Observations From an Expert Wedge Fitting at TPI

*In Partnership With Titleist*

When it comes to club fitting and player optimization, many parts of the process are very black and white. For example, with a driver, maximizing distance is based on a golfer's dynamics into the golf ball and is limited based on the physics of ball flight (which is why when someone swinging 90 miles per hour tells me they hit it 300 yards, I tend to roll my eyes). The same goes for creating stopping power into greens with iron shots—launch and spin optimization are hugely weighted based on a player’s ball speed.

But, one part of the game where optimization still works hand-in-hand with a player’s qualitative feedback is in the short game - unfortunately it also tends to be the area of the game where most golfers either refuse to get fit for or buy clubs based on false assumptions. Another reason players tend to end up with the wrong wedges is that with so many bounce and grind options to choose from, many tend to gravitate towards the "standard" sole options. This regression to the mean might be “okay” but it’s usually far from optimal when the end goal is achieving the highest level of performance.

Around the green is where any golfer has the ability to excel because it doesn’t require brute strength or exorbitant speed, proper technique and the right tools can go a long way.

I recently had the opportunity to observe a fellow golfer, Skratch’s own EIC Ben Boskovich, go through a wedge fitting at Titleist’s TPI, and as a fitter (plus a golfer who has gone through several wedge fittings) it helped to change my perspective and offer fresh insights into the way other golfers think their way through the process.

Observations and notes…

Be honest and embrace mistakes.

No matter the fitting, I have always found that golfers tend to be shy when it comes to admitting what issues they are having with their game. You don’t want to be a Judge Smails and claim you never slice, only to immediately launch ball after ball off to the right.

If you struggle on certain shots and excel at others, explaining those strengths to a fitter can help create a baseline for the fitting process.

In Ben's case, he admitted he tended to struggle with the fear of hitting shots thin. Now, if that was the only information a fitter had, the initial thought would be that Ben was shallow and tended to bounce the club into the ball—but not so fast, this is where player perception plays such an important role in determining the right club for the right player.

“Usually when I come across a tight lie, I immediately start thinking ‘Don’t thin it,’” Ben said. “That brain worm can really plague you—first and foremost I wanted to feel more confident at address.”

As soon as Ben started having this conversation with his fitter Aaron Luttrell, and then hit a few shots, Aaron knew exactly which shots caused Ben the most issues and how those misses robbed him of confidence on other shots. As soon as the problem was identified, the fix was on its way.

Let yourself be wrong

It’s human nature to avoid the embarrassment of being wrong, but communicating exactly what you feel (or what you think you feel) when you hit a shot is the ideal way to go through a fitting.

Trust me—you don’t need to be an expert on wedge grinds or your clubs. But, if you find yourself with odd gaps or having issues chunking or blading shots around the green more often than you should, it's likely a sign that changes need to be made.

Great fitters aren’t just great at knowing how to find solutions, they’re also some of the best communicators and interpreters when it comes to understanding what a golfer might be trying to explain, even if they’re using incorrect terminology.

Once you achieve a common knowledge base with your fitter, the result won’t just be better clubs, it can also lead to a better understanding of your golf game, so you can work on your weaknesses moving forward.

“Going into this fitting I was working with two very standard wedge lofts and grinds,” Ben says. “The Vokey wedges I was using were “S” grinds—I always assume stock is safe—but after talking to Luttrell I realized the way I played my 60-degree wedge most confidently required a bit more bounce help. My lob wedge is now a D, grind. Alternatively, my 56-degree wedge, which I tend to use the most for a variety of shots, was better off in the F grind category for me—a grind designed for full shots and more straightforward shots around the green.”

Communicate your goals

Something Ben quickly did at the start of hit fit was explain his golf goals and the shots he wanted to be better at. With ground interaction being a critical part of hitting good wedge shots and reducing proximity to the hole, the shots he wanted to hit were more difficult because of his current clubs.

His tools made it difficult to execute the shots he wanted, and without knowing if he was the root of the problem it was hard to pinpoint a solution. Once he was given the right tools to succeed, Ben's success rate went through the roof and proximity shrunk—he also added more shots to his repertoire.

“It’s amazing what that look at address has done for my lob wedge game,” Ben told me. “Standing over a 30-yard shot to a short-sided pin over a bunker, I feel much more sure given my added bounce that my clubface is going to make the right kind of contact and put the ball in the air right away—with less effort than it used to. Now, swinging less timid in those situations, I’m making better contact and generating more useful spin. It has everything to do with the confidence Luttrell gave me.”

For golfers headed into a wedge fitting or nervous about the process, being goal-oriented can help your fitter find you the right tools. This goes for golfers of all skill levels and isn’t reserved for lower handicap golfers.

If you just want to get out of the sand more, communicating that will help you and your fitter chart the pathway to success. From there its as easy as getting the rest of the puzzle pieces in place to give you as many options for shots around the green while reducing misses and dispersion.