I give up, I need help picking my wedges.

18 handicapper with a pretty shallow AOA. Want to use it greenside and pitch shots. No sand.

  • Set Match - Mizuno HM Wedges in 54*13* and 58*7 to match my irons

  • More Player Wedge - Like a Vokey SM8 in 54*10* and 5*12

  • Little More Forgiving Wedge - Like a Mack Daddy CB at 54 and 58


Results are only viewable after voting.
All good and valid points shared here and I see several thought themes:

- the set wedges have good reviews and you've commented on seeing the logic there
- The blade the T22s didn't seem to intimidate you during the fitting being 'players' shaped
- finding a blend has logic and seemed good during your personal testing

All make sense so let me pose a question to you:

Which club would you be most excited to receive under the tree?
 
All good and valid points shared here and I see several thought themes:

- the set wedges have good reviews and you've commented on seeing the logic there
- The blade the T22s didn't seem to intimidate you during the fitting being 'players' shaped
- finding a blend has logic and seemed good during your personal testing

All make sense so let me pose a question to you:

Which club would you be most excited to receive under the tree?
Lol. A Vokey or Mizzy T22, i love the copper T22, but having never chipped an ounce with it it definitely worries me to some extent. I think the best fit is probably the HM wedges based off of the good things I've heard in this thread, but I'll never be able to resell those things if they dont' work. If the T22's or vokeys don't work I can probably sell those back out for what...a $20 loss? This is tough...REALLY tough.
 
If you’re fitting a wedge hitting from a mat, you likely won’t get the right wedge for you.
Try to take a short game lesson, and work on your technique. Avoid the lob wedge all together for now.
What kind of turf conditions do you play most? Soft, medium or firm?
Do you use the chipper with more of a putting stroke? That will likely need to change with a SW.
I’d recommend either a 54* or 56* wedge with 10-12* of bounce unless you play very firm turf.
The MD CB are pretty forgiving….
 
I just got fit, but I'm still lost on what wedge to pick. I got a massive fitting story coming up but essentially I got fit by two different fitters over the last month and I was super impressed by either wedge fitting. I do not plan to play either of these wedges out of the sand. They would be for chipping and pitching green side. I've landed on a 54 and 58.

One fitter landed on Mizuno T22 at 54*8* bounce. Justification mainly being I have a shallow angle of attack so don't want a bunch of bounce. This feels really small and compact for my high 18 handicap, but hell I dont know?

The other fitter landed on Mizuno Hot Metal SW and LW to just fit the irons I was fit into. From what I can can tell the SW is 54*`13* and the LW HM is 59*8* which I would bend to 58*. I have ordered Mizuno Hot Metals 4i-GW, so these would match my set, but it's hard to find any reviews on these.

I spent 1.5 hours in dicks hitting into a trackman and overall I personally landed on like the Vokey SM8's and the Callaway Mack Daddy CB's, but they didn't have demo's in either of the T22's or HM wedges so...

I'm coming from playing a chipper, I honestly think I'll transition better into chipping with a wedge than I give myself credit for, but what would you all do if you were me, and what kind of stuff should I think about? I want to add these two wedges to my Christmas list.

Unless you enjoy spending time and money with the fitting.

Fitting is but a tool to help you to get to where you want.
So look at it backward; What prompted you to get fitted for wedge(s) ? What are you looking for and how will you use the wedge on the golf course ?
Before the digital fittings came out ( BTW technology is great because it will cut down the chase by miles ), the fitting for wedges was simple enough.
Loft / lie/ length; and the bounce / grind ( leading edge and sole ). Frequent golfers would have several different set up for different playing conditions. Some golf courses will have taller rough and some will have hard pack sand in the bunkers. Winter season will have soft turf and hard pan in the Summer .
Ask yourself what is the majority of use for your new wedge and you can answer your own question.

Or opt the choice by most of us, stock up different set up for changing conditions. Unless you will golf in the same condition year round, there is no single perfect set of wedges for all occasions.
 
I like the idea of matching irons but I honestly couldn't say which is best for you. Good luck!
 
