Wedge shaft help

[AlanBaird]

Baffled by all the conflicting information out there on wedge shafts.

Just fit into $ Tapers in my irons after playing x flex lightweight iron shafts. Long story for another day, but made some swing changes and needed different clubs.

Probably should replace my wedges since I still have the SM6 from Titleist and play 50 rounds a year.

Just looking for 

a) who plays the same shaft in wedges as iron

b) who uses wedge specific shafts, and do you notice a difference

c) the truth!

 

[yungkory]

I also play a light shaft in my irons and used to play s300 in my wedges which always felt like garbage to me. Changed to modus 115 wedge a couple months back and they feel and perform much better for me on full shots. They still have enough weight for me around the greens which I wasn't ever really worried about, but full swing is where I notice them most.

You can always go with the same shaft in your gap wedge as your irons and then step up to a heavier, softer shaft in your sand and lob if you carry them. I hear that's popular among fitters.

[cnosil]

Great question and I am not sure there is a “truth”. Most advice I see is play the same shaft as in you irons. If you play a different or wedge specific shaft don’t go lighter weight. I have also seen advice to go to lighter flex and advice to go to stiffer flex. Some of the decision is also driven by how you use the wedges...full shots or partial shots.

[bens197]

Great question and I am not sure there is a “truth”. Most advice I see is play the same shaft as in you irons. If you play a different or wedge specific shaft don’t go lighter weight. I have also seen advice to go to lighter flex and advice to go to stiffer flex. Some of the decision is also driven by how you use the wedges...full shots or partial shots.

I’ll chime in because I did both last season. Historically, I would play the same DG S300 shaft in my wedges as my irons...I have a shop in my home where I do my own club repair and have the ability to tinker.

Last season I started playing Hi-Rev shafts in my 52 and 60. To be honest, I did not notice a significant change. Throughout the season there wasn’t a single aspect of these shafts’ performance that made me believe I was depriving myself of trajectory, spin or feel when comparing to my iron shafts.

[NM01]

I think it really varies by preference. One of the Callaway reps in my area a decade back went heavier and stiffer in his wedges...they actually felt really good compared to wedge flex DG shafts. I’ve done both heavier and/or stiffer. I’ve gone heavier and same flex. I have done same flex and lighter. I don’t full swing anything past my 50* normally so for me it really doesn’t matter much and I just play whatever comes in the wedge

Looking at Adam Scott’s bag he uses kbs 130x in irons and x100 I wedges

Rory uses Px rifle 7.0 in irons and rifle 6.5 in wedges.

Getting fit for wedges would be the only way to ensure you are playing the right shafts for your swing and how you play each wdge. 

[edingc]

4 hours ago, bens197 said:

 

I’ll chime in because I did both last season. Historically, I would play the same DG S300 shaft in my wedges as my irons...I have a shop in my home where I do my own club repair and have the ability to tinker.

Last season I started playing Hi-Rev shafts in my 52 and 60. To be honest, I did not notice a significant change. Throughout the season there wasn’t a single aspect of these shafts’ performance that made me believe I was depriving myself of trajectory, spin or feel when comparing to my iron shafts.

 

I'm with you on the tinkering. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up to confirm on the course, but heavier and soft-stepped is how my three wedges are setup at the moment. Nice combination of weight and feel. And definitely a more active tip. Remains to be seen if that proves to be a problem with approach shots or not... 

[bens197]

I'm with you on the tinkering. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up to confirm on the course, but heavier and soft-stepped is how my three wedges are setup at the moment. Nice combination of weight and feel. And definitely a more active tip. Remains to be seen if that proves to be a problem with approach shots or not... 

I am in your camp with that setup. I prefer a heavier club and having the opportunity to play around with wedge specific vs. iron shafts has been fun.

I was amused by a post on this board recently where someone mentioned players have been known to use 8 iron taper tip shafts in their wedges.

[HardcoreLooper]

I have the NS 105s in all of my irons, but I can't say that I had much of a choice either.  I really thought I would ditch the F8 set wedges after the testing was over, but I actually liked them (and still do).  I don't think I can blame any of my bad wedge shots on the 105s.

[yungkory]

8 minutes ago, HardcoreLooper said:

I have the NS 105s in all of my irons, but I can't say that I had much of a choice either.  I really thought I would ditch the F8 set wedges after the testing was over, but I actually liked them (and still do).  I don't think I can blame any of my bad wedge shots on the 105s.

If you ever feel like tinkering, try the 115 wedge shafts. I really, really like them as a fellow 105 gamer

[Kanoito]

6 hours ago, yungkory said:

If you ever feel like tinkering, try the 115 wedge shafts. I really, really like them as a fellow 105 gamer

Just realized we are playing the same irons. My old CF16 set had PX 5.5 in them, so that's what my wedges were fitted for at that time.

