Can You Teach an Old Groove New Tricks?
Gear-obsessed golfers know that there’s no substitute for fresh grooves. When you’re playing in wet conditions or chopping a ball out of a thick lie, brand new grooves can help you get the clean contact and peak spin that you want.
But wedges, like everything else in golf, are expensive. A fresh set of short game tools is likely to cost $500 or more. So, to help you play your best golf while saving a few bucks, we put a groove sharpener to the test to find out if it can make your old wedges play like new.
The Myths
Myth #1 – Using a groove sharpener can increase spin on a new wedge
Myth #2 – Using a groove sharpener can increase spin on an old wedge
Myth #3 – Using a groove sharpener can improve accuracy on a new wedge
Myth #4 – Using a groove sharpener can improve accuracy on a old wedge
Myth #5 – Using a groove sharpener can improve consistency on a new wedge
Myth #6 – Using a groove sharpener can improve consistency on a old wedge
These six myths were chosen based on ADAK’s claims of “increasing backspin for better control and accuracy.” ADAK claims that their testing with the Korea Institute of Golf Science showed increases of up to 3,800 RPM after using ADAK. That’s an incredibly high bar given that Tour players hit full wedge shots with around 10,000 RPM.
How We Tested
For this myth, we started with one brand new wedge and one wedge that had seen over two years of regular use. The old wedge was cleaned prior to testing but the grooves were not sharpened. Our group of six players hit twenty wedges shots – ten with each wedge. Then we put the groove sharpener to work. We used the ADAK Groove Sharpener [find it HERE], made five hard passes through each groove, then cleaned the face with water and a towel. Finally, each player repeated the twenty wedge shots.
All shots were measured by Trackman and all testing was done at and with the help of Club Champion.
Results
We did not expect to see the groove sharpener improve spin on a brand new wedge, but that is what the data showed in some cases. For two of our testers, their average spin went up by 10% after sharpening. The other four testers saw a difference of 1% of less, with spin going down in two cases. While the majority of our testers did not see a meaningful change from sharpening a new wedge, the big jumps for two testers make us rate this plausible.
Here’s where we expected to see a big change, but the end result is the same: we rate this myth plausible. Four testers saw a modest change pre and post sharpening: -1%, -3%, +2%, and +4%. One tester had very surprising data, dropping 7% of his spin. The final tester gained 16% with sharpened grooves.
It is worth noting that even our standout tester who gained 16% more spin came up well short of the 3,800 RPM gain claimed by ADAK.
We saw almost exactly equal dispersion patterns with our new wedge before and after sharpening the grooves. We looked at dispersion both left-to-right and short-to-long. Most of our testers had equal dispersions in both test conditions. The one who was better with the sharpened grooves was balanced by one tester who was better with unsharpened grooves.
This myth eked across the line into “plausible” on the back of superior distance consistency. Across our testers, the left-to-right dispersion was equal with or without sharpened grooves. However, when we looked at dispersion short-to-long, the sharpened grooves produced a tighter shot pattern.
Since we have already discussed accuracy, we evaluated consistency based on three things: spin, launch angle, and landing angle. We looked at both the gap from the highest number to the lowest in each category as well as Trackman’s Consistency number – a measure of standard deviation.
With the new wedge, we did not see any meaningful difference in consistency pre and post sharpening. In almost every instance, the difference between the launch and landing ranges was two degrees or less, and there was no consistent winner. Comparing standard deviations of spin, the difference was typically around 100 RPM.
This final myth, like #4, snuck into “plausible” territory. Looking at spin, the range and standard deviation were smaller with the sharpened grooves but not in a meaningful way. The wins for sharpened grooves were similarly small in launch and landing angle, but they were better in the large majority of cases.
Opportunities for Future Testing
The biggest issue with our testing is that it was conducted indoors on mats, thus negating one of the groove’s primary jobs: channeling away moisture and debris. As we’ve discussed many times, indoor and outdoor testing each have pros and cons. We typically test indoors to preserve a consistent testing environment, and, in this case, it was the only option available because it’s winter in Chicago. That said, this could be an interesting test to repeat outdoors with moisture, grass, and dirt.
Two other ideas stand out as interesting opportunities for future testing. First, does the wedge matter? Does the material or the design of the groove make a difference in how “sharpen-able” it is? Second, are there sharpeners that are more effective than others? Also, as always, the data would be more robust if it included more players, more wedges, and a larger number of shots.
Takeaways
While the evidence isn’t overwhelming, it does indicate that there could be value in sharpening your grooves if you have older wedges. At a bare minimum, these are very effective groove cleaning tools, and keeping your grooves free of dirt will help their performance, regardless of how old your wedges are.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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