Wedge shaft matching irons?

[gleung]

What's the typical recommendation on matching wedge shafts to the iron shafts? I used to always play Dynamic Gold shafts and matching wedges were never a problem as pretty much every manufacturer sells their wedge with Dynamic Gold as the stock shaft.

 

I recently switched to Nippon NS950's in my irons... much lighter than the Dynamic Golds in my wedges. I can still play both shafts without it affecting my game, but my wedges are worn and due for a replacement. Would you guys recommend taking this opportunity to match my wedge shafts with my irons?

[Howard_Jones]

Yes this is a good opportunity, but using 95 grams for wedge might be to light, so i suggest you find something thats 5 to 10 grams UP from irons. We loose shaft weight into wedges anyway, so to make wedges with the same shaft weight, we should (on the paper), start from a GW thats 3 grams plus, a SW thats 4 grams plus, and a LW thats 5 grams plus since thats about the weight we loose from more butt cut and higher BBGM into wedges.

 

Here is how it typical looks when using a uncut start wgt of 95 Grams Constant wgt shafts.

 

The typical Wedge.flex is S200 or 127 grams, then net cut weight looks like this.

 

Now you can compare the difference.

 

 

[Oett11]

I've always played s400 in my wedges for as long as I remembered but last year I lightened my iron shafts , also switched my wedges to the s200. Defiantly could feel the weight changed but actually enjoyed the shaft, now alot of it has to do with age and lighter was what I was aiming for but like stated about I dropped down about 10 on my irons and wedges.

[FEUO]

I have Project X 6.0 in my irons and DG Spinner in my wedges. I don't take full swings with the wedges and use those appropriately. So far so good with this approach.

[North Butte]

I went to wedges matching my iron sets, including the shafts, several years ago. Usually something in the 100g or so range of shafts. It was OK once I got used to the much lighter wedges but I always felt the good wedge shots were sporadic rather than something I could count on.

 

So I switched back earlier this summer to my old favorite Vokey wedges with the 127g Dynamic Gold shafts. After just a couple rounds my wedge game was much more reliable than with the 105g Modus shafts I'd been using.

 

That worked out so well, in fact, that I'm trying some irons with AMT Tour White shafts which are basically DGS300 in the short irons and then get lighter as the irons get longer. Not sure it improves my iron game but it sure doesn't hurt. Tempo and feel for the clubhead in my 7-8-9 irons is much better (not so sure about the 5-6 irons).

[Howard_Jones]

> @"North Butte" said:

> I went to wedges matching my iron sets, including the shafts, several years ago. Usually something in the 100g or so range of shafts. It was OK once I got used to the much lighter wedges but I always felt the good wedge shots were sporadic rather than something I could count on.

>

> So I switched back earlier this summer to my old favorite Vokey wedges with the 127g Dynamic Gold shafts. After just a couple rounds my wedge game was much more reliable than with the 105g Modus shafts I'd been using.

>

> That worked out so well, in fact, that I'm trying some irons with AMT Tour White shafts which are basically DGS300 in the short irons and then get lighter as the irons get longer. Not sure it improves my iron game but it sure doesn't hurt. Tempo and feel for the clubhead in my 7-8-9 irons is much better (not so sure about the 5-6 irons).

 

I always meant progressive shaft weight and head weight is the "ideal", at least on the paper it is, and it makes me wonder when is see the better players like Rory is using lighter shafts in wedges than irons, it makes no sense in my book, and if it was for flex reasons and feel, we have other options than going down half a flex and 5 grams like Rory does....but what ever works is the only valid rule in the end, we are all different, so no concept works for all....

 

I know Bob Vokey is advocating lighter wedge shafts and more SW value, and its all fine, since lower shaft weight makes a need for higher head weight, but that does not mean the combo is right....sometimes the issue is shaft weight, not head weight, so what we feel and how we like it to feel is different.

[North Butte]

Howard,

 

For the first 15 years that I played golf I used Titleist DCI irons and Vokey wedges (mostly) with DGS300 shafts. Yeah they were far heavier and stiffer than ideal for a middle aged adult beginner with not much clubhead speed. But that's what I learned on and I'm starting to think too-heavy (and maybe too-stiff) is programmed into my swing DNA.

 

The extra weight is just a pure benefit for me on wedges. It gives me the feeling and feedback I learned the game with and there's no real penalty for (possibly) giving up a couple mph of clubhead speed with a wedge.

 

With irons it's a mixed bag. Going back to heavy shafts after nearly a decade of light ones really helps my tempo and sense of where the club is during the swing. But there's an undoubted loss of clubhead speed (or it sure feels like it) and I think it's a little harder to catch up and get the clubface square at the last instant. So I tend to leak a few little push-fades with the longer irons just like I remember constantly doing back in the day.

 

But here's the upside. Lighter clubs make it eminently possible to "catch up" during the downswing to the extent I actually flip it a little. And I *hate* flipping. With wedges it's a disaster. But even with something like a 7-iron that catch-up flip can end up fat or bladed or snatched too quickly into a pull-hook.

 

I do wonder what my golfing life (and my swing) would have been like if I'd learned the game with some of the old Ping clubs with the 100g shafts instead of going Titleist and Dynamic Gold.

