Three Keys to Great Wedge Play

Every player is capable of hitting great wedge shots. The challenge is doing it again and again. The secret is mastering the three factors that determine the success of every short game shot:

Contact, Flight, and Spin.

For Bob Vokey, these aren’t just the ingredients of great wedge play—they’re baked into the DNA of every Vokey wedge. He believes that anyone can become a great wedge player if given the right tools. And with SM11, an expanded grind matrix, unified center of gravity (CG) locations, and a new Vokey Spin System introduce an even better way to make wedge play the most consistent part of your game.

Why Contact Matters:
Every great wedge shot starts with solid contact. Striking the ball between grooves 2–5 is what sets launch, spin, and distance control in motion. Without solid contact, the entire shot changes.

How SM11 Helps You Make Solid Contact:
The role of a grind is to deliver the clubhead in a way that promotes consistent, solid contact. Having the right grind for the shot you’re playing is the easiest way to make consistently solid contact. And no one understands the nuances of grind design better than Bob Vokey.

Each Vokey wedge sole is the product of Bob’s lifelong collaboration with Tour pros and expert engineers—a decades-long evolution that has led to the six distinct SM11 grinds we have today. As Bob puts it, “Wedges need to be versatile, and every player is different. That’s why we have so many grind options. There is a wedge for every player.”

The Six Grinds of SM11:

Over the years, Bob and the Vokey Team have refined the six core grinds into reliable tools players trust under pressure. But player insight also revealed opportunities to expand the available configurations. Evolving agronomy and course conditions increased demand for low-bounce profiles, leading to the introduction of the .06 K Grind, an ultra-forgiving, low-bounce sole. On the flip side, player testing showed that 12° of bounce in the wide-soled K Grind delivered the forgiveness needed from soft sand and turf while still allowing for higher, softer, open-face shots.

Alongside these, a 44° F Grind rounds out five new additions to the SM11 lineup—creating the most complete system of loft, bounce, and grind options in golf.
 
Click here to learn more about SM11 and see the full list of wedge specs, shafts, and grips. 

Why Flight Matters:
Most golfers picture wedge flight as a soft, high-arcing shot. In reality, the modern game rewards a lower, piercing trajectory that is easier to control. A more penetrating flight tightens distance windows, improves consistency, and removes the unpredictable “floaters” that come up short and cost you strokes.

How SM11 Delivers Lower, More Consistent Flight:
After solid contact is made, the wedge’s center of gravity (CG) dictates trajectory.

Lower CG produces higher flight.
Higher CG produces lower flight.

The best wedge players know that lower-flighted wedge shots create more consistent spin and better distance control. SM11 delivers that lower, more aggressive flight by positioning CG slightly above the impact point in lob and sand wedges. For gap wedges and pitching wedges, the CG is positioned a touch lower to promote predictable distance control that seamlessly transitions into the iron set.

However, there is a fundamental CG challenge in wedge design: as the sole shape changes, the CG moves with it. Historically, that meant that when a golfer switched grinds to fit their technique, the launch window could unintentionally shift as well. Even if their swing didn’t change, the CG did.

SM11 solves balancing act by aligning CG positions across every grind within a given loft for the first time ever. Achieving this took an arduous engineering process, requiring countless iterations of topline thickness, hosel length, and material placement to perfectly sync CG across all grinds.

Now, as you’re getting fit for an SM11 wedge, you can choose a grind purely on how it fits your swing and turf conditions without worrying about altering flight in the process.

Why Spin Matters:
Spin is control. The goal of wedge spin isn’t always to generate maximum spin, it’s about creating the right amount of spin to stop the ball close to the hole. Too much spin and the ball will zip off the front edge. Too little spin and the ball will release through the green. Great wedge play lives in the space between when you know exactly where it’s going to stop.

How SM11 Improves Spin Control:
SM11 introduces the new Vokey Spin System—three technologies working together to deliver consistent, repeatable spin.

New Face Texture
As a wedge impacts the ball, every millisecond matters. The longer the cover stays on the face, the more opportunity it has to grab the grooves and generate predictable spin. To extend that interaction, SM11 uses a new angled, tooth-like face texture that holds the ball on the face just a fraction longer to deliver more reliable spin control, especially on delicate greenside shots.

Deeper Spin Milled Grooves
Unwanted debris (grass, sand, moisture) coming between the ball and the face is the enemy of consistent spin. The more efficiently that grooves can channel this debris away, the more reliably they can grab the ball and create spin. To maintain spin across all conditions, SM11 features grooves that are 5% deeper in volume—a change made possible through tighter manufacturing tolerances. The added volume gives debris more room to escape, helping retain spin from the rough, wet turf, and bunkers.

Loft-Specific Groove Shapes
The way you deliver your wedge changes dramatically based on loft. Lower-lofted pitching wedges and gap wedges are typically played with a square face, while higher-lofted sand wedges and lob wedges can be played more open, introducing more deflection and more risk of the ball climbing up the face. That’s why SM11 features three distinct groove profiles, segmented by loft, to optimize spin performance for how the wedge is actually played.

SM11 doesn’t chase maximum spin—it generates the right spin for the specific shot. The Vokey Spin System is designed for predictability and control across all shots from any condition. Whether your ball is perfectly teed up or buried in deep rough, SM11 is engineered to produce fewer fliers, fewer floaters, and more shots that spin and stop exactly as expected.

Where the 3 Keys Come Together

SM11 wasn’t an overnight breakthrough, it was the result of decades of craftsmanship, Tour feedback, and relentless improvement. It still looks, sounds, and feels unmistakably Vokey, but everything has been sharpened. And even with new specs, new CG placement, and new face technologies, SM11 stays connected to the design principles that have defined Vokey wedge performance year after year: solid contact, controlled flight, and precision spin.

Every great wedge shot follows a simple progression. The right delivery leads to solid contact. Solid contact produces the right flight. And the right flight creates the right spin. SM11 is engineered to make that progression feel effortless and repeatable—so great wedge play is always within reach.