Bounce question

[gators13]

How do you determine what bounce you need on your wedges? i have a Vokey 60 with 4* of bounce and I love it I hit it about 75 yards, and I love to chip with it. On the other hand I have a Vokey 56 with 14* of bounce, and I hate it. On a good day, I hit it about 100 yards, most of the time about 80 yards, if it wasn't for using it to chip with in certain situations, I would throw it in the lake. My question is, I know they make a low, mid and high bounce, and obviously I hit the low better, but why, and does anyone else have this problem?

[DaSportsGuy]

It depends on the surface you regularly play on. If you generally play on harder surfaces I would go with a low bounce, if you play on rather soft surfaces, go with a higher bounce.

[TourSpoon]

Low bounce wedges are good for hard fairways, hard/wet sand, etc and/or people that "slide" the club. High bounce wedges are for softer conditions and/or golfers that are "diggers". I tried to play with that same 60/4 that you have on South Florida courses and had a fit with it. I traded it for a 60/8 and have had no issues with the soft conditions that we have down here.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Everyone is going to hit a low bounce wedge better from fairway lies better because there is less turf interference from the sole of the club. But the true test of what bounce you should use is how you perform from less than ideal lies. I like to have a good amount of bounce on my highest lofted wedge (58) so i can use it from greenside rough, and more bounce makes bunker shots easier. Open it up, and let the bounce do the work. I never take a full swing with my 58, so i can care less how far i hit it. I use that club for greenside trouble only. If i have a short shot from a tight lie, i use my 52, which only has 8 degrees. I can open it to 56 degrees, if needed. Im not saying thats how you should appraise a wedge, but i think its not a bad idea to have a specific purpose for your each of your wedges, and choose the bounce according to how you want to play it.

[double_j]

I'm debating a similar setup. I currently play only two wedges - PW and a 56 degree with 8degrees of bounce. I haven't been as worried about getting a gap wedge because I've worked on becoming very comfortable with 1/2 and 3/4 shots with each from 30 yards or longer, although I do think that the lower bounce in my SW somewhat hinders a little of what I can do around the green. That said, I'm fairly comfortable playing the 56 out of a variety of situations (open face, closed face flops, checks, etc.) and don't have a burning need to mix up my lofts, etc.

I'm thinking about putting a 54/08 into the mix and using that to hit most approaches from the fairway between 40 and 90 yards or anywhere I'd like a little release after landing, and replacing the 56 degree with a 58/11 or 58/14 to serve as my sand/soft landing wedge tool from inside 40 yards.

My other alternative is to stick with a 56 degree loft since I'm already comfortable with using that in a variety of circumstances and to just get two of them - one with 6 or 8 degrees of loft to use from tight lies, packed sand, and/or bump and runners, and one with 11 or 14 degrees of loft to add a little margin of safety when I need something higher and soft or am hitting out of fluffy sand.

On the other hand, maybe this will all just mess with my game too much and I should stick with what I know!

[gators13]

Thanks for the tips, i am about to get a new set of irons, and I think I am going to get new vokeys also, just trying to decide on what bounce to get. If I could find one that i could consistantly hit about 110, then that would eliminate my 52* wedge

[double_j]

Thanks for the tips, i am about to get a new set of irons, and I think I am going to get new vokeys also, just trying to decide on what bounce to get. If I could find one that i could consistantly hit about 110, then that would eliminate my 52* wedge

I would say that if you're looking for something to use out of the fairway more than for short chips, etc. then get a relatively low bounce club (8 degrees). I've found 8 degrees to be usable from both hard and soft fairways, although it's not ideal if you want to regularly use it to hit higher shots out of hairier lies or really fluffy sand (although you can make it work). Save the higher bounces for your trouble wedges (56 or higher) and use those around the greens.

[gators13]

Thanks, yeah i want something to hit out of the faiway about 110 yards, i hit my PW about 125 or 130, so i am trying to close that gap. chipping with it is not a real concern, because i can chip with my 60 pretty good, and the farther away the chip, the longer club i use

[danieldrieberg]

I have put Reid Lockhart wedges in my bag. With a dual or quad grind the clubs offer many options on firm or soft fairways.



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[WUTiger]

I have flattened my swing the last few years, so I have lower bounce on my PW and my GW. The SW, however, has higher bounce because I use it primarily as a bunker club, and for lob type shots out of the rough (grass = cushioning).

You might want to keep your 56 * as a bunker club with some bounce, unless you play out of very firm sand.

I can hit the SW off of a plush fairway, but if it's a tight lie I go with GW, or maybe 8i chip.