Wedge Bounce Help

[Rich]

Thinking about purchasing two new wedges, 56* and 60*. Looking at the Titleist Vokey 200 series. My question is in regards to which bounce angle to choose. Currently I play with Titleist DCI Oversize+ irons and wedges but I couldn't tell you their bounce angles. Lately I've been hitting the majority of my wedges fat, probably due to any one of my swing flaws. I understant that for soft terf conditions and for sand shots more bounce is better but I use my sand wedge almost exclusively on all appraoch shots from 100 yards in. That said, would less bounce be better? I also understand that swing path also plays a large roll in determining which bounce angle is appropriate. My swing path tends to be on the shallow end. Thanks for any and all advise.

 

[Wheelerm]

I would choose the more bounce is better because i think of it like this,

More bounce, more chance or rolling in the hole

 

[DrBrown]

Well for starters you COULD have weges with low bounce, so they would naturally dig into the turf a little more than normal. But Im going to guess swing flaw. Try to think about hitting the ball first and come into the ball with a decending blow, so your clubhead should hit the ball just before the ground. That will prevent fat shots. So keep the hands going DOWN into the ground and hit the ball first. IF that doesnt help then you need to do some wedge shopping.

I will almost always recommend 2 wedges for ametuers just because you are more likely to save strokes by adding a hybrid in your bag over carrying 3 wedges. And most amtuers dont practice A LOT so getting familiar with one wege really good will really help you out around the greens because youve practice so many different shots with the same club. I like vokeys as well, and would prefer a 58 sand wedge with ~8 degree bounce and a regular PW. You can use the 58 for just about any short shot and even tho its a sand wedge you can still lay it open and hit some flop shots. Just my .02!

 

[obagain]

If you don't use it out of the sand I would go with a medium bounce SW.
It will be more versital. Don't buy a lob until you use the SW. Most people don't practice enough to use it properly. You are better off getting a 52 degree low bounce so when you are on a bare lie you have a club for it.

 

[dave.]

Get a 10 to start with and you will be ok,unless you play on a peat bog,or tarmac.

 

[Don]

Rich;

"Lately I've been hitting the majority of my wedges fat"

If you are hittin your shots fat, the last thing you want is a wedge with less bounce, that will only allow the leading edge of the club to dig in more. Not good. The bounce is there to help provent digging into the ground. WIDE SOLES, HIGH BOUNCE ANGLES = LESS DIGGING IN.

I understant that for soft terf conditions and for sand shots more bounce is better

Again this is not correct. For soft turf, that's correct. If you have soft sand in the bunkers, then YES, go with a high bounce angle SW. BUT, if you have firm sand, you want a lower bounce angle so the club can dig into the sand enough to get under the ball. If you play a 14* or 15* bounce SW in firm sand, you will end up having that bounce cause the wedge to "BOUNCE RIGHT OFF THE TOP OF THE SAND, and you blade the ball over the green. Hey, they don't call it "BOUNCE", for nothing you know. So, if you play bunkers with soft sand, YES go with high bounce angle. if you have firm sand, go with a lower bounce angle wedge, like 8* to 10*

 

[obagain]

Don
More bounce will keep the wedge from digging in but it will also cause the club to bounce too much and create thin shots. If you play on a course that is soft you can get away with high bounce but if you play on a firm course it can cause more trouble.

 

[Wheelerm]

Well for starters you COULD have weges with low bounce, so they would naturally dig into the turf a little more than normal

Yeah thats how i started but then i started using 5 irons around the green and sank a 15 yard "Bump n Run" rop:

 

[Silver]

how is a 5 iron going to get you over a deep bunker with no green to work with, though?

 

[DaveE]

how is a 5 iron going to get you over a deep bunker with no green to work with, though?

Silver, I think he's in a different conversation than the rest of you. Pretty sure he's talking about clubs that will cause the ball to bounce low as opposed to a club with a low bounce. Too funny.

 

[Silver]

I think that's a common trend with his posts.

Reminds me of early TM days.

 

[Don]

Obagain: I agree completely with what you posted about too much bounce causing a thin hit. BUT, the guy said he is having problems hitting it fat, not thin. So going with more bounce might be the answer for this one golfer, and it's his question I was answering, not what's best for all golfers. I hope you can now understand why I posted what I did.

One thing I have noticed is that most the guy's that post on this site don't look at the whole question and try to come up with the answer to the one question that is being asked. I tried to fit my answer to all of the question being asked. He was hiting the ball fat. Because of that, I told him not to go with less bounce, it would only make things worse. And I stick to my reply. If you believe that less bounce is what the guy should go with, we have totally difference points of view and will never agree on anything. Going by your other posts, I'm hoping you agree with my post and under this set of conditions, the guy hitting fat, you too would recommend a higher bounce angle wedge for him. Not for everyone, but good for this one golfer.

 

[Silver]

Realistically, I think that if he's hitting it fat, bounce is the least of his issues.

Skip the wedge and get a lesson.

 

[Wheelerm]

i dnt use it in bunkers, i used it on the green edge

 

[Don]

Silver: I agree with you, only he didn't ask for a lesson, he asked about bounce angles, so I told him about bounce angles.