Who builds their own?

[DucksnBobs]

Ok so im into golf again. I have got all new stuff, im tinkering with literally everything again. It sucks, last thing I needed in life but here we are. Since coming back to the game, all new clubs, all new technology, love the fact its all so easy to manipulate. Im really starting to study in a way I never have though. I decided I wanted to learn to regrip my stuff. Did that, easy peasy. Decided I wanted to learn to reshaft my irons... did that Easy peasy and currently playing with a combo set of mizuno 923 forged and tours. Cannot stand the 6i, truly hate that club right now, going back to the tour and only the 4 and 5 will be my forged in the bag. So, I decided before I yank that shaft off, redo it, I would basically build this entire set again to my specs and what I like.

So I am going to start this journey to building the set that fits me. I went ahead and ordered some lead tape, I am going to tinker on the range for a little while and find exactly what feels good with each club. I am probably going to do this with PW all the way up to 4I. Not messing with the 6I as I am going back to the tour. I will then take each club (with or without the lead tape at that point) and figure out what swingweight I like in each iron. I seem to spray my 7i a bit, and my 4i a bit. Otherwise all the others are good. Maybe this will lead to heavier swingweights in the lower irons and lighter in longer irons or maybe it will show that I like the same swingweights across all my irons. I will determine what to do with the 6i once I figure out what I like between the swingweights from my pw to my 4i. I dont mind lead tape look, clubs are tools to me, so I dont plan on putting shaft weights in or doing anything real fancy. Also, I like that lead tape dampens the head a bit, makes those off strikes not as harsh when they do happen.

For those that build their own sets.... have you found most like the same swingweights top to bottom or differing swingweights (heavier toward on the lower irons vs the higher irons)? I know I should just pay to go get fitted, and I might still do that, but I also like figuring out all of this stuff myself and tinkering to the point I have built my own clubs based on feel that I like. I will regrip everything, and I will take all the lead tape off from the range and redo it when I reshaft, referrule and regrip and then add tape back to match the swingweight I found I like from the range session.

Anyone see any issue with this thought process to building this set of irons?

[barbarian]

I do my own grips and reshafts. I’d maybe consider buying a set heads and shafts separate and putting them together, but I’d never try and ‘fit’ myself. I’d just go generic average and then experiment along the way.

[DucksnBobs]

I do my own grips and reshafts. I’d maybe consider buying a set heads and shafts separate and putting them together, but I’d never try and ‘fit’ myself. I’d just go generic average and then experiment along the way.

Well heres the thought process...

I am going to tear downt he 6i and put the tour head back to the shaft no matter what. After spending hours on the range again this year, and playing a few rounds, something is up with my 7i. The dispersion is not good. I know I hit consistently well enough to know its not all my swing. I just developed a handicap and it has me at a 2.7 handicap, so I think im playing well enough to know when a bad shot is my swing vs my club. I do, with my heart of hearts, feel like I fight that club quite a bit, and even when I feel like its struck beyond well, i have no idea if its going to be on target, or 5 yards left or right.

So... ive been reading a ton about swingweights and had no idea the importance of it. Fun stuff, and very interesting. I have a scale coming and before I do anything, Im going to swingweight every iron (Pw-4i). I am also going to do custom ferrules and new grips... because why not. So I figured since im going to be tearing them all down and putting all this together, why not try and dial them in perfectly and have a set that is exactly the way I like? Since they are all put together now, I figured now would be the easiest time to go to the range and spend a few hours experimenting with lead tape, one by one, on each iron. Once I have real tight dispersion and like how they feel, I will take them home and record the swing weight of each iron. At that point, I can then tear everything down, and I will have reference swing weights to build them back up to so they feel exactly how I like them again. I was going to use lead tape again, but I might go the cleaner look route and do tip weights. But many say the lead tape actually creates a dampen feel when mishits happen and take some of the harshness out of the strike.

[inspired fisherman]

Lead tape has been around for years . You can tweak this stuff till your old and gray . Thing is just when you think you got it wired it will change . Your natural body will change from day to day . Your swing will tweak and change with it . The iron clad test is the scores you shoot . Not what some swing monitor says . You can play with this stuff until it kills you . It is why you see 7 or 8 under shot the first day of the Masters . Nobody comes back and shoots it again the second day . The clubs didnt change . Everybody pounds balls at the driving range . The best players practice their short game and putting .

