Fitting Wedges

A Few Important Tips

It is very important to have any wedge fitted to the golfer. The lie angle is very important and needs to be properly set so that on ¾ to full shots the clubhead comes into impact with the face plane square to the intended target. If the lie angle is not set properly and the toe is up at impact (lie angle too upright) the ball will be pulled to the left of the target. Conversely, if the toe is down at impact (lie angle too flat) the ball will be pushed to the right of the target. This toe up or toe down thing is one of the most important fitting variables in wedges because the greater the loft angle (all the wedges), the greater the ball misdirection control when the lie angle is not set properly for the golfer.

Grip size is another fitting variable for wedges that can improve your play. The proper grip size will help in better controlling the clubhead. For some golfers, a larger grip size will feel better and improve play. Another trick to reduce situations where the golfer uses too much hand action causing less control of the shot is to increase the grip size more under the right hand. I prefer a 1/64” increase. Try it and if you do not like it, change it back, but it really works. I would also recommend that you use the same grip style on your wedges that you have on your iron set.

Take time to make sure your wedges fit into your current club set.

Be sure and check the swingweight of your wedges and use this rule of thumb: Pitching wedges and gap wedges should be 2 to 3 swingweights heavier than the #9 iron in your set. Sand wedges and 60º wedges should be 4 to 6 swingweights heavier than the #9 iron. Try putting some lead tape on the back of any wedge that is lighter than the recommendation above and play a few rounds with it. I think you will like the results. There is not much you can do with too heavy a wedge other than drilling a few holes in the back flange of the head.

Too many golfers simply buy a wedge here and a wedge there and never check to see if the new wedges lengths fit into their current set. So, lay your #9 iron and all your wedges out on a flat table, parallel to each other and with the soles of the heads all lined up perfectly even (place a straight edge up against the soles until they are all touching). Next, measure the length differences at the grip end to see where they fit in. Here are the lengths I like on wedges. The pitching wedge should be ½” shorter than the # 9 iron in your set. The Gap wedge should be 1” shorter than your # 9 Iron. The Sand wedge can be the same length as the gap wedge or you can go 1 ½” shorter than the # 9 iron. Regarding the 60º wedge, if the sand wedge is the same length as the gap wedge then make the 60º wedge 1/2 “ shorter. If the sand wedge is 1 ½” shorter than the #9 iron, make the 60º wedge the same length.

An alternative to wedge lengths is to substitute ¼” length differences vs. ½” length differences as explained above. So, the PW is ¼” shorter than the #9, the GW is ½” shorter than the #9, the SW is ¾” shorter than the #9 and the LW or 60º is 1” shorter than the #9 iron.

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  • 9:48PM - May 16, 2012RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Bounce on sand wedges: I notice most sand wedges have higher bounces. Is that necessary? I almost always lay the club open so the bounce in quite large to begin with. Is there a reason to have a high bounce wedge? Maybe for the case when you have to hit a square shot in very hard sand. I prefer low bounce clubs for full shots from the fairway and was considering all low bounce wedges. Will have I have trouble out of the sand. 8 Handicap and my short game is my strong point

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  • 6:18AM - Jun 3, 2011RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Dear Mr. Matlby,

    I play Wilson Staff Di9 5-PW Irons, with TX99 Regular Shafts, 2º Up Lie, and I’m delighted with them.

    Now I’m considering to complete the set with 2 or 3 wedges, I thought of Titleist Vokey, so here comes the doubts:

    My PW is 36” long, and 42.5º loft. With such a strong loft, I do not know how to fill the gap, if going for a GW 50º and a SW 56º, or a 3 wedge combination to have more possibilities, i.e. 48º, 52/54, 56/58…

    I’m handicap 17.8, and do not play very often (2/4 times a month). I’m tendant to baloon sand wedge on full shots.

    What do you recomend me in terms of loft and lenght?

    Regards

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  • 9:23PM - Feb 24, 2010RE: Fitting Wedges

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    There is a shaft fitting tool on this website that matches the golfer to the shaft playability code (i.e. 4B2M) based on length and swing speed. After using the tool, I saw that the recommended rifle spinner shaft was 0.5 frequency less than the recommended iron shaft; which seems to contradict this comment about keeping the flex constant. Can someone comment if I am interpreting this divergence correctly?

    Thanks.

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  • 9:16AM - May 4, 2009RE: Fitting Wedges

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    mjmcf, I have always felt that a sand wedge should be a minimum of 55 degrees. Remember, we need to get the ball up to clear the lip while at the same time moving it forward. Of course, special playing conditions usually dictate what works best for the golfer. I also like 60 degrees maximum on the lob wedge. However, if you are going with 55 or 56 degrees on the sand wedge, then I would go with 60 on the lob wedge.

