Selecting the Correct Grind for your Vokey Design SM5 Wedges

Titleist Staff Posts : 328 Join date : 2009-10-15

Hi Golf Republic Members,

We’ve been receiving a lot of feedback and questions with regard to how best to choose the right grind when selecting your Vokey Design Spin Milled 5 wedges, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to jump on here and provide a short guide for those of you confused, as well as give you the opportunity to ask us any questions you may have directly via this forum post.

To start with its very important to remember that the grind is the last thing to think about when making a wedge selection. Not all lofts and bounces feature every grind, and as such golfers will most likely have a variety of grinds in their bag.

The first thing to do when deciding which wedges are best for you is to look at loft. Gapping is important. At an advanced fitting day our fitter will look at your current wedge set up and work with you to ensure the gapping between the wedges is best suited to your set. If for example you have a 50 degree, a 52 degree and a 60 degree wedge set up, its likely you would be recommended to take the 52 degree wedge to say 56 degree’s to create more consistent gapping.

Once you have established what wedge set up you need, the next step is to look at bounce. The two things to consider when looking at bounce are the turf conditions where you usually play and your swing type when playing wedge shots. For example, if the ground is typically hard, you may want less bounce to ensure the club doesn’t bounce of the turf at impact. In terms of swing types, you need to identify if you are a digger or a slider. A digger (someone who typically digs into the ground and takes a divot when playing a wedge shot) will require more bounce to stop the club from digging in so much. Below is a good illustration to help you decide what bounce is best for you.

Finally, once you have determined what lofts you are getting and what bounces you are having in each loft, its then time to look at the grinds. Below is the Bounce and Grind Matrix that lists each combination. As you can see, its often fairly easy to determine which grind to go with, as there won’t be a choice of grind for every loft and bounce combination. If for example you have established that you need wedges with high bounce, you will see for most lofts the grind option will be either F or K.

For more information on the new SM5 wedges and all of the grinds available, follow this link:http://www.titleist.com.sg/golf-clubs/wedges/sm5.aspx

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to post them below and I’d be happy to get back to you. Also, if you’ve already changed to the new Vokey Design SM5 wedges, do let us know what combination you went for and why, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks.

Tom

Great stuff demystifying the bounce, grind, their relationship; as well as the selection process Tom.

I'm on the 60.11 K grind.

I used to gravitate between a shallow angle of attack and a scooping motion. If I got it just right, I'd skim my wedge taking a thin sliver of sand and I'd be out. But it was just too unreliable a move, lots of tops and duffs. I just didn't trust the bounce enough to get steeper and hit down.

Tried out the K grind on a demo day, someone convinced me to hit down, and that expanded back flange just made it so easy to get that 'thump' from the sand. The more aggressively I extended down and through thumping the wedge, the better the K grind did its job, great stuff.

These days, I don't fear the beach like I used to. Swing

Junior Golfer Posts : 155 Join date : 2009-12-04

SM5 is real deal man... tried my SM5 - 52.08 and 58.11 (K version) today... never felt so confident with the wedges on hand. Numbers dial in with risk calculated.. U know the ball is not going to fly pass the back of the green and yet u know u r not going to approach shorter than the pin... gave me so much confidence once the ball is within 100 metres from pin. U can really plan and play with different kind of shots.

From a ex sm2 owner

Newbie Golfer Posts : 77 Join date : 2010-03-18

My PW is 44 If I get a set of 48, 52 and 58 wedges, does it means that 58 will be the default sand wedge?

Junior Golfer Posts : 155 Join date : 2009-12-04

Power72, once u use degree of loft on your wedges, it doesn't matter which is the sand wedge or which is gap wedge as they are all names to call your club. If u are more comfortable using 52 to get it on green from sand and u want to call it sand wedge, so be it.

Normally the sand, gap, lob wedges are just names for manufacturer they brand on their club so that they can add distance to their clubs by delofting the club and yet look good. Eg. normal pitching wedge is between 46-48 but yours is 44. yet they have to give u a sand wedge(which I believe could be 52) to bridge the distance. At the same time, they can't announce the loft to the world openly as many have already deem sand wedge should be are 56 degrees.

That's why many golfer turn to the wedges market like buying vokeys instead of the wedges provided by the manufacturer. Hope this clear your doubts on the wedges.

Newbie Golfer Posts : 77 Join date : 2010-03-18

Thanks. Over the years I had accumulated vokey 52, 54, 56 & 60. Had been using 54, 56, and 60 for sand bunker. Just wanted to be sure. Thanks for the advice

Very Active Golfer Posts : 889 Join date : 2009-07-02

Loser, interesting comments. U r definitely a non-conformist.
It's like u r saying my 3w can now called driver coz I drive with it. Smile

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Newbie Golfer Posts : 32 Join date : 2014-09-23

power72 wrote:: My PW is 44 If I get a set of 48, 52 and 58 wedges, does it means that 58 will be the default sand wedge?

As per titleist websites, they suggested that if your PW is 44*, a wedge with 48* 52* 58* would be a good option.

but for me, i still pick 52* 56* and 60* as my wedge choice even my PW is 44*.

» Try the new Titleist 712 irons and Vokey Design SM4 Wedges at Upcoming Demo Days Around South East Asia
» Titleist Vokey SM5 Wedge, what grind to choose?
» Miura K Grind Wedges
» Titleist Vokey Wedges with KBS Shafts
» Titleist Limited Vokey Design Bag (Japan)