[Howard_Jones]

i started playing Golf way to old to be really good at it, and the shafts then was Dynamic Gold and Grafalloy BLUE as "the trusted ones", but shaft WEIGHT was not a subject, it was how it was, play it or dont play at all....so like many others, i started from shafts way to heavy. We might think that shaft weight does not matter, but it does, and way more that most players is aware of. During fitting i always try to manipulate both shaft and head weight to find whats right for the player, and when we have found whats right, 2 grams up or down matters, and way more than the player would expect, so when they get to know the weight that was added and removed by handing them the lead tape, they are amazed....how could so little make a difference?.....the answer i found to that question is, the closer we get to our own ideal, the more sensitive we gets....so its a clear difference between 10 and bulls eye, and it feels larger than 7 to 10 to use a example to explain it.

 

[North Butte]

> @"Howard Jones" said:

> i started playing Golf way to old to be really good at it, and the shafts then was Dynamic Gold and Grafalloy BLUE as "the trusted ones", but shaft WEIGHT was not a subject, it was how it was, play it or dont play at all....so like many others, i started from shafts way to heavy. We might think that shaft weight does not matter, but it does, and way more that most players is aware of. During fitting i always try to manipulate both shaft and head weight to find whats right for the player, and when we have found whats right, 2 grams up or down matters, and way more than the player would expect, so when they get to know the weight that was added and removed by handing them the lead tape, they are amazed....how could so little make a difference?.....the answer i found to that question is, the closer we get to our own ideal, the more sensitive we gets....so its a clear difference between 10 and bulls eye, and it feels larger than 7 to 10 to use a example to explain it.

>

 

I'm getting off-topic from wedges but I'm that way for driver weight. I do well with drivers somewhere around 310g or so total weight. Once it gets up past 320g or so, as you say, I'm not sure if I can tell the difference in a 325g driver vs. a 345g one. But I sure as heck can tell you that 325g feels way worse than 315g. Same with the ultralight ones. Anything from about 300g on down feels the same to me, whether it's a modern driver with a light clubhead that happens to work out to 298g or one of those Cleveland "ultralight" ones of 275g or whatever the heck they were.

[gleung]

> @"Howard Jones" said:

> Yes this is a good opportunity, but using 95 grams for wedge might be to light, so i suggest you find something thats 5 to 10 grams UP from irons. We loose shaft weight into wedges anyway, so to make wedges with the same shaft weight, we should (on the paper), start from a GW thats 3 grams plus, a SW thats 4 grams plus, and a LW thats 5 grams plus since thats about the weight we loose from more butt cut and higher BBGM into wedges.

>

> Here is how it typical looks when using a uncut start wgt of 95 Grams Constant wgt shafts.

>

>

> The typical Wedge.flex is S200 or 127 grams, then net cut weight looks like this.

>

>

> Now you can compare the difference.

>

>

 

Hey Howard, do you have any recommendations on what will match the NS950 well? The problem is no local retailers have wedge demos with different shafts (I'm also left handed, so even harder to find things to try). I've never played wedges in anything other than Dynamic Gold, so I don't really know what I'm missing or if there's any benefit that can be gained.

[Howard_Jones]

> @gleung said:

> > @"Howard Jones" said:

> > Yes this is a good opportunity, but using 95 grams for wedge might be to light, so i suggest you find something thats 5 to 10 grams UP from irons. We loose shaft weight into wedges anyway, so to make wedges with the same shaft weight, we should (on the paper), start from a GW thats 3 grams plus, a SW thats 4 grams plus, and a LW thats 5 grams plus since thats about the weight we loose from more butt cut and higher BBGM into wedges.

> >

> > Here is how it typical looks when using a uncut start wgt of 95 Grams Constant wgt shafts.

> >

> >

> > The typical Wedge.flex is S200 or 127 grams, then net cut weight looks like this.

> >

> >

> > Now you can compare the difference.

> >

> >

>

> Hey Howard, do you have any recommendations on what will match the NS950 well? The problem is no local retailers have wedge demos with different shafts (I'm also left handed, so even harder to find things to try). I've never played wedges in anything other than Dynamic Gold, so I don't really know what I'm missing or if there's any benefit that can be gained.

 

Modus 105 seems good for weight if your irons is a good fit, but i cant tell how they feel in your hands

https://nipponshaft.com/product/steel_modus_105.php

[gleung]

Thanks, I’ll check it out!

[RogerinNewZealand]

North Bute

Maybe a constant weight but bit softer 4 irons.Im back to DGR300 in irons after using ss1 on dgs200 in J33 cbs happily. On wedges to me wedgeflex or dgs300 as in many Callaway wedges are just fine for consistency.If your a big wrxr... im 245 ib you overpower the liter shafts....ps plenty of snapped 85/90 gram shafts in bins on golf courses.......

[wam78]

I play modus 120s in my irons and have recently moved to modus 125 wedge shaft in all my wedges. Since the switch I find my swing a lot more fluid and controlled with gap wedge and sand wedge on approach shots. Easier for me to sense control as I take a lot of different swings with each. I like to hit half shots and full shots along with chips and pitches around the green. But it's all about what is best for you and what feels more natural.

[dhen9]

Thread revival. Currently have a set of irons with PX LZ 6.0 soft stepped once. If I wanted similar 120 gram shafts but slightly softer to flex what do I do??