    It seems that 63 or possibly 62 degrees in lie may fit you better, but you can check this first on the lie board which you are familiar with from your comments.

    Wedge shafts are not all that important as long as they are on the stiff side. The hit with wedges is very oblique so much of the force of the ball at impact is reduced. However, we have the ability to sometimes take big divots and this can increase the flexing. So, bottom line is to stay relatively stiff. I think the FST Pro115 in stiff should be a good fit with your current Ping shafts.

    If your 9 iron is D-0 and your PW is D-2, I would go with D6 on the SW and D-2 or D-3 on the LW.

    Regarding length, make the SW either 1/4 or 1/2” shorter than the PW and then make the LW 1/4” shorter than the SW. If you do not hit full shots with the LW, go with ½” shorter than the SW.

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  • 4:23PM - Apr 30, 2009RE: Fitting Wedges

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    A 60° Tricept green wedge has been assembled by GolfWorks to my spec. for length, lie, shaft and grip. Unfortunately I did not specify the swingweight which should be D 8.5 How can I best checkout and adjust the swingweight after receipt of the wedge which has now been despatched from Golfworks? The shaft will be a True Temper GS 75, 35.5” with Lamkin X-line midsize grip.

    This is to fit with a set of MCC irons with 1/4” longer shafts than standard and with D2 swingweight.

    Thanks for your advice

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  • 9:00PM - Apr 28, 2009RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Also – The bounce on the i10 wedge is listed at 10 degrees – should this matter in choosing my other wedges? I’d also like lentgh swingweight suggestions. My 9 iron is D0, PW is D2.

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  • 8:57PM - Apr 28, 2009RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Ralph – I play Ping i10 irons with Blk. Color code. I had my loft/lie angles checked and it has 46 degrees loft, 64 degree lie, and 35.5” length. It is fitted with PING AWT stiff flex shaft.

    I hit it off the lie board at Golf Galaxy with excellent results, however my utility wedges were a different story – therefore I need to get a new set up.

    I’m thinking of either a 52/58 or 54/60 degree combo. I’m leaning toward either the new Tricept or CER 8620 designs. I think I’d like a bit flatter (than 64 deg.) lie and I’d like your opinion on what shaft would fit njcely with my set and what your suggestions might be.

    thanks – I love the website!

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  • 11:04PM - Apr 25, 2009RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Ralph, I’m struggling with your theory on the lengths of wedges. Using the MMB irons and M-Series wedges as an example. The PW and GW of the MMB’s are the same weight so reducing the length will decrease the swingweight of the GW when you should be trying to increase it? On the M-Series wedges the 60 degree LW is lighter than the 56 degree SW so again the swingweights would be all over the place if you continued to reduce shaft length in 1/4” or 1/2” increments?

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  • 8:51PM - Apr 16, 2008RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Mr. Maltby,

    Thank you for your input. I went over to my local Golf Galaxy and showed them the comments you made. They felt the same way. I ended up hitting a 56 deg 1.25 that one of the associates used himself. It felt good so I decided to have them order the components for me. It must be popular as the store was sold out of all heads. Hopefully in a week or so I will be writing back with my success story on using the club. I am still deciding on what I want to do with the 52, but most likely it will be the M Series milled you mentioned. Thank you for your help.

    Sincerely, Lee

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  • 1:55PM - Apr 16, 2008RE: Fitting Wedges

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    Lee, first of all, let’s deal with the sand wedge. I would recommend the 1.25UC sole in 56 degrees loft. This wedge should be a huge surprise to you in how well it works.

    I really do not like the 53 degree and 58 degree idea. If you want a gap wedge, you need to go with a 51 or 52 degree (the M Series milled 52 degree is my choice). A sand wedge needs to be 55 degrees absolute minimum. If you are going to add a 60 degree, the 1.25 UC 60 degree is the one to get to match up with your sand wedge. If you have the skill, you may want to drop out the gap wedge and learn to hit the pitching wedge about ¾ to fill the gap. This is up to you. Some golfers will score a lot better with a hybrid or another fairway metal added-in vs. the gap wedge. You may also be a player who really does not benefit from a 60 degree wedge, so you need to throw this into the decision mix also.

    When a golf course has very tight lies, the first thing many clubfitters do is recommend less bounce so the golfer can “get down after the ball”. This is great if you are a tour pro who can work magic with a wedge because they hit a zillion shots a day practicing. It is just the opposite for average golfers. The tighter the lie, the more the tendency to hit the ball fat. And, as soon as we hit a few fat we start hitting a few thin to compensate. What we need is more “effective bounce” so that we have less margin for error in digging the leading edge into the ground. So now we do not need to hit the perfect “nip” shot but rather we can hit just behind the ball to a little more back behind the ball and the sole will not dig, but rather slide under the ball and loft it onto the green. It’s simply more forgiving.

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