Trouble hitting my Vokey 56.14

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By Aaron R

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  • 11 Replies
  1. Aaron R

    Aaron R
    charlotte, NC

    I have a Vokey Spin Milled 48.06 that I hit anywhere from 105-130 yards and can shape the ball very well. I also have a Vokey Spin Milled 56.14 that I think should be my 80-100 yard club that I cant shape or hit very well at all.  Could the major difference in bounce be my problem here? What are the most common bounces for a 56* wedge?  I have a 60.04 that I use all around the greens/bunkers and from anywhere inside 75. Just trying to fill that 75-105 yard gap.

  2. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Aaron R said:

    I have a Vokey Spin Milled 48.06 that I hit anywhere from 105-130 yards and can shape the ball very well. I also have a Vokey Spin Milled 56.14 that I think should be my 80-100 yard club that I cant shape or hit very well at all.  Could the major difference in bounce be my problem here? What are the most common bounces for a 56* wedge?  I have a 60.04 that I use all around the greens/bunkers and from anywhere inside 75. Just trying to fill that 75-105 yard gap.

    The 56-14 is way too much bounce on the fairway and is meant for very soft bunkers and thick grass. You're better off taking a 54-11 and bending it to 55-12 (I can do a lot with my 54). In the meantime, practice pitch shots with your 9 iron and 48-06. 56-11 is a common bounce. I'm assuming your 105 yard shot is when you grip the 48-06 on the bottom of the handle on a full swing square stance. You should be able to pitch a 9 iron 105 yards and a PW about 90 yards full swing. Should be able to choke 1/2" on the 9 iron to bring it to 95 and hit an 80 yard pitch choking 1/2" on the PW. Your full pitch is about 70% of your full swing.
  3. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Just to add on personal experience with 56-14 wedges..... I bought a couple used (more or less as a science experiment) and returned them to the store within a week. Good for soft bunkers but useless for anything else. They're fine for soft bunker shots but you have to play the ball back in your stance if on the fairway or off a tight lie and you have to play a digging shot. If you want to keep the 56-14 for soft bunkers and thick grass, get a 52-08 and bend it to 53-09. The 53-09 still has enough bounce for longer bunker shots in somewhat soft sand and good enough for fairway or tight lies and all you need to do to close the gap is choke down on the club. My wedge setup is SM3 50-08 (bent to 51), 54-11 (bent to 55), 58-04 and 62-07. The 58-04 is more like an "old school" sand wedge. My irons are Eye 2 so I don't need a PW since the 9 iron is 45*. The 50-08 plays more like an "old school" PW and it is pretty much my go to pitching club and I do a few occasional full golf shots with it. I do pitch shots with the 9 iron to cover the gap between 60 and 80 yards (60 being a full pitch with the 50-08 and 80 being a choked full golf shot). I seldom do full golf shots with the 54,58 or 62. I hit the 54 about 85 yards on a full swing but it is much less effort to choke the 50 or pitch the 9 iron.
  4. Quintin H

    Quintin H
    Morehead, KY

    Lou

    You don't have to play a wedge back in your stance because of bounce, you do have to because of how you bring the club into the ball.

    I use a 54.14 and play the ball off my left foot. I can open the club and still hit the ball first, if  want to hit the ball even higher I use a 58.12, with this club I can do all the flop I will ever need.

    I use to use LW for most shots around the green because of the sole and bounce I had more options, and I used the SW just when it was needed.

    Now I only use the LW when I can't do the shot with the SW, it is a better way.

  5. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Quintin H said:

    Lou

    You don't have to play a wedge back in your stance because of bounce, you do have to because of how you bring the club into the ball.

    I use a 54.14 and play the ball off my left foot. I can open the club and still hit the ball first, if  want to hit the ball even higher I use a 58.12, with this club I can do all the flop I will ever need.

    I use to use LW for most shots around the green because of the sole and bounce I had more options, and I used the SW just when it was needed.

    Now I only use the LW when I can't do the shot with the SW, it is a better way.

    What I may mean to say is "apparently" back in stance. The ball position remains the same in relation to your torso (head behind the ball) regardless of what kind of shot you hit. I play my flop and bunker shots off the front foot and play my cut shots more forward of center. I also do pretty well with the severe downhill lie shot (and I got a pretty slick tip from golf.com about taking all the weight off the back foot so that it actually lifts off the ground a tad). I agree with you on the SW - I rarely use my 58-04 and 62-07 (I use these more at some of the short courses with small greens). Most of my short game is between the 50-08 and the 54-11. Better to use a SW cut shot out of thick grass vs hitting a square face LW. I've been pretty adept at a SW and PW for a long time.
  6. Quintin H

    Quintin H
    Morehead, KY

    Aaron

    If you have shallow impact swing then yes the 14* bounce will be a problem.

    The only problem with a shallow swing is that you limit the use of a high bounce club to shots where you want to hit the ground first......sand, deep rough, which apparently you don't need since you use a 60.04 for these shots.

    You have some choices

    Learn how to use the high bounce wedge

    Replace the high bounce wedge

    or You can keep the high bounce wedge for when it is needed, learn how to hit your PW to cover those distances.

  7. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Quintin H said:

    Aaron

    If you have shallow impact swing then yes the 14* bounce will be a problem.

    The only problem with a shallow swing is that you limit the use of a high bounce club to shots where you want to hit the ground first......sand, deep rough, which apparently you don't need since you use a 60.04 for these shots.

