ClubTest First Look: Edel’s new 2021 SMS wedges, with weight-adjustable technology

Every golfer swings the club differently, which is the reason why personalized club fitting is so important. While a certain club or shaft may work perfectly for Dustin Johnson or Bryson DeChambeau, it’s unlikely to work the same for anyone else.

When it comes to wedges, specifically, most companies design heads that have different grinds and bounce options that suit the needs of particular golfers. Generally, steep swingers need a wedge with more bounce, shallow swingers benefit from a lower bounce design, and then there’s everybody else in between.

The shape of your wedge plays a large role in determining how that club will perform for you. If you have an ill-fitting wedge shape, it’s more likely that you’ll find yourself hitting chunks, skulls, or lose control over your golf ball overall.

Edel, a golf equipment company that specializes in making irons, wedges and putters, has also found that weight, as well as shape, is vital in how a wedge performs for particular golfers. While Edel’s new wedges do have four different grind options in the lineup that suit different attack angles, the company is taking fitting and personalization to the next level.

The new Edel SMS (Swing Matching System) wedges are designed with three interchangeable weight ports in their back cavities to help match the wedge to your swing and feel. According to Edel, the weight-adjustable system also has a significant impact on spin and accuracy.

Here’s how it works.

By placing weights of different measurements into the ports, the overall weighting gets shifted in one direction or the other. Edel’s stock wedges come with two 2-gram titanium weights, and one 8-gram tungsten weight (4-, 6- and 10-gram weights are also available). The heaviest weight can either go into the heel, center, or toe location, and the two lighter weights fill out the remaining slots. In the photo above, the heaviest weight has a red circle, and it’s placed in the middle slot.

Through Edel’s player testing, the company found that putting the heaviest weight in different locations can yield measurable results. Edel’s testing results show that spin increased, on average, by 10.4 percent when the weight was in its “highest spinning location” for each golfer, compared to the “lowest spinning location.” Additionally, the company reports that 80 percent of testers found their best spin numbers from having the heaviest weight in a location other than center.

Drivers

Edel also found that when golfers have their preferred weight location dialed in, they gained 44 percent more accuracy in terms of distance and offline dispersion.

“We always strive to make players better, and we’re able to do that because we start with the swing and innovate forward,” said David Edel, Founder of Edel Golf. “No golfers have the same exact swing, so why have wedges essentially been a one-size-fits-all scenario for so long? By adding Swing Match Weighting, golfers can adjust the wedge to their swing instead of vice versa.”

Edel says that golfers with shallow or “under” deliveries typically found the toe-heavy weight to be optimal. On the other hand, golfers with steep or “cover” deliveries found heel-heavy weighting to be best. Remember, though, that every golfer has a slightly different swing, so experimenting with each setup is ideal.

For prospective buyers, Edel recommends a step-by-step fitting process to ensure the wedge is right.

First, find the correct grind option for you. Edel’s SMS wedges come in four grinds: T, C, V and D. The T grind is made for the shallowest swingers, and the D grind is made for the steepest swingers. The C and V grinds fall in the middle, with C leaning towards the shallow end of the spectrum, and V leaning toward steep.

Once you’ve found the right sole option, then experiment with putting the heavy weight in each of the three positions. According to Edel, the right location “will become obvious for most based on their feel, the sound and the launch monitor numbers.”

Ranging from 48 to 60 degrees of loft, the Edel SMS wedges are forged from 1025 carbon steel and have a cream chrome finish. The soles are CNC-milled for precision, they have full-face grooves, and the faces have a micro-engraved texture to increase roughness.

Edel’s SMS wedges come stock with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips and Nippon Modus Wedge shafts, and a number of other options are available. They will sell for $199 apiece stock, or $225 with further customization; hand stamping and custom paintfills are offered.

The new wedges are available for presale starting April 2, and they hit retail on April 23.

Want to overhaul your own bag for 2021? Visit the expert fitters at our sister company, True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, make sure to check out our recent Fully Equipped podcast in the Spotify link below.