Decent cheap SW? What should I be looking for?

[gsu_paintballer]

http://www.golfsmith.com/products/ZV470

That looks tempting, at only $20 bucks.

What degree numbers should I be looking for?

[ctmurrray]

I recently got the Maltby M series Sand Slider Pro SW at Golf Galaxy for about $13. I really like this club. I went from never using my SW to trying to find any excuse to use. I can't seem to find a web link, I think they keep these as in-store specials.

[joseywales]

I wouldn't skimp on a sw. If anything, go to ebay and get a good cleveland 56* sw for $30-$35 used. A good sw is way too valueable to go cheap on imo.

[atltony]

As far as loft angle goes I think anything from 54 to 58 can be considered a sandwedge these days, however to me the main factor in a club being a sandwedge is the bounce angle. A sand wedge should have a bounce angle around 10 degrees or so (some as low as 8...some up to like 16?).

The bounce:

(sandtrap aricle on bounce: http://thesandtrap.com/columns/bag_d...why_it_matters )

...is what helps the club glide through the sand or thick rough instead of just digging in, I'd explain further but the link above is more than thorough. The rule of thumb is if you tend to take deep divots higher bounce is preferred, shallow divots lower bounce..so try out some clubs with different bounce angles in a course like setting to see how they react to the turf with your swing.

As far as the loft angle is concerned just check out the loft of your pitching wedge, and go from there. Sets today come with a pitching wedge anywhere from 45 to 48 degrees, so you can see how its important to know the loft of your PW. I believe the desired loft difference between wedges is 4 degrees when thinking in a PW+3wedge system such as PW-GW-SW-LW.