    You have some choices

    Learn how to use the high bounce wedge

    Replace the high bounce wedge

    or You can keep the high bounce wedge for when it is needed, learn how to hit your PW to cover those distances.

    My post in work sort of agrees with Quintin's response. I've had great success with the 54-11 (bent to 55) and have been using it for over a year now. But to add to that in regards to gaps, I had a do-it-yourself set of irons and the gap between the PW and SW was 8* so I got rather proficient at working the PW (could also hit long bunker shots in soft sand, a plus for GI irons). I also had an in-between pitch shot with the 9 iron. Point we're making is to explore the capabilities of your short irons and wedges. Those of us that grew up in the 1970s had a 50 degree PW and a 57-58 degree SW (with a wide flange and low bounce). Although I have the Eye 2 PW and four Vokeys in my bag, I could toss the PW and the 58-04 and still play an effective game of golf. 99 percent of my short game is with the 50-08. 99 percent of the time I use the 54 in bunkers. I also do quite a bit of good stuff with the 62-07. The PW has a very high bounce leading edge and it is great for all sorts of soft lies but is absolutely horrible for tight lies (I can drop it on a dime for longer pitch shots). Oh yeah.... on another note.... I picked up an AP1 9 iron and PW at Golfmart to try in place of my Eye 2 8 and 9 irons (same lofts). R300 shafts. Had the lie angles adjusted (free) to what I have been fit for on all my clubs.
  8. Nick A

    Nick A

    Try bending your 56 to 54 degrees. I played a 56.14 (bent to 54.12) and 60.08 combo for 3 sets of wedges in a row. I am now at 54.11 and 60.07 and dont notice the 1 degree difference.I think 8-12 degrees is a fairly optimal range of bounce in either a SW or LW which should play well in most playing conditions.

     

    Also, If Im not mistaken, Titleist uses S-300 in their 48-50* wedges and S-200 for their sand and Lob wedges. Doubt it would make that much of a difference, but you may want to consider having the same shaft in all of your wedges to keep the consistency. Hope this helps!

    -Nick

  9. Kelly M

    Kelly M
    La Grande, OR

    Based on your description - never having seen your swing - I would suggest you change your sand wedge.  Your bounce on your other two wedges is low - pretty common for your PW and LW.  To fill your gap, I'd suggest a 54 degree wedge, with 8 to 11 degrees of bounce.  One other thing to strongly consider is the lie angle.  I don't know how tall you are or what your swing plane is, but if the club you are having trouble with has a lie angle too flat or too upright, that can cause serious issues, too.  This really bothered me last spring with a new gap wedge.  I'd usually miss left and long.  Had it measured and it was 2 degrees too upright for me.  Adjusted and it's spot on now.  So ... there are a number of variables.  If at all possible, find someone who is a club-fitter with a strike plate, and see if there's an issue.  This is usually pretty inexpensive - a lot less than a new wedge - depends on where you are (less than $25 in my case).  Based on how you swing, less bounce, less loft, +/or a lie adjustment - even if you change clubs - might really help you.

    Good luck and play well!

  10. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Kelly M said:

    Based on your description - never having seen your swing - I would suggest you change your sand wedge.  Your bounce on your other two wedges is low - pretty common for your PW and LW.  To fill your gap, I'd suggest a 54 degree wedge, with 8 to 11 degrees of bounce.  One other thing to strongly consider is the lie angle.  I don't know how tall you are or what your swing plane is, but if the club you are having trouble with has a lie angle too flat or too upright, that can cause serious issues, too.  This really bothered me last spring with a new gap wedge.  I'd usually miss left and long.  Had it measured and it was 2 degrees too upright for me.  Adjusted and it's spot on now.  So ... there are a number of variables.  If at all possible, find someone who is a club-fitter with a strike plate, and see if there's an issue.  This is usually pretty inexpensive - a lot less than a new wedge - depends on where you are (less than $25 in my case).  Based on how you swing, less bounce, less loft, +/or a lie adjustment - even if you change clubs - might really help you.

    Good luck and play well!

    Too flat is worse when it comes to inability to hit a full shot (you get great distance on a pull because you swing flat to compensate and it feels chunky on a straight shot or you hit an apparent shank on a tight lie). Too upright is easier to fix because you choke down on the club to hit it - and this is a key indicator because you get better distance choking down vs full grip when hitting straight.
  11. Kelly M

    Kelly M
    La Grande, OR

    My point is why be either too flat or upright?  The best result is to have the correct lie.  Yes, choking down can help with a too upright lie, and a "too flat" lie is also bad - and hard to deal with.  But if fit correctly, no artificial adjustment is needed.  (For me, being a bit short (and getting shorter as I age) and having a relatively flat swing, a flatter lie is natural - and what a good fitter helped me with.)  IMO he might get his best results seeing an experienced fitter and see if a relatively simple loft +/or lieadjustment is the fix.

  12. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Kelly M said:

    My point is why be either too flat or upright?  The best result is to have the correct lie.  Yes, choking down can help with a too upright lie, and a "too flat" lie is also bad - and hard to deal with.  But if fit correctly, no artificial adjustment is needed.  (For me, being a bit short (and getting shorter as I age) and having a relatively flat swing, a flatter lie is natural - and what a good fitter helped me with.)  IMO he might get his best results seeing an experienced fitter and see if a relatively simple loft +/or lieadjustment is the fix.

    Exactly. Gotta be fit properly. All my clubs are zeroed in. It is also a good idea to have the lie angles re-checked periodically, especially when certain clubs go haywire. I had to have my sand wedge re done because it had flattened 1/2 degree.

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