In this video, I try to improve my driver distance using lead tape. Can certain amounts of weight in certain locations equal more 300 yard drives?
Check out Dave Tutelman’s website here,
https://www.tutelman.com/golf/
Looking for custom clubs, repairs, or club fittings? Contact me
adam@elitefitgolf.com
43 Comments
Will definitely try this and report back. Thanks for the great video.
10g did lower spin: You started to hit fades with lower spin than the original club going straight.
Would you reccomend adding weight for someone with a 100mph swing speed?
I have tried this and even had the tape fly off down the range I was hitting so hard. I also have a Taylormade R7 Quad driver with a selection of weights from 2 thru to 16 gms. I even tried that driver with no weights in but holes and it was inconclusive. The shaft weight also has to be considered. Heavy head light shaft, heavy shaft light head. I am pretty sure that the engineering in just about all modern Drivers has resulted in off the shelf Drivers with stock shafts and 100 mph swings the ball goes 250 yds. Only swinging faster makes the ball go further. Then only to a certain point the smash factor comes into it and spin which then makes the ball become the next part of the equation. 2 piece, 3 piece 5 piece cover type etc etc
Great video. I love lead tape on my irons.
Like adding weight to your driver – u should try adding weights to your life
10g was enough for me and 20 on the sand wedge.
You might want to replace the shaft with something heavier as the overall mass will increase.
It will be significantly more difficult to keep your swing speed up once you do this though
I did this with G Series LST head and Diamana 93g xflex x5ct
It works but you’re gonna know about it after the round 😶🤣
Interesting, I added 4 grams to the heel for flight correction and have seen a little more distance.
I would like to see you redo this with more average players with slower swing speeds (95, 85)
I'm curious, you added butt weight in previous videos that seemed to add distance. This seems to be the opposite concept. What if you butt weighted….then used the lightest but firmist quality shaft…then started adding head weight? I would think that overall club weight has to be considered.
What ball were you using, or did I miss that?
I really enjoy your channel! I believe in life-long learning and I always learn from your content! I have started to renew older golf clubs but I am just starting to do it. How did you learn about building/refreshing golf clubs?
Uggggah, me like sledge hammer. I want to crush the ball..
It looked like you have a Fujikura Ventus blue shaft but what was the flex and what degree was the driver head set to?
Do you get the same numbers outside when compared to quad?
I didn’t think so.
I did this with a Ping g430 lst. I only made the driver 5 gr heavier. I took the 22gr weight out of the back and replaced it with a 17, added 10 underneath. Spin dropped 150. I know your test is about basically using a bigger hammer not lowering spin. I basically made a Ping sub zero lol.
what about putting the 10g of weight to the back of the head?
You should show us the impact on the club of face on each driver in the middle or not. If off centre hit, regardless adding weight or not at this test.
If you don’t have the strength and athleticism to swing faster, nothing will help. There are exercises and workouts that’ll get results as well as well as hitting the range more and work on ball address and such
Since you have the tools, I would like to see you adopt what I am seeing some of the long drivers doing. They are using "L" flex shafts as low as 195 cpm shafts. They are also pulling the weights out of the weight ports which puts the heads in the 175 to 185 gram range. I know there max length is 48" but I'm not sure they are going that long and some are down in the 2.4 to 4.5 degrees of loft. Let me know what you think. Oh, and keep up the good work. Thanks
Out of breath from hitting driver…
Very cool idea! How about trying a lighter shaft like the long drive hitters are using?
No reason you couldn't have gotten to 1.45 efficiency with stock head. If you had it probably would have produced best distance. As you well know it's all about strike location.
I think you should revisit the counter balance scenario but this time use a long shaft, say 47 or 48", add the weight and then grip down to where you're gripping it at 44 or 45". I knew a club repair guy years ago and he was aware of the counter balance thing and he said that the added weight needed to be above the hands not under them so it will work as a lever propelling the club head to higher speeds.
