True Temper Tour Concept Wedge Shafts

[Foot Wedge]

I posted a strange thread about my wedges having junior shafts recently.  Well I did some digging and found out that the True Temper Tour Concept wedge shafts my Cleveland 588’s have are stock and they’re supposed to be thinner than normal shafts towards the grip.  I’m guessing the tech who saw them wasn’t familiar with them and thought it was a strange coincidence.  So now knowing what they are, can anyone give me some info on them? 

This doesn’t change the fact that to hit them consistently I have to swing easy.  I feel like they have a tendency to release early and my miss is a pull with them which isn’t consistent with my other irons.  From what I’ve read they’re supposed to be similar to the DG Spinner shafts?  I’m not too familiar with them but they’re supposed to promote lower ball flight.  Not something that happens to me as I could classify my shots with my 588’s as ballooning which I don’t tend to do with other clubs.  Any info would be appreciated!

[Piz]

A few years back, my dad sent me a couple Cleveland CG14 wedges he was no longer using.  The shaft bands say "Tip Reaction Performance."  To me they just feel floppy.  I played a few rounds with them and, as you said, had a lot of high pulls.  The only way I could hit anything straight was to open the face and play a cut.  The softer tip is, I think, supposed to promote spin; but I'll be "danged" if I want the ball spinning off left off the target often as not.

[Foot Wedge]

5 minutes ago, Piz said:

 

A few years back, my dad sent me a couple Cleveland CG14 wedges he was no longer using.  The shaft bands say "Tip Reaction Performance."

 

I wonder if Cleveland was just trying to work with this type of shaft on their wedges for a while.  It's not necessarily bad, I just don't know if the shaft is for me given the way these shots are coming out.  I'm considering swapping them for newer RTX 2's since I really do like how those 588 wedges play and the 2.0's look to come with a Dynamic Gold shaft.  This is a more traditional shaft correct?  Also I did get to hit my dad's RTX 2 when I visited and although I didn't fully put it through its paces, I did like the club.

[Piz]

The Dynamic Gold shafts are as traditional as steel shafts get.  They have a high bend point and are among the heaviest available.  I use them in all the irons and wedges I assemble or have assembled.  It is no wonder that the Cleveland's felt odd; but I was surprised at how odd.

[Foot Wedge]

@Piz, thanks for the information.  Sounds like the RTX 2 may be a little more in line with the rest of my irons.  May be worth a shot since there looks to be some good deals out there with the RTX 3 being out an all.

[WUTiger]

The original wedge flex was your iron set's stock shaft, softstepped to increase spin on shorter shots. This is the tip trim as 8 iron advice often attributed to Jack Nicklaus. Then, OEM started offering shafts labeled as Wedge Flex in the early 2000s.

Club designer Tom Wishon talks about  tests he did on wedges, comparing wedge flex to soft-stepped iron shafts. He found no appreciable performance difference between the two. Some players, however, liked the feel of one over the other.

A more recent True Temper video clip reported that the DG shafts labeled wedge flex are stiff shafts. Depending upon the wishes of the club manufacturers, the DG Ws come in S200, S300 or S400 weights. TT also offers Spinner wedge shafts.

22 hours ago, Piz said:

A few years back, my dad sent me a couple Cleveland CG14 wedges he was no longer using.  The shaft bands say "Tip Reaction Performance."  To me they just feel floppy

The CG series carried the TRAction shaft (Tour Reflex Action). Designed with flexible tip to increase spin on partial shots, with a stiffer mid and butt section to lower the launch.

And KBS has five different models of wedge-specific shafts.

[Foot Wedge]

On 1/7/2017 at 2:27 PM, WUTiger said:

Club designer Tom Wishon talks about  tests he did on wedges, comparing wedge flex to soft-stepped iron shafts. He found no appreciable performance difference between the two. Some players, however, liked the feel of one over the other.

Thanks for the info.  Sounds like in the end it's a pretty subjective issue that comes down to preferences.