Losing distance on wedges

[RollingGreens]

I have a yardage problem between my sand wedge and gap wedge. My gap wedge is from the iron set, was cobra f8 at 50degreees, still waiting on my new set to arrive. My sand wedge is a Vokey SM7 it was a 56 but I had it bent to 54 to attempt to add distance, no changes after having it bent. I like hitting full shots with all my wedges, each wedge also has had other niches, like bump and run, high flops and bunker shots. my gap wedge carries 120 yards. While my sand wedge tops out at 95 yards carry and has a steep descent angle giving very little distance. In my opinion I feel that the gap is too big. 

 

Has anyone else had any issues like this? Considering new wedges, but the spin numbers are great, just drives me nuts that I can't get it any farther than 95 yards

[Shankster]

Precision is key with wedges.  I used to try to smash a 56°, and I could get good distance out of it... but I always pulled them to get the extra yardage.  I did switch recently to the PING glide wedge and gained some distance with it.

52° is my 115-120 club.  58° is my 95> club... but I would rather hit a 52° say 65 yards with a more controlled swing than hitting a tweener with the 58.

I will be going back to a 4° gap on lofts on my wedges.  Going a little more technical with my approach to the game.  
 

I would seriously consider getting fitted, and give the PING wedges a shot.  They are pretty darn good, and offer a hint of forgiveness and distance. 

[RollingGreens]

52 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Precision is key with wedges.  I used to try to smash a 56°, and I could get good distance out of it... but I always pulled them to get the extra yardage.  I did switch recently to the PING glide wedge and gained some distance with it.

52° is my 115-120 club.  58° is my 95> club... but I would rather hit a 52° say 65 yards with a more controlled swing than hitting a tweener with the 58.

I will be going back to a 4° gap on lofts on my wedges.  Going a little more technical with my approach to the game.  
 

I would seriously consider getting fitted, and give the PING wedges a shot.  They are pretty darn good, and offer a hint of forgiveness and distance. 

I wanted to look at ping or Cleveland wedges coming up. I feel like I make great contact with the vokeys and the distance just isn't there... The spin numbers almost seem to high in the 6500's

[GregGarner]

3 hours ago, RollingGreens said:

The spin numbers almost seem to high in the 6500's

6500 spin on a full wedge shot would be remarkably low playing a urethane ball. Ideal would be ~10,000 with the ability to control for more or less spin as needed. In general, low-spin/high clubhead speed means more distance. What's your launch angle here? (Ideal would be 25-30 degrees)

[RollingGreens]

11 hours ago, greggarner said:

6500 spin on a full wedge shot would be remarkably low playing a urethane ball. Ideal would be ~10,000 with the ability to control for more or less spin as needed. In general, low-spin/high clubhead speed means more distance. What's your launch angle here? (Ideal would be 25-30 degrees)

Everything is launching into the low 40s. Really no change at all in numbers pre and post bending. Club head speed is right around 90mph

[cnosil]

Everything is launching into the low 40s. Really no change at all in numbers pre and post bending. Club head speed is right around 90mph

Sounds like a swing issue and the fact that specialty wedges perform different than set wedges. This is why just looking at them number of degrees between clubs isn’t enough.

[RollingGreens]

21 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Sounds like a swing issue and the fact that specialty wedges perform different than set wedges. This is why just looking at them number of degrees between clubs isn’t enough.

As in coming in too deep?

[cnosil]

As in coming in too deep?

If you are launching the wedges at 40* you are doing something with the club at impact. I am not an instructor nor have I seen your swing so I can’t tell why but you should launch wedges lower especially with a full swing.

[Kansas King]

It sounds like you may need another wedge to fill the gap. Your Cobra wedge likely has less aggressive grooves to control the spin and thus go longer where a 56* Vokey will have about as aggressive grooves as legally possible. The face of the Cobra may also be "hotter" but that may not have as much impact with a gap wedge. The reality is that you probably need a 52* or 53* wedge to fill the gap between your Cobra 50* and then add back your 56*. The gapping may not look quite right but the real world distances are what matter. You might also compare shafts because your set of Cobra's may have a much lighter shaft compared to your Vokey. The heavier shaft may be slowing you down and if the swing weight or feel is way different than your Cobra's, it may also be leading to less or more consistency with your Vokey compared to your Cobra's.

The reality is there are several factors at play. If you want the best gapping, you need to go get properly fit with a good launch monitor. 

[GregGarner]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

If you are launching the wedges at 40* you are doing something with the club at impact. I am not an instructor nor have I seen your swing so I can’t tell why but you should launch wedges lower especially with a full swing.