[inspired fisherman]

Think about this . Every bass boat has jigs in them . You can buy the same rod , reel , line , jig , and hat that a great jig fisherman like Tommy Biffle or Denny Brauer or Greg Hackney uses . Exact stuff . But hardly anyone is as proficient as they are at using them . That is where skill and talent come in . Most anglers cant get anywhere near the ability to even skip a jig using one hand . They are not strong enough . These guys can all do it with their least dominate hand . It is why the jig is so hard to master . By far the hardest lure to master . These guys fish them 85 percent of the time . They build their whole careers around flipping . Applied to golf . Most players cant hit a ball 300 yards . But anybody with diligent practice can have a great short game and be a great putter . So if you put the time in , from 100 yards in and on the green you will drop your scores . Much more effective route than all that tinkering with equipment that wont work . Lots cheaper too .

[DucksnBobs]

Lead tape has been around for years . You can tweak this stuff till your old and gray . Thing is just when you think you got it wired it will change . Your natural body will change from day to day . Your swing will tweak and change with it . The iron clad test is the scores you shoot . Not what some swing monitor says . You can play with this stuff until it kills you . It is why you see 7 or 8 under shot the first day of the Masters . Nobody comes back and shoots it again the second day . The clubs didnt change . Everybody pounds balls at the driving range . The best players practice their short game and putting .

Oh I agree with this sir. What you arent taking into consideration is the just the sheer pressure and what 5 million dollars does to the brain when sitting at the top of the masters leaderboard. We dont deal with that. Best thing I ever did was spend more time on the putting green and chipping green. Its a big reason I am a 2.7 handicap. The other REALLY good thing I have done is only let myself hit one ball every 2-3 min on the range. Now when I start to play with lead tape, I am going to hit 5-7 and make a small change, hit 5-7 more until I feel they are dialed in, and I will do it at a much quicker pace than every 2-3 minutes. What I found by slowing down severely on the range, is it mimicks the slowness of play on the course. Even if riding, its still a 2-5 minute drive to the next time you are hitting your next shot. Never ever do you get to play at a pace that allows you to hit shots every 20-30 seconds. Made my handicap go pretty low and it puts you in tune with your swing even more because when you hit a bad one, you really dont want to hit another bad one. Makes you think about what might of gone wrong if you do hit a bad one and know how you're going to approach the next shot by hitting that slow as well. You are right about 100 yards in, and I promise you, I miss more greens than I care to admit still, but I can sure give myself a really good look at par most days. I spend a lot of time with wedges at the range too. You bet your ass the first thing I do is find my 30yd, 50 yd, 75 yd 90 yd, and 110 yd targets when I get to the range. I bet I hit at those targets for 50% (maybe more) of my total time on the range. I bet most days I spend 2ish hours on the range, when Im only going to the range, and I may only hit the driver 20-30 times total.

With that said.... my 7i dispersion SUCKS lol. It truly does, I just dont know how I can hit an 8i and 9i dead nuts every swing and have a nice tight dispersion and then i pick up a 7i and i might hit the target or i might be 5-7 yards right or left. Thats annoying and Im starting to wonder if something is out of tune in the club. Going to the forged head in the 6i was just a mistake on my part, it doesnt fit me at all, and I wasnt necessarily hitting the tour bad. I just found the 4-6 in the forged at a screaming deal and decided I wanted to try it. I do like the 4 and 5 in the forged and the tours in the higher lofts. I have to break down the 6 no matter what, figured I would build a set with custom ferrules and grips, but then i figured I might as well really make a nice set that are dialed in to match exact swingweights from iron to iron or at least swingweights that I know feel good based on what I figure out with lead tape.

Think about it this way.... every boat has fishing rods in it. Would you rather be fishing a jig with a megabass bottom contact rod or with the ugly stik you buy from walmart? Do you trust the milwaukee tool you have in the shed or the chinese knock off that you got from harbor freight in a pinch? Everything will do the job, its just about feel and confidence you have in the tools at hand. Lead tape is a cheap easy way to find that feel, im breaking down the clubs anyways because I want the custom ferrules and the new grips.... i might as well dial them in to feel right for my swing as well if im already going through all that effort.

