think’ what I liked most when being fit was a higher swing weight (we never checked). But I could really feel differences which allowed me to swing in a groove and where I felt I lost everything. Clubs should be completed this week, so this was great information should everything go sideways.

Are you kidding?! I love the detail guys! Keep it up 😁🙌🏼

I would also love to see a video on how to properly re-swing weight a driver after you cut it down to a shorter shaft. I feel it might be a little more than just adding head weight back.

Great content guys. thanks for the information. only question i have is who the heck would thumbs down this video??

This was awesome guys .. depressed me that there’s no chance for some of us to ever experience this 😉🏌️‍♂️⛳️🍻

Extremely insightful and interesting. I never thought of the grip weight as a factor. Thanks for this gents. 👍

This video is both amazing and terrifying at the same time!!! Would love to see you test counter weighted grips!

New season coming up, time to change my grips. Tried a new midsize MCC Align hybrid grip from Golf Pride ( replacing the usual stock grip) on my 3 wood, the results were so much better from the tee and fairway. I found by having a larger grip I was not gripping the club so hard, thus better wrist moment and gaining 15 yards. So now I have the same grip on all of my clubs, except on my putter of course.

How about a video showing the differences between an actual driving iron vs. a 1/2/3 iron that people want to use with a graphite shaft to make them play similar to a driving iron? I see a lot of people locally trying to "make" a driving iron out of older long irons without knowing how the CG and head composition of modern driving irons work

Very good demo guys.

great vid as always gents. Happy new year from the UK

Well that’s another thing to think of when I go to get any new club it’s quite mind blowing the way you can really set up a golf club to get the best out of your golf swing🏋️‍♀️

Owning a few clubs and a swing weight scale feels like I unlocked the key to my swing. I am fast with high tempo…my 130x shafts and blades are C8.

Great video guys.....watching everyday. Can you possibly do a video comparing shafts in the same line , ( for example Diamana Blueboard 63x, 73x, 83x ) at 44 inches , then grab another one each of those shafts, tip them all an inch, then have them all set up at same length and swing weight as original 3 in test. Would show effects of weights / lead tape / hot melt to get 63 up in sw, heavier grip / other tricks in 83 to lower sw, and also show how / why tipping works 😀 Thanks guys

Best video yet, great job!

I’ve always struggled with a slice (my shit ability) recently bought a TS3 driver and Ventus 5S shaft to try. Lightest shaft I’ve ever tried I think. Distance was up a few yards due to lighter weight and hitting low draws. A few mega hooks have crept in per round, so I bought a weight kit to play around with. This came today, which handily coincided with your video. Just spent a bit of time weighing all the head weight options and calculating swing weight online. I was playing it at about D0, which is probably why these hideous hooks have crept in, with the increased face rotation! Time to add some weight to the head and get back on the course. I’ve learnt so much from you guys, and continue to do so. Every day’s a school day! Thanks guys.

Very interesting test. I would love to see this with putters. There are all these weighted grips for putters now I assume to slow down the hands but would love to see this analysed more.

Off to a great year. Fascinating video.

by far one of my favorite videos fellas. keep up the good work!

Matt and Ian - This video is great. A few months ago I went to a fitter and I was about a 10 handicap, I was fitted for PING i210 Irons in KBS $-Taper 120g Stiff. Right now I'm at a 7 and my coach and I have been trying to figure out what the issue has been with my iron ball striking and overall iron play, well, it turns out that they're at D5 swingweight (!!!) and I had no idea until I checked back in with the fitter. I'm now in an odd position where I may need a refit. It's a concept that is extremely overlooked by fitters and shouldn't be as it is also extremely important. Again, great video!

You guys are killing it so far this year.

I went through this years ago and it was enlightening. I have very large hands, so used to use Lampkin Jumbos. It would take so much tungsten to get the swing weight that felt right to me (D4/D5). Then went to Golf Pride MCC medium with triple wrap and felt so much more balanced. Now, if I could get my swing back in order, that would be nice

Great video and informative. You guys gave me the guts to shorten my driver because of heel strikes. Tested it on course today with immense improvement on distance,strike location, ball flight from fade to straight slight draw. The smallest things make an immense difference. Cheers.

Please keep up the awesome awesome vlogs. Excellent as usual

Great video guys. I always learn a lot from your videos. I'm not sure about having the screen off. I know that I adjust my swing on the fly based on how I'm playing even with my limited talent. Maybe that isn't a good idea but I can't help it. My fitting (at a golf store) didn't get into any of this level of detail. Just try several different makes of clubs, narrow it down to 1 or 2 and tinker with the existing weights (if there were any). Keep the videos coming.

Nice vid. guys!! Always learning something from you both! Thanks!

You guys rock!. For Christmas I got me a Ping G10 plus and in order to aline it with my Mizunos MP20s I asked togetthe grip changedto a MCC Plus 4. I haven’t tested it yet but after watching this videoI am a bit intrigued at least....🧐

The human brain has the incredible ability to adapt. If you are older, it take probably more time, but it still works. The problem with club fitting in my opinion: The best fitter can not predict how the player will adapt to the clubs balance point and weight in the future.

Simply tremendous! Great lesson as always guys.

