How does ‘Iron Shaft Weight’ affect your iron play?

There are a lot more considerations that go into the decision of what iron shaft weight you should be playing and with some help from our sponsor True Temper, and their Dynamic Gold lineup of shafts, we’re going to dive into all the specifics and help you figure out what is best for your game. 

Lighter

Generally speaking, the lighter weight the shaft is, the harder you’ll be able to swing that shaft, the more spin you will be able to generate, and the more height you will see. That sounds wonderful, but if you go too light in your shaft you may start to lose control of that shaft because you are moving it at a speed outside the flex range of that shaft, and the shaft will not behave as it should. The lighter shaft you put in, changing no other factors, the lower your swingweight is going to be as well. (More information on swingweight here) If you are testing shafts, make sure that you are using some form of impact indicator, and as you hit balls, check the face of your clubs to make sure that you are hitting the center of the face as consistently as possible.

Heavier

Heavier golf shafts may be technically harder to swing faster, but that doesn’t mean that any golfer should be afraid of them. The most popular golf shaft in the industry, the True Temper Dynamic Gold, is one of the heaviest shafts on the market. For lots of amateurs who fight an over-the-top movement in their golf swing this weight can actually help. That heavier weight can make it easier to drop the hands during transition and stop them from casting out or moving “over-the-top”. What “heavy” actually means is going to be different per golfer. Some golfers may find 130g shafts too heavy, while others may struggle with the weight even as low as 105g. Keep in mind as well that a round of golf lasts 4-5 hours and you want to factor in how that weight may affect you towards the end.

Vocab Terms

When talking about iron shaft weight there’s a couple of terms that you may hear thrown around, or may even see printed on the shaft themselves. Let’s dive into a few of those vocabulary terms and break them down into an easier understanding.

  • A flighted set of golf shafts means that the weight and flex are married to each other, and are dependent on each other. Heavier shafts are going to be stiffer and lighter shafts are going to be softer. These shaft lineups are designed to appeal to a wide mass of golfers because based on historical fitting data slower golfers will usually fit better with a softer golf shaft that launches a little higher, while stronger more aggressive swingers will want to have a little bit more weight to gain a bit more control at high speeds.

  • Ascending Mass Technology (AMT) is actually the feature of True Tempers AMT series of golf shafts. This technology actually reverses the idea of a flight shaft system by increasing weight throughout a set of iron shafts without changing the flex of those shafts. Typically you’ll see that lighter shafts are at the top end of the bag in the longer irons to gain a little bit of speed and hopefully add a little bit of launch, where heavier shafts are inserted in the higher-lofted clubs for some added control in those scoring clubs. They do all of this without changing the flex of each shaft so that the set feels seamless from top to bottom.

  • You may see some shafts labeled as “Tour Issue” or “Private Reserve”. These shafts are no different than their standard counter parts in physical makeup or performance but the shafts are batched together with higher tolerances. This ensures that a set of shafts is as identical in weight as possible to ensure the most consistency in the build, and thus in the golf swing as well.

  • Swingweight is how heavy the club feels, but has no direct determination with actual overall weight. It’s the relationship of weight between the components that make up your golf club. The head, the shaft, the grip and even the amount of tape you add to the handle can affect your swingweight. For more information about swingweight check out our full topic breakdown back in the True Temper Sports Iron Shafts Learning Center.

How do you pick?

Our philosophy here at Made for the Range is to pick a golf shaft based on shaft profile, flex, length, and weight in that order. The weight of that golf shaft is going to have the least amount of effect on the playability of that golf shaft within your equipment. Think of weight as more of a finishing touch when you decide what shafts to put in your equipment. Sometimes you may not even have to decide, like in the case of a flighted lineup or an AMT lineup. Check out the accompanying video for a tip of caution when experimenting to find the right shaft weight for your game.

Thanks to our sponsor True Temper Golf for supplying us with the product you saw in this topic. For more information on all True Temper Golf products and accessories check out truetempersports.com/golf

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