Now I've gone lighter with Modus 105 and keep wondering whether I should reshaft my SM7 with the Modus 115.

Do you notice any distance gapping between your PW and 50*? How does the feel compare to your old S300 (I'm using R300 and PX 5.5).

[yungkory]

7 hours ago, Kanoito said:

Just realized we are playing the same irons. My old CF16 set had PX 5.5 in them, so that's what my wedges were fitted for at that time.

Now I've gone lighter with Modus 105 and keep wondering whether I should reshaft my SM7 with the Modus 115.

Do you notice any distance gapping between your PW and 50*? How does the feel compare to your old S300 (I'm using R300 and PX 5.5).

Distance gapping as in issues with the gap? If so, no I don't have any issues with the gap between it's about 10-15 yards on full shots.

S300 always felt heavy to me, and boardy on full swings. The modus feel lighter although they're only a few grams I believe, but more importantly give me the familiar smoothness that I feel in my irons.

[canam13]

On 2/17/2020 at 11:20 PM, yungkory said:

If you ever feel like tinkering, try the 115 wedge shafts. I really, really like them as a fellow 105 gamer

Yung

have you hit the Ping zz115 shafts they have in the glide 3.0 wedges? I just purchased a set of Ping I500's  with Modus 105's in them(love the feel so far) and was curious how the zz115 compares to the modus 115 wedge shaft? Heard the zz115 has a really high launch.

[yungkory]

10 hours ago, canam13 said:

Yung

have you hit the Ping zz115 shafts they have in the glide 3.0 wedges? I just purchased a set of Ping I500's  with Modus 105's in them(love the feel so far) and was curious how the zz115 compares to the modus 115 wedge shaft? Heard the zz115 has a really high launch.

Nope, but I wouldn't be surprised if Nippon makes that shaft for Ping and that it is very similar to the Modus

[LoganT]

I was fit for 919 tours and s18 wedges last year and ended up with px 6.5 in the irons and DG s300 in the wedges based on the fitters recommendation. I’m wondering if switching to px 6.0 in the wedges will have a significant impact?

[1Plane]

Generally speaking I think it‘s a good idea to play something a little bit softer in wedges. Whether you want to go a little bit lighter or a little bit heavier is a matter of personal preference.

I grew up playing X100  in my irons. In those days Cleveland were THE wedges and their wedge flex was a S400. So I pretty much played the most common „better player“ setup (slightly softer, slightly heavier wedge). When custom became more common, I changed to X100 throughout. Similarly, when I moved to PX 6.5 and then Tour-V 125, I played them in all irons and wedges.

These days I use Modus 130X in my irons and gap wedge (50 degree which I use for full shots mostly). It‘s a (very) stout shaft. I use KBS Tour 120S in my sand and lob wedge. The 120S is a good bit softer amd lighter than my iron shafts. I have a lot of feel and very good results. Even though even the KBS Tour 130X is not good for my full swing - far too much spin and ballooning flight - the 120S gives me (for me counterintuitively) the desirable higher (but controllable) spin / lower flight thing. Hope that this helps.
 

 

[juspoole]

I'll share my experience as I have only recently tried a different shaft in my wedge.  I put the nippon wedge shaft in my SM6 and switched it from the normal dynamic gold that comes standard and what I have played in the past. Just for some background, I have played vokey wedges for the past 12 years so familiar with that shaft and feel.  Iron shafts are currently DG AMT X100 so they differ from my wedge shafts.  Just picked up an SM8 with a KBS Hi Rev wedge shaft.  

Overall, I did feel a bit more feel out of the Modus shaft and I think that's more to do with the shaft maker.  If you've hit them in your irons, they have an unbelievable feel to them.  However, performance wise, i did not notice much difference.  Possibly a tad higher ball flight than the Dynamic Gold, but similar spin characteristics.  Only reason I tried the KBS shaft this time around is that I was fit into KBS as my second option for iron shafts, so figured I'd give it a try since I got it at no upcharge.  If I can tell a difference i will keep you posted as I still have the sm6 wedge with a nippon shaft to compare against and a 58* mizuno with a DG shaft. 

[RetiredBoomer]

On 2/17/2020 at 9:46 AM, AlanBaird said:

 

Just looking for 

a) who plays the same shaft in wedges as iron

 

 

I do.  Nippon Modus 3 105 on everything from driving iron to lob wedge.

I would add, however, that I've no science whatsoever to put forward a defense of my choice.

It's just to put any thought of shafts out of my head.  

Perhaps there's a valid reason for special wedge shafts, but I suspect that would apply to a level of play somewhat above my own.