Reshafting my irons

Hi again,

And another Happy New Year. This is part 2 of my wedge question I posted in "Instructions....".  Years ago, when getting fitted for my MX200s, the fitter was perplexed at my swing and gave me the lightest shaft, regular flex. For my 5 - GW, SW and LW. I wasn't hitting down on the ball, I was decelerating and my swing was all screwed up. So for years I knew my yardages, what irons to hit, etc. So, for example, at my local course, a 135 yard par 3, I'd hit my 8 iron onto the green, and for a 170+ shot over a valley/whatever, I would hit my 5. Now after taking some lessons, hitting down and compressing the ball, I lost yards, and hit super high balloon shots. On that par 3, I now hit a 7, sometimes 8, and the valley shot use my hybrid. Ok, so I will get fitted, trying different shafts to lower my ball flight and gain back some distance.

Here's my question, pertaining to wedges. IF it is true that one should never hit a full swing using wedges, should I only reshaft my 5 - GW and not worry about my 2 wedges?

Oh, while we are on the subject. Back when I was fitted, the fitters were also the owners of the pro shop. I asked about tipping fitters and was suggested that since they own the place, it I shouldn't have to  since I gave them business. Now they have another fitter, who is also an instructor. I heard he is good and also gives lots of advice while fitting. I want to use this guy. So, since he isn't an owner, should I tip him?

More than one golf pro has cautioned me that the full swing with a wedge is not as long as a full swing with a driver. Wedges have shorter shafts, and the swing is shorter because it is a control shot, not a power shot.

Given this, you might get a follow-up lesson and have the pro check your wedge swings .

The Wedge Guy from SkyGolf360 discusses this:

http://clubsg.skygolf.com/content/the+wedge+guy/5-3867-Full_Swing_Wedge_Shots.html

As for reshaft, do you know what shaft you will use? I don't know if the Mizuno shaft optimizer could give you a clue or not. What you might do is get a MX-200 demo 6i or 7i, and try out some different shafts in it.

Many club designers assume the PW and GW are more likely to be used for full shots than the SW and LW. That's why GI iron models as the Titleist AP2 and Callaway X2 Hot Pro have the GW as the highest lofted club offered in the set. Their idea is you probably want different head and shaft for the fine-tune sand and lob shots.

The TT Spinner wedge shafts are designed for people who mainly hit partial shots with wedges. Even so, Spinner has separate PW-GW and a SW-LW model shafts.

But, you might go with a heavier shaft with an R flex in the SW and LW, rather than your current light shaft.. For tempo reasons, you probably don't want a feather-light shaft in SW and LW, and heavier shafts in your irons.

This is the first time I've heard about not taking full swings with the wedges...  I know you're not going for distance, but I'd rather hit a full SW than a 3/4 PW or GW when needed.  That being said, I use Spinners in both my SW and LW, and I also maintain the pattern of 1/2" shorter shaft length from my PW as well instead of equal shaft length in PW-LW.

95124,

Players who are more to the mechanical than feel side of the short game sometimes set up a distance matrix for wedge shots. It shows how far, on average, wedge shots of different swing lengths go.

Here's mine from two years ago. (A variation on the Dave Pelz method.) Notice the 3/4 swing is "hotter" than the others. The 3/4 swing gives me the most trouble; some weeks I just don't go there. Also, I never had very good luck with a full 58* LW, so I only hit partials with it.

Last season, I dropped the 54* and 58* in favor of a 56*; I never have adjusted the matrix.

WUTiger:

That's pretty impressive (seriously)!  How did you measure those distances? With a rangefinder or pacing off?  Was there any wind, and hitting from the FW or rough?  Do you always play the same brand/model of golf ball?

I guess I'm more of a feel player.  To each his own though...  A full LW for me is 85 yds and full SW is 100.

If it works, go with it. When I'm a little off, feel players do quite well against me.

As for how I did it, my home course has a practice range with three very wide teeing tiers. On days when no one is there, you can get a clean shot of about 95 yards left to right on one of the tiers.

I would take my bag, use it as a known point, and then hit five or six shots with each wedge, doing quarter, half and three-quarters. I would pace off the distance, bag to balls, and take the average of the impact point. (Sometimes I hit seven or eight, if I chunked or skulled a couple). - My wife got me a rangefinder for Christmas 2013, so pacing is a thing of the past.

I would take a rest break in between wedges.

(I hit full wedge shots out on the course on a short, fairly flat par 3).

Bag

PW---------------1/4---------------1/2------------------3/4

GW--------------1/4------------1/2----------------3/4

You get the idea.

Key factor: Do the distance tests with the model of ball you play out on the course . If you use range balls, you'll be 10-15 yards long when you hit reals balls on the course using range ball figures.

In my experience there are two schools of thought on this...some guys want the same shafts in their wedges that are in the rest of the irons to give them the same feel through the set. I fall into the other opinion that wedges have a different job than the rest of your iron set and should be evaluated separately. I'm mainly referring to sand and lob wedges...for most players the gap wedge is like an "11 iron" and used to hit full approach shots like a 9 iron or PW, so unless it has a different role that it's used for it can match the other iron shafts.  Wedges from about 54* and higher though are typically used differently.  They are used for partial shots, out of sand traps and heavy greenside rough for example, so I think it's important to really think about how you use each one set them up accordingly.  A lot of guys prefer a heavier shaft in their wedges to give them more feel on short game type shots.  You can also use a different flex shaft than the rest of your irons.  Since most shots are going to be less than a full swing I like a little softer shaft in my wedges which also helps with the feel.  I use Dynamic Gold S-300 8 iron shafts in my SW and LW which is heavier and softer than my other irons (5.5 Rifle), but to me they "match" better than if they all had the same shafts.  (FYI, the reason I use an 8 iron shaft is because a Dynamic Gold taper tip 9 iron shaft is the same as a wedge shaft, so to get the effect of soft-stepping an 8 iron shaft is needed.  I prefer this over using an R-300).