Asking for gapping advice

[Gleb]

Hello fellow golfers!

Seeking some advice on newly changed clubs. Have purchased 6-PA Calloway Big Bertha 2023 improvement irons and a 56 Calloway jaws wedge. These big Berthas have stronger lofts to adjust for tungsten weights that create a higher launch.


Have Hit 110 balls at a Toptracer range the next day. Temperature was 2-5 C around 9pm. With all clubs below I’ve hit ~15 shots. Excluded outliers based on low speed (mat hit before ball, my main error) and launch angle (when completely off).



56 wedge is standard length

All other clubs are +1 inch

56 was swung for finesse



Club - Loft - avg distance

7 iron - 27• - 124 yards

9 iron - 36.5• - 95 yards

PW - 42• - 90 yards

Appr - 47• - 84 yards

Wedge - 56• - 55 yards



Online guides and previous topics here suggest gapping is far more important than lofts.



Would you suggest I:

1. Make 2-3 more range visits of ~100 shots each and collect more stats?
2. Consider adding a 50 degree wedge?
3. Or due to the 47 Approach wedge being +1 longer (thus further) I should change the 56 to a 50 and a 54?
4. Leave all as is and practice 3/4 shot with the 47 approach?

I’ve been playing for about 1.5 years, handicap 30-35 (not established), have had 6 lessons and 4 more to go. Will likely get more lessons afterwards anyway.

 

[PJ87]

There are a few options

You could practice and learn to comfortably hit the AW half and three quarter swings to various distances

(You should do this anyways to give you options)

Short term option rather than change everything, keep your 56 and slide in a 52 instead .. then it goes 47 52 56 which wouldn't be awful gapping

From memory my wedges go

41 degree pitch
48 degree gap
54 degree sand
60 degree lob

 

[Backache]

I am not an expert, however I think you have some numbers to work on. I suspect that within your average your dispersion is likely to be high based on your handicap and experience.

Hopefully with lessons and practice this will improve, I also suspect your numbers will change quite a bit as you hopefully strike the ball more consistently.

Personally I would use the numbers you have as a current basis but concentrate on lessons and practice and then revisit your gapping rather than doing anything more now

 

[bobmac]

Rather than buying more wedges, I'd suggest you learn to hit the clubs you already have, better.
Duffing your shots seems to be your problem, this is probably because your weight hasn't shifted onto your front foot soon enough.
Try this drill below, it will help you with your contact and distance.

Hit the front ball, not the back ball

 

[VVega]

As per other advice above, no need to worry about gapping just yet. Enjoy the clubs, play and practice.

An average green is 30 yds long, you have three clubs to choose from to get onto it

 

[Gleb]

Rather than buying more wedges, I'd suggest you learn to hit the clubs you already have, better.
Duffing your shots seems to be your problem, this is probably because your weight hasn't shifted onto your front foot soon enough.
Try this drill below, it will help you with your contact and distance.

Hit the front ball, not the back ball

Thank you bobmac!
I’ve been doing a similar drill with a towel 5-6 inches behind the ball with the aim of not hitting the towel.

In terms of weight transfer I do apply force to the left leg (like a very hard slamming the brake type of motion) after the club face reaches the top point in the takeaway. I don’t generally slide. That comes from trying the “hip bump” method by Adam Porzak: where you move your left hip back 1 inch and 1 inch in the direction of the target. Adam argues that positions your femur over your tibia and you can “rotate more easily around the left leg”.

Me hitting the mat first then ball comes from the first couple of games 2 years ago, when I was smashing up the grass all the time. Back then I didn’t know you’re supposed to take divots and feeling guilt I tried to “not destroy the grass”

 

[bobmac]

Thank you bobmac!
I’ve been doing a similar drill with a towel 5-6 inches behind the ball with the aim of not hitting the towel.

In terms of weight transfer I do apply force to the left leg (like a very hard slamming the brake type of motion) after the club face reaches the top point in the takeaway. I don’t generally slide. That comes from trying the “hip bump” method by Adam Porzak: where you move your left hip back 1 inch and 1 inch in the direction of the target. Adam argues that positions your femur over your tibia and you can “rotate more easily around the left leg”.

Me hitting the mat first then ball comes from the first couple of games 2 years ago, when I was smashing up the grass all the time. Back then I didn’t know you’re supposed to take divots and feeling guilt I tried to “not destroy the grass”

The video shows me hitting a mid iron but you can still hear me thump the mat. If that had been grass there would have been a divot, if it had been a wedge, it would have been a biggy

 

[Gleb]

As per other advice above, no need to worry about gapping just yet. Enjoy the clubs, play and practice.

An average green is 30 yds long, you have three clubs to choose from to get onto it

Yes I’m doing just that and have been with the old set of clubs. Trying to play more courses than just practicing at the range. I’ve realised the range can’t prepare me for wet winter conditions. Have played +14 today despite scoring 8 once and 7 twice. Three putted only once and got 2 pars and 3 bogeys (which are like birdies at my level)

 

[Gleb]

Rather than buying more wedges, I'd suggest you learn to hit the clubs you already have, better.
Duffing your shots seems to be your problem, this is probably because your weight hasn't shifted onto your front foot soon enough.
Try this drill below, it will help you with your contact and distance.