[Grizzly]

I built a putter and a sand wedge 30 years ago. All stuff from Golf Smith. I still use both.

Probably wouldn't do it any more. Stuff out today is really nice.

[DucksnBobs]

I built a putter and a sand wedge 30 years ago. All stuff from Golf Smith. I still use both.

Probably wouldn't do it any more. Stuff out today is really nice.

When you say you built it... are you talking about actually taking a block of steel and configuring it yourself lol? Im nowhere near that kind of skill lol. When I say build their own, I mean buy the clubs, figure out perfection in swingweights to my style of play and feel and then rebuild them back up with custom grips and ferrules and place tip weights to the exact weight classification that is liked by myself. Im not forging or welding anything lol.

[Rebel1]

I have built several sets, but I know my specs to a T. When you start changing components, the swing weight can swing pretty hard, and you can change the balance point on shafts. It's fun to tinker but it can end up costing you a lot of money if you don't have the correct measuring equipment to build a set correctly.

[DucksnBobs]

I have built several sets, but I know my specs to a T. When you start changing components, the swing weight can swing pretty hard, and you can change the balance point on shafts. It's fun to tinker but it can end up costing you a lot of money if you don't have the correct measuring equipment to build a set correctly.

Well i have a swingweight scale coming, and I have regular scales for Static weights of clubs in my shop because of all the decoy building I do. Based on the manipulation of medias and carving and painting.... building a set of clubs, I feel, is pretty straight forward. I started playing with a club pro this year. Hes been around the industry forever now and knows more people than I care to admit, and after hearing what he has to say about some of the people that I have had work on my clubs, I just figured I would trust my own work more. He does all his own clubs and I have him to lean on if I need to. I just dont want to have to lol. Good dude, super fun to play with a guy who consistently shoots par or better and has an attitude that he is a worse golfer than myself. The consistency is something of an artist when watching someone play that well round after round.

With that said, I think by tinkering with lead tape, I can figure out the feel of each iron pretty quick. I will even try the lead tape on the shaft to see if a heavier shaft would benefit me. If I find that to be true, I might even just buy heavier shafts. Im playing the DG 120 tour, I think they are actually 118 gm shafts. I read the heavier the shaft, the lower the flight and generally the straighter the ball but less spin, and im ok with that as I have absolutely no issue with getting the ball up in the air. I know a heavier shaft also means possibly more fatigue, but I dont think Im going to need to change shafts, Ive always done well with the 120 tours.

Now.... if i play with lead tape, and put all the clubs back on the swingweight scale and they are all over the map, im probably just going to stop all progress and just pay for a fitting so I know my specs. I should probably do this anyways, but im curious if i can do it myself and get close. The idea is I go play with lead tape, find that my swingweights are very close and either find they are similar from 4i - pw or have a slight increase as it goes lower towards the higher lofted clubs. If I find that, I think ill be comfortable building the set. If the swingweights are all over the map, I think ill pay for a fitting and then build based off fitting specs.

I have swingweight scale, standard scales, heat gun, golf club epoxy, the grip stuff, tip weights, lead tape, sanding machine for prepping shafts. Hell I even have a band saw if I wanted to shorten shafts, but Im not doing that this time around. I would only do that if I was fitted and they said I needed to. What other equipment to you really need to build a set?

[Rebel1]

Sounds like you are on your way. The only thing you seem to be missing is a lie and loft machine. If you haven't been on Golfworks.com, lots of technical help and how-to info. I will agree with your club pro friend, after 25 plus years as a golf coach, lot of the guys that do repairs at the big box stores aren't very good.

[DucksnBobs]

Sounds like you are on your way. The only thing you seem to be missing is a lie and loft machine. If you haven't been on Golfworks.com, lots of technical help and how-to info. I will agree with your club pro friend, after 25 plus years as a golf coach, lot of the guys that do repairs at the big box stores aren't very good.

ya Im not too worried about lie and loft just yet.