Yea all pure conjecture. I definitely hit a Vokey 54*10* against a Mack Daddy CB 54*14* (i think that was the bounce) and I can't say I saw a whole lot of difference in spin between the two. I don't know that I felt much different about either, but I find hitting wedges into a screen off of a mat to be VERY difficult. I went back through the Mizuno JPX 921 thread to see if anyone was playing the GW/SW/LW offered by Mizuno as a part of the set, but so few are...I actually think that set is a good blend between a Vokey and a MD CB, but if it doesn't work out, resell is probably going to be horrendous on those...so I just don't know what the heck to do.
Yeah I would think it would be hard to get a proper fitting off of a mat and hitting into a screen. For my wedge fitting I did the Titleist Thursdays which was at The University of Texas Golf Club for the SM8's. They had a great range to hit on to get my gapping. After that we went to their practice chipping green to hit a variety of chips and bunker shots with different grinds and bounces. The fitter watched for contact, launch, spin, etc. along with my thoughts on feel to determine which were the best suit for each wedge. I really liked the process as I was hitting real chips. One thing that stood out was that I ended up going with more bounce than my previous SM7's which is in line with Bob Vokey's thoughts that bounce is your friend. While it would limit your choice I would highly recommend it if they have a place to do that nearby.
 
Lol. A Vokey or Mizzy T22, i love the copper T22, but having never chipped an ounce with it it definitely worries me to some extent. I think the best fit is probably the HM wedges based off of the good things I've heard in this thread, but I'll never be able to resell those things if they dont' work. If the T22's or vokeys don't work I can probably sell those back out for what...a $20 loss? This is tough...REALLY tough.
If it's me, hearing this, I go with the Copper T22 then. Maybe start there, see how it goes. If it is working out you can jump into the 58 later in the year. If that's the one you were excited about, one suggested by the fitter, and it didn't really intimidate you I think you have a winner.

As to forgiveness, there is also a school of thought out there that loft plays so much role in this range that the perimeter weighting forgiveness is overrated. I'm not sure where I fall on that debate but it's probably best served in another thread ;)
 
Well...I WISH I knew my game, but that is often where I struggle with all these "wedge selector" tools. "Name your 3 most important characteristics." And I sit there like, "I don't freaking know!?"

The T22's felt good to me honestly Desmond. I was able to hit them well and at the time I had no idea they were small and compact, I just took the club the fitter gave me and went after the ball. I don't feel like I hit them anymore inconsistently than my Maltby GW sitting in my bag, but I also didn't use them at all greenside for chipping. I'd like to tell myself I can't possibly be good enough to be playing such a players wedge, I wouldn't say my short game is awful, but I've been playing a 37* chipper so I just have nothing to compare it to.

My putting carries my handicap...

Well, if you are consistently shallow and want to work on short game technique, which I think is the most fun part of the game, then remember, a more compact club is better out of the rough and in adverse conditions. A wedge with the grind fit to you is more versatile. I am going off the 54/8 you were fit into in the Mizuno - probably the D grind. Great wedge.

It's a really tough decision - if you want to be a good player - I'd focus on technique. Wedge game is all about not hitting the ground with the leading edge and using the bounce you have for the conditions you play.

I'd probably keep that chipper around until you develop good short game technique in a practice area with the new wedges. Most of the problems I see at the short game area at my range are a too armsy swing, not enough use of the lower body, poor ball position, weight not mostly on lead foot, coming in too steep, trying to keep lag when they should have none - return the loft to the ball, and hands too forward of club head at impact, etc.
 
If it's me, hearing this, I go with the Copper T22 then. Maybe start there, see how it goes. If it is working out you can jump into the 58 later in the year. If that's the one you were excited about, one suggested by the fitter, and it didn't really intimidate you I think you have a winner.

As to forgiveness, there is also a school of thought out there that loft plays so much role in this range that the perimeter weighting forgiveness is overrated. I'm not sure where I fall on that debate but it's probably best served in another thread ;)
yea you might be onto something. T22's would make me happy IF i can play them, and worse case scenario I sell them back out? i can't say I'm overly excited about Mack Daddy CB's in the same way. I think the matching wedges are a really cool idea, but if those don't work again I'm kind of screwed so...hmm
 
I would venture a guess that based on your experience and what your struggles have been, I would say the MD CB would be a pretty perfect fit.