Fantastic information. I had my suspicions about this. Choice of grip comes after the so called fitting. 👍

This is a really important test and something that people I think need to understand a lot more. Swingweight is absolutely meaningless if you don't know your total static weight. That was the difference between D4.5 being in Matt's wheelhouse and the "light" D4.5 leading to one of the worst shots we have probably seen him hit! Kudos for the subsequent adjustment he made to hit Combo #6, but that is why it is so important to figure these things out because you don't get 3 balls off the tee to get used to something like that. I would love for this test to remove the variable of the grip type itself though, possibly by using counterweights instead? A lot of people ask about counterweighting and it seems to be pretty misunderstood. It would be cool to see how a good player like Matt reacts to to them, especially towards the extremes.

Absolutely fascinating, gents. Thank goodness you’re not deconstructing my swing in such a forensic manner!

Fantastic video guys! Question - should the swing weight be the same for all clubs in your bag or are drivers (for example) meant to be different to irons / wedges?

Always an education on this channel! Loved this video. I recently went to a midsize grip (golf pride 360) from the standard size(same grip) on my driver and didn’t give any thought to how it might affect my swing weight. Been hitting it better though! I’ll have to check it! 😀

Another great video guys I always enjoy watching and get something out of it

Thank you gents, I've definitely noticed similar effects but not known what might be causing it.

combo 3 is 100% my experience. club champion will only fit with a standard grip but I play midsize +3 wraps. I got my 3 wood and it felt wayyyyyyyyyyyy off.

The difference in a set of iron shafts: hardstep vs softstep, in multiple iterations. i.e. 4x hardstep. Measuring all variables from total weight to any deviation in swing weight as well as change in balance point. Or maybe a video with as many variables controlled on an iron set build and comparing shaft length progresson from +2 inches to -2 inches. The unexpected fade and draw bias revealed here makes me feel as there are other compositional fundamentals to be discovered.

So good guys. Kind of following on from this, would love to see how replacing existing moveable weight on a driver with a heavier one affects performance

The last “model” gave Matt the best speed numbers and ball striking position. But too much club face rotation. Would you then keep that configuration in terms of weight and swing weight and then adjust the head issue by moving the head weights? Or would that combo be a no go no matter what in your recommendations?

Wow. Eye opener. Great content as usual. Thank you TXG!

I can remember a comment by Paul Casey who said if you go to a demo day and try a club and really Like it try and buy that one because there’s a big chance the one you order will not be the same and now I can see maybe why. It was when he was with Nike Another good informative video All the best to all at txg for 2020.

You guys need a traveling tour truck for Canada 👍❤️🇨🇦 i need this on the east coast. Regripping is coming soon and this is definitely food for thought. Is there like a minimum of grip weight that wouldn’t be a major difference. Like 5 grams difference 🤷🏼‍♂️ i’m used to mmc from golfpride and was thinking of the align or even the plus 4.

Driver shaft weight 40 vs 50 vs60 vs 70 vs 80 gram weight. Does a slower swing speed improve their distance with a lighter or heavier shaft in a driver? Does a faster swing speed improve their distance?

Fascinating video guys, thank you! One thing I'm curious about after seeing the conclusion - what influence does the grip, and grip alone, have on the shots? So in other words, keep the shaft and head the same, and just change the grip out for ones that are fatter, thinner, lighter, heavier (or the same diameter, and lighter or heavier if that's possible). The grip isn't something we really think about, but in a relatively light build like mine (TS1, 55g S-Flex and a Golf Pride standard) the grip can have quite an impact on the swingweight and overall weight of the club.

Perfect content thank you.... and happy new year....!

I swing a bit like matt, but go slice instead of hook and my driver has a really big heavy grip on it and a heavy overall weight (D6-7 swingweight) and now im thinking make the grip a touch lighter and lower that swingweight to d1-3 and see what happens!

I'm the first to tear off a stock grip, horrible things but rarely an option to try anything thicker at our local retailer and they are pretty clueless so had to teach myself all this and build myself.

8.30AM and I'm going for a lay down because my mind has been well and truly blown again by TXG Mental note to self, DO NOT change grips (which I do frequently, trying to find a comfortable grip) having just bought new clubs EVER AGAIN, without consulting Mr Fraser.

Beautiful

Total eye opener guy. Brilliant 👏🏻

TXG is one of the best channels on KZfaq! Don’t start matching clothes like some people 😏

Great video as ever, but....sometimes when talking about losing the ball left or spraying right the majority of watchers then has to reverse think what it means for the more common golfer ie the right hander compared to Matty as a leftie.

Total eye opener guys. 👏🏻 thanks and HNY to you all.

Interesting test. Definitely swingweight and club static weight can affect results. I think the order may also affect the results. Going from heavy SW or lighter SW or heavy static weight or lighter static weight and vice versa can cause anybody to close or open the clubface. I think the swingweight affects the action of the shaft more and the static weight affect the action of the entire club more.

One of the most interesting video. Thanks so much.

I think one of the conclusions it that you may benefit from balancing out the head weight if you get heavier grips.

Very interesting video. Would be nice to see the same thing with a less skilled golfer with less ability to compensate and see if reactions to configuration gets even larger. Maybe also turn off the projector for the golfer while hitting balls to reduce compensations between shots (like oh that went left, now I will try to hit more to the right) since on the course you only get one shot :-)

Great video and information. data is king. Keep up the fantastic technical information in your reviews.