Bought a Vokey SW, harder i swing - higher it goes

[Jasonbolt]

I just bought a vokey sm4 SW because i prefer the feel of a blade around the greens.  However, when it comes to hitting wedge shots, I can't figure the dumb thing out.  I can hit my Burner set SW around 105 yards.  The farthest i can hit the vokey is 80 yards. I can take a half swing and it goes 80 yards, or a full swing and it goes 80 yards.  The harder swing i make, the higher it goes - not farther.

Any tips?

[LuciusWooding]

Yeah, don't try to hit your sand wedge for distance. Of all the clubs that are useless to hit long, it's the putter followed by the sand wedge at the top of the list. Hitting your blade sand wedge over 100 yards won't do you any good and hitting it only 80 won't hurt you. Hitting it high is a much bigger weapon than being able to hit it long. If you really want, carry both the burner and the Vokey and use the Vokey around the greens.

If you want to hit it longer, deloft the club and swing hard. You can launch it lower that way, but you almost need to jump forward and get your hands way ahead of the ball. Also, accelerate through the ball and try shortening your backswing if need be; it's tempting to let short clubs' momentum do the work, which is good for control and consistent distance and should be closer to what you do. If you do deloft, you may have trouble hitting the ball and it won't stop as well as a normal shot, defeating the purpose of. Also it's the heaviest club in the bag and it sucks to swing hard.

Hit your damn gap wedge with a 3/4 shot or choke it up. Or if you want to hit it a record distance, try laying up before a water hazard. You'll hit the best shot of your life, except it will cost you a stroke. Distance with wedges is useless; it's all about getting it close. I'm an advocate of hitting irons and woods a long way, but leave your scoring clubs out of that desire.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by Jasonbolt

I just bought a vokey sm4 SW because i prefer the feel of a blade around the greens.  However, when it comes to hitting wedge shots, I can't figure the dumb thing out.  I can hit my Burner set SW around 105 yards.  The farthest i can hit the vokey is 80 yards. I can take a half swing and it goes 80 yards, or a full swing and it goes 80 yards.  The harder swing i make, the higher it goes - not farther.

Any tips?

Seems ideal actually.  Goes the same distance every time no matter how hard you swing.  Only difference is height.  My advice, play to 80 yards out as often as possible and take advantage of it.  If you need to hit 100 yards choke down on a PW.

As far as the actual physics involved here, it makes no sense.  That is unless you are really flipping the club when you swing harder, adding loft in the process.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Jasonbolt

I just bought a vokey sm4 SW because i prefer the feel of a blade around the greens.  However, when it comes to hitting wedge shots, I can't figure the dumb thing out.  I can hit my Burner set SW around 105 yards.  The farthest i can hit the vokey is 80 yards. I can take a half swing and it goes 80 yards, or a full swing and it goes 80 yards.  The harder swing i make, the higher it goes - not farther.

Any tips?

You may want to compare the lofts of the two SWs.  I suspect that you may have less loft and possibly a longer shaft on your Burner SW compared to your sm4.  Also, if you're hitting the Vokey 80 yards on both a half and full swing, then you're probably flipping a little on the full swing because there should be a difference in distance between the two swings.  For instance, I have a Vokey 56*/14 SW and a half swing is about 50, three-quarter swing is about 75, and a full swing is about 100.

[Motley01]

I agree must be something with your swing.

I hit my SM4 Vokey SW 56* full swing 80 yards.

And my SM4 Vokey 52* full swing 100 yards.

Everything 80 yards and in, I use my 56*. I just adjust me swing to 1/2, 3/4, etc.

[Zeph]

You could be adding loft when you swing harder, flipping a bit earlier. Try hitting some shots where you make sure you hit the ball with the shaft leaning forward. [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ukL1GuSaE[/VIDEO]

[dsc123]

You could be flipping when you swing harder.