jaybeemaestro

I liked the Callaways until I had a 56 with too much bounce. Moved to Cleveland RTX4s and love them. Still have a 52 Callaway. It's awesome you have wedges you like. I am never one to say such a wedge is better than another. We each are bringing so many individual variables to what wedges we play;
1) Where we come from in the world determines course conditions and,
2) Our differing angles of attack across all the different types of wedge shots you play. 
The one thing I would say is the ball we use can get forgotten in the wedge conversation. When you find the ball you like, stick with it. The wedge you like, with the ball you like can be a sweet, sweet combo.
Great to hear you like the Pings. It doesn't matter that I've heard great things about them, you like them, they suit your game. That's all that matters. Wedges are scoring clubs, if we all find what suits us, the shots will drop off our cards.

OK, I have no golf teaching experience but will give throw two cents at this anyway. Yes, you are right they should move that way as the pictures indicate. You could be subconsciously correcting your swing to compensate. There's a couple of things you could do. Firstly, just aim straight, if the ball is going where you're aiming, try that. It sounds stupid and obvious but if it works great, if not, at least you tried. My guess is you will start to miss on the opposite side to your present miss, i.e. as per picture. Then you can gradually move your target to adjust. As an aside, your miss is viewed as a good player's miss. I remember the commentary on Ernie missing the 13th green right (and in the creek) at Augusta with the ball above his feet. It happens. When looking up YouTube videos, take note of ball position for these shots. This will determine the open/closed face angle at impact. The other thing I would do is work on visualisation. See a good shot in your mind before you hit it, don't allow your mind to wander back to the old misses. And when you hit your first good shot on a sloped lie, replay it in your head. Go over it and over it again in your head for the next few days after. Embed a good memory so the mind goes back to that next time you are in that situation. 

For me, its not so much a shot, but a concept. I've always heard the when the ball is below your feet on a side hill, its going to want to move right, so aim left of the target. And when the ball is above your feet, its going to want to move left, so aim to the right. Do I have this right? Well in either case the ball seems to go the opposite for me and I miss bad to the side I was aiming.
I'm pretty sure that I make a subconscious adjustment, where if they ball is below my feet I swing more over the top to reduce the chance of hitting it fat, and I pull the ball left, while always aiming left - not good. And if it is above my feet, I attack from the inside and push the ball right while also aiming right - not good. 
Essentially, I am finding this to be completely untrue for me. 

I play in Surrey UK. Ive played for a long while, since I was a kid. But I am really taking it serious now as I have given up other sports. I play of 13. Im looking for the community to  help  me cut through the marketing bs. Worst thing about golf in Surrey is the cost. It can attract some wallys who have dropped serious cash and so feel entitled to treat people without respect. It can be a bit of status symbol where you play, the gear you have, etc. The spirit of the game and respect to others can be lost. True of a lot of things in Surrey tbh. I still love the mental aspect of playing the course. The physical side is equal to the mental control you need. Strategy and risk vs reward are the best elements imo. Also I love bombing it miles if I can!!!

I liked the Callaways until I had a 56 with too much bounce. Moved to Cleveland RTX4s and love them. Still have a 52 Callaway. It's awesome you have wedges you like. I am never one to say such a wedge is better than another. We each are bringing so many individual variables to what wedges we play;
1) Where we come from in the world determines course conditions and,
2) Our differing angles of attack across all the different types of wedge shots you play. 
The one thing I would say is the ball we use can get forgotten in the wedge conversation. When you find the ball you like, stick with it. The wedge you like, with the ball you like can be a sweet, sweet combo.
Great to hear you like the Pings. It doesn't matter that I've heard great things about them, you like them, they suit your game. That's all that matters. Wedges are scoring clubs, if we all find what suits us, the shots will drop off our cards.

I think you need to know what you want from your wedges. What shots do you need from them? What grind suits you best taking into account your angle of attack and predominant course conditions. 
The data I would prioritise in your testing would be distance (helps with gapping), distance consistency and spin consistency. 
Personally, I have 52/56/60 split and I prefer lower grind wedges in the 56 and 60 for versatility. I use my 52 for full shots and low, back in the stance skiddy checkers of around 50 yards. It's a shot I need on holes with tiered greens when I don't want to fly it all the way there. 
If you play in wet conditions I think both Ping and Mizuno did well for maintaining spin.
Otherwise, whatever you get, enjoy them. Have fun practising with them and getting the feel of them. Wedges are my favourite club to buy. For me, the optimism fades quicker with putter and driver purchases. They're clubs I feel will ultimately let me down but I never get this feeling buying a wedge.  

Wedge set up is a constant conversation among golfers.  As of today, my setup is 43-48-52-56.  The 43 & 48 are part of my iron set and I use that more like full irons rather than wedges.  At one time I also had a 60 but took it out for longer clubs at the other end of the bag.  There are several manufactures websites with fitting tools that suggest I go with a 54 & 58 deg setup. I do miss the 60 so the 54-58 may be my new setup.  Once I figure out the gaps, then I will spend time looking at grinds.  Still thinking about it.

