Gapping issue

[dnash13]

Hey brain trust. I'm struggling with gapping from the 9i to 50* area. 

 

My shotscope data shows the problem pretty clearly, my Pw flies a mile. 

 

I've liked the idea of a cbx wedge to bridge the gap and have a 100$ golf Town gift card. 

 

I'm a 9hcp and am definitely human when it comes to ball striking (generally pretty good but get the odd toe strike with the 50 that goes no where). 

 

Now the questions:

 

1. Who likes or dislikes a cbx wedge to fill the gap 

2. Gt only has 46 or 52 degree cbx wedge. Do I throw a 46 in and take my Pw out? OR will a 52 cbx fly far enough to cover that gap. I'm leaning towards the first option. 

3. I play fujikura pro tour spec stiff 115i shafts in my irons, the cbx comes with a dg 115 which will be considerably lighter than my irons right? 

 

9i 40*

Pw 45*

Yellow labels above are the current shafts (fuji pro), black labels are no longer in play. 4i to pw anyways. 

 

 

We are in lockdown here, ideally I'd go hit them and then make my decision but that's not an option right now and probably won't be for a while so consulting you guys is the next best option. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by dnash13

[gripandrip]

9I and PW Lofts?

[dnash13]

2 minutes ago, gripandrip said:

9I and PW Lofts?

9i 40* pw 45*

[gripandrip]

Wow. Hitting the 45* about the same distance as the 40*. Do you have the ability to have to lofts checked? 

[dnash13]

I know right, it's frustrating to see during a round lol 

 

I don't but they were sent to fuji for a re shaft (won them). I don't believe lofts were checked based on this spec sheet but I can ask. Unfortunately that wasnt the focus of this testing. 

[trav_158]

Do you have more data than just the distance? is this "total distance" or carry? understanding that data could help with the gapping issue

[trav_158]

If they re-shafted and swing weighted your clubs, i would hope they did loft and lie as well..

 

I notice its only .25 of an inch shorter than your 9, which doesn't follow the stepping between the rest of your clubs.  It could account for a bit of extra club head speed, but I wouldn't expect to see that much more accounting for that lack of gap

4 minutes ago, dnash13 said:

I know right, it's frustrating to see during a round lol 

 

I don't but they were sent to fuji for a re shaft (won them). I don't believe lofts were checked based on this spec sheet but I can ask. Unfortunately that wasnt the focus of this testing. 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by trav_158

[dnash13]

5 minutes ago, trav_158 said:

Do you have more data than just the distance? is this "total distance" or carry? understanding that data could help with the gapping issue

That's all the data I have. That is total distance however they all hit and stick at that end of the bag for me. Maybe a yard of roll out either way depending how they are struck. 

 

I rarely hit less than a full shot with my Pw and 9i. 

 

 

Like I said that wasn't the focus of the test. It was to compare graphite to steel. Messing with the lofts would confound those results. Now that the test is done I want to get this gap sorted. 

 

I'll reach out to Austin and ask about loft/lie 

Edited January 17, 2021 by dnash13

[jvincent]

43 minutes ago, dnash13 said:

9i 40* pw 45*

Measured lofts or spec lofts?

[dnash13]

24 minutes ago, jvincent said:

Measured lofts or spec lofts?

Just spec, as posted above will check if they were measured a few months ago. 

[ChipNRun]

Lots of missing variables make it difficult to troubleshoot your situation.

 

Without a measurement on the actual loft and shaft length for your 9i and PW, you're just shooting in the dark.

 

One of your problems is lots of mixing and matching. We know you're thinking of CBX for 46* and 52*. But, what model are your SW and LW? There's no guarantee the CBX wedges will blend nicely with the SW+LW if they are some different brand and model.

 

I know the lockdown is on, but is it so tight you couldn't get a loft-lie-length measure on your 9i and PW? Drop off at GT with instructions, pick up curbside next day?

 

And, we don't know your wedge strategy. Are you a...

• Pelz player: Develop wedge distance matrix using 4 wedges x three partial backswing positions.
• Feel player: Rely on tempo and balance for controlling partial shots.

If you're a Pelz matrix player, you probably want to get a matched set of P-G-S so they work together well. It appears your LW is a separate tool, probably used just for partials.

[dnash13]

40 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

Lots of missing variables make it difficult to troubleshoot your situation.

 

Without a measurement on the actual loft and shaft length for your 9i and PW, you're just shooting in the dark.

 

One of your problems is lots of mixing and matching. We know you're thinking of CBX for 46* and 52*. But, what model are your SW and LW? There's no guarantee the CBX wedges will blend nicely with the SW+LW if they are some different brand and model.

 

I know the lockdown is on, but is it so tight you couldn't get a loft-lie-length measure on your 9i and PW? Drop off at GT with instructions, pick up curbside next day?

 

And, we don't know your wedge strategy. Are you a...

• Pelz player: Develop wedge distance matrix using 4 wedges x three partial backswing positions.
• Feel player: Rely on tempo and balance for controlling partial shots.

