Wedge Gaps

[loquaciouspanda]

This is fairly similar to JB's thread, but I'll make my own anyways

My PW is 45*, and I currently have a 52*, 56*, and 60*. I'm not loving the 7 degree gap, so should I go 50*, 54*, 58, or 50*, 55*, 60*?

Alternatively, my 9i is 41*. To be very eccentric (and to get some 5* gaps), I could bend the PW to 46*, and then go 51*, 56*, 61*. Any thoughts?

 

[Jman]

I don't think about or focus on the gaps of my wedges in terms of lofts, all I care about is that the distance gaps I want for my game are where I want them, wedges could be 2* apart but if it gives me the numbers I'm comfortable with then thats all that matters.

 

[blugold]

What are your current yardages? How often do you perform a full swing with those wedges?

 

[TMAdidas]

I already gave you my opinion via PM the other day, but I'm considering going 50, 56, 60 to help gaps.

 

[No skillz]

PW is 45 and i am using the 50, 56, 60. But I generally don't do full shots under 125 yds. I start using 3/4 shots from P - 56. I only use the 60 from around the green and out of tight bunkers. On full shots, my biggest gap is between the 56 and 60. My 50 is 115, my 56 is 105 and my 60 is 75, maybe 80, but I never hit this club from this distance unless I have to carry and stop short - real short!

 

[Brianbigoats]

Agree with the other it is about yardages not loft

 

[Good.Shepherd]

Gaps are real, but it's also something that has been created and pushed by the equipment industry.

Go go hit all your wedges and your 9 iron at chip, pitch, and regular swing at 1/2 swing, 3/4 swing, and full swing. What you'll likely find is that you have no absolute yardage gaps. You can attack from 120 yards to 5 yards with no gaps.

However, you're also likely to find that you are not comfortable attacking in all situations with these. one may have too much bounce from tight lies. One or two lofts may not be as reliable with your full swing. Heavier head and shaft may be better for higher lofts in terms of your sense of touch. Whatever it is--wedges are often tools that we use like chefs knives and when we find the right ones we know exactly how to use it. If we don't, we teach ourselves to.

Thats when you want to get a club to fill in that REAL gap. You want to be able to attack confidently from 120 down to 1 and feel good about it, and to have a strong point of view about which club you will attack with and why when you're faced with something on the course.

Your goal should be to put together that wedge bag, built to confidently attack, and to only pay loose attention to the numbers printed on the top other than as guides to compare how one attacks to another. And as you dial it in you may find gaps that are smaller or larger than tradition, or by different makers and with different felt properties, or clubs bent for adjustment, than you would have just buying all the sequential lofts.

 

[Cobberz]

My stance regarding wedge gaps, or gaps in general within a golf bag is that should we be worrying more about executing the shot, than if the gap between each club is an exact number. I understand you want to know exactly how far each club is going to be different from another, but I believe there should be way more emphasis on the actual execution of the shot than the gap between the wedge. For the average golfer how many times do we leave our self at an exact yardage where we know the gap between the 2 clubs is exact enough to pick one or the other? I think for the most part the golfer should be practicing hitting all the wedges from different yardages in order to have a variety of shots in the bag where u can hit a 56 instead of a 60 to get a better result or specific shot. Every golfer is different and that's why these questions are always fun because we all play the game differently