I agree with JB on this one. The more forgiving MD CB would be great. The Cleveland CBX would be another option just to muddy the water. I do think forgiveness would be good for you.
 
yea you might be onto something. T22's would make me happy IF i can play them, and worse case scenario I sell them back out? i can't say I'm overly excited about Mack Daddy CB's in the same way. I think the matching wedges are a really cool idea, but if those don't work again I'm kind of screwed so...hmm

I'd go with the T22 54, even though the stock shaft is not my favorite (but I'm older and use a Nippon 105), see what happens. If it doesn't work out right away, I'd still keep it for the time your short game is ready for it. I like a CB but the Callaway doesn't excite me in terms of how you were fit and what it is - the opposite of the T22.
 
I agree with JB on this one. The more forgiving MD CB would be great. The Cleveland CBX would be another option just to muddy the water. I do think forgiveness would be good for you.
So Chef help me walkthrough the word forgiveness as it pertains to a greenside chipping. The Mack Daddy CB is going to have a much larger face than lets say the the T22, but that also means I got more club I have to get through the rough meaning it's more club face that can catch something? I'm just not totally sure I understand how to conceptualize FORGIVESS on chips? It's so hard to explain what is in my brain right now.

I think the Mack Daddy CB full swing squared makes COMPLETE sense, but lets say I axe that all together and just work my GW isntead from 50 yards to 100 yards, now what? I just don't know how to analyze smaller, compact, vs. larger not compact and how it relates to forgiveness in greenside chips?
 
I'd go with the T22 54, even though the stock shaft is not my favorite (but I'm older and use a Nippon 105), see what happens. If it doesn't work out right away, I'd still keep it for the time your short game is ready for it. I like a CB but the Callaway doesn't excite me in terms of how you were fit and what it is - the opposite of the T22.
Not a fan of the TT tour issue eh?

I can get it in a Nippon 105 for free. It's no upcharge.
 
I don’t think there are too many bad wedges out there, if any at all. You just have to find the one(s) that suit you. As nice as they Vokey’s look, they just didn’t work for me, despite being fit for them. The Ping Glide with the eye 2 sole however has been a revelation. I saw in your post you don’t want a lot of bounce due to your steep angle of attack, but remember, bounce is your friend. When you start venturing into the realms of low bounce, you won’t get much help if you duff it. I’ve hit some right chunky duffs with my Ping, but thankfully, 9 times out of 10, the wedge says, don’t worry, I’ll take it from here. With the vokey in my hand, the ball would have ended about 4 feet in front of me.
 
Not a fan of the TT tour issue eh?

I can get it in a Nippon 105 for free. It's no upcharge.

I was fit into a Nippon 105 by Artisan. Would have never guessed that without the fitting.
 
I don’t think there are too many bad wedges out there, if any at all. You just have to find the one(s) that suit you. As nice as they Vokey’s look, they just didn’t work for me, despite being fit for them. The Ping Glide with the eye 2 sole however has been a revelation. I saw in your post you don’t want a lot of bounce due to your steep angle of attack, but remember, bounce is your friend. When you start venturing into the realms of low bounce, you won’t get much help if you duff it. I’ve hit some right chunky duffs with my Ping, but thankfully, 9 times out of 10, the wedge says, don’t worry, I’ll take it from here. With the vokey in my hand, the ball would have ended about 4 feet in front of me.
Not steep angle of attack. Shallow. Less bounce was recommended because i'm shallow. Meaning if I come in shallow and there's too much bounce i'm thinning the ball, vs if the bounce wasn't there I just catch it clean. Now does 5* of bounce make that much of a difference, I have no idea, but that's how the fitter explained it to me. And honestly i don't see this is even a point on chips. I'm shallow on full swings.
 
Not steep angle of attack. Shallow. Less bounce was recommended because i'm shallow. Meaning if I come in shallow and there's too much bounce i'm thinning the ball, vs if the bounce wasn't there I just catch it clean. Now does 5* of bounce make that much of a difference, I have no idea, but that's how the fitter explained it to me. And honestly i don't see this is even a point on chips. I'm shallow on full swings.

It does make a difference. But it's the grind that makes the difference. I have a shallow AOA and have the D grind in the T22 54 and C grind in the T22 58. I play in firm conditions most of the year. When it's a tad wet, I open it up a bit and lean the shaft back slightly to expose more bounce and really relax to let the clubhead through.

It does make a difference on chipping.
 
