Wedge Bounce??

[Booch]

Can someone please explain the effect of wedge bounce on the weekend golfer? I understand the concept, but is a 10 vs 13 bounce in a 56 going to have any noticeable difference, outside the bunker?

Why is the 52 typically only offered in 6 or 7?

 

[JB]

Bounce is the angle that is made by the metal on the sole of the club and the front edge of the club.

As a general rule if you play on a course with a hard grass and firm sand, you should be using wedges with less bounce. The lower amount of bounce will help the clubs leading edge dig down easier into the turf and through the rest of the shot.

It will also depend on what type of swing you have. My 52* CG15 has 10* of bounce.

 

[Mustng5]

Also because your typical pitching wedge has like like 6 or 7 degrees of bounce, and a 52 is mostly just another pitching wedge, used to help fill in the gaps as lofts have gotten stronger. I know some use them out of bunkers but the majority of us dont. But everything JB said is spot on. I dont think 10-13 degrees of bounce would matter that much to the weekend golfer, but thats just my opinion.

 

[GolferGal]

This answer came from one of the greatest club makers of all time John Hoeflich:

"Bounce angle and sole radius are important to all golfers. Weekend golfers are better off with more rather than less bounce since a wedge with less bounce tends to "dig" a little more and requires more skill to keep it from burying in the sand or soft turf. Tour players and skilled golfers have more control over the clubhead and tend to like sand wedges with less bounce. 12 to 13 degrees is a good number for a 56 degree wedge.
52 degree wedges have less bounce because they are usually hit with a full swing from the fairway or tighter lies and if they had more bounce they would bounce into the ball and produce a lot of thin hits.
Hope this helps!"

 

[JB]

That is why I chose her. WHy not ask the greatest ever. Good call GG.

 

[Booch]

Good stuff, as usual. Thanks!

My CG12 56, I just realized is a 14 - I thought 2 dots was a 10! I love it around the greens, but I can't swing it at all from most fairways. Comes off low, with no spin. I'm guessing the bounce is hurting me there since loft isn't a problem for me with any other clubs.

 

[dave1269]

14* bounce won't work from tight lies, it is meant to be hit from the sand or the rough. Low bounce wedge such as a 52* with 7* or 8* of bounce is less effective from the sand or rough. Have a look at Eidolon wedges (bestwedge.com). They have a very different approach to bounce, which works beautifully for me. I carry 52,56 and 60, and can hit them all from any type of lie or situation.

 

[Smallville]

14* bounce won't work from tight lies, it is meant to be hit from the sand or the rough. Low bounce wedge such as a 52* with 7* or 8* of bounce is less effective from the sand or rough. Have a look at Eidolon wedges (bestwedge.com). They have a very different approach to bounce, which works beautifully for me. I carry 52,56 and 60, and can hit them all from any type of lie or situation.

I think Hoeflich basically said that:

This answer came from one of the greatest club makers of all time John Hoeflich:

"Bounce angle and sole radius are important to all golfers. Weekend golfers are better off with more rather than less bounce since a wedge with less bounce tends to "dig" a little more and requires more skill to keep it from burying in the sand or soft turf. Tour players and skilled golfers have more control over the clubhead and tend to like sand wedges with less bounce. 12 to 13 degrees is a good number for a 56 degree wedge.
52 degree wedges have less bounce because they are usually hit with a full swing from the fairway or tighter lies and if they had more bounce they would bounce into the ball and produce a lot of thin hits.
Hope this helps!"

 

[lefty]

Good stuff, as usual. Thanks!

My CG12 56, I just realized is a 14 - I thought 2 dots was a 10! I love it around the greens, but I can't swing it at all from most fairways. Comes off low, with no spin. I'm guessing the bounce is hurting me there since loft isn't a problem for me with any other clubs.

I played one those too (CG14 56, two dots) I couldn't hit it for beans, went back to my old CG10 one dot and was much happier (eventually went to different wedges all together but that was a different story)

 

[clg82]

14* bounce won't work from tight lies, it is meant to be hit from the sand or the rough. Low bounce wedge such as a 52* with 7* or 8* of bounce is less effective from the sand or rough. Have a look at Eidolon wedges (bestwedge.com). They have a very different approach to bounce, which works beautifully for me. I carry 52,56 and 60, and can hit them all from any type of lie or situation.

My 14* bounce 56 degree niblick works awesome for me from the fairway......Is the niblick conisdered in a different class compared to a standard wedge with bounce?

