Do wedge shaft flex really matter?

[Leoaguilar62]

A friend of mine is selling his TW nike wedges in perfect condition and at a really good price.  I want to buy them but he mentions that they have stiff flex shafts.

I use regular flex on my irons.

Does the flex really matter in wedges?  Any comments by the more experienced players?

[WUTiger]

Shaft flex would matter in a couple of ways.

First of all, a stiff flex in a wedge shaft is not the same as a stiff flex in, say, a 5i. The shaft is shorter, so it's easier to control, and ideally is a tempo shot rather than a power shot.

Second, it depend on how you use your wedges. If you use it a lot for full shots - for many, that's the PW and GW - a stiff shaft probably won't hurt. If you use it mainly for partial shots - for many, that's SW and LW - a softer flex (and tip) may help. Overall, it's what you get used to and practice.

A number of OEMs have what is called a Wedge flex - as common to golfdom, there's no standard for it. Often it is an DG S200 or S300 shaft.

For many of the Cleveland CG12 up through CG15 (or so), the Wedge flex was the TRAction shaft (Tour Reflex Action). This had a stiffer butt section to keep the shot from ballooning, but had a softer tip to generate spin on partial shots. It has a similar function to the DG Spinner wedge shafts (earlier, non-jointed ones).

Specs for the Nike TW wedges doesn't say much about the shaft, other than it's stiff. The VR-Forged wedges list the DG S400 as stock wedge; this is just a couple of grams heavier then the DG S300 // Nike has used the DG S400 as stock in its better wedges a few years back; I've hit Nike wedges several times through the years... they felt solid. But, I've never owned one.

Can anyone else help?

[Hammer 4]

All I can add is, I have an older SM4 54-10 Vokey wedge that has a stiff shaft DGs300. Couple of weeks ago I got a SM5 Vokey 50-12 with a Wedgeflex shaft. For me, and this may vary among golfers, if I want to try and get a little extra yardage out of the 54, it's very hard for me to do, also the spin on that wedge isn't as great as it is on my 50. if I try for a bit extra with the 50, I seem to be able to get 2 or 3 yards, I'm basing this on the yardage markers at the range. I hit my 8i pretty consistently 140 with my normal swing, to give you an idea of what I hit. I would prefer the wedgeflex in my 54 also, I do have the wedgeflex in my 60.

The wedgeflex shaft also seems lighter, which I like. I hope that helps some.

[BeCu]

If you do a search in utube for " True Temper S400", there is a video that explains the S400 by a TT rep.

I have played the Nike TM wedges in the past. Very good spin and good multipurpose sole design.

I did re-shaft to a lighter, less stiff shaft for personal preference. I like a little more feel in my scoring clubs and prefer softer flexes. The S400 was a little heavy feeling and more tip stiff than I like.

Many golfers that like heavier shafts and a lower/controlled ball flight with their wedges opt for wedges like the S400. Many manufacturers offer shafts designed for wedges. Trend seems to be how to manipulate the stiffness along the entire shaft while maintaining a  certain weight. The wedge heads are heavier then the rest of the iron heads so the tip sections have to be designed to support the club head weight.