Gap Wedge Bounce Why low bounces on LW and hitting down on ball

So I am pretty new back to golf, when I was a kid and played- I got pretty good, but didnt have access to fitted clubs or nice clubs for that matter. So when I started again I just ordered a vokey gap wedge because I had hit my buddies well- what I didnt know anything really about was bounce angle.

So my vokey is a 13 degree bounce and while I can chip and hit long pitches pretty well with it, I struggle hitting a full swing and making good contact- and even when I do I'm barely getting 100 yards (drives range from 250-280 and up to 300 once a couple times when I've really tried to swing hard)

I'm starting to wonder if the bounce is too high. So I understand that to hit a high bounce club solid you must hit down on it. Can anyone point me in the direction of how to adjust how steep you swing? I know when I chip with this club I consciously have to keep my hands way forward- I do that by not releasing much at all trying to get my hands way forward- i actually chipped and pitched really well yesterday

I probably also need to hit down on my other irons a good bit more as I hardly ever take good divots.

So just curiously how can I make steeper swings that would be better suited to a high bounce wedge? Also- why do lob wedges typically come with such low bounce numbers? Should I go for a lower bounce gap wedge? I dont think I really hit up on the ball- but maybe not as strong of angle as I should get- another note- when I hit my irons well I usually get a pretty low flight but with tons of spin! like a 5 iron will roll out 2 feet if I hit a green with it 170 out. I'm switching to a lighter shaft with more flex, but I thought low with a lot of spin meant you were hitting down on it a good bit. little confused

Thanks!

What’s the loft of the wedge?

That high bounce on a gap wedge (I’m assuming it’s around 50-52*) is a club that’s made for very soft turf conditions. The purpose is to help keep the club from digging too much. Generally the firmer the course conditions the lower the bounce your wedges should be except for your sand wedge, the bounce of a 56* sand wedge imo needs to be fairly high to again help keep the club from digging into the sand to much.

To give you a little perspective I have 2 sets of irons, ping g400’s which have a lot of bounce through the set and a set of Ben Hogan edge which have a lot less bounce. With the pings I don’t take near the divots I do with the Ben Hogan’s, the bounce helps keep the club from digging down into the turf...grind and leading/trailing edge also play a role in this but that’s not what you’re asking about and is another story. Hope this helps. And maybe more THp’ers will chime in on your swing questions...good luck!


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Knockdown said:

That high bounce on a gap wedge (I’m assuming it’s around 50-52*) is a club that’s made for very soft turf conditions. The purpose is to help keep the club from digging too much. Generally the firmer the course conditions the lower the bounce your wedges should be except for your sand wedge, the bounce of a 56* sand wedge imo needs to be fairly high to again help keep the club from digging into the sand to much.

To give you a little perspective I have 2 sets of irons, ping g400’s which have a lot of bounce through the set and a set of Ben Hogan edge which have a lot less bounce. With the pings I don’t take near the divots I do with the Ben Hogan’s, the bounce helps keep the club from digging down into the turf...grind and leading/trailing edge also play a role in this but that’s not what you’re asking about and is another story. Hope this helps. And maybe more THp’ers will chime in on your swing questions...good luck!


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First, I'm sorry, its a 50* gap wedge. Vokey Sm4 13* bounce. And yeh I dont think ive ever had an issue with digging. Am I right that with a high bounce you'd need to swing with a steeper angle to get the leading edge down far enough? I always think i know intuitively how to swing steeper but I'm not sure if I'm actually correct. Can anyone point me in the direction of how to shallow out or steepen a swing?

I wouldn't change your swing for one club with high bounce. What's your concern with it? It's not going far enough with full swings? If that's the case you could bend it a few degrees stronger, that would also reduce bounce. You want your PW and GW to have about 4-5 degrees difference in loft. That will give you 10-12 yard gap in those wedges. You may also want to play with the ball position. Putting the ball farther back in your stance should lower trajectory and give it more distance. Hope this helps!

Schanker said:

I wouldn't change your swing for one club with high bounce. What's your concern with it? It's not going far enough with full swings? If that's the case you could bend it a few degrees stronger, that would also reduce bounce. You want your PW and GW to have about 4-5 degrees difference in loft. That will give you 10-12 yard gap in those wedges. You may also want to play with the ball position. Putting the ball farther back in your stance should lower trajectory and give it more distance. Hope this helps!

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^this. Don’t adjust your swing for this club. If it’s not going the distance you feel it should you may be getting it a little high on the clubface, play with the ball position. I always hit my wedges the best when I “trap” them and tend to play them a little back of the middle of my stance.


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If you hit 170 with a 5 iron, 100 with a 50* sounds reasonable. In fact it sounds about the same as me and others I know. I never thought of it as an issue. Especially not a bounce issue.

You've gotten good advice. Don't change your swing. You do have another option. You could get some of the bounce ground down. But you'll want to make sure the person doing so knows that they are doing.

I agree with others in that I'd never recommend altering one's swing for one club. The following is how I play all wedges on full shots.

I'm not saying this is the best approach but it's the approach that's worked best for me.

Most friends and golfers I've played with play their wedges in the center of their stance or slightly forward for full swings.

But I prefer to play them about a ball off center toward my back foot. This (again, "for me") encourages a more descending path into the ball resulting in better contact, spin and distance control.

My 52° GW at present only has 8° of bounce. I've played a higher bounce GW in the past but 8°-10° seems more like my sweet spot.

How far do you hit your pw and what is the loft of your pw? How far do you hit your next lofted wedge and what I'd its loft? I'm thinking there may be an issue with the loft gaps.

Well I do have some Bridgestone j38 cb irons. So my 26 degree 5 iron going 175 (a more Accurate yardage) is more like a 185 with an ap1 or a g400. And I hit my driver a good 270-275 on average. I feel like I’m not getting the distance I used to on my irons in general. But yeh I’ll try putting it further back in my stance. I am actually really liking my 13 degree bounce sandwesge for chipping and pitching because it forces me to keep my hands way ahead of the head and always hit the ball first I get a ton of spin for the height of thaose shots too

My main question with this post is how do you actually go about creating a more downward blow or a steeper swing besides playing it further back in stance? I feel like being forced to keep my hands ahead really makes me lose the little wrist hinge power I have in my wedges. Make sense? I’m actually thinking now that a Lob wedge with a higher bounce may not be great for crazy flop shots but better to insure full contact without blading it.