 

[Booch]

I played one those too (CG14 56, two dots) I couldn't hit it for beans, went back to my old CG10 one dot and was much happier (eventually went to different wedges all together but that was a different story)

I'm always up for a good story! I know it's all about personal feel when it comes to wedges, but opinions do add value.

I'm in a wedgie dilemma, now. My Nike forged 48 is my reliable 110 club (I hit em quite high). I carried a 56 Nike forged for swinging, but it was no comparison to the CG 12 around the greens. I can do everything with that except swing.

Thinking of giving that Mizuno MP T-10 a try in a 52 06, for swinging from the fairway or pitching/chipping with a little less loft.

 

[lefty]

I'd found the CG10 had more repeatable results compared to the cg14 (repeatable roll out on pitches and chips around the green while the cg14 would stop somtimes, run like crazy other times)

I eventually stumbled across a scratch golf demo day and found the feel of their wedges along with the performance around the green (it was very easy for me to adapt to them, and I immediatly had a great judge of distance on chips/pitches that I didn't have with my cleveland wedges)

there is a huge (and many would say over the top exuberant) fanbase of those Scratch wedges, I don't want to come off like one of their crazy fans, but I'm really enjoying my two wedges I'm using. I found their D/S grind or middle bounce option to play pretty similar in terms of bounce to the single dot cleveland.

 

[2left]

My 14* bounce 56 degree niblick works awesome for me from the fairway......Is the niblick conisdered in a different class compared to a standard wedge with bounce?

The Niblick 56* design is pretty different, but I don't know how it all works out. Here's an explanation of "effective bounce" from Titleist's site.


• Measured Bounce v. Effective Bounce
An important distinction to keep in mind when discussing a wedge’s bounce angle is measured versus effective bounce. . .The effective bounce of the wedge, however, is more representative of how the wedge will perform on the course from both a playability and versatility standpoint. Sole width, camber and relief are all wedge design elements that determine the effective bounce of a wedge. The following chart generally explains each element’s effect on bounce, all other factors being equal:

Element---------------Effective v. Measured---------------Reason
Sole Width---------Wider sole = More effective bounce---More bounce surface area
Sole Relief-------More relief = Less effective bounce----Less bounce surface area
Sole Camber------More camber = Less effective bounce**---Reduces the bounce surface area

**In the case of a thin-soled wedge, adding camber may increase the bounce angle.

 

[AZRhode]

There are some great responses regarding what the bounce does and what type of course you play.

I would add your swing type has a ton of impact as well. The picker vs digger thougt. I pick the ball more than dig and really work on the whole forward swing bottom thought so I personally use less bounce. I use my 60* (7* bounce) for most everything up to 100yds and use my 56* (14* bounce) almost exclusively for sand or thick rough.

 

[AZRhode]

I would also add that less bounce allows me to manipulate the club face more and it makes it more versatile for a variety of shots(some of which I have no business trying!)

 

[Bignose]

I would also add that less bounce allows me to manipulate the club face more and it makes it more versatile for a variety of shots(some of which I have no business trying!)

There are some clubs today that have a sole grind to expose a lot of bounce when held square to the target line, but less and less bounce as the club is opened up, just to eliminate the above. Wishon and Eidolon both offer wedges with these kind of "dual bounces", I am sure that there are more that I am not aware of.

However, I strongly agree with your previous post about swing type; I think that that aspect of it isn't mentioned enough in these type of discussions.

Lastly, I think that most of us don't have the money to have several sets of wedges for course with fluffy sand, or lush courses, versus coarse sand and lots of tight lies. I know that I personally play a lot of public courses, and you kind of have to take those courses as they come. There will be fluffy sand in one bunker, almost no sand in another, lushness and dry grasses all on the same hole! The best compromise is to have wedges with a wide variety of bounces. I personally play a 56* sand wedge with a fairly high bounce, and have 52* and 60* wedges with fairly low bounces. And, not only is distance and trajectory part of the choice of wedge, but the lie as well. Having wedges with several different bounces gives choices no matter what the situation is.

 

[Booch]

There are some great responses regarding what the bounce does and what type of course you play.

I would add your swing type has a ton of impact as well. The picker vs digger thougt. I pick the ball more than dig and really work on the whole forward swing bottom thought so I personally use less bounce. I use my 60* (7* bounce) for most everything up to 100yds and use my 56* (14* bounce) almost exclusively for sand or thick rough.

I'm definitely a picker.