Review: Heavy Wedge
Finally a way to control the wedge “yips”.
The worst thing that can happen to any golfer is to get the yips, those uncontrollable, unstoppable, uncomfortable feelings with a certain club. Most often this is associated with the putter, (which Heavy Putters deals with too) but yips can also be a wedge problem. I think if you were to take a poll of the large majority of golfers, they will admit to having a weak short game, basically poor wedge play. Heavy Putters made a name for themselves with their extreme Heavy weighted putters to their now Lite series all designed around control through more weight.
The Heavy Wedge is the same concept. If you take a heavier head, a heavier shaft, and a back weight under the grip, you can control the swing plane and take out some of the typical problems. When it comes to wedge play, the amateur has the most danger of getting too wristy. This is what leads to chunks or sculls. The heavier head of this wedges forces the golfer to drop the head naturally right into the ball, while the back weighted shaft/grip combats improper wrist action. The theory is solid but how would it translate on the course?
I typically play a 3 wedge setup, 52, 56, and 60, but Heavy only sent out a 56. I dropped it in the bag and pulled out my other 56* wedge. It definitely has a different feel than my other wedges. Since I usually use my 56 as my sand escape route, it is a little tough to tell how these would work in a three wedge set up.
But since I usually use this for sand shots I decided to give it a go in the practice bunkers. I was very happy with results. I was able to do all the things I normally do, yet felt a great deal of confidence with my swing. The extra weight just seemed to cut into the sand, yet extra smoothly. I was afraid of digging the extra weight into the sand, but it seemed to also carry more momentum to keep exiting the sand too.
While I normal don’t do much pitching or chipping with the 56* so I don't have a true apples to apples comparison, but again the weight seemed to work well for keeping a good tempo. One of the great short game killers is deceleration. The Heavy Wedge makes it more difficult to do this with the extra weight; it just wants to stay on a pendulum path. The Hi-Rev shaft offers great feel and excellent spin on those short chips. With a nice sharp leading edge really allows you to clip the turf nicely. Full shots from the fairway were different feeling than a normal wedge, but I found that dropping into the slot feeling with this club resulted in very nice results on accuracy. I found distance to be pretty comparable to my other 56* wedges. Initially there were a couple of full shot blunder because of the weight and sharp edges. I did dig a little. While the weight wanted to continue moving, a very steep swing took that weight downward instead of through the turf. After a few swings flatten things out, results greatly improved.
The fit and finish were also well done. The satin head was very durable. It still almost looks like new after ample time in the bunkers. The head shape is a nice angular shape. The leading edge is sharp but the grind helped prevent too much digging. The grooves are very sharp and spin the ball well. I would put it near the top when it comes to spin, which also means it does gill the balls a little. The Hi-Rev shaft and Tour Velvet grip were very nice. You could drop these in the bag and no one would know the difference between other wedges, except maybe by how much your game improved.
This might be the option of buying a better short game. If wedge yips are your enemy, you might be able to control them with a Heavy Wedge. I can't say for certain the whole set will be ideal, but maybe starting with your most troublesome wedge and replacing it with one of these might just do the trick.
For more information: http://www.boccierigolf.com/heavy-wedge/
The worst thing that can happen to any golfer is to get the yips, those uncontrollable, unstoppable, uncomfortable feelings with a certain club. Most often this is associated with the putter, (which Heavy Putters deals with too) but yips can also be a wedge problem. I think if you were to take a poll of the large majority of golfers, they will admit to having a weak short game, basically poor wedge play. Heavy Putters made a name for themselves with their extreme Heavy weighted putters to their now Lite series all designed around control through more weight.
The Heavy Wedge is the same concept. If you take a heavier head, a heavier shaft, and a back weight under the grip, you can control the swing plane and take out some of the typical problems. When it comes to wedge play, the amateur has the most danger of getting too wristy. This is what leads to chunks or sculls. The heavier head of this wedges forces the golfer to drop the head naturally right into the ball, while the back weighted shaft/grip combats improper wrist action. The theory is solid but how would it translate on the course?
I typically play a 3 wedge setup, 52, 56, and 60, but Heavy only sent out a 56. I dropped it in the bag and pulled out my other 56* wedge. It definitely has a different feel than my other wedges. Since I usually use my 56 as my sand escape route, it is a little tough to tell how these would work in a three wedge set up.
But since I usually use this for sand shots I decided to give it a go in the practice bunkers. I was very happy with results. I was able to do all the things I normally do, yet felt a great deal of confidence with my swing. The extra weight just seemed to cut into the sand, yet extra smoothly. I was afraid of digging the extra weight into the sand, but it seemed to also carry more momentum to keep exiting the sand too.
While I normal don’t do much pitching or chipping with the 56* so I don't have a true apples to apples comparison, but again the weight seemed to work well for keeping a good tempo. One of the great short game killers is deceleration. The Heavy Wedge makes it more difficult to do this with the extra weight; it just wants to stay on a pendulum path. The Hi-Rev shaft offers great feel and excellent spin on those short chips. With a nice sharp leading edge really allows you to clip the turf nicely. Full shots from the fairway were different feeling than a normal wedge, but I found that dropping into the slot feeling with this club resulted in very nice results on accuracy. I found distance to be pretty comparable to my other 56* wedges. Initially there were a couple of full shot blunder because of the weight and sharp edges. I did dig a little. While the weight wanted to continue moving, a very steep swing took that weight downward instead of through the turf. After a few swings flatten things out, results greatly improved.
The fit and finish were also well done. The satin head was very durable. It still almost looks like new after ample time in the bunkers. The head shape is a nice angular shape. The leading edge is sharp but the grind helped prevent too much digging. The grooves are very sharp and spin the ball well. I would put it near the top when it comes to spin, which also means it does gill the balls a little. The Hi-Rev shaft and Tour Velvet grip were very nice. You could drop these in the bag and no one would know the difference between other wedges, except maybe by how much your game improved.
This might be the option of buying a better short game. If wedge yips are your enemy, you might be able to control them with a Heavy Wedge. I can't say for certain the whole set will be ideal, but maybe starting with your most troublesome wedge and replacing it with one of these might just do the trick.
For more information: http://www.boccierigolf.com/heavy-wedge/
