A Simple Change You Can Make To Your Clubs That Can Drastically Change How Well You Hit Them

This article is all about feel. When you can feel where the club head is you improve your chances of hitting a good shot dramatically and clubs have gotten lighter and longer over time.

Tour players have an exceptional ability to feel the club and where it is in the swing. Higher handicappers seem to have less feel.

I first discovered this many years ago as an assistant professional. I had a high handicap student that had all the latest top of the line equipment, but he had no consistency. On one shot he may hit several inches behind the ball and top the next one. Just on a hunch I asked him to wait a minute and went back to the golf shop. I got one of my backup drivers that was a special make up and was unusually heavy with an X shaft in it. I asked him to try it. The change was dramatic. His misses improved dramatically – no more hitting behind the ball or topping. His good shots didn’t go quite as far, but he could now keep the ball in the fairway at a reasonable distance consistently.

From that point on I have kept a roll of lead tape in my desk.

Everybody has an optimum weight that they can feel and swing, but to the best of my knowledge nobody fits for that. One example of this is hitting a golf ball with a child’s plastic driver (won’t go very far no matter how fast you swing) and hitting one with a weighted training club (you can’t move it fast enough to hit it very far). Each individual has his or her optimum weight somewhere in between. Manufacturers assume that lighter is better. In theory that’s true and works well on Iron Byron.

People react differently to weight; just ask Dave Pelz, the developer of the ill-fated Ultra-Light clubs. Unfortunately, we all vary a great deal physically and manufacturers are forced to go with a general average. There is no precise formula to determine this and don’t ever let anyone tell you there is.

My point here is that by experimenting with putting lead tape on your clubs you can find that point and it will make a dramatic difference. We are talking spending $15.00 for this opportunity.

You can pick up a roll of high density lead tape on Amazon for less than $20.00.

Initially pick one club like a 6 or 7 iron and start by putting about eight 1 ½” x ½” wide strips (the best deal I found is here on Amazon) on the back of the club as near the sole as possible. Press the first strip in place firmly and add the rest lightly.

You will probably want to peel these off one or two at a time since eight strips is about 2 oz. and that is a lot of weight. Peel them off or add them back to get the best club head feel possible.

Adding tape to the heel of the club will enhance a draw or reduce a fade. Again, test your club after adding tape to determine if enough tape has been added or if too much has been added. If you want to remove the lead tape, use the point of a knife to lift a corner of the tape and then peel it off a layer at a time (this is why I said not to press hard initially).

I find this works extremely well with the wedges since you need to have the best feel with less than full swings. You can get wedges in a variety of lofts and bounce, but nobody talks about weight and feel is more important with them than anything but the putter.

No discussion of feel would be complete without pointing out the importance of grip pressure. The more firmly you grip the club the less feel you will have. It reminds me of a great Sam Snead quote, “If most people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club they would starve.” The less tension and pressure you have the faster the club moves and you have more feel or touch.

Please pass this on to your friends and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

(Cover Photo Credit)