A Closer Look at your Wedges by Shawn Zawodni Wedges are one of the most important yet most overlooked parts of the golf bag. Many people will spend thousands of dollars and many hours custom fitting a new set of woods and irons, but will just grab any wedge off of the rack and say this will do. Fitting the wedges to your personal specifications is equally important as any other club in the set. The wedges are there to act as a scoring system to help you put the ball as close to the hole as possible from shorter distances. It is important that you have a complete wedge system that will work together and complement each other on the course. When fitting wedges we need to asses a few different factors, but first lets define a couple of key words when talking about wedges: Bounce: Is the angle created between the leading edge of the blade to the contact point on the sole where it meets the ground. The higher the bounce the higher the leading edge will stand off of the ground, the lower the bounce, the closer the leading edge will be to the ground. Effective Bounce: This is the combination of bounce angle and sole grind. The wider the sole is the more surface area will come in contact with the ground and the higher the effective bounce will be. It is possible to have high bounce angle and a low effective bounce if the sole is very narrow. Sole Grind: Sole grind is the actual shape of the sole. Companies will usually release multiple sole designs for a variety of different swing types. Some soles will have trailing edge relief which means that the back edge of the sole was ground away to reduce the effective bounce of a wedge. Others can have a wide sole which will increase the effective bounce of the wedge. Now that a couple of definitions are out of the way, on to the factors we need to fit in a wedge: 1) Loft Gaps. Do we have the proper degree gaps between the wedges. We dont want two wedges to go the same distance, and if youre going to be using the wedges for longer approach shots we dont want to see too large of a gap between wedges. A good rule of thumb is to decide what the highest lofted wedge in your bag will be, how many wedges you want (or legally can) carry, and figure out an even loft gap between them. For example: If your current pitching wedge is 46 degrees and the highest lofted wedge youre comfortable with is 58 degrees, and you want to carry a total of 3 wedges (pitching wedge +2 more wedges), then take the degree gap between the two and divide it by two. 58*-46*=12*/2=6*. Therefore a 6* gap between your wedges will give you 3 evenly spaced wedges. So your wedge set will be 46*, 52*, 58*. If you would like 4 wedges in your set take the 12* gap divide by 3 and you have your new wedge gaps. 12*/3=4*, so a 4 wedge system would look like: 46*, 50*, 54*, 58*. This is just a general guideline, we also have to take into account what the wedges primary purpose will be and how you swing the club. 2) Swing Type. A players swing type will be the primary determining factor of the bounce & sole grind of the wedge. The player that attacks the ball very steep and takes large divots will need a higher bounce on the sole of the wedge for cleaner contact and more forgiveness. A person who takes a medium divot and has a relatively neutral attack has many options of sole grinds and bounces available to them. A person who is very shallow with their attack and doesnt take much of a divot will need a wedge with less bounce, or a thinner sole. This is the factor that we really need to fit the player for. We can help determine what bounce and sole grind in each particular loft will work the best for you. Some people like the same bounce and grind throughout their wedge set, others like to have a variety of bounce and sole grids for more versatility. We can help determine the best combination for you. 3) Utility. Plain and simple, what will this wedge be used for. This will determine how we fit the bounce & sole grind of the wedge and possibly the shaft we put in it. For example, if we are fitting a 50* wedge that will primarily be used as an approach club designed to go 15 yards shorter than the pitching wedge, then the wedge should have the exact same shaft as the rest of your iron shafts. This is important for consistency. If the wedge will be strictly a bunker club and you need help spinning the ball, we may chose a wedge with a wider high bounce sole or an extreme radius on the sole designed to help push the club up and out of the sand, and we may suggest a higher spinning shaft like the True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner or the KBS Hi Rev shafts. We want to make sure that you have a wedge to play from any position on the course (within reason). We can give up a little bit of the gapping if it gives us more versatility and utility arounds the greens. The bottom line is approximately 65% (depending on where you get your information) of your shots are played within 100 yards of the hole. The closer we can get the short shots to the hole, the fewer putts youll have and the lower your scores will be. We can help you determine a proper wedge system that will give you appropriate gapping, fit your particular swing type, and provide you with all of the utility you need around the greens. The best way to experience all that the 2014 golf club market can offer is through the Cluboratory at Miles of Golf. We are checking in new demo inventory nearly every day and our experienced club fitting staff can help you through the process of hitting and selecting the best clubs to meet your needs.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 12:32:56 +0000