Mr. Shimada used to have absolute confidence in his approach shots and used them as one of his big weapons for achieving low scores. For a number of years, however, he's had some worries.

"I don't want to blame it on age, but I've realized that I'm no longer able to sense distance as well. Direction is a separate issue, but I often overshoot or undershoot the pin. If I decide to hit the ball somewhere and strike it like in the past, my body doesn't respond as well to the distance anymore."

Mr. Shimada is the type of golfer who grips up on the club has quite a bit sticking out. He adjusts for distance by changing his strength of impact instead of changing his swing. In that respect, you can see he's a very experienced golfer.

So did the New Premium Red wedges allow him to get his feel back? Well, it didn't quite do that. Distances are, of course, never the same, and some short shots are even about the length of a pin.

"The club is really easy to hit, but my problem is mostly in my head. I don't think a club is going to be able to fix that."

This was Mr. Kanai's opportunity to offer some advice.

Advice from Mr. Kanai
"So the club should feel easy to hit?　If that's the case, you should change your way of thinking about it a bit.　The club will grab the ball and the face will pick it up securely. If you have that feeling of stability, your swing will be OK. The problem of sensing distances shows up a lot in golfers who adjust for distance by changing their strength of impact with the ball. For golfers who realize that this sense has grown a bit dull, it's probably best for them to use a more mechanical approach in adjusting their swing. In specific terms, one method would be to change the position of their grip according to the distance. The grip can be moved from a full grip to closer to the shaft. If you account for distance by adjusting and figuring out how much to move up on the grip, I think the wedges will be much easier to use."

Next was Mr. Mitamura. Around the green, he mostly uses a lob shot approach that softly lifts the ball and stops it on the green. So how would the New Premium Red wedges work out for Mr. Mitamura?

"Hmm…for my kind of swing, a conventional club might be easier to open up and get a stable shot with than a cavity-back club like the New Premium Red wedges."

The shot was from the rough about 20 yards away from the pin. Just as stated, Mr. Mitamura tried to lift the ball by opening up the face a lot. However, the head of the club sunk into the turf below the ball and slipped under it. Mr. Kanai offered some advice to the surprised Mr. Mitamura. "I think you might have to change your thinking a bit, too."

Advice from Mr. Kanai
"Opening the face is done to keep the ball low. And, with big swings, there is more stability and you can use a full swing. It's a swing with power to make the ball fly, but the ball doesn't fly. That's your method. But look at it again for a second. This type of swing is called for only in rare situations. With a normal wedge shot, most of the time you want to address the ball squarely. With approach shots, too, using this same philosophy improves the chances of achieving a clean, good shot. The New Premium Red wedges are designed so that the ball can be easily lofted up, and so that the movement of the head is stable during swinging. This means that the face should be as square as possible when you address the ball in order to take full advantage of the power of the club. If you fall into the temptation of wanting to swing really hard, you should grip the club so that it is as short as possible. If you swing easily without changing your swing speed, you don't have to worry about the ball flying too far. Using this difficult technique is probably best to do only in difficult situations."

On the advice of Mr. Kanai, the two other players changed their thinking a bit and tried a new type of approach shot. They changed their grip according to the distance. Adjusting for distance was done by changing the position where the club is held. The first player who took this to heart was Mr. Shimada.

"I see. It's like this, right? And whether you want to roll the ball or lift it? That's done by changing the club, and using the same type of swing is fine. This method is definitely simpler and eliminates having to depend on feel, which makes playing easier."

And, as for Mr. Mitamura. If he grips this club higher up on the grip, the timing of his swing speeds up.

"Okay, try one of your lob shots. Right, right. Even if you shorten the club, swinging with the same timing is OK." Mr. Kanai's repeated assertions translated into a good shot.

"Interesting. The width of the swing is reduced by the amount that the club is shortened by the grip. That's all you need to change, right?"

The New Premium Red wedges make approach shots simpler. (Continued)