SO I did get to play with some things. Before I went to the range, I weighed each club and found my 7I was a true D1 weight. All other clubs were between a D2.5 and D3.5. So I kept that in mind going to the range. I started with my PW and I added lead tape to the head of the club until I was making solid contact and really enjoyed the feel of the club. Adding lead tape to the head of the club really made it pronounced on exactly where it was in my swing. I enjoyed that, and it also started making me take consistent divots. I always picked the ball clean without taking divots. Since I can remember, its always been an issue to take a divot, but I never lacked distance per se and I could always generate spin so I knew I was hitting down on the ball. Adding head weight tightened my dispersion up a ton and felt a lot more consistent. I did this all the way through, I skipped the 6I, as Im going back to the JPXtour head and putting the forged back on the shelf. But all the other clubs I played with, 1" of lead tape at a time. Obviously the 7I took the most lead tape and what I found, when I got home, was every club weight between D4.5 -D5 on the swingweight scale. Again, I did it all based on feel of each club, not based on weight. Was pretty amazing that they all fell within .25 grams of weight based on feel. I am going to play a round or two now with the lead tape and how they are in my bag. Im may just lead tape the 6i up to a D4.5 and play it for the time being. I want to make sure this correlates to the course before I tear down and rebuild, but that range session yesterday was one of the purest and most successful ive had in a long time with my 7i. I could pick a target, and just have the confidence my ball was going there. I will say, I could feel the dampening of the mishits from the lead tape. I am going to build with brass tip weights, but I really kind of like the lead tape feel of the clubhead when I caught them a hair thin.

[inspired fisherman]

Oh I agree with this sir. What you arent taking into consideration is the just the sheer pressure and what 5 million dollars does to the brain when sitting at the top of the masters leaderboard. We dont deal with that. Best thing I ever did was spend more time on the putting green and chipping green. Its a big reason I am a 2.7 handicap. The other REALLY good thing I have done is only let myself hit one ball every 2-3 min on the range. Now when I start to play with lead tape, I am going to hit 5-7 and make a small change, hit 5-7 more until I feel they are dialed in, and I will do it at a much quicker pace than every 2-3 minutes. What I found by slowing down severely on the range, is it mimicks the slowness of play on the course. Even if riding, its still a 2-5 minute drive to the next time you are hitting your next shot. Never ever do you get to play at a pace that allows you to hit shots every 20-30 seconds. Made my handicap go pretty low and it puts you in tune with your swing even more because when you hit a bad one, you really dont want to hit another bad one. Makes you think about what might of gone wrong if you do hit a bad one and know how you're going to approach the next shot by hitting that slow as well. You are right about 100 yards in, and I promise you, I miss more greens than I care to admit still, but I can sure give myself a really good look at par most days. I spend a lot of time with wedges at the range too. You bet your ass the first thing I do is find my 30yd, 50 yd, 75 yd 90 yd, and 110 yd targets when I get to the range. I bet I hit at those targets for 50% (maybe more) of my total time on the range. I bet most days I spend 2ish hours on the range, when Im only going to the range, and I may only hit the driver 20-30 times total.

With that said.... my 7i dispersion SUCKS lol. It truly does, I just dont know how I can hit an 8i and 9i dead nuts every swing and have a nice tight dispersion and then i pick up a 7i and i might hit the target or i might be 5-7 yards right or left. Thats annoying and Im starting to wonder if something is out of tune in the club. Going to the forged head in the 6i was just a mistake on my part, it doesnt fit me at all, and I wasnt necessarily hitting the tour bad. I just found the 4-6 in the forged at a screaming deal and decided I wanted to try it. I do like the 4 and 5 in the forged and the tours in the higher lofts. I have to break down the 6 no matter what, figured I would build a set with custom ferrules and grips, but then i figured I might as well really make a nice set that are dialed in to match exact swingweights from iron to iron or at least swingweights that I know feel good based on what I figure out with lead tape.

Think about it this way.... every boat has fishing rods in it. Would you rather be fishing a jig with a megabass bottom contact rod or with the ugly stik you buy from walmart? Do you trust the milwaukee tool you have in the shed or the chinese knock off that you got from harbor freight in a pinch? Everything will do the job, its just about feel and confidence you have in the tools at hand. Lead tape is a cheap easy way to find that feel, im breaking down the clubs anyways because I want the custom ferrules and the new grips.... i might as well dial them in to feel right for my swing as well if im already going through all that effort.