Hit the front ball, not the back ball

Have tried it tonight with a >100 balls at the range. Bob, I have to say this is much easier to set up than with a towel, so thank you very much for the tip! Progression was good too: within the first 10 shots I've hit the back ball a couple of times, then less and less and towards the end I didn't notice the back ball at all. I did block training with a pitching wedge and hit probably 90 shots with it using your 2 ball technique. Toward the end I've re-recorded 20 shots and got this:

PW - 42• - 97 yards average (up from 90, but the first data set was small).
These shots were very consistent: laugh angle ranging from 29 to 34, ball speed from 80 to 86 (whenever I duff it, speed drops to 70-74)

Thank you again for the responses. I trust your experience and judgement and will close the topic of buying more clubs for myself and just play for another 6+ months and when I get to 25 or lower handicap consistently, I'll re-assess my gapping. Truth be told, I've also got a 60 degree 8 bounce M Titleist (which I find very hard to hit) and an old but well kept Tradition K-79 Sand Wedge SW (which I could bend to 50 without buying any extra gear). Mainly, I hear you all saying: "work on the swing now, look at gear and gapping later when you're more consistent". And I trust that advice.

Mathematically (and from many golf improvement channels I'm subscribed to) I understand lower scores come from: course planning, better putting, short game within 100 yards. So that's what I'll practice.

 

[rulie]

When you are playing, do you miss more greens to the left or right, or more short or long? "Gapping" may be less important than consistently straight.

 

[Backache]

Mathematically (and from many golf improvement channels I'm subscribed to) I understand lower scores come from: course planning, better putting, short game within 100 yards. So that's what I'll practice.

All of the above are important and can give you useful quick wins.

However the most thorough mathematical analysis that I have seen is by Mark Broadie who developed the strokes gained method of analysing golf.

He actually emphasizes the long game as being the biggest determinant of scoring , so even though progress may be slower don't forgo the lessons and practice on that as well.

 

[VVega]

All of the above are important and can give you useful quick wins.

However the most thorough mathematical analysis that I have seen is by Mark Broadie who developed the strokes gained method of analysing golf.

He actually emphasizes the long game as being the biggest determinant of scoring , so even though progress may be slower don't forgo the lessons and practice on that as well.

Let’s not confuse a 33-hcp player with strokes gained etc.

 

[Backache]

Let’s not confuse a 33-hcp player with strokes gained etc.

Fair point but equally it's probably important not to lulled by the outdated shibboleth of ignoring the long game for scoring.

 

[Gleb]

When you are playing, do you miss more greens to the left or right, or more short or long? "Gapping" may be less important than consistently straight.

I consistently miss to the right. I see it easily from the range apps

When you are playing, do you miss more greens to the left or right, or more short or long? "Gapping" may be less important than consistently straight.

i consistently miss to the right. Here’s the end of my session today with a 6 iron.

I do hit really straight if I take a very long time for every shot and control the downswing + club handle at the belly button in the end. When I do that - all shots are straight. But it’s easy to loose that rigour at the range.

 

[Gleb]

When you are playing, do you miss more greens to the left or right, or more short or long? "Gapping" may be less important than consistently straight.

I consistently miss to the right. I see it easily from the range apps

Fair point but equally it's probably important not to lulled by the outdated shibboleth of ignoring the long game for scoring.

To add substance:
* for course management I watch a lot from https://www.youtube.com/@GolfSidekick - his humour is quite sarcastic but TBH his course management advice is really good. I've tried the Putter/Sand/Pitch/150-yard club method and it works for me. Measuring from the green back and leaving yourself comfortable distances as opposed to "hitting it as far as possible to the green" works for me
* my driver is very reliable. Comes from months of "let's go to the range and hit 100 balls with a driver for stress reduction". My ball speed averages 130-135 (top >140) and I hit 220-230 reliably. If I pace myself (i.e. not hit it max) I always drive straight at the range and on course
* my misses are typically to the right. the last fitting I had I was fitted into +1 inch 2 degrees upright (+2 upright to hit left). Clubs I recently acquired are +1 inch 1 degrees upgright
* on the launch monitor my NR1 mistake (apart from hitting mat first then ball) is a shot shape that looks like a push or a draw (if I pretend I was aiming 10 yards left, I'm a right handed golfer). With the putter I also always miss right when I miss. I believe I simply aim wrong with my eyesight/gut feel/method.

 

[rulie]

I consistently miss to the right. I see it easily from the range apps

To add substance:
* for course management I watch a lot from https://www.youtube.com/@GolfSidekick - his humour is quite sarcastic but TBH his course management advice is really good. I've tried the Putter/Sand/Pitch/150-yard club method and it works for me. Measuring from the green back and leaving yourself comfortable distances as opposed to "hitting it as far as possible to the green" works for me
* my driver is very reliable. Comes from months of "let's go to the range and hit 100 balls with a driver for stress reduction". My ball speed averages 130-135 (top >140) and I hit 220-230 reliably. If I pace myself (i.e. not hit it max) I always drive straight at the range and on course
* my misses are typically to the right. the last fitting I had I was fitted into +1 inch 2 degrees upright (+2 upright to hit left). Clubs I recently acquired are +1 inch 1 degrees upgright
* on the launch monitor my NR1 mistake (apart from hitting mat first then ball) is a shot shape that looks like a push or a draw (if I pretend I was aiming 10 yards left, I'm a right handed golfer). With the putter I also always miss right when I miss. I believe I simply aim wrong with my eyesight/gut feel/method.

If you miss consistently to the right, it's better to correct that than to worry about gapping. Long right or short right is still a miss.

 

[Orikoru]

As per other advice above, no need to worry about gapping just yet. Enjoy the clubs, play and practice.

An average green is 30 yds long, you have three clubs to choose from to get onto it

This for me as well. The carry numbers given seem a bit short, so would be worth getting a more consistent strike before worrying about gapping. You can only really plan your gapping when your yardage with each club is actually consistent.