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There are too many options to look at and if you don't know what you like then anything that you buy without testing will just be a gamble. I suggest going to a range that will let you test outside.

I will give you an expensive option. Scratch Tour Custom Wedges custom ground for your game. If you are a good player it's a nice have...

Despite my high end recommendation, I think the ultimate question is what do you plan on using it for...for instance...

-> Is it all all round club for you...that is to say do you have a 60* wedge?
-> What shots do you favor with the 56...full swing, chips, bunker shots, pitches?
-> What is your angle of attack on a full swing 56* shot...steep or shallow?
-> If you use the 56 in the bunker do you take a lot of sand or do you try to sweep it? Are you a good bunker player?

All of these questions are and answers are more important than brand.

Let me explain...
I love my wedges, they are the favorite clubs in my bag. As I teach my son the game I made him give his wedge a name...Sandy Andy. Why because a great short game is an equalizer.

If you don't have a 60* club then you probably use your 56* for all the above short game shots, which means you need a more versatile club.

I have a 60* club which a ground down bounce angle to open the face, so my 56 is my primary sand club. I also like to hit down on the ball so I maximized the bounce angle to make my pitch shots crisp and my bunker shots easier.

You may know this already but I will add it for others...

If you sweep the ball you do not want a lot of bounce because you will hit the ball thin. The problem there is that to hit a great bunker shot bounce allows you to be more aggressive because it keeps the wedge from digging into the sand.

If you are a digger and you hit down on your wedges then you want to have more bounce so that the ball does not dig too deep into the turf. The same is true in bunkers.

For all of these reasons I always buy my 52, 56 and 60 degree wedges at the same time because each club needs to compliment the other and each club has its own purpose. My purpose would be different than yours because each club has a specific job for specific circumstances and distances.

The golf shop that I frequent has wedge fittings. It made a big difference when buying my new wedges ( I went with Callaway myself, MD2 s grind 52 and PM grind 58). I've only owned Cleveland's before the fitting but I liked the look at address with the Callaways and the versatility of the 58 pm grind.

Find a shop or fitter that will fit you for your wedges, you won't regret it.

I am a digger when using the higher lofted clubs. I know I need a higher bounce because my Nike is only a 8 degree bounce. I use it for full, pitch, and bunker shots but I do not chip or pinch good with it so I use my Gap wedge. No I do not have a 60 degree wedge.

Is Golf Galaxy a good fitter of clubs? I do not feel they are from previous purchases. I love the feel of the Callaway Irons I started playing with this year (X hot).

I'm not to sure about golf galaxy, I don't have one around my area. I'm lucky to Miles of Golf in Ann Arbor 5 minutes from my house. If you don't mind the drive, I know they have a second location in Cincinnati that also has wedge fitting.

I know a few golf pros that also offer wedge fittings so my first thought would be to start making calls to pros to see if they can help you.

Will do. Thanks.

Just do what AG said. Find an outdoor range and try whatever they have as demo wedges. My opinion is that there may be differences between wedges, though not that big a deal, unless you are a scratch golfer. I'm about a 5 or 6 , and I love my wedges, because I can stick them from my distances. And they are Nike! But my driving range buddy asked me to swing his wedge the other day. I stuck it also.
If you have a good repeatable swing, you can play with most any good wedge. Don't sweat it. Just try as many as you can outdoors and find the one you feel the best with.

I'd love to hear Kevin say more about "I don't like the feel of it" and "but I do not chip or pinch good with it". If we heard more about where the problems are, we could be more helpful. I suspect there is a combination of technique and equipment issues here.

What are the inconsistencies? On what kind of shots? How do you setup on chips, pitches, and so on?

Sorry Mark but been busy.

When I hit my Callaways on the sweet spot, it is like I didn't even feel the ball. But as for my Nike wedge, I always feel the contact of ball through the club. With my full shots I am getting about 105 yards out of 56 degree which is not very long but that is consistent. When chipping or pitching this club I will start worry about shanking it and I hit it thin or just dig right into the ground. I always have the ball back in my stance. Now if I use my Callaway AW to chip and pitch I am way more consistent but of course I am way longer with full swing. I have got to the point of just removing the 56 from my bag but I need it for bunkers. I don't know if it is just mental or bad mechanics with this club or it is fit wrong for my swing.

Kevin, we all get busy at times, so no problem. After all, this is all for you.

There is definitely a mental component in what you describe, but that doesn't mean there isn't also a fitting problem with the equipment too. Here are some of the physical differences between these two clubs that might influence your choice of a replacement wedge.

FORGIVENESS - The Callaway X Hot irons and wedges you use have a lot more forgiveness than the Nike VR Forged. Put another way, the Nike wedge is much more demanding and won't perform nearly as well on off-center contact. As you look for a new sand wedge, you'll probably benefit with a wedge that provides a lot of forgiveness (game improvement category).

SWING WEIGHT - The Callaway X Hot irons and wedges you use have a very low swing weight - D1 or D2 depending on whether you have graphite or steel shafts. The Nike VR Forged wedge is a D4 to D6. This means the Nike wedge is going to feel considerably heavier as you swing it. This could be throwing you off your game and a major contributor to your comment that it doesn't feel right to you. This could also be a factor in hitting it fat and thin.

BOUNCE - I don't have enough information yet to know if this is a factor or not, but it would be easy to find out. The AW that comes standard in the Callaway X Hot iron set has 11-degrees of bounce. The 56-degree Nike wedge comes in 8, 14 and 16 degrees of bounce. If you have the 8-degree bounce model we can probably throw bounce out as a factor. If you have the 14 or 16 degree bounce model that can contribute to poor contact, particularly on tight lies.

You can never eliminate the impact of how a club 'looks' as you stand over it. Sometimes that screws with our perception, or influences our confidence. For example, the poor results you've gotten with the Nike wedge, may poison your mind to any club that looks like it in the future.

Normally, I'm an advocate for higher swing rates in wedges. In your case, I'd get a similar swing rate if you are only going to replace the one wedge. If you are open to changing out all your wedges, then you could consider higher swing weights.

It makes a difference in the sand or heavy rough as the higher swing weights will glide through easier than a low swing weight.

After reading this let me know your thoughts and we can probably narrow it down more and move on to specific brand/models you may want to try out.

Yes I do notice a big difference in weight of the 2 wedges. The Nike is a 8 degree bounce. I thought that the more of a digger you are the higher bounce you need. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am not a low handicap player but I definitely want to get better. I know that a good wedge game is critical. If getting a different AW and SW is going to help me stay consistent then I will do it.

The saying you've heard is a generality and is generally applied to how much bounce you need for a green side bunker shot, which is only one of several uses you have for your 56 degree wedge. This generality is a classic case of single factor analysis. The type of shots you intend to make with your wedge, the angle of attack, shaft lean at impact and course conditions are all factors that affect how much bounce you need. For example, if the shaft leans back at impact it will expose more bounce. Where if the shaft leans forward, less bounce is exposed. Tight lies and hard pan require less bounce than if you play in the soggy conditions in the northwest.

Obviously, I don't know anything about your swing at this point or the conditions on the courses you play. So I cut to the chase by taking the specs that you say are working for you with the Callaway AW wedge as a starting point for trying out 56 degree replacement wedges.

I appreciate all the info and suggestions. I will start there.