Question: What loft do you prefer for simple chip shots, <100 feet?

I like using my 54, but if I change my lofts of my wedges I'll probably drop down to a 52 depending on the gapping.

I normally use my 60* and adjust the flight by how far forward or back in my stance I hit the ball. From heavy rough, I'll use my 56* sand wedge for the extra weight. Every now and then, I'll try a bump and run with a less-lofted club, but I have far less success with it.

ForeOnFour said:

From 100 feet and in I'm pulling the 56 every time. I can get over or I can deloft and roll/skip it. A couple years back I decided to stop changing clubs around the green and close in, instead opting to practice, practice, practice with one club. It was a struggle at first but now I love my 56 and having something consistent and confident has done wonders for my short game.

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Pretty much the same thing for me, except I use my 50*. Use the 60* for certain circumstances, but the 50* is my go to club.

Depends entirely on the shot I think I need to hit there.

Could be anything from PW to LW.

47* PW is my default choice for this kind of shot with some run. I have been mixing in the 51* GW more, depending on the situation.

aknow said:

Thank you for posting this. I was taught to lower the loft by closing face, rather than using a 7 iron. Love MR. Runyan's advice.

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The only problem with closing the face rather than using a lower-lofted club is it's lie dependent. On an extremely tight or wet lie, if you close the face on a higher-lofted club, you're brining the leading edge more into play and have to have a perfect strike.

... I am a huge believer in mastering a lob wedge for all shots around the green. Especially if you play multiple courses and mostly muni's. If you play a private club with true and fast greens, this may not be necessary. First learning to use your LW for every shot increases your creativity as well as taking out he anomalies in the green or different speeds on the same course or multiple courses. 2 shots from yesterday are perfect examples. I hit a wedge to a false sided green and even though I landed 5 feet from the pin, it caught the false side and rolled off the green. Perfect spinning LW shot that hit the slope, checked up and trickled the 4 feet to the hole. The other was a long chip with a severe slope from right to left that leveled to flat about 6 feet from the pin. An aggressive spinning chip that hit, hopped and stopped took the slope out of play and left me with a 10" tap in. Once you master these LW shots you can move on to other shots and clubs that may be appropriate for the given shot.

... Fwiw, I took this advice from a an aspiring PGA Tour player on the mini tours when I had been playing a couple years. After 2 years of practice I pretty much mastered the LW and even though I planned to move on to other type shots with different clubs, I was so comfortable with my LW I just continued to use to for all shorts around the green from back of the stance rolling chips to forward in my stance high mini lobs that hit and stop and any kind of shot in between.

Depending on conditions.....green apron, green conditions, bunkers in the way, etc...
I use all my wedges and even up to a 6 iron (bump and run) if the conditions require it.
But what I use the most is my 56* wedge.

It's all dependent on lie and amount of green. I have no problem pulling anything from a 56* wedge to a 7 iron.

As others have noted, the more shots in your toolkit, the better you will be able to cope with the specific shot you are facing. I played the bump and run exclusively for years because I could not hit a short lob until two years ago. Now I can, and my short game is better for it because I use both.

Mid handicapper here and I like to use 7, 8, or 9 iron if I want to bump and run from within 5-15 yards of the green. For longer shots I will use a 56 (RTX-4) or 50 (set wedge) and either release the club or not depending on whether I want it to land on the green and run (release) or check up (no release).

I suck at chipping and will always prefer pitching when I can. With that said, I use the most basic chip possible. I stand the wedge/iron up and put with it. I let the distance determine what club. Under 5 yards = SW, 5-10 yards =GW, etc.

Highest lofted club for me - 58* or 60*. I can hit a low, running shot with a high lofted wedge.