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I accidentally increased my driver SW to D3, it was only supposed to be D0, I was surprised how good it felt and how easy I was able to hit it, everything felt like "it was in place" ( I don't know if it was my swing that day, but it really felt good)
I didn't realize it was D3 all this time until I measured it...

My question is, since I increase my Driver 3 SW points should I also increase my irons?
right now my irons are at D2...at D2 I grip my irons slightly weaker than neutral (which felt very awkward) so I don't turn them over too much and hook them (this was the same case with the driver when it was D0, but when it was at D3 slightly stronger than neutral was okay)

Should I try to increase my irons to D5 too? and experience same results?

Thanks!

I think it might be a good idea to hit the drive a few more times before you make any changes to you other clubs. Personnally, I like a D4 SW for all my irons, and pretty much the same for woods. Althrough I do have a Callaway FT-i Tour driver that is a D10. Came that way for some reason, and while it feels a bit clubhead heavy, I do hit it pretty well. Factory spec, is D4, but this one came as a D10. Not sure why. Not sure I care why.

Thanks oneputt, does SW really make that much of a difference?
On the same day, on the course (before I hit this D3), my driver was D1, it was okay but suddenly the lead came off and brought it down to its previous SW - C8 and I was hitting the driver all over the place! Only hit one good shot in the back 9 and it wasn't even as long as when I hit the D1 weight.
After my game I immediately went the the clubmaker and had him put lead tape again to make it D3 tested it out and all my drives were straight again.

This is the first time I have been experimenting with "tweaking" my clubs so I don't really know, I was just used to hitting whatever I bought off the shelves and attributed my mishits on swing flaw...but now after being exposed to these forums, I know more.

I think subtle differences in swing weight are negligible for most people. A change in 1 or 2 points is almost impossible for a person to tell. Changes in 1 or 2 points usually result in some mental idea of one weight being more apt for the golfer than the next. I used to be obsessive with my swing weights until I proved the difference to be in my head by hitting clubs with unknown swing weights and then measuring the clubs after I thought I had the perfect one.

With that aside, bigger differences can be significant. I know I like all my clubs to be in the D2, D3 area (wedges D5 or D6). If I hit a driver that's a C10, I can tell the difference. If I hit a club that's D8, I can tell. IMO, swingweight preference has a relationship to a golfers tempo. Ernie Els and Vijay like heavy swing weights (D8 or D9 drivers) and Nick Price played clubs 6 or 7 points lower. IMO, the slower tempo guys tend to like heavier feeling clubs.

It used to be normal for all clubs to be D2 from the factory. But today it seems to vary quite a bit. I've got that FT-i Tour that's D10, and I just checked out a driver that came D0. That's a hugh difference, and one most any golfer could detect. At one time, most all driver heads weighed 200 grams, plus or minus a couple grams, Now, with driver length getting longer, some of the new driver have heads as light as 190 grams, Others are as heavy as 205 grams. For me, a higher swing weight allows me to FEEL the head of the club better during my swing. With a lighter sw, I have a hard time feeling the head. Works for me, but may be a total diaster for others.

I agree with this and have had all but my wedges and putter set for D5...

I like to think of swingweight as muscle and control reminders! The Standard for every golfer would be D2 but to me that is a comfortable starting point. You can add more weigth to the head and butt until you find the most accuracte setting for a golfer to hit the center of the club face. This would need to be checked on different days to determine a better result. As others have stated a slight change doesn't really effect your swing too much but if your going about 3 points + you'll start noticing a difference (good or bad).

Also to add that swingweight for Drivers, Irons and wedges can all be different. Since your swing motion is different for each of these clubs your swingweight might vary in terms of control. A Driver and all woods have a flatter swing, irons have a more aggressive approach and wedges have a short constant motion. Keep this inmind when playing with swingweight.

I have a 62* wedge with a Sw of E8 I think. I made it this way so that when I choke down on the grip to just off the steel shaft, the club has the same feel as my other irons with a normal hold. Feels really weird when first picked up, but during a swing, it feels like all my other irons, which is what I was looking for. And the heavy club head is great for cutting right through the tall grass on pitch shots from the rough. Again, this might not be a good club for anyone else, but I didn't make it for anyone else, I made it for me.

Thanks Guys, Feel is primarily what I am looking for, I do a lot of weightlifting and I think this added strength to my game but I lost a lot of feeling for the clubs. Everybody's been saying "feel the head", actually, until now, I don't know that feeling....

I always find my self "estimating" when to start the downswing so I have different tempos or different lengths of back swings everytime because of this loss of feeling...One time I swung a really heavy bar in the gym and that time I really felt what a swing should be, but this bar was like 20 pounds or something, this was when I started thinking about swing weights.

I like what SolidRock said "I like to think of swingweight as muscle and control reminders".
Maybe I should start thinking "out of the box", like Oneputt, an E8 wedge is not normal, but "not normal" might also be normal for me.

Thanks for the inputs guys...

oh, oneputt, does your higher SW affect the shaft flex much?

In Wishon's book, he recommends going out to the range with as light of a club as you can find, and ideally impact tape, and a roll of pennies and some duct tape. What you're going to do is keep taping pennies to the back of the club until you get the best clustering of impacts in the middle of the face, then go to the clubmaker, have them measure the swingweight and use that.

It's a neat idea, I haven't tried it myself except for putters. I kept taping pennies to the bottom of my putter to find the weight I liked best, and then got the inserts that added up to that weight (TaylorMade putter with the weight ports). I am very happy with the swingweight of my current irons, D3, so I haven't felt the need to try Wishon's penny taping trick. But, I think it could definitely work, so long as you don't mind the weird looks the golfers next to you are going to give ya ;)

The change in headweight will change the flex. Someone who is more experienced please correct, me but doesn't 6 swingweight points = one lower flex? Now, OnePutts wedge probably isn't quite that big of a difference because of how far down he grips it.

I can't say for sure, but I have heard something to that effect. Lot's of times a heavier swingweight can be due to things like a heavier shaft, longer club or lighter grip, so a heavier swing weight isn't always because there's more weight in the head.

I tried Golf Pride Whisper grips in 2002 or 2003 and they were 20 grams lighter than my old grips. My swing weights went up 1.5 or 2 points. Just an example.

My current set of irons have R flex Tri-Gold steel shafts in them. I don't think a D4 sw will effect the flex enough to be a problem for anyone. It could if you were say at the upper end of R flex, and you increased the sw. Then you might need S flex shafts to compensate. One thing I should mention, is that I don't see much difference in how a set of irons "feel" with difference flex shafts. My last set had X stiff steel Tri-Gold shafts, and this set has R flex. And to tell the truth, both sets feel fine to me. I can tell the X-stiff set is stiffer, but I don't notice that they play any different, just stiffer with a lower ball flight.

The weight difference between R and X in most shaft models is a couple of grams. That wouldn't effect swing weight at all.