Seconded. I have a tendency to flip at impact and when I do, my ball shoots straight up and I know it's going to be 10+ yards short. It still feels like a solid shot, but there's less compression and more dynamic loft. My good ones come out markedly lower, fly further, and have tons of spin, typically one hop and stop on Bermuda or suck back 5-10 feet on Bentgrass.

I would recommend setting up a tripod with your phone (or other slow-mo capable camera if you have one) and try to get footage to see if you're manipulating the club at impact. This in no way answers your gapping question, but if you get better distances and distance control as a result of better impact positions, it might help your gaps to at least be more consistent.

FWIW, if you're near a TrueSpec, they're running a BOGO for cyber Monday. I'm about to do a putter and wedge fitting with them myself

[ejgaudette]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

If you are launching the wedges at 40* you are doing something with the club at impact. I am not an instructor nor have I seen your swing so I can’t tell why but you should launch wedges lower especially with a full swing.

Yes, this is something I struggle with too, so I usually go for partial shots because of this. On TXG videos with wedges they always talk about wanting wedges to launch around 30 degrees, so 40 would be too high.

[RollingGreens]

3 hours ago, Kansas King said:

It sounds like you may need another wedge to fill the gap. Your Cobra wedge likely has less aggressive grooves to control the spin and thus go longer where a 56* Vokey will have about as aggressive grooves as legally possible. The face of the Cobra may also be "hotter" but that may not have as much impact with a gap wedge. The reality is that you probably need a 52* or 53* wedge to fill the gap between your Cobra 50* and then add back your 56*. The gapping may not look quite right but the real world distances are what matter. You might also compare shafts because your set of Cobra's may have a much lighter shaft compared to your Vokey. The heavier shaft may be slowing you down and if the swing weight or feel is way different than your Cobra's, it may also be leading to less or more consistency with your Vokey compared to your Cobra's.

The reality is there are several factors at play. If you want the best gapping, you need to go get properly fit with a good launch monitor. 

I have contemplated that idea a few months back. Glad that your brought it up. I was fingering at one point with a 52degree vokey. Wish I would have kept it because it would have filled out the yardages I was looking for. It would have put me at 50,52, and I could have re bent to the original 56. 

[RollingGreens]

1 hour ago, greggarner said:

Seconded. I have a tendency to flip at impact and when I do, my ball shoots straight up and I know it's going to be 10+ yards short. It still feels like a solid shot, but there's less compression and more dynamic loft. My good ones come out markedly lower, fly further, and have tons of spin, typically one hop and stop on Bermuda or suck back 5-10 feet on Bentgrass.

I would recommend setting up a tripod with your phone (or other slow-mo capable camera if you have one) and try to get footage to see if you're manipulating the club at impact. This in no way answers your gapping question, but if you get better distances and distance control as a result of better impact positions, it might help your gaps to at least be more consistent.

FWIW, if you're near a TrueSpec, they're running a BOGO for cyber Monday. I'm about to do a putter and wedge fitting with them myself

Unfortunately I’m not. I just did an iron fitting at a local store and will most likely do a wedge fitting at some point next year. 

[Shankster]

I’m a not a coach or pro... but another thing you could mess around with is ball position.  If the ball is way up in your stance, it is going to go higher, and you might be hitting them a tad thick with the lower spin...

Worth a shot to move it back in the stance and give it a try... that is unless the ball is already back in your stance.  Me personally, I have the ball about 3-4” off my back instep. 
 

Again... not a pro, so please don’t take what I say as the law. 

[RollingGreens]

21 hours ago, Shankster said:

I’m a not a coach or pro... but another thing you could mess around with is ball position.  If the ball is way up in your stance, it is going to go higher, and you might be hitting them a tad thick with the lower spin...

Worth a shot to move it back in the stance and give it a try... that is unless the ball is already back in your stance.  Me personally, I have the ball about 3-4” off my back instep. 
 

Again... not a pro, so please don’t take what I say as the law. 

Considering all options at this point. Lucky enough to be able to tinker in a simulator at a friends house

[Murray06]

I was finding I was losing distance in new wedges, and that even though I was hitting them solid and straight they were just ballooning on me. When I bought them I decided to fit the same shaft to match my irons as this was the general consensus of less risk. Eventually I swapped out the modus 120’s for the Modus wedge 115 and have never looked back. Distance gapping perfect and trajectory right where I want it. 

[txgolfjunkie]

I'm late to the party, but you might want to check your impact...my miss is up a few grooves high out on the toe and I find myself hitting high floaters that lose a good bit of distance. Most sweet spots on wedges tend to be closer to the heel so a miss on the toe will see a larger decline in yardage.