I've got a question and observation about bounce.
I've always liked higher bounce wedges - I know low bounce wedges were the rage in the late 90's-early 00's. Roger Cleveland at Callaway, who started the 0 bounce craze then went to Callaway and his designs for the last 5-6 years have been higher bounce wedges. It's not unusual to see 13-14 degrees of stated bounce in a SW and 10 or more in a LW. Why did Roger change his approach to bounce?
And I've always thought stated bounce was over-rated. What do you think?
The reason I make that statement is that so much grinding is involved in wedges these days, bounce is more like "it's there when you need it, and out of the way when you don't." And then you see a narrow bounce surface at the front of some wedges, blunted versus a sharp leading edge, grinding at the heel and/or toe and trailing edge, camber, etc., and it is all too, too much for the average or above average golfer.
It's confusing out there.
For most of us, I assume fitting is a demo crap-shoot. One can put tape at the bottom of a wedge at the store and see where contact is made, but that does not tell the entire story. And then, there is the problem of people not knowing how to use a wedge. They might have their hands too far forward or back and getting inconsistent results.
I guess I am making the case for an exhaustive fitting like Edel. Of course, other OEMs like TItleist might have wedge fittings, but after having an Edel putter fitting, I will make the statement that no one is more thorough in a fitting than Edel.
I like to have enough bounce for versatility in the higher lofts so my wedges glide and do not get stuck in the ground while being able to open them up, setting the shaft back, forward, getting my hands lower, higher, etc.
My recent story with wedges is that I went with Miura after I almost died last year. Before death, I wanted Miura 1957 Wedges. Golf is about my only hobby, besides writing, and I loved the dense, solid feel of Miura. The SW has 12 of stated bounce and the LW has 15.
When I began playing these wedges, I did not take to them right away - with the posts here, thanks Erik, Mike and other members, I've learned to use these higher bounce wedges even on very tight lies. But still, I was inconsistent with contact - some partial shots took a nice glide with the bounce, and the others "caught" and gave me a lower and inconsistent trajectory.
In the meantime, I bought a Vokey SM4 with 60-10 - an M Grind. I tested it against the Miura, and the Vokey had the club gliding smoothly with the bounce and leading edge doing its job - it was almost effortless. Still, it was 10 of bounce as opposed to the Miura 15.
So with the Miura, I moved my hands so they were more or less even with the club head, and I received a more consistent glide with the bounce. I did the same with the Miura SW and get a nice glide and consistent shot flight and pattern.
Okay - so I've concluded that bounce is part of the story - it's the amount, where the bounce is located and where it is lessened (ground off). In addition to camber and whether the leading edge is blunted (I've concluded that sharp is for pickers, blunted for other swings).
That's my story. Moral of the story is that there are so many variables involved in selecting the right wedges - unless you enjoy buying the wrong wedges or maybe getting lucky, get fit and take the guessing out of your wedge game.