If you're a Pelz matrix player, you probably want to get a matched set of P-G-S so they work together well. It appears your LW is a separate tool, probably used just for partials.

Ya that was partly the reason for starting this thread, to figure out what info I need to fix this. Thanks for your insight. 

 

Tbh I'm a feel player in my wedges (haven't had a lesson in over 15 years) and am going through a transition in my bag right now at the bottom end. I don't have the budget to go out and buy a set of matching wedges all in one shot. 

 

Currently working with md4 50/10, go back and forth between sm7 56/8 and 54/14 as my course floods alot and an ollllllld 60* Cleveland dsg that is second on the priority list for an upgrade after this gap. LW is definitely separate tool, sand and around the green. 

In a perfect world I'd grab a matching set of zip cores but that just isn't in the cards right now haha. I'm generally pretty brand agnostic and if it works it works however I understand the consistency concerns of that approach. 

 

I don't think GT is open for those services until the current Ontario wide lockdown is over. 

 

The cbx thing was just an idea as a more forgiving setup on full shots and definitely doesn't have to happen right away (which after some thought based on what you guys have pointed out, I'm leaning towards). 

 

I'll update about loft and lie when I hear back from fujikura. 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by dnash13

[ChipNRun]

31 minutes ago, dnash13 said:

Currently working with md4 50/10, go back and forth between sm7 56/8 and 54/14 as my course floods alot and an ollllllld 60* Cleveland dsg that is second on the priority list for an upgrade after this gap. LW is definitely separate tool, sand and around the green. 

In this case, you might consider the 46* and do one of the following:

• shift to 50* and 54* if the gapping matches.
• Or, depending on gapping, bend the 50* to 51*, and keep the 56*. This would give you 46-51-56 for your main wedges. Of course, check out the 50* distance before bending it.

Somewhere you may end up with a distance gap between 9i and 46*. But, as long as you know it's there, you could choke down on 9i or deloft 46* to cover the gap.

 

[gripandrip]

Like has been said, without real loft data, you are kind of shooting in the dark. If you can get loft and the PW is accurate, I would probably just bend the PW a little weaker to get the gap you want... if you can live with the extra bounce it will create.

[dnash13]

Just a quick update.

First thanks guys for talking me off the impulse buy ledge. 

Second, fujikura did not loft/lie spec my irons as the point of the testing was to ONLY change the shaft and keep specs (playing length, loft lie) the same while showing how tightening and dialing in swingweights with graphite can be done and the effect it can have.

Thats what I had suspected before and this gap was an issue well before the shafts were changed. I didnt bother bringing it up at the fit as it wasnt the point of the test. 

 

SO ill be updating whenever I find a place that's open near London, ON to loft/lie check my clubs! 

From there the first fix will probably be bending the pw a degree or two weak. 

[trav_158]

15 hours ago, dnash13 said:

Second, fujikura did not loft/lie spec my irons as the point of the testing was to ONLY change the shaft and keep specs (playing length, loft lie) the same while showing how tightening and dialing in swingweights with graphite can be done and the effect it can have.

 

That's too bad they didn't check the specs. Depending on the fit of the shaft in the hosel. the lofts and lies can effectively change 1-1.5 degrees.  any time a shaft is swapped out it is best practice to have those re-adjusted.  I'm sure they had the gear to do it, and it really doesn't take that long.

[mgoblue83]

Get on a launch monitor before you do anything drastic. Shot Scope is a cool tool but it won't show accurate carry distance which is all that matters for gapping. Also as a 9 handicap who struggles with ball striking I would use face tape or foot spray to determine impact location. My guess is that a launch monitor will show similar gapping issues throughout the set. (For example: Carry distance of your 5 iron is likely to be farther than your 4 iron but is masked by roll out). Very likely you are mishitting the 9 iron (and the rest of your longer clubs) more often than you are mishitting your wedges. You can get away with it in the longer clubs because they will roll out but mishitting a 9iron will still have limited roll out and combined with the shorter carry can lead to what you are seeing. 

[dnash13]

6 hours ago, mgoblue83 said:

Get on a launch monitor before you do anything drastic. Shot Scope is a cool tool but it won't show accurate carry distance which is all that matters for gapping. Also as a 9 handicap who struggles with ball striking I would use face tape or foot spray to determine impact location. My guess is that a launch monitor will show similar gapping issues throughout the set. (For example: Carry distance of your 5 iron is likely to be farther than your 4 iron but is masked by roll out). Very likely you are mishitting the 9 iron (and the rest of your longer clubs) more often than you are mishitting your wedges. You can get away with it in the longer clubs because they will roll out but mishitting a 9iron will still have limited roll out and combined with the shorter carry can lead to what you are seeing. 

 

The change in swing weight from d 1.5-3.5 may have messed me up a bit initially that's for sure.

 

I feel my strike strays toe wards with my wedges on mishits and I don't find that with the rest of my irons, if anything I've grooved it to be a bit thin on misses. 

 

I understand the limitations of shotscope however it's better than nothing.

 

Getting on a launch monitor this year is definitely a priority to see what's going on and make any adjustments to both my equipment and swing as necessary.