On a side note, I recently went out and and followed a few of the players in a high profile amateur event here in California and there was one guy who was choking up on his driver a good 3" and he was pounding it, consistently over 300 yds, FWIW.
So now you need to combine the extra head weight and an equal amount, or greater, of counterbalance, perhaps there is some magic there?
With my old Adams f11, i added 7ish grams of lead tape to the front top. Reduce spin by quite a bit amd lowered launch angle.went from about 287 carry to 300. no monitor just on the range
Hey love you videos. I saw someone else talk about launch conditions. I think it was the guys from TXG. You have plenty speed. Look into it because I think you are leaving distance on the table
The Ping Optimal Launch & Spin Chart is a great reference when optimizing distance. At your 155mph ish ball speed and 2.x degrees upward angle of attack, it is likely your longer drives would happen if you had 13-13.5 degrees of launch angle and 2400-2450rpm spin. So a little more launch angle and a little more spin if you could deliver the club and maintain your current ball speed and angle of attack. It is likely that you could build a driver with consistently longer distance if you shortened it a bit which would a) promote more center strikes for consistently higher smash factor and b) allow you to add that extra head weight without making "feel" quit as heavy. Try it!
Any movement of 13 grams in the head moves the CG. SO you have yo be careful.
Interesting. How much did the 10g extra weight change the swing weight ? What was the new sw ?
Going up 5 to 7,5 swing weight points is really really heavy and can definitely mess up your timing.
Non- conforming as drivers on the conforming list are presumed to be at the limited of m.o.i.
I replaced a 52 gram shaft with a 64gm shaft my club head speed increased by about 3 mph. Upgraded again to a 72gm shaft and increased again by another 2mph a total of 5 mph increase with a heavier shaft. My swing speed with my driver is on the slow side 91-96 mph but strangely enough my speed increased with a heavier shaft. I’ve also noticed an increase in speed with heavier shafts on my irons. I know there is probably a limit on increasing weight/speed but that’s been my experience. I do have a launch monitor that I use at practice so I’m able to consistently measure my swing speeds!
Question- I started golf 8 months ago play Cobra Airxs regular shaft now. went for a fitting and got fit into Cobra forged tec irons with stiff shafts. So my question is can I just buy stiff shafts and put them into my airxs? And have them perform the same as the forged tecs?
Drama queen
Efficiency jump is what your trying to gain. You did that. However, lead tape is really about attaining lowering dispersion circles. Always use dispersion circles, to rationalize changes, even with driver. Also, lighter shaft, with same cam and tape would be interesting with driver, irons and wedges
Speed up backswing
What if you also added more weight to the grip?
There are players out there from the persimmon era who have said that Hogan used a persimmon driver that weighed as much as 16 oz. Which sounds absurd. Yet feasible considering he was one of longer hitters of his day. He was known to tinker with equipment and if you disassemble a persimmon driver you will find lead under the sole plate.
AJ, another great video! I did have success adding lead tape to my driver to reduce spin and add forgiveness. In total, I added about 10 grams of tape on my sim 2 9.0 degree head. I added about 2 grams on top of the weight port in the front of the club to cut down spin. and I added 6 grams on the heel side as far and back as I could on the head. I found that the spin was cut down by the tape on the front…and the tape far and back helped me have more mass to help the clubface close while adding mass and a little more pop. Noticed my total distances jump from 200 carry/220 total to 220 carry/260 total….there was also practice involved too…but definitely improvement when using the lead tape.
thanks for the videos and helping us find ways to tinker with our clubs and truly fit them to ourselves and our swings.
im surprised you didnt start with 5. i think if you lost speed with 15, and even 10.fwlt heavy, you might have noticed the best gains with 5-9g
OR, you could try the new Mizuno G driver!
I have an old ST G 190 and it’s a great driver. Long! At 70 it still gets out there around 280.
all that work for….