Science of the Short Game, Effects of Grooves and Milling on Wedges

Hmmm, maybe I'll just get a SM4 for less $$$$ than an SM5...

It probably does increase it marginally, but in terms of making solid contact with the ball, not even close enough to make it a huge marketing advantage. Basically if the companies are not putting big bucks to promote it, then it's minimal.

As for the science, I can see it helping create a more uniform area to make contact, but its still such a small area of contact, and the grooves decrease surface area as well to allow for debris to be collected so the ball can contact the face more cleanly. I would like to see the numbers of groove + milled versus just milled.

This is interesting but conflicts with the practices of pro's.  I was under the impression that pro's switched out their wedges for new ones quite often, sometimes after each tournament.  If grooves and milling have minimal impact on spin then why do they switch them out so often beyond the fact that they are pro's and likely get free wedges.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this testing was one a clean fairway lie. Regular grooves are presumably still necessary out of the rough and sand to channel away water and grass.

Also pro's practice WAY more than amateurs do. Lets say you take a pro who practices 100 wedge shots a day. Now ask a guy who might practice once a week and play once or twice a week how many wedge shots they hit. They probably only hit 100 wedge shots over 2-3 week span. So, think about how fast a pro wears out a wedge.

I think a lot of this is just because they can. If someone was offering to replace your wedges once a week you wouldn't say no would you. It might also be because they think it makes a difference which means it does make a difference through placebo effect. I hope my second point makes sense and i haven't made it confusing

This is pretty cool to think about it. Visually, my milled Scratch wedges look like they'd impart more spin on the ball. The texture feels like a file and you would just assume that this surface would give you more spin and grip. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it honestly.

I think of this as like sandpaper vs regular notebook paper. The former obviously has much more grip. I would think the "file" texture of a milled wedge would impart more spin, even if it's minuscule, as opposed to a wedge with no milling. Admittedly, that's not the most logical approach in thinking about this. But, it's the best visual description I could come up with on 2 hours of sleep.

I was extrapolating off the point made that wedges without grooves performed virtually the same as those with grooves and was questioning the value of pro's replacing their wedges as often as every week.

So did they not bother with their testing then, or are we just waiting for the results?