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How to properly gap your wedges

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Every golf equipment company has a theory and pitch for why you should play its wedges. I am here to say that, yes, certain wedges from certain manufacturers have advantages over others, both in performance and looks and feel. For that reason, golfers should spend some time determining what wedge is best for their game. If they don’t understand the process of wedge gapping, however, their next wedge purchase is unlikely to help them shoot lower scores.

The performance differences between today’s wedges include slight changes in spin production, sole grinds, stock shaft options, head construction and forgiveness. On the looks/feel side of things, there are big differences in head shape, finishes and feel. But again, these are secondary factors that should only be tackled once you properly gap your wedges. Doing so will not only give you more confidence about how far your wedges actually fly, but will leave you with fewer “tweener” yardages that are often harder to convert into birdies and pars.

So where should golfers start? Many fall into the trap of thinking that they need to buy specific wedges with specific lofts in order to achieve consistent yardage gaps. Sometimes they’re right, but before they make any new purchases they should first exhaust the simplest, most obvious solution. All they need to do is chart how far their wedges currently fly in the air, either on the course or on a launch monitor like Trackman. The feedback will be even more precise if you use the same golf ball you use when you play — and as I wrote about previously, premium golf balls are the way to go for a better wedge game.

To show you how important a wedge gapping is, I performed one on my wedge game with my Trackman. I currently use four wedges, and have a 4-degree loft separation between them as many players do. This is not done by customization, usually; it’s become the default configuration promoted by the manufacturers, and PW-52-56-60 or PW-50-54-58 are the most commonly recommended wedge sets.

As a PGA Professional, I’ve been so busy teaching in recent years that I haven’t gotten to play much golf, so I was particularly interested to see if I was playing a properly gapped set of wedges.

My current wedges 

  • TaylorMade PSi Tour (PW) — 46 Degrees
  • TaylorMade Tour Preferred (ATV Grind) — 50 Degrees
  • TaylorMade ATV — 54 Degrees
  • TaylorMade Tour Preferred (ATV Grind) — 58 Degrees

WedgeGapsGolf

My average carry distances

  • 115 yards,TaylorMade PSi Tour (PW) —  46 Degrees
  • 104.1 yards,TaylorMade Tour Preferred (ATV Grind) — 50 Degrees
  • 96.5 yards,TaylorMade ATV — 54 Degrees
  • 88.8 yards,TaylorMade Tour Preferred (ATV Grind) — 58 Degrees

My gaps

  • PW to GW: 10.9 yards
  • GW to SW: 7.6 yards
  • SW to LW: 7.7 yards

While my wedge gaps proved to be somewhat even, they were too close together. Do I really need four clubs for a distance range that covers less than 30 yards? The answer for me is no, so I will need to reconsider my wedge makeup to achieve the 12-yard gaps that I prefer.

Many golfers, especially those who have been playing a long time, will have different preferences about what they want their yardage gaps to be on full swings — 10 yards, 15 yards, 20 yards, etc. Generally, the more full swings golfers make with their wedges, the tighter their yardage gaps should be. Other players will never “max out” a wedge, preferring to hit finesse shots and alter their trajectory. These types of golfers generally play wedges with wider yardage gaps, as their distances are more feel-based.

Whatever type of wedge game you have, gapping is still of the utmost importance, because if you don’t know how far your wedges fly then you have no chance to play your best.

My friend Scott Felix, a Golf Digest Top 100 club fitter and owner of Felix Clubworks in Memphis, Tenn., says that every 1 degree change in wedge loft will create approximately a 3-yard change in carry distance. It’s not an exact science — if it was, my wedges would have already had 12-yard gaps between them —  but it’s a good starting point.

The achieve more consistent wedge gaps, I have two choices, as many of you will as well:

  1. Bend the wedges I already have to lofts that create the yardage gaps I want.
  2. Identify what wedge lofts aren’t working for me, and replace them with new models.

Altering the loft of a wedge, which involves bending it weaker or stronger, changes more than loft — it also changes the bounce angle on the wedge’s sole, as well as its amount of offset. Adding loft increases bounce and removes offset, while decreasing loft decreases bounce and adds offset.

Most PGA Tour players are generally ok with bending their wedges 1-to-2 degrees, but after that the look and performance of a wedge will start to become noticeably affected.

I’m sure that some of you reading this story wish your 52-degree wedge went a little farther, shorter, whatever, but don’t have access to a loft/lie machine.

If you’re in the market for new wedges, and want to dial in your distances without needing to bend the lofts, there is a viable option — Ben Hogan wedges. The company’s new TK-15 wedges are offered in every loft between 45 and 62 degrees, meaning that each wedge is designed to be played at a specific loft. That allows the sole grinds and bounce characteristics stay consistent from loft to loft.

Regardless of what wedges you buy, however, make sure you get to the course or to a Trackman to figure out how far your wedges fly. That will help you understand what lofts you need to fill the troublesome gaps in your wedge game.

