Wedge gapping...is this typical?

[me05501]

I've rearranged my wedge setup recently and am currently playing these:

 

Srixon 765 PW

Srixon 785 AW (new)

Cleveland RTX4 54/10 (new)

Cleveland RTX4 58/8

 

When I practice wedges on the range I typically hit full swings and 3/4 swings. That 3/4 swing feel has always been a very controlled, precise shot for me. If I am facing a 100 yard shot I will almost always choose a 3/4 PW because it just feels so easy to execute. 

 

As I worked through my shots I noticed that my 3/4 distance with one club perfectly matches my full swing distance with my next most lofted club. Like this:

 

PW  120/100

AW  100/80

54    80/60

58    60/45

 

I guess I've never had my wedges gapped this well for whatever reason, but I like the idea of having two different ways to hit reliable 100 or 80 or 60 yard shots. Hopefully I can control spin and trajectory better this season than in prior years. 

 

Is this something you consider when gapping your wedges? 

[Nessism]

Use what works for you.  To me any shot less than 75 yards needs to be hit with less than a full swing so it's important to learn how to finesse short shots, and that doesn't need to be limited to the shortest club in the bag.

 

A friend and playing partner of mine is great at those short finesse shots.  Last Sunday he hit an 8 iron from 125 and stuck it close.  I scratched my head on that one since I don't have that shot in my bag.  Gapping smapping.  Play golf.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Nessism

[dlygrisse]

It doesn't seem like you are hitting your 54,58 very far for a full swing, considering you hit your PW 120.  If you are just going at it with a smooth swing, that's cool, but it could be a technique issue, maybe not getting enough shaft lean and getting scoopy?  

 

On the other hand, if you are consistent with those distances, and you are controlling your ball, then just go with it.  It seems all of your gaps are covered.  

[zdtallan]

I think you're definitely on the right track, but I wouldn't say that necessarily crosses my mind when I go through a gapping analysis on my wedges.  I play z765's as well but I go from the 46* PW to a 50/55/60 in SM8s.  When inside 120 yards I've always felt its important to have the ability to hit multiple clubs with multiple trajectories depending on what the shot calls for. Like you said, maybe I'll hit a soft PW from 90 yards instead of a 55*

 

Interesting that you go 46-51-54-58 and find them consistent with gaps of 5-3-4.  But that's why gapping is important to actually do instead of relying on the number on the club!

[vtpachyderm]

I play a 46 PW and then a 52 and 58 wedge setup. This works for all shots under 100 yds depending on what I want to do and very rarely am I hitting a full shot on these. Moved from a 50, 56, 58 wedge setup to this, so I could put a on the top of the bag as getting exact gapping that close to the hole wasn't where I was losing shots.

[jvincent]

44 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Is this something you consider when gapping your wedges? 

 

Personally, no.

 

I gap based on the full swing for my wedges knowing that if I need to change something up for trajectory/spin reasons I can just use a lower loft and swing easier.

 

I also have tighter gaps for my full swing yardages.

[cwilk]

I don't know if it's common, but it does NOT work out that way for me.

[me05501]

8 minutes ago, dlygrisse said:

It doesn't seem like you are hitting your 54,58 very far for a full swing, considering you hit your PW 120.  If you are just going at it with a smooth swing, that's cool, but it could be a technique issue, maybe not getting enough shaft lean and getting scoopy?  

 

On the other hand, if you are consistent with those distances, and you are controlling your ball, then just go with it.  It seems all of your gaps are covered.  

 

For sure. My swing speed is low for my fitness level and my release does tend to get scoopy esp. when I make a balanced, controlled swing. Working on that with my pro. Learning how to go after it more. Just got to get that from the lesson tee to the golf course!

[me05501]

20 minutes ago, Nessism said:

A friend and playing partner of mine is great at those short finesse shots.  Last Sunday he hit an 8 iron from 125 and stuck it close.  I scratched my head on that one since I don't have that shot in my bag.  Gapping smapping.  Play golf.

 

This is something else that has been on my mind lately. Oddly, it's because I've learned to play that way on the PGA Tour 2k21 XBOX game. However on the game you can easily zoom up and examine the contours of the green, and the game tells you exactly what the wind is doing. 🙂

[driveandputtmachine]

I play three main shots with my 8 iron down.

 

"Full" swing

Cut swing

Knock Draw swing

 

My goal?  

A. Have a shot I can get to most flags, or at least the correct type of shot to hopefully the correct side of the green.

B. Have three stock yardages I hit with each club.

 

B gives me good gapping from 160 down to hit more shots pin high without some crazy change I don't practice.  Being pin high and attacking the correct pins is the biggest difference between good and great players. 

 

It is no secret where the pros really destroy great am's is with proximity to the hole and GIR. 

[dlygrisse]

2 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

For sure. My swing speed is low for my fitness level and my release does tend to get scoopy esp. when I make a balanced, controlled swing. Working on that with my pro. Learning how to go after it more. Just got to get that from the lesson tee to the golf course!

My though would be then that your 3/4 swings are pretty good distance wise, you need to learn to maximize your swing with the higher lofted wedges, if those distances pick up about 10 yards the gaps will make more sense.  You are probably adding loft at impact instead of delofting.  

[ChipNRun]

Two wedges to get the same yardage? That's something I shied away from when I went from four to three wedges. With four wedges, had several cells with yardage overlap. (Old 46 and 50 replaced with 48)

 

Started out two years ago with 48-54-60, but swapped out 60 for 58 - see below. (60 too inconsistent on yardage). And, I use a three-quarter 9i to cover gap between 9i and 48.

 

For future fine-tuning of your wedge game, consider special wedge grips. These are longer than standard grips to allow more choking down on shaft, and have reduced taper so you don't roll your hands too much when choking down.

 

Ping has a Dylawedge version, and Lamkin has the Crossfire 1150+.

[vtpachyderm]

4 hours ago, ChipNRun said:

Two wedges to get the same yardage? That's something I shied away from when I went from four to three wedges. With four wedges, had several cells with yardage overlap. (Old 46 and 50 replaced with 48)

 

Started out two years ago with 48-54-60, but swapped out 60 for 58 - see below. (60 too inconsistent on yardage). And, I use a three-quarter 9i to cover gap between 9i and 48.

 

For future fine-tuning of your wedge game, consider special wedge grips. These are longer than standard grips to allow more choking down on shaft, and have reduced taper so you don't roll your hands too much when choking down.

 

Ping has a Dylawedge version, and Lamkin has the Crossfire 1150+.

Did not know that about wedge grips and it never crossed my mind that this was an option. Thanks for this info. Like you, I only play 2 wedges (not including PW), so this would be really interesting to try.