It does make a difference. But it's the grind that makes the difference. I have a shallow AOA and have the D grind in the T22 54 and C grind in the T22 58. I play in firm conditions most of the year. When it's a tad wet, I open it up a bit and lean the shaft back slightly to expose more bounce and really relax to let the clubhead through.

It does make a difference on chipping.
Yea and these are those type of questions that are always impossible for me to answer since I play all over at public courses.

Some greensides are super firm and tight because the grass is almost non existent and poorly maintained, some are fluffier, sometimes they're dried out, sometimes they're super wet and spongy. Weather is all over in VA.
 
With a shallow attack, both my wife and I have struggled with high bounce and high forgiveness clubs from the short grass. Generally these work great from the rough and sand. I would go one higher bounce as a lob or sand and the other one or two lower/standard bounce.

I have a set of 50, 54, 60 Jaws I use. 54 is high bounce, other two are standard.
 
Alright. I think I'm locked in, this thread was incredibly helpful. But I think I'm going to go with what my fitter recommended ultimately, it goes against what all the guides would recommend for a high handicapper, but ultimately I think the resell value will be high and if these dont work out. I sell them back out and try something else. I'm adding the following two wedges to my Christmas list...

Mizuno T22 54*8* - Copper
Mizuno T22 58*12* - Copper

We'll see what happens! I gotta start somewhere though, and if I actually end up loving these I will never grow out of them.
 
As a guy who swings really shallow, I first tried playing a SW with a 12* bounce and a rounded sand-friendly grind, and it was hell chipping off of thin lies. I would just keep smacking the tall sole into the ball.

This is in San Diego, where every greenside lie is thin and dry because you're sharing a desert with 5 million people. Sounds like conditions are all over the map in VA, so I would second the recommendation of getting one high-bounce wedge to get you out of sand and mud and one low bounce wedge with a leading edge that sits flush on the ground or very close to it.
 
Not steep angle of attack. Shallow. Less bounce was recommended because i'm shallow. Meaning if I come in shallow and there's too much bounce i'm thinning the ball, vs if the bounce wasn't there I just catch it clean. Now does 5* of bounce make that much of a difference, I have no idea, but that's how the fitter explained it to me. And honestly i don't see this is even a point on chips. I'm shallow on full swings.

I’m not gonna go against your fitter, and if you feel like low bounce is better for you, absolutely go for it. From my experience, I too have a shallow angle of attack. The higher bounce on my wedges has never been an issue.
 
Yea and these are those type of questions that are always impossible for me to answer since I play all over at public courses.

Some greensides are super firm and tight because the grass is almost non existent and poorly maintained, some are fluffier, sometimes they're dried out, sometimes they're super wet and spongy. Weather is all over in VA.

Yes, I practice in firm and occasionally soft conditions. In soft conditions with an 8 deg of bounce wedge, you cannot use the leading edge or you will dig. I find some way to expose bounce and have my hands even or behind the shaft and clubhead at contact.
 
Alright. I think I'm locked in, this thread was incredibly helpful. But I think I'm going to go with what my fitter recommended ultimately, it goes against what all the guides would recommend for a high handicapper, but ultimately I think the resell value will be high and if these dont work out. I sell them back out and try something else. I'm adding the following two wedges to my Christmas list...

Mizuno T22 54*8* - Copper
Mizuno T22 58*12* - Copper

We'll see what happens! I gotta start somewhere though, and if I actually end up loving these I will never grow out of them.
I'm a 19 capper. Im shallow. and play tight dry AZ conditions. The Edel in a C grid have transformed my short game. I agree that you should not get caught up in....I'm a high capper so I have to play GI clubs. Even if they are a huge help in full swing conditions. With chipping and pitching...confidence rules all. Attack that ball. Never decelerate. Trust the fitter and go hit a ton of balls.
 
Alright. I think I'm locked in, this thread was incredibly helpful. But I think I'm going to go with what my fitter recommended ultimately, it goes against what all the guides would recommend for a high handicapper, but ultimately I think the resell value will be high and if these dont work out. I sell them back out and try something else. I'm adding the following two wedges to my Christmas list...

Mizuno T22 54*8* - Copper
Mizuno T22 58*12* - Copper

We'll see what happens! I gotta start somewhere though, and if I actually end up loving these I will never grow out of them.
If you don't love them, I may know a guy with copper irons that would be looking to find copper wedges to complement ;)
 
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