Been reading to many conflicting ideas for proper staffs for wedges. What are your thoughts should the shafts match the rest of the set, should be stiff shafts, or??? Thanks for your thoughts
Britt Lindsey Answered question January 21, 2022
Been reading to many conflicting ideas for proper staffs for wedges. What are your thoughts should the shafts match the rest of the set, should be stiff shafts, or??? Thanks for your thoughts
I got my start in this business working for Dave Pelz many years ago and he believed, as do I still, that Sand Wedges and Lob Wedges should be slightly more flexible than the set. Almost all of the tour players we worked with back then had them that way. The reasoning is that these clubs are not swung with the force of full shot irons, therefore they are not loading and unloading the shaft the same way Most shots are hit trying to control distance and trajectory and 1/2 a flex softer tends to make them feel like the remainder of the set and provide the proper shaft dynamics. Example would be a player that plays a 6.5 Project X flex in his irons might play a 6.0 in his wedges. Some “wedge” specific shaft designs are nothing more than 8 iron shafts that cut down and labeled as wedge shafts. The fact that SW and LW heads are heavier than an #8 iron, when they are installed, makes that “wedge” shaft play softer. I would say that the overwhelming majority of players that key in on this, and most all tour professionals that I have ever known or worked with, will play wedges that are the same or softer than their set. I have never (or don’t remember) ever building scoring wedges that are intentionally stiffer than the set. You can if it suits you, or the player you are working with. It all comes down to matching the flex to what feel, trajectory and distance control the player is looking for.
Britt Lindsey
Thank you for your timely reply, I fully agree with your description and reasoning