Use Lead Tape To Square Clubface At Impact

By Jack Moorehouse

Golfers are always looking for ways to improve. Adding weight to a golf club is a time- tested way to do it. The extra weight usually comes in the form of lead tape. The concept behind this method is simple. When applied properly, lead tape adds extra weight behind the sweet spot. The weight provides extra distance with woods and irons. Lead tape also helps square the clubface at impact. But you have to apply the lead tape to the right spots for the method to work. Otherwise, it leads to bad shots, adding strokes to your golf handicap.
 
Adding lead tape to a club isn't a new golf tip. It's been way to add weight to a club for many years. But it's not used as much as it was in the past. In fact, the topic is seldom mentioned in golf instruction sessions. That's because today's manufacturers build clubs with weighted sweet spots already. So there's no need to add lead tape. You just need to learn how to hit the club. But using and older set of clubs or if you're looking to gain some extra distance, adding lead tape to your clubs may help. If this is the case, it's easy to do.

Benefits of Lead Tape
Players with low golf handicaps tend to use lead tape more than players with golf handicaps. By adding tape to the club's back, you can alter how the clubface squares to the ball at impact. How the club squares at impact decides how much the ball curves near the end of its flight. You can also add tape also increase the height of your shots. Some players use lead tape to fix that one club that just doesn't feel right.

The key is to make sure you place the lead correctly on the back of the club so that you get the optimum benefit from it. For example, a driver's center of gravity is typically located toward the back of the clubhead, down low and slightly toward the toe, which is where you want to add the tape to launch the ball higher. To raise the trajectory of your irons, apply a few strips to the base of the club's back. Start by adding a couple of one- inch strips, and monitor the effects.

To enhance a draw or reduce a fade, add tape to the club's heel. Adding weight there helps the clubface rotate through impact. The larger the club head, the harder it is to square at impact. That's why many of today's oversized clubheads feature extra heel weighting. Conversely, adding lead tape to your driver's toe helps reduce draw spin, providing a straighter shot.

Lead tape is available in rolls from golf retailers or golf Web sites. If you buy it in roll form, simply cut the piece you need and stick it to club head. You can also buy it in strips properly sized for use on golf clubs. One strip weighs from .7 to 1.5 grams. Some players even use lead tape on their putters, especially if they tend to leave putts short. Adding lead tape gives putts an extra bit of weight that will take it to the hole.

Of course, some feel using lead tape is unfair. It now only alters a club's specifications, it also adds something to the club it doesn't really have. Some players don’t mind a golfer using it practice or when taking golf lessons, but frown upon it in play. They consider it cheating. Ultimately, the question is whether the lead tape is really necessary. Why not use the club is. If you lack distance, improve your swing or ballstriking.

You may have read golf tips in sports magazines that advocate using lead tape on your clubs to help control your shots. Lead tape isn't a cure-all. It won't straighten out a bad slice or a wicked draw. But players with low golf handicaps who hit shots that start straight then cure slightly at the end can use it to refine their ball flights. That in turn will help cut strokes from your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.