Lead Tape on Irons: How to Use It Properly!

Many pros and amateurs alike rely on lead tape to customize their irons. It alters the weight of the club head to improve feel, tweak ball flights, and cure swing defects.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use lead tape on irons.

By understanding the importance of positioning lead tape correctly to alter the swing weight and ball flight, you’ll be able to get more out of your existing set of irons.

Lead Tape on Irons

Putting lead tape on irons will increase the swing weight of the club. Also, lead tape can be used to alter ball flights. More weight in the heel reduces slices and promotes a draw, while extra weight in the toe will reduce hooks and encourage a fade.

Lead Tape For Golf Clubs

What Does Lead Tape Do on Golf Clubs?

Lead tape has been used for decades on golf clubs. It’s used to alter the properties of the club head, which can also influence how the ball travels through the air.

Put simply, lead tape alters two things: swing weight and ball flight.

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Swing Weight

Firstly, lead tape has a bearing on swing weight — i.e. the balance of a golf club.

Having the correct swing weight allows you to get the best out of each swing. If a golf club feels too heavy, you have to swing with more effort, leading to tiredness and a drop in performance. Too light, and there will be a lack of feel in the shot.

Putting lead tape on your irons will increase the swing weight of the club.

Shaft length has a particularly large bearing on swing weight. When you shorten a club shaft by just one inch, you lose six swing weights. This is equivalent to removing about six dimes from the head of the club, which is very noticeable!

Lead tape will counteract the lost swing weight caused by shortening a club.

Essentially, golfers apply lead tape to their golf clubs when the swing weight feels too light, making it difficult to control and maintain a consistent swing path. Adding weight to the club head helps to increase the level of feel, improving ball striking.

Summary: Adding lead tape to the club head will increase the swing weight.

Ball Flight

Secondly, putting lead tape on your irons can alter the ball flight.

In essence, where you apply the extra weight on the back of the club head will have a bearing on how the club travels into the ball at the point of impact.

For instance, positioning lead tape closer to the toe will prevent the face from closing at impact. This helps guard against hooks, instead promoting a fade.

On the other hand, extra weight toward the heel will do the opposite. It will slow down the heel through impact, reducing slices and encouraging a draw bias.

The same can be said for vertical ball flight. Applying lead tape to the base of the club can produce higher launch trajectories — and vice versa.

Ultimately, most golfers will put lead tape in the middle of the back of the club head to alter swing weight alone without influencing how the ball travels in the air. Nevertheless, the position of the lead tape can be tested in different areas to alter ball flight.

Summary: The position of the lead tape on the back of the club impact ball flight.

In the video below, 2nd Swing club fitters Danny Ferrell and Larry Bobka explain the reasons for putting lead tape on your golf clubs:

Where to Put Lead Tape on Irons

When deciding where to put lead tape on irons, it’s important to understand exactly how the position of the tape will alter the strike and produce different ball flights.

In short, there are 5 main areas to place lead tape on the back of an iron:

1. The middle — alters swing weight without changing ball flight
2. The toe — alters swing weight while encouraging a fade
3. The heel — alters swing weight while encouraging a draw
4. The sole — alters swing weight while increasing launch
5. The top line — alters swing weight while decreasing launch

1. The Middle

Lead tape in the middle of the club will alter swing weight without affecting ball flight.

In effect, applying lead centered on the middle of the club will position the extra weight behind the sweet spot. This means there is no effect on the flight of the ball.

2. The Toe

Lead tape toward the toe of the club will reduce a hook and encourage a fade.

Essentially, adding weight to the toe will slow down the club head’s rotation through impact, restricting the release of the toe and helping the face stay open for longer.

3. The Heel

Lead tape closer to the heel will reduce a slice and encourage a draw.

Conversely, the extra weight helps slow down the heel of the club through impact, allowing the toe to release more for a right-to-left ball flight.

4. The Sole

Lead tape closer to the sole of the club will increase the launch angle.

If you struggle with losing distance with irons, it’s often due to having a ball flight that’s too low. Applying weight to the bottom half of your irons will help launch the ball high.

5. The Top Line

Lead tape closer to the top line of the club will reduce the launch angle.

For golfers who hit their irons high on the clubface, adding weight to the upper portion of the club can help to reduce the launch angle, and optimize distance.

Ultimately, the effect on ball flight depends on the amount of lead tape you use. So, the more lead tape you add, the more likely the ball flight will be impacted.

Is Lead Tape Legal on Golf Clubs?

Yes, lead tape is legal on golf clubs according to USGA Equipment Rule 1a(iv).

“The long-standing permissible ‘external attachment’ is the permission to use lead tape on the shaft or the head for weighting.”

USGA Equipment Rules 1a(iv)

Is Lead Tape Safe?

Lead tape is generally considered safe to use, provided that it’s used properly.

That means you should only apply lead tape to the parts of the club that you don’t make direct contact with on a regular basis — avoid adding any to the grip.

If you’re still in doubt, check the instructions that come with your lead tape. For extra precautions, wear gloves when handling the tape.

Conclusion

In summary, lead tape on irons is used to alter the swing weight of the club. Also, it promotes different ball flights, encouraging draws, fades, and high, or low shots.

Primarily, golfers use lead tape to increase the weight of their club heads. Lead tape is particularly useful for offsetting swing weight losses caused by shortening the shaft.

The following lead tape placements on the club impact ball flight in various ways:

1. The middle — alters swing weight without changing ball flight
2. The toe — alters swing weight while encouraging a fade
3. The heel — alters swing weight while encouraging a draw
4. The sole — alters swing weight while increasing launch
5. The top line — alters swing weight while decreasing launch

Ultimately, lead tape is a great tool to customize the feel of your irons — without needing to drastically alter the heads or replace the clubs entirely.