Lighter shaft in a heavy head?

[Ruskie]

Hi folks,

I have a TM Tour Burner 9.5" (07, non-TP) driver with Pershing 65g R shaft in it. It's a nice stick, very reliable, pretty long on solid hits. The only trouble is that it feels quite a bit heavier than my old Nike Sumo (the original one) with V2 shaft. So, after some digging, I've found that the burner is a D5 swing weight, while the sumo was D3.5. So, that explains the difference in the feel.

The question is, can the burner be made to feel lighter by changing the shaft and what adverse side-effects will that produce? What shaft would you recommend, given that I'd like to raise the ball flight a little? Would the new shaft need to be stiffer than normal, given that the head is heavier?

Or is it a waste of time and money, and I should just go buy a lighter driver?

Cheers.

[spackler]

It probably swingweights higher because of the length of the shafts. I believe Nike ships their drivers at 45", while the Burner is either 45.5 or 46". If that's the issue, shortening it will give you your desired swingweight, plus a little bit more control.

[Ruskie]

Hmm... that's a possibility, although I think this shaft was installed after the fact. How can I measure the shaft? Do I measure from the hosel to the butt of the grip, or is it from the bottom of the club?

[Chieflongtee]

Put them side by side and see which one is longer.Not sure about your swingweight claim. You can choke down on the longer one and seee if it gives you the same feel. I doubt it. Most heads are in the 198 gram vincinity and the V2 is available in the 65 gram range so I am guessing that the shafts behave differently. Swingweight is overkill imho. For example most manufacturers have a D2 target swingweight when building clubs. So they will build a 45.5 inch club with a 198 gram head and a 50 gram shaft and a light grip to reach their target. Which is not necessarily a good thing for most golfers.

[dhacker1956]

Feeling the difference of 1.5 swingweights is not very easy. I was told by my clubby that it takes around 3 before it is really noticeable. I was told a swingwieght is the same as a dollar bill. Correct or no, chief?

[Chieflongtee]

Feeling the difference of 1.5 swingweights is not very easy. I was told by my clubby that it takes around 3 before it is really noticeable. I was told a swingwieght is the same as a dollar bill. Correct or no, chief?

Swingweight is only a way to measure the balance point of different components.
You can have clubs with significant weight differences(and length etc..) that all come in at D2. Take for example a full set of irons at D2. Not one of them weights the same.
MOI is a better way to measure the energy it takes to swing a club.

A change in the head weight by 2 grams will yield a 1-swingweight change in the club.

[Ruskie]

I wouldn't presume to be an expert on swingweight, but AFAIU, it the combination of clubhead/shaft weight and the length of the shaft, which is why your example of D2 iron set works - the heavier heads are on shorter shafts.

All that aside, if, as you say, it's hard to feel the difference between D3.5 and D5, what else could it be? The club definitely feels heavier to swing, I can't go after the ball the same way I could with the old one. The shaft is the same weight. Could the difference in shaft characteristics make that much of a difference in swing feel? The old shaft was a stiff V2, the new one is regular Pershing. If anything, V2 felt softer.

Unfortunately, I can't compare them side-by-side now, as I sold the old driver.

[Chieflongtee]

A 1/2 inch in length decreases or increases the sw by 3 points. Choke down and see if you get the same feeling as your old driver.
It could also be the grip size or the balance point of the shaft.
If the 2 shafts have different balance points and different bending profiles then sure they will feel different even though the head weight is the same. Other than that I don't know what to tell you.