Counter balanced driver shafts are starting to be all the rage both on tour and in our clients hands. Why?
Most manufacturers are making driver club heads much heavier these days and players do not want to feel like they are swinging extra weight.
Tour pros including Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy have opted for counter balanced shafts in order to reduce total weight and increase club head speed.
Counter-balanced shafts are configured to add more weight near the butt of the club, creating a lighter head feel, reduce swing weight by 2 to 3 points, and generating more club head speed.
Use our Fitting Wizard to see which shaft works for you!
Driver Head Weights Today
As recently as 2015, driver head weights were pretty much right around 200 grams.
Today, we are seeing headweights of 203 grams consistently but some as high as 209. Every 2 grams adds a swing weight so instead of a D0 at 45 inches, you may see D3 to D4.
The average golfer with a smooth tempo will like a lighter swing weight. So, up until counter balanced driver shafts came along, you only had a couple options.
Changing Driver Length
To make a club play lighter, you could cut the shaft down from the butt end. Contrary to popular opinion, cutting the shaft from the butt DOES NOT make it play stiffer.
Because the swing weight gets lighter, the club may FEEL stiffer, but a CPM test will not show any difference, even cutting the shaft down as much as an inch.
Each 1/2 inch cut down results in a loss of roughly 3 swing weight points. This means a 45 inch driver at D3 will play at D0 when cut to 44.5 inches.
Counter Balancing with Butt Weight
The other option to reduce the swing weight and corresponding head-heavy feel is to add weight to the butt end of the club.
This is a common practice in putters but not so much in drivers. Balance Certified has been offering counter balance weights for years for all clubs. If that is not an option, you can put on a heavier grip (change from Winn to Golf Pride) and take off a swing weight or more.
Another option is to put lead tape under the grip.
Multiple Shaft Options Are Available
Mitsubishi
While the Tensei CK Pro Orange is the most recent shaft to offer counterbalancing, there are several options from other manufacturers. The CK Pro Orange is available in 65 and 75 gr (Low Trajectory, Low Spin).
ACCRA Golf
TZ6 CB Available in 55 R and S, 65 S and X, and 75 X gr models.
Tour Z RPG 300 and 400 Series Available in 55, 65, 75, 85 gr in the RPG 300 series and 65 and 75 gr in the 400 series.
Fujikura
Pro 2.0 and Pro 2.0 Tour Spec Available in 57, 67 and 75 gr. in Pro (Mid Trajectory and Mid Spin) and 67, 77 and 85 gr in Tour Spec (Low-Mid Trajectory and Low-Mid Spin).
OBAN
Kiyoshi HB (High Balance Point) Available in 55, 65 and 75 gr. Mid-High Trajectory and Mid-High Spin.
Devotion HB (High Balance Point) Available in 55, 65 and 75 gr. (Low-Mid Trajectory and Low-Mid Spin)
Project X
HZRDUS Smoke Yellow Available in 63 and 76 gr. (Low Trajectory, Low Spin)
HZRDUS EvenFlow Rip Tide CB (Blue) Available in 40, 50, 60 and 70 gr. Mid-High to Mid Trajectory and Spin)
Dan Sueltz & Eric Touchet
