Golf manufacturers continue to make lighter clubs, especially drivers. They have reached a point where you can't feel the weight in the clubhead any more.

While I'm no engineer, it seems to me that if I want to pound a ball hard, I'd like something substantial with which to pound it. In physics, that something is mass. Mass plus speed must be the solution, as long as that combination contacts the ball squarely in the back, thereby driving it forward.

However, today's thinking seems to put more emphasis on speed and less on mass. Deciding how much mass is right for you is a matter of experimentation.

Stronger golfers will want more mass while those with less strength may prefer less mass. Either way, some degree of mass should be felt in the clubhead.

Pick up the driver of a top-flight player and chances are you will be surprised at how much mass you'll feel. That mass is called "swing weight."

I had a chance to lift Arnold Palmer's driver years ago and I couldn't believe how heavy it felt.

Speed alone will not produce distance. Clubhead speed, combined with mass and center-faced hits, produce those big drives for which every golfer is looking.