Choosing the correct bounce??? [Noob question]

[FloppedBalls]

How should one determine the "correct" bounce for a wedge? What situation dictates high or low bounce? Specifically for a 50º, 54º and 60º

Thanks

[Jakester23]

Get as much bounce as possible it doesnt ever hurt to have to much. I got a 58/10 and a 54/14 they work amazing on pitch shots.

[Crabtree1997]

it depends. What kind of course do you play on? A soft grounds course or a hard grounds course? The more bounce your club has the more it digs into the ground. So a 3 iron is going to have less bounce than a 9 iron obviously. So if you play on soft pro like conditions course, you're going to want a lot of bounce, now if you play on a very dry and hard grounded course, aka Texas, you're going to want minimal bounce or your club is going to try to dig in to the ground more and just bounce up and you will end up skulling or blading the ball. Hopefully that helps, if not try going to your local club fitter for help.

[Jakester23]

I actually think more bounce means less dig not more I might be wrong though.

[geauxforbroke]

There's a reason it's called a "bounce angle", not a "dig angle". Think about it.

[Crabtree1997]

I live in Houston, and all the courses are like hitting of a concrete, all the pros i have talked to have suggested to have less bounce for harder ground, other wise with too much bounce you will just skull more shots.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Crabtree1997

I live in Houston, and all the courses are like hitting of a concrete, all the pros i have talked to have suggested to have less bounce for harder ground, other wise with too much bounce you will just skull more shots.

They're wrong. You'd need a HELLUVA lot of bounce AND you'd need to hit well behind the golf ball for it to bounce up and cause you to skull a golf ball.

Look at the TourStriker. It has like 80° of bounce, and you can hit that off concrete if you're willing to scrape it up.

[Crabtree1997]

ok this is str8 from the golf smith website

Low Bounce

Clubs with bounce of less than 8 degrees are considered "low bounce" wedges, according to Publinks Golfer. Lob, pitching and gap wedges usually have the lowest bounce of all wedges, making them a good selection for tight lies, wet sand and hard turf. Low bounce translates into less opportunity for hitting a shot thin , as the sole of the club should sweep over the surface, rather than cut into it . In general, lob wedges have 0 to 10 degrees of bounce, pitching wedges have 2 to 5 degrees of bounce and gap wedges have 5 to 12 degrees of bounce, according to Learn About Golf.

High Bounce

Clubs with a bounce of more than 10 degrees are considered "high bounce" wedges, according to Publinks Golfer. Sand wedges and some specialty gap wedges usually have high bounce, making them a good choice for light sand, deep rough or a shaggy fairway. Because the angle of the swing will be steeper, the high bounce allows the club to slide over the surface and create the opportunity not only for clean impact, but also height on the shot. Sand wedges have the most amount of bounce of any wedge , usually between 10 and 16 degrees, according to Learn About Golf. Specialty gap wedges may have as much as 12 degrees of bounce, though most are lower.

sooooooooooo

[Crabtree1997]

heres my source http://golftips.golfsmith.com/degrees-bounce-golf-wedges-1293.html

[Crabtree1997]

here is a chart that even says so http://www.golfdigest.com/images/equipment/2012-11/eqsl02_wedges_bounce_intro.jpg

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Crabtree1997

here is a chart that even says so http://www.golfdigest.com/images/equipment/2012-11/eqsl02_wedges_bounce_intro.jpg

It's very simple math. If the shaft is leaning forward 10 degrees, you need 10 degrees of bounce just to get back to 0°.

I have a 60° wedge with 22° bounce, and I can hit a ball just fine off of cement if necessary.

There is a lot of incorrect, bad, or just plain old but "accepted" information out there in the golf industry. This whole idea of bounce actually causing skulled shots is one of them. Again, this club can be hit properly:

[GaijinGolfer]

When in doubt, more bounce is better.  Bounce is your friend.

[inthecup]

I agree bounce is your friend. I play a 56 14 and a 60 14.

[saevel25]

As long as you get the leading edge under the center of the ball, you will not. Meaning 0.84 inches of clearance you have before you skull a shot. That means for a wedge, if you have 22° of bounce. Lets say you return the club to the ball with 22° of bounce (opening or closing the face effects the bounce), you would need a sole width of nearly 2.2 inches to hit the center of the ball.

Even if you hit before the ball, your impacting with the ground with a pretty shallow angle. The hands are still moving forward, and the club will bounce a bit, but the angle will be shallow upward slightly, so the edge of the club will still hit bellow the equator of the ball. I've hit some pitch shots with a lot of bounce, were i hit before the ball, i feel the thud before the ball. The club skids under the ball and the shot comes out slightly lower, slightly less spin, and slightly shorter but it rolls out more, so its not a terrible result.

[Stuffs]

I do agree that bounce has a lot less to do with skulling a shot than most think.  To me at least, its what looks comfortable at address.  When it comes to my SW and LW, I do prefer less bounce. I do vary the openness of the face quite a bit.  With less bounce, when I open it up, the leading edge doesn't look as high off the ground vs a higher bounced wedge would look.  When its high off the ground, my mind tends to think, "oo its gonna be tough getting the club underneath" but in reality, the difference is very minor.  Its more a mental thing than anything and whatever helps the confidence part would be a good thing.  I would suggest trying different wedges out, open up the faces at address, chip with it...etc and go with what looks and feels most comfortable to you.

[Zachari208]

I like my bounce 12 or above, AOA is you, not the club. I think it's more techniques then design when you start playing. I'm just starting to match my bounce to my swing. So far so good.