Question regarding wedge bounce...

[Chief Broom]

I'm buying a lob wedge. I'm wondering how much bounce I need. The way I understand it is that the lower bounce the tighter the lie/firmer the sand. Inversely you want more bounce if you are playing out of soft sand or a deeper lie.

A buddy lent me a lob wedge he doesn't use, a Cleveland 588 60 degree. I have no idea how much bounce it has. I've been using it for close sand shots and for greenside approach shots. I've yet to try and dial in it's max yardage using a full swing (I get 125yds from my 49 degree Gap Wedge and 110yds from my 55 degree Sand wedge - full swings), so I haven't used it for farther off approaches, say beyond 20yds. For those I've stuck with using sequentially lower swing power using my SW. When I get my own Lob wedge I'll definitely incorporate it in my approach arsenal.

If I look to use this lob wedge in the fairway for approaches and around the green for softer pitch shots (carry whatever distance I need and check up sharply - the borrowed LW I'm using now seems to do this quite well) should I go with lower bounce? It's not at all uncommon in my early morning rounds that the bunkers I'm playing out of are wet from the sprinklers so firm sand is the norm, so that seems to go with the lower bounce too. I could continue to use my current SW in traps with softer sand.

So I guess what I'm asking is would lower bounce be better for me if I'm using this LW from tighter lies?

[Elvisliveson]

So I guess what I'm asking is would lower bounce be better for me if I'm using this LW from tighter lies?[/QUOTE]

Yes, you want less bounce when playing from tight lies or the fairway. Around 6-8 degrees on your lob wedge whould be about right. And Assuming your sand wedge has about 12 degrees, you'll have must situations/conditions covered.

[wachesawgolfer]

Bounce is somewhat irrelevant for a true lob wedge. They are usually fairly low bounce by design to avoid blading due to the loft. If you want a high bounce club you would probably be looking at a weak 57 or 58 degree sand wedge.

[Crafty]

Bounce is extremely personal. For example, I play on plenty of tight fairways during the summer but choose to play a lob wedge with 8* of bounce, which is on the higher end for lob wedges.

It all depends a bit on how you judge where you need bounce. Ive never understood why you need a certain amount of bounce from the fairway. Ive always felt that you need to find a bounce number that is versatile for you around the greens

[Stacey_E]

Unless you hit a lot of flop shots or never take a divot with the borrowed 60, I'd say go with a 6-8 degree bounce. More bounce actually means more forgiveness on a full swing shot. I had an old Cleveland 588 with extremely low bounce. If you hit a fraction behind the ball the face dug in the ground hard leading to a super fat shot.

Also the stated bounce on the club doesn't tell the whole story. Other factors like the depth of the sole can actually make the club play like it has more or less bounce than stated. I carry a 60/04 Vokey and it is pretty good out of fluffy lies because the sole is relatively deep. But if I had it to do over, I'd go for the 8 degree model.

Good luck!

[marpr]

in a word: YES.

as a general rule, it should be close to your pitching wedge bounce, ave 6-9 degrees.

[michaeljames92]

My sand wedge has 14* of bounce and this makes it so difficult to open the face in bunkers as it just skips right off the hard sand and skulls my shots. Yet when I played at the vines, it had fluffy bunkers and sand shots were a breeze. I think I need lower bounce..

[Chief Broom]

Thanks for the replys guys. I went ahead and bought the wedge in my sig yesterday evening. I played nine this morning with it in my bag and it worked out pretty well. In fact warming up on the chipping/putting green I holed out a soft pitch shot from about 15yds, and the majority of my other practice shots were staying close too! Now I just need to work with this new wedge at the range to dial in my fairway yardages.

BTW I went with the low bounce club. I checked around online and saw one recomendation for low bounce if you don't routinely take much of a divot, which I don't. Given all that I figured the low bounce would be the best fit for me.