Absolutely , see your point . I guess that is why both Golf and Fishing is such an individual sport . What works for one , does not work for another . Why we have so many choices in equipment in both . Meant no disrespect . Just went through the sole weighting and lead tape tinkering a long time ago . I play a mis-matched set of clubs . I even use my wifes four wood . Hers hits better than mine for one shot . I have played with pro players . And I still get it under par from time to time . So if you enjoy it go for it . Good luck , and best wishes .

[davidsa]

Back in the mid-1990's I built clubs. Got rid of most of my equipment during 3 moves. Now I just do grips and at most cut a shaft down. but honestly, this is generally enough for me. The modern driver shaft adaptors make playing with shafts simple and it is the driver for me where it helps me most.

Iron shafts have been an interesting journey. When I moved from a full weight shaft in 2010 to a 105g shaft, it took me about three months to adapt. Once I settled into the 105g steel shaft, I have played several brands and profiles. My pattern is I always long for the prior model shaft until I get used to the new one, then it is suddenly the best shaft I've played.

My 4i has permanently been taken out of the bag this year. I just don't have the swing speed to elevate it properly any more. I could fight it with a different shaft but I also carry a 4h which I launch so no reason to fight it. Just removed it and put in another wedge.

I am a huge fan of reasonable fittings. In my own game and that of my closest friends, I see the grossly improper fittings stunt growth by making how to use the "tool" non-intuitive.

[DucksnBobs]

Absolutely , see your point . I guess that is why both Golf and Fishing is such an individual sport . What works for one , does not work for another . Why we have so many choices in equipment in both . Meant no disrespect . Just went through the sole weighting and lead tape tinkering a long time ago . I play a mis-matched set of clubs . I even use my wifes four wood . Hers hits better than mine for one shot . I have played with pro players . And I still get it under par from time to time . So if you enjoy it go for it . Good luck , and best wishes .

Absolutely none taken, just a different thought process to the situation at hand is all. Called human nature is all. Im nowhere near breaking par, as I flirt with breaking 80 on a consistent basis since returning to the sport. Done it a handful of times again, but a few inconsistencies and i feel I could be pretty good again. I just remember when I was playing every day, there wasnt even a thought process and I was walking up and knowing i was going to pure that shot. It wasnt always perfect angles and I hit my fair share of offline shots, but it solid contact. Now I feel I aim much better, but I lack that consistent contact.... except that pesky 7i I was constantly fighting.

[DucksnBobs]

Back in the mid-1990's I built clubs. Got rid of most of my equipment during 3 moves. Now I just do grips and at most cut a shaft down. but honestly, this is generally enough for me. The modern driver shaft adaptors make playing with shafts simple and it is the driver for me where it helps me most.

Iron shafts have been an interesting journey. When I moved from a full weight shaft in 2010 to a 105g shaft, it took me about three months to adapt. Once I settled into the 105g steel shaft, I have played several brands and profiles. My pattern is I always long for the prior model shaft until I get used to the new one, then it is suddenly the best shaft I've played.

My 4i has permanently been taken out of the bag this year. I just don't have the swing speed to elevate it properly any more. I could fight it with a different shaft but I also carry a 4h which I launch so no reason to fight it. Just removed it and put in another wedge.

I am a huge fan of reasonable fittings. In my own game and that of my closest friends, I see the grossly improper fittings stunt growth by making how to use the "tool" non-intuitive.

So I went and played with the D4.5 swingweight, and I hit well. I was beyond sore and I attribute my 81 more to just having the inability to swing good. I planted 20 trees the day prior with the wife, so the course the next day, I felt like a stiff board trying to swing a club. It was not a fun situation, but the clubs got blown apart as i made solid contact all day. Some of the best contact I made in a long time. I put the custom ferrules on, heads back to shafts, grips done tonight and then I will dial every club back in with lead tape to a D4 swing weight.

Club Champion is running a special here, so I am going to go ahead and get a full bag fitting (minus putter). Not sure if you guys have them near by, but here I was able to get a full bag (2.5 hour fitting) scheduled for $100. It usually cost $325 for that fitting. I was going to irons and wedge only for $175, and the special is for $50 right now, but I figured for another $50, might as well do the woods and driver as well. Im BEYOND curious now to see if the feeling and swingweights ive found to enjoy will correlate to fitting. May 19 is when i get fitted. Plan to play at least one more round before that fitting.