If you’re tapped into the golf equipment world, you’ll see the term “Center of Gravity” or “CG” tossed around a lot. It may seem self-explanatory, but it isn’t always explained in relation to your clubs.
CG is more than just marketing jargon — the CG in a clubhead determines launch, feel, spin, forgiveness, shaft reaction, and much more.
To define the center of gravity more clearly: it is the point at which your clubhead is optimally balanced. You may find a clubhead’s CG at its center the majority of the time, but it can be adjusted and shifted depending on the club design or the golfer wielding the golf club.
The CG in a clubhead can be forward, back, high, or low.
A forward CG will launch lower with reduced spin, making it a less forgiving club. A back CG will increase launch and spin, making it a more forgiving club. See how that works?
So, a High CG will cause the ball to launch lower and spin more, while a low CG will cause the ball to launch higher and spin less.
When it comes to drivers, we typically fit most golfers into a low CG driver. The challenge is whether to fit them into a low-forward or low-backward design to optimize their longball launch.
Lower handicappers typically want spin and launch down will fit into a low-forward design while most other golfers will opt for low-rearward designs for more height and forgiveness. Most drivers nowadays do come with adjustability weights and loft switches to play around with the CG, so it’ll be up to the fitter and the individual golfer to decide what’s launching the best and what feels the best with a certain CG.
CG is important for not just the driver, but for every club in the bag.
Although you won’t find a lot of adjustable CG irons, there are a plethora of iron designs from players to Game Improvement irons that vary in weight and size. For example, someone who fits into Game Improvement irons will typically have lower and more rearward CGs throughout their irons while players irons usually have higher and more forward CG locations for more workability on your shots.
As with the driver, it’s up to you and your fitter to determine what irons have the greatest sweet spot with your swing and the CG location to find your perfect irons.
CG matters just as much with wedges and putters as well.
The way club ingenuity has gone, wedge companies have started to implement progressive CG locations, with the center of gravity getting higher as the loft increases. As for putters, the CG can completely make or break your short game if it isn’t properly aligned with how you stroke your putter.
All in all, per usual, it’s best to have a fitter take a look at your golf game to determine where the center of gravity should be on your set.