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Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

32 Comments

32 Comments

  1. Jim

    Dec 8, 2015 at 10:32 am

    Nice article, but you’re possibly missing one group of us that carry multiple wedges that not only gap distances but also elicit different feels for touch shots. I currently carry PW, UW, 52 and 56 degree wedges. I’d rather open up a 56 in a sand shot than use a higher lofted wedge (I had one several years ago and it doesn’t agree with me). I think there’s a lot to be said for being creative with shots too and not simply relying on the loft. Just my thought.

  2. Derek

    Dec 7, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    Great read Tom! I tried 3 wedges but now happy with my sm4 52-12 and 58-06.
    I have a sm4 62-07 but didn’t get along with the grind. The grind (feel and turf interaction) for me is the biggest thing with sand/ lob wedges.
    Having two wedges does make life simpler and I also try to play 100 or 50m from the green to avoid all thes different chip yardages. I saw Phil mickelson talk about understanding your yardage for a 3/4 backswing to full follow through and then a 1/2 and 1/4 backswing which is easy to remember on the course. You can do the same but grip down Whig should take off 20m. Once you have a yardage and shot system life is a lot easier

  3. KK

    Dec 5, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    If many pros have 5 or 6 degree gaps between wedges, we lowly ams should probably have 6 or 8 degree gaps.

  4. Scooter McGavin

    Dec 5, 2015 at 9:18 am

    If you have access to a golf shop that can fit and sell you those Hogan wedges, you have access to a shop that can bend your lofts for less than $5.

  5. Steve

    Dec 5, 2015 at 8:51 am

    Another infomercial, wedge gapping is fundamenatally easy. Pw, 52,58 for me. Used to play a 54 but as pw became more 9i had to adjust

  6. Robert

    Dec 4, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    I was always trying to find the perfect gaps carrying 4 wedges. I’ve now settled on just my 714 AP2 PW and my 30 year old Bu Eye2 SW (57.5*). Sometimes what works is nowhere near what you initially thought.

  7. Thomas

    Dec 4, 2015 at 10:40 pm

    Under what will seem like a shameless plug but is in reality my sharing what I think is a great solution, a suggestion. If you’re serious about getting fit for wedges, go to Titleist’s pro fitting facility at Manchester Lane.

    I went for a fitting because I wasn’t happy with my gapping (apropos!) and I wasn’t happy with rough interaction with my 60, which is my main chipping / pitching club. They have the facilities to make it a meaningful exercise. Notably, it was range with a trackman for 45 minutes and most importantly short game for 45-60 minutes with all the shots – green side fairway and rough, short and long bunker, flip wedges. I wanted to beg off hitting the 70-85 yard flip wedges, but my fitter cajoled me to confirming that I liked the turf interaction, flight, and landing characteristics on the actual green. All this while using the specific ball I play (V1x).

    It’s spendy – $200 for the service alone. You get specs and then have to go order. But I found it well worth the money. (So much so that I’m going to Oceanside in January to try a driver fitting.)

    For those who might be curious, I played MP-68s bent really weak so had a 50* PW, 56* vokey sm4-12, and 60-10 (or 12?) K grind. Had a 20 gap between PW and 56. Had trouble through rough with 60. I ended up with a 50-08 F grind (less bounce that PW which was up to 11*) so much better through the turf, a 56-12 S bent to 55*, and a 60* TVD low bounce K which has been so much better with a slightly smaller head and less depth bunch continued wide flange.

  8. Marc

    Dec 4, 2015 at 9:27 pm

    I have 46-50-54-58 with carry yardages of 115-103-90-77

    I feel comfortable with any yardage within these gaps. It dialing in the 45 yard shots that need some extra work.

  9. Dangeruss21

    Dec 4, 2015 at 8:54 pm

    I want to do a wedge / full iron gapping and living in the northeast with cold weather on it way, would you recommend I do a gapping on the indoor trackman or wait until Spring when we can do it outdoors? Is there a difference when gapping on the trackman?

    • Dangeruss21

      Dec 5, 2015 at 5:07 pm

      What did you do to gap your wedges? Indoor / outdoor?

  10. Dj

    Dec 4, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    Honestly, most people should not even carry anything higher than a sand wedge. I’ve never seen a 10 handicap hit a 60* well

    • Tom

      Dec 5, 2015 at 11:52 am

      generalizing.

    • KK

      Dec 5, 2015 at 5:18 pm

      I disagree. I think the vast majority of bunker shots should be played with a 58 or 60 for casual golfers, let alone 10 handicaps. It’s also a must for tight approach or scramble shots with lower spin balls used by many casual golfers. I’m a 16 HCP and my 60 is my 2nd or 3rd favorite club and probably my #2 club that elicits complements from my playing buds.

      • Joe Golfer

        Jan 18, 2016 at 12:37 am

        That is potentially correct, but many of those 58* or 60* wedges are definitely NOT sand wedges.
        They are lob wedges, and they have very little bounce on them.
        I have an old, old sand wedge that is 60*, but it has a lot of bounce on it.
        It is wonderful for sand shots, but not much good for anything else in my personal case due to difficulty in hitting a 60* wedge from fairway.
        If a player has a typical 60* wedge, it very well may be a lob wedge with little bounce on it, so it won’t be very good for sand play.

