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Wedge Shafts
Egor
Legend
 
240 Views    9 Replies    1 Like   I like it!
I never thought much about my wedge shafts until recently when I came across a thread on another forum about putting an 8i shaft in a wedge 10CPM stiffer than the players fitted flex and butt cutting it to length (swing weight correct if needed) for a more stable 'spinner' type shaft.

I never could understand why I always hit my 52 Gap wedge horribly, but my 56 sand wedge was consistent and usually good. The swing weights were the same, the bounce close, and the lie angles were the same. Looking at the shafts, the 52 is a TT Dynamic Gold "Wedge" flex and the 56 is a TrueTemper Tour Concept wedge shaft which is supposedly more in line with a 'spinner' shaft. I was recently fitted for new irons with Px LZ 5.5 shafts which are commonly considered "Stiff" - slightly stiffer than the DGS300 shaft. I've ordered two 8i shafts in 6.5 (X-Stiff) to try this out with. I'll update with what I find after a month, but has anyone else messed with their wedge shafts?

To me, wedge shafts should receive more attention since these are typically your scoring clubs.
Mongo68
Legend
 
# 1    1/7/2017 9:46:52 AM   
Interesting thought there. My 54 and 50 wedges have a gap of about 5 yards. My 50 wedge is the only club in the bag that I bought off the shelf and wasn't fitted for. When I can get all the snow off of them I'll have to look at that.


Dandy
Professional Champion
 
# 2    1/7/2017 1:59:57 PM   
A 'WEDGE' flex Vokey is a TT DG S200 shaft. It's fairly soft by the label but plays quite firm in the short wedges. I play C-Taper X's and find the S 200's in my 56 and 60 to be just fine. An 8 iron shaft in a 52 will feel like a lead pipe. I'm interested to see how you like the feel.


Egor
Legend
 
# 3    1/7/2017 3:14:34 PM   

@Dandy - my understanding behind what I'm attempting to do is when I butt trim the shaft, it is considered or called "soft stepping". I also believe that with most shafts, the shortest shaft is a 9i shaft so all 'wedge' shafts must be stepped / cut in some way to get to the desired length for a P,G,SW,LW. This may not be the case (probably isn't) for the DG "Wedge" shafts since they are specific for wedges.

I'm taking an 8i shaft 10CPM stiffer than my normal 8i shaft (ie. 5.5 "stiff" to 6.5 "XStiff"), and butt cutting it or soft-stepping it to achieve sand and lob wedge length.

I find that I take a lot of full swings with my gap, sand, and occasionally the lob wedge so they should play about 2-3 CPM stronger than my pitching wedge even though they started out as 6.5s.

I may hate it. I may love it. I do know that I love my 56 with a "Tour Concept" spinner style shaft which is what this should accomplish. A sane person would probably just buy the DG Tour Concept wedge shaft, but I'm not sane.


HIGH_LANDER
Legend
 
# 4    1/7/2017 7:57:32 PM   
I, have the DG SPINNERS SHAFTS install on my 56deg, 60deg & 80deg
wedges with the SECERT GRIP'S, my full swing with these three wedges are as follow.
56deg / 75 yards
60deg / 60 yards
80deg / 40 yards
NOTE: I,LOVE MY SW, so my three wedges, the shaft lengths are 35.125" , the LIE & LOFT, were not change. Love my Wedges.

here are the details for the DG SPINNER
The DG Spinner has been designed to increase ball spin during those all important wedge and approach shots. Powered by a specially engineered section just beneath the grip, DG Spinner can increase your ball's spin rate by as much as 700+ RPM. The result: A wedge shot with greater stopping power on the green and the proven accuracy that has made Dynamic Gold technology the number one iron shaft on tour. Two versions (Wedge & Wedge+) for SW/LW and PW/AW applications. Designed to fit major manufacture's pro-line irons and wedges requiring a 0.355" taper tip shafts.


Dandy
Professional Champion
 
# 5    1/8/2017 12:29:04 AM   


@Dandy - my understanding behind what I'm attempting to do is when I butt trim the shaft, it is considered or called "soft stepping". I also believe that with most shafts, the shortest shaft is a 9i shaft so all 'wedge' shafts must be stepped / cut in some way to get to the desired length for a P,G,SW,LW. This may not be the case (probably isn't) for the DG "Wedge" shafts since they are specific for wedges.

I'm taking an 8i shaft 10CPM stiffer than my normal 8i shaft (ie. 5.5 "stiff" to 6.5 "XStiff"), and butt cutting it or soft-stepping it to achieve sand and lob wedge length.

I find that I take a lot of full swings with my gap, sand, and occasionally the lob wedge so they should play about 2-3 CPM stronger than my pitching wedge even though they started out as 6.5s.

I may hate it. I may love it. I do know that I love my 56 with a "Tour Concept" spinner style shaft which is what this should accomplish. A sane person would probably just buy the DG Tour Concept wedge shaft, but I'm not sane.