I carry 3 wedges 46, 50, 54 degree, however as I am an old bugger when I first started to play we generally only had 2 wedges, a PW and SW. I therefore learnt to use my PW differently and still do today. It is a 46 degree Cleveland RTX3. A Full Swing can go 120m, 90M or  even 50M, all depends how far I open the face. When it comes to wedges, you will never have enough so you need to be able to alter them to suit the shot. 
BY carry 1 less wedge allows me to carry one more iron/hydrid, in my case a 3 - 21 degree. However I do also change what I carry in my bag depending on the course I am playing.

It's not so much control with a hybrid but versatility. I like hitting low punchy ones with a low iron, fades and draws. I struggle doing the same with a hybrid.

I didn't know this thread was going for a year. I had a look back and from the stillon the initial post to recent twitter swings, I'm guessing you must have made some real improvement over the course of that last year. Will have a good read-through the story tonight.

Not at all. I bought Gen2 before they were out on the heroes program and wasn’t bothered by it at all.
Most people who are buying them aren’t concerned with the price they have to pay. This discount is no different than active duty, military vet or first responders getting better pricing than those without that status.

Having been fit and bought an entire PXG bag in February the answer is no. They had full bag deals before the price cuts that were less than what the current specials are. I just for fun built my entire bag with the new pricing and without the upgraded shafts that I have and the bag that was included I was still about $600 under the current pricing. Also the pricing they have now is essentially the Heroes pricing that they always have just extended to the mass populous. If anything I think it will build some brand equity and get more people into their gear that normally would not play it.

I do agree with the podcast in that their sales model gave them a better chance to move product with most retailers closed. Also the model Ben Hogan uses and they just launched new product today that will get some traction in the coming days.


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I didn't know this thread was going for a year. I had a look back and from the stillon the initial post to recent twitter swings, I'm guessing you must have made some real improvement over the course of that last year. Will have a good read-through the story tonight.

Good to know the cobwebs off and get a feel for the real thing. I'd be similar to you in that driver is my weak club. God knows where the ball will go off the tee post-lockdown on the 18th May.
Nice start and it's always good to feel positive post-round. 

100% agree. The kind of wedges you need to get is totally dependent on where and when you play. Any wedges from the major OEMs will perform well, it's just a matter of what fits you and your game.
I currently have a 52/58 setup with some older SM6s I got used, but I think my ideal split would be like yours. I hardly ever play when it's wet since I'm in the central valley of California, so it's generally hot and dry. Thus, I didn't need to worry about the hydrophobicity of the PING of Mizunos as much.

First two nine-hole rounds of the year under my belt!
Our course opened for walking play on Saturday. It is still very, very wet in places. I don't believe that the greens have been cut; they're quite hairy, with small mounds of worm dirt making putting nigh impossible.
Even so, through 18 holes I'm 19 over. I'm honestly pretty happy about that so far. I've had 35 putts, which is pretty awful for me. But as odd as it sounds, I'll felt good with my putting: I'm starting my ball on my intended line, just leaving it short adjusting from a perfect mat to the very slow greens.
I've driven the ball far better than I anticipated. I've used my driver so far for 7 shots. I've missed two fairways (both left), one by about a foot. My distances so far:
188 (the good ole' smother pull) 207 209 (miss left) 217 218 244 262 Honestly, I'll absolutely take these. It doesn't happen all the time, but we're still in ball-plugging season here. We just not going to get a ton of rollout on anything yet. If you've been following this thread for any time, driving has always been one of my biggest weaknesses. Last year, I took my average driver from sub-200 to about 220. I'm at 220 with these drives here, hitting fairways, and not getting rollout. The flight has also been as predictable as I've ever had: a very slight cut (on the ones that I don't pull). And so I'm encouraged.
I've committed to the clock system for my wedge play this year. I now have small card in my push cart with 9 distances. So far, I think it's been a help. To be sure: I still have to make good contact. My ugliest holes so far have all included a bladed pitch. Still want to work on that, but part of it is mental: anyone else shrink back from good contact on mushy turf? I find it hard at time to go down and get a ball if I know that I'm going to literally end up with mud on my face for my effort.
I also switched to Arccos from Game Golf for my stats this year. So far, I've been impressed. Most of the shots it misses are tap in putts, which is understandable. There are pros and cons about how it presents the stats for analysis: I find it really odd that I can't go to my "Driving" numbers and separate out tees shots with different clubs.
Through two rounds, Arccos is assigning me a handicap of 21. I believe that is in part because, while they have the choice between the blue and white tees at my course, they list both at being about 5,000 yards, which is incorrect. I've submitted the correction to them; I'm hoping they get it straightened out quickly.

Ive played Mizuno Bettinardi putters in the past and theyre wonderfully well-crafted putters.  Ive heard great things about the stroke lab putters too, so its all really what you like.  IMO, you cant really go wrong either way.