        • Nath

          Apr 25, 2016 at 8:30 am

          Unless you have very little sand in bunkers

  11. Atomic Wedge

    Dec 4, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    46-52-58 for me. An extra club off the tee is more important for me.

  12. Dan K

    Dec 4, 2015 at 3:02 pm

    I have 4 wedges with mostly a 4 degree gap – 47, 52, 56, 60. My yardages are about 12 yards apart on a comfortable full swing – 138, 125, 112, 100. I can say I rarely try to hit a full 60 as it would spin off most of the greens at the course I play. The grooves on my SW are a bit worn down so I don’t mind hitting that at full. Typically I play 80-85% shots vs swinging hard with my 52,56 and 60 to cover 115, 100 and 85. I spend more time working on these gaps than any other club on the range when practicing and usually wrap up my pre-round practice getting a feel for my 80-85% shot.

  13. BD57

    Dec 4, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    I carry 4 wedges 45-50-56-62 for yardages. While I can’t say I’m super precise with them, in general terms, they’re good for 115, 100, 85, and 70 yards. If I need something in between, choking down a bit takes care of it.

  14. Jack F

    Dec 4, 2015 at 11:29 am

    The hardest part for me isn’t the gap, since I feel yardages shorter than a full SW. The issue for me is a upright lie at address. During the full swing, you get deflection in the shaft so the club naturally flattens, but with half shots or chips, the shaft just doesn’t deflect. I have found that managing toe down on a full swing is easier to manage than trying to set up and finesse a pitch/chip with the toe too high. Therefore, my wedges (PW on down) are all flatter lie than my 9-iron on up. I don’t know if this is common knowledge, but it’s how I set up my wedges.

  15. Chris

    Dec 4, 2015 at 11:18 am

    You people need to lighten up. Bunch of whiners and complainers. The author goes over a very important aspect of golf here – who cares if he drops a name or two. Get over it already. You people make it almost unbearable to even read these things.

    • Nath

      Apr 25, 2016 at 8:33 am

      Yea sure, and i was expecting to read an advertisement

  16. Jay

    Dec 4, 2015 at 11:07 am

    Tom, just curious if you feel that your 50* may be a slightly more upright lie than the other wedges, as it seems to be the only wedge that missed the center line, with the entire grouping left of center.

  17. Tom

    Dec 4, 2015 at 10:52 am

    Wow the Titleist crowd gets bent if another brand is mentioned.

  18. Get it together WRXer's

    Dec 4, 2015 at 10:05 am

    How in the world is this a shameless plug for Hogan? They are doing something that entirely ties into the article. Tom is on staff with TM and they don’t own Hogan. Here is how the rest of his search goes, he bends his wedges until he gets the lofts and yardage gaps he wants and then orders them from TM. Great article Tom, it shows an aspect of club fitting that is often overlooked by players and fitters.

    • Joe Golfer

      Jan 18, 2016 at 12:43 am

      Totally agree with you. This is not a “shameless plug” for Hogan.
      If Hogan happens to sell wedges that one can purchase at just 1* difference, many people may be interested in that rather than bending their current wedges, which changes their bounce and offset, as the article states.

  19. That Bob Guy

    Dec 4, 2015 at 9:16 am

    So, the playing length of each wedge plays no role in distance gaps? I understood gaps were divided 50/50, between loft and length.

  20. Mikko U

    Dec 4, 2015 at 9:13 am

    The article was good until the last three paragraphs. I was expecting the author to go through the search for new wedges and show us the results.

    Unfortunately the article was just an add for Hogan.

  21. Chris

    Dec 4, 2015 at 8:49 am

    I really enjoyed the article until the shameless Ben Hogan wedge plug.

  22. Teaj

    Dec 4, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Great articular. I work in golf and I see the standard 4 deg gap go out the door everyday which I have also fell into myself. This year the 50, 54, 58 is going to change as I feel my 58 isn’t quite enough loft around the green and I never use the 54 other than full shots. keeping the 50 as it bending the 54 to 55 and I am going to purchase a 60 degree at some point before the spring which works out as the 58 has been used and abused for the last 2 seasons.

    Summer hurry up and get back here as I have already got the itch.

    • Josh

      Dec 4, 2015 at 6:20 pm

      You read my mind. I was also thinking of bending my PW one weak to 47, bending the 54 to 53 and bending the 58 to 59 giving 6 degree gaps and adding a 5 wood or 3 hybrid to the setup up top…

      • Manuel

        Dec 5, 2015 at 8:13 pm

        Exactly what I have and has worked fine for years as a 2 cap. My current PW is 47 and use a 54 bent to 53 and a 60. The 60 is by far the most important club for me as I do like to get aggressive around the greens with numerous flop shots.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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