Somewhat. You're correct in that a 9 iron shaft is generally the shortest shaft in a complete set, but my point is that when you cut down the 9 iron to play in a 56ยบ wedge, it will right away play very firm to flex. That's why, generally speaking, guy's play "softer shafts" in their wedges - it's just to maintain consistent feel. With your 8 iron shaft, the tip section will be roughly the same, but the mid section of the shaft will be firmer than the 9 iron shaft and you're basically eliminating any give whatsoever in the butt section of the shaft. So even though it's 'technically' soft stepped, it's not something that's ever done really because of the rebar feel you'd get. As an example, an S300 in a lob wedge plays to about the same feel/flex as an X100.

Like I say, I'm interested in how this works out for you.


Egor
Legend
 
# 6    1/10/2017 11:03:28 PM   

So even though it's 'technically' soft stepped, it's not something that's ever done really because of the rebar feel you'd get. As an example, an S300 in a lob wedge plays to about the same feel/flex as an X100.

Like I say, I'm interested in how this works out for you.


I took about 30 or 40 swings with it this afternoon before the head came loose due to a poor job on my part prepping the shaft. Not enough sanding to rough up the tip. I heard it break, gave it a twist, and felt it loose so I quit and it's sitting in my office after much more sanding and a liberal application of epoxy.

That said.. it felt great to me - and I'm not just saying that ;)

Here were the threads I referenced for how/why:
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/../
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/../

I didn't read them and set out to do it, rather, I found that I liked a stiffer / spinner type shaft and did some research. The most helpful contributor in both threads is Howard Jones.

I may not do that to my 58deg since it won't normally be a full swing club.


Egor
Legend
 
# 7    1/31/2017 9:53:40 PM   
I have an update on my 54* wedge shaft.

I put the Project X 6.5 LZ 8i shaft in my wedge and cut it down to wedge length - effectively soft stepping it x3 (or a bit more).

I've logged 13 rounds with it and 111 tracked shots according to Arccos. I love it. Arccos says my range is 80 - 125 yards with the smart distance being 105-110. Around the greens, it has become my favorite club. I'm using a B330RX or B330 ball and even on 55yd shots, it seems to hop & stop with 85+ yards I get a healthy amount of pull back - I need to figure out how to dial that in to my liking. I even got out of the sand with it and put it to 1' so.. maybe it's just me, maybe it's just extra confidence, but I do like the setup.
Full swings have a similar ball flight to my JPX 900F with the same (5.5) shafts.

I did *NOT* replace the shaft in my new 58* and haven't brought it out as often. I was a bit hesitant to cut up two shafts before trying it in the 54. TrueTemper/ProjectX is a Memphis based company so I asked one of their reps what they thought about putting it in the 58. He confirmed that a 6.5 8i cut down to wedge length would play about a 5.5 flex and suggested that I keep the same flex in the wedges. He encouraged me to put the LX 6.5 8i shaft in the 58 - he thinks I'll like it.

Time to dig out the heat gun and epoxy.


Mongo68
Legend
 
# 8    2/1/2017 6:08:36 AM   

I have an update on my 54* wedge shaft.

I put the Project X 6.5 LZ 8i shaft in my wedge and cut it down to wedge length - effectively soft stepping it x3 (or a bit more).

I've logged 13 rounds with it and 111 tracked shots according to Arccos. I love it. Arccos says my range is 80 - 125 yards with the smart distance being 105-110. Around the greens, it has become my favorite club. I'm using a B330RX or B330 ball and even on 55yd shots, it seems to hop & stop with 85+ yards I get a healthy amount of pull back - I need to figure out how to dial that in to my liking. I even got out of the sand with it and put it to 1' so.. maybe it's just me, maybe it's just extra confidence, but I do like the setup.
Full swings have a similar ball flight to my JPX 900F with the same (5.5) shafts.

I did *NOT* replace the shaft in my new 58* and haven't brought it out as often. I was a bit hesitant to cut up two shafts before trying it in the 54. TrueTemper/ProjectX is a Memphis based company so I asked one of their reps what they thought about putting it in the 58. He confirmed that a 6.5 8i cut down to wedge length would play about a 5.5 flex and suggested that I keep the same flex in the wedges. He encouraged me to put the LX 6.5 8i shaft in the 58 - he thinks I'll like it.

Time to dig out the heat gun and epoxy.


I'm intrigued by your ball choice. The B330RX is for driver swing speeds under 90 mph and the B330 is for the highest swing speeds 105-110 mph or more which honestly not many people have. Do you notice a difference in performance with those models?


Jim Rucker
LowIndex
 
# 9    9/27/2021 8:11:03 PM   
I've reshafted many wedges including my own numerous times. I find that the shaft used in your other irons trimmed according to the manufacturers specs should work just fine. You can always tip trim a bit more if desired but I doubt it'll make any difference.