Over the past few decades, golf shafts have come to represent an extremely broad and deep segment of the golf equipment marketplace. The major manufacturers spend countless hours evaluating shafts – within an acceptable cost range, of course – for their product offerings in irons, drivers, fairways, and hybrids. Then, there are hundreds of after-market options (at prices as high as you can tolerate) that make the custom-fitting layer of golf club retailing myopically focused on shaft selection. Special shaft technologies are even finally working their way into some of the newer putters…

Which begs the question: Why not your wedges?

Take a stroll down the seemingly endless display of wedges in any big store and you’ll see numerous brands, models, lofts, finishes and sole grinds…but nearly every one of them has been fitted with the same type of heavy, stiff steel shaft.

I’ve always believed this is really shorting golfers in optimizing their wedge play — an area of the game where feel and performance need to be pinpoint perfect. I have learned from countless observations of golfers of all skill levels that getting the right shaft in your wedges can reap huge rewards in performance. Just like in your driver and irons, the material, weight, and flex of your wedge shafts has to be exactly right for you to optimize your scoring range skill set, whatever that might be.

Think about it: Your wedge shafts are asked to perform at a wider range of clubhead speeds than any other. They need to stabilize the heaviest clubheads in the bag at full swing speed in order to give you full shot trajectory control so that your distances are consistent. But they also must give you precise feel and control of those touch shots around the greens where clubhead speed is only a few miles per hour. That requires the shaft to have the ability to flex or move a bit in order to give you optimum motion feedback – the sensation back to your hands of exactly where the clubhead is and what it is doing.

Every week on television, we see the tour professionals exhibit an unbelievable display of short game mastery, hitting greenside wedge shots with absolute control of trajectory, spin, and distance. And most all of them opt for a shaft that is a bit softer in flex than the shaft in their irons.

It is important to realize that PGA Tour players are top-level athletes who are extremely strong in the forearms and hands, so they can do things with a wedge of that overall weight that very few recreational golfers can even dream about – simply because you do not have the arm and hand strength to allow that level of precise manipulation of the club.

Regardless of your handicap, to raise your wedge performance to a higher level, I strongly advocate the following:

1. Select a shaft for your wedges that closely approximates the weight of your short iron shafts. If you play lightweight steel or graphite shafts in your irons, by all means demand the same in your wedges. This, of course, means you need to retrofit the wedges you have, or buy from a company that will accommodate your needs.
2. There are two schools of thought on the flex of your wedge shafts. One is that your wedge shafts should be a bit softer overall than your iron flexes to give you the feel you need around the greens. The other is that your wedge shafts should be stiffer to stabilize the heavier clubheads. The only way to find out which works best for you is to give both a try.

Most importantly, TEST! And not just in a fitting bay with full swings. You need to evaluate wedges on the course, hitting the wide variety of shots every round throws at you. Trying new things is one of the fun aspects of playing golf, and wedges are no different. You can experiment with different shafts in your wedges at a pretty low cost, so DO IT! I think you’ll have fun, and you’re likely to stumble on a formula that measurably improves your scoring.