I have every putter I have ever bought, but I haven’t bought a new one in 12 years.  Found one I like and I don’t want mess with a good thing. 

It seems like most 3 woods are adjustable enough that you would be able to just add loft to reach 4 wood territory. That’s at least what I did with my epic flash before getting a 5 wood. 
 
I know what you mean about long irons though. Occasionally I’m in a spot where I need to hit it low out of the trees, and since I only go as low as a 5 iron it can be tough, but that’s a trade-off I can live with.

I think it would be helpful to know your true carry distances with all of these clubs. I was in a similar situation and opted for for a four wedge setup because my apex pro PW is 45*, so I went with a 50, 56, and 60. I may end up bending my PW to 47 to close the gap, because from 105 to 120 I feel a bit uncomfortable having to hit limited PW shots. That said, I'm curious how you use your long irons/hybrids and how far you fly them. For me, I went with 3 wood, 5 wood, 4 hybrid, and the gapping is really smooth.

Its tough.  I started watching a lot of Golfsidekick's Youtube videos lately and learned a lot from that.  He talks a lot about playing holes from the green back and planning your shots to get you into an approach shot range that your comfortable with and always playing full shots into greens.
Its made me realize that I dont always need to hit driver on a par-4 and on par-5s I dont need to try to hit the green in 2.  I can lay up to 100-150 yards for my 3rd shot and hit an easy wedge or short iron onto the green.
Since Ive stopped trying to play the hero shot and playing smarter golf instead, Im now to the point of shooting in the 80s on a regular basis, even on days when Im feeling like I dont swing the club very well.

This is a tricky shot so there's no shame here. I have a bag-full of ludicrous shots I attempt. For me it's a mental deficiency and not accepting where I have put myself on the course. 
As for this 3wood shot, this would be my tip sheet;
1) Choke down on the 3 wood.
b) The practice swing must be a choke-down practice on as close a lie as you can. I would forget to do this and chunk it sometimes. It gives you the feeling of the shot you're going to play. Make your practice swings as close to the real thing as possible. Keep swinging until your brushing the top of the ground the way you want to. Don't get embarrassed and lose your mental focus if you take a divot with a practice swing. 
iii) Finally, and this is just for me. I find ball position is one of the over-riding elements to shot shape for me with my 3 wood. Further forward promotes the draw and further back promotes the fade. In this case a little further back might help so you're catching the ball before the face has closed which may lead to the low duck hook. Again, incorporate the ball position into your practice swing.
 I wouldn't give up on this shot yet. If you can get it right,  and be able to trust it, you could lower your scores. 
Keep the faith Dude.👍🏼 

I was thinking about this the other morning and thought I would see if anyone else had the same problem. Is there a shot you just need to tell yourself "Don't do it!" and go for the safer, more sensible route?
For me, it's hitting 3 wood when the ball is above my feet. It never turns out good, I usually hit a low hooky shot that might go 120. I know better, but if I'm on a par 5 I'm usually grabbing the 3 and trying to advance it as far as I can, no matter the lie. I can't help myself, even though I could pull a shorter iron and probably be in better position for my third shot. 
 

This is how I see it too, if pushed, I'd rather have the 4th wedge. The irons are lengthened to 1/2 long now. I just need the new mizuno mp H4 3 iron lengthened now. The ping G30 hybrid is nice and at 19 degrees I can get it out there well enough. While my distances might not be impressive I live in Ireland and play on a particularly windy course. Also, Ireland is generally wet and cold. Distance for me isn't the be all or end all, it's accuracy that helps my scores. 
I think I will float between the 3iron (when adjusted to 1/2 long) and the 3 hybrid. Ultimately my next set of irons will probably be stronger lofted so this will only be an issue for around a year. 
I think there may be an argument to swap a 3 wood for a 4 wood. I can hit driver off the deck (presumably fairway or light rough) for a 2nd shot on long par 5s and the 4 wood will close the gap the 3 hybrid.
I really appreciate the feedback. It's great to learn from others' experiences.

This is how I see it too, if pushed, I'd rather have the 4th wedge. The irons are lengthened to 1/2 long now. I just need the new mizuno mp H4 3 iron lengthened now. The ping G30 hybrid is nice and at 19 degrees I can get it out there well enough. While my distances might not be impressive I live in Ireland and play on a particularly windy course. Also, Ireland is generally wet and cold. Distance for me isn't the be all or end all, it's accuracy that helps my scores. 
I think I will float between the 3iron (when adjusted to 1/2 long) and the 3 hybrid. Ultimately my next set of irons will probably be stronger lofted so this will only be an issue for around a year. 
I think there may be an argument to swap a 3 wood for a 4 wood. I can hit driver off the deck (presumably fairway or light rough) for a 2nd shot on long par 5s and the 4 wood will close the gap the 3 hybrid.
I really appreciate the feedback. It's great to learn from others' experiences.