Wedge Bounce

Montgolfier

Reading an article from Derek at Foregolf about wedges.

http://www.foregolf.ie/blog/2014/09/3-important-things-to-know-about-bounce-on-wedges/

He says for Irish conditions we should use less bounce in our wedges. Makes total sense to me now; I always thought opposite was true softer conditions etc = more bounce.

See I recently invested in a 60deg Mizuno t11 5 degree of bounce. My chipping around the green has got so much better I can slide the club under no problem and no fear of blading or hit a fat shot.

It's hard to find low bounce in the 56 degree looking at mcguircks and halpenny 56.10 or 56.13 seems to be the norm. I'd love a 56.8 in mizuno.
What bounce do you guys prefer and why?

Russman

Not 100% sure I'd necessarily agree with that piece TBH, but I think if your technique is decent you can pretty much use any bounce that would be in the normal range, ie not excessively high or low. Personally I think its more about the width of the sole and the grind on the heel. I've a couple of old Callaway X-Tour wedges (from c2006/7) 56 degrees that are 13 degrees bounce but because there's a lovely grind on the heel I can open them up as much as I want. Funnily enough, I hate the C Grind on the more recent Callaway models, but hey, everyone is different.

I tend towards finding a wedge I can use and like the look of and then worry about what is actually stamped on the hosel.

alxmorgan

Montgolfier wrote: »

Reading an article from Derek at Foregolf about wedges.

http://www.foregolf.ie/blog/2014/09/3-important-things-to-know-about-bounce-on-wedges/

He says for Irish conditions we should use less bounce in our wedges. Makes total sense to me now; I always thought opposite was true softer conditions etc = more bounce.

See I recently invested in a 60deg Mizuno t11 5 degree of bounce. My chipping around the green has got so much better I can slide the club under no problem and no fear of blading or hit a fat shot.

It's hard to find low bounce in the 56 degree looking at mcguircks and halpenny 56.10 or 56.13 seems to be the norm. I'd love a 56.8 in mizuno.
What bounce do you guys prefer and why?

I had the opposite experience. Had a 60 with 4 degrees and couldn't hit it. Went to 12 degrees on it and now it's my go to club.

zuutroy

Don't really agree with that article at all, and the photo is very misleading. Anyway, why not have both? My 56 has 14 degrees of bounce and if I'm on a very fluffy lie, or a tighter lie that's boggy then I use it. If I'm on a bare hard lie I use my 60.04.

I'd argue that in Ireland our ground requires more bounce for 8 months of the year, rather than what those guys are saying.

newport2

Agree that this article goes against what I've read and experienced.

Even in the photo they show, saying wedge on left is bad with too much bouce, wedge on right is good with less bounce. Look at the difference in the angle that the two shafts are being held. They are purposely increasing the bounce of the left and taking most of the bounce off the one on the right by leaning the shaft forward. Why do this to try and exaggerate your point if your correct? Because they do custom fitting and it's in their interest to tell people they currently have the wrong clubs for their game? Or maybe I'm just being too synical



IMO, you should have at least one wedge with decent bounce on it for soft fairways, soft sand, certain lush grass lies, etc to help stop it digging in. You can increase/decrease the bounce somewhat with your shaft angle anyway.

Montgolfier

I guess it's no harm to have both bounces. The shot I struggled with the most over the winter was a bare wet clay lie, my 56.10 kept sticking through the swing and coming up short, or bladed trying to be careful.
In fairness I tried nearly every club in the bag out of that lie, none worked.

newport2

Montgolfier wrote: »

I guess it's no harm to have both bounces.

I use a 50/6 and a 56/12. Depending on conditions I sometimes swap them out for a 52/12 and a 58/4. I would always want a club with a decent amount of bounce, along with a club with a small amount. Increases my options in what I can do around the greens. Everyone to their own I guess though, especially in the short game area.

Whyner

newport2 wrote: »

Agree that this article goes against what I've read and experienced.

Even in the photo they show, saying wedge on left is bad with too much bouce, wedge on right is good with less bounce. Look at the difference in the angle that the two shafts are being held. They are purposely increasing the bounce of the left and taking most of the bounce off the one on the right by leaning the shaft forward. Why do this to try and exaggerate your point if your correct? Because they do custom fitting and it's in their interest to tell people they currently have the wrong clubs for their game? Or maybe I'm just being too synical



IMO, you should have at least one wedge with decent bounce on it for soft fairways, soft sand, certain lush grass lies, etc to help stop it digging in. You can increase/decrease the bounce somewhat with your shaft angle anyway.

Well said

Uncle Ben

Montgolfier wrote: »

Reading an article from Derek at Foregolf about wedges.

http://www.foregolf.ie/blog/2014/09/3-important-things-to-know-about-bounce-on-wedges/

He says for Irish conditions we should use less bounce in our wedges. Makes total sense to me now; I always thought opposite was true softer conditions etc = more bounce.

See I recently invested in a 60deg Mizuno t11 5 degree of bounce. My chipping around the green has got so much better I can slide the club under no problem and no fear of blading or hit a fat shot.

It's hard to find low bounce in the 56 degree looking at mcguircks and halpenny 56.10 or 56.13 seems to be the norm. I'd love a 56.8 in mizuno.
What bounce do you guys prefer and why?

I'd 2 Norman Drew low bounce wedges. If I recall it was a 50 with 8 and a 56 with 4 degrees. I'd bought them online. When I went to Ballinrobe the first time I thought I'd be thrown off. Regardless of what I did I could not stop the feckin clubs from digging in. The divots were going further than the ball. I finished the round using the 9 iron as a wedge.
As the other lads have said I'm very surprised that anyone would recommend low bounce wedges for Irish or UK parkland courses. They work to some extent on our links courses but very difficult to use elsewhere.

billy3sheets

I bought a Mizuno 56* sand wedge a few years back. Really enjoyed it off the fairway but couldn't get out of a bunker with it - kept sliding under the ball.
I mentioned it to a pro I was getting lessons from at the time. He explained bounce to me. It had 8* instead of the 12* on my old wedge. The difference out of the bunker was unbelievable. I reverted to my old wedge again.

ShivasIrons

Bounce is your friend!!

There's effective bounce too.

http://www.golfwrx.com/291931/what-is-effective-bounce-anyway/

PARlance

billy3sheets wrote: »

I bought a Mizuno 56* sand wedge a few years back. Really enjoyed it off the fairway but couldn't get out of a bunker with it - kept sliding under the ball.
I mentioned it to a pro I was getting lessons from at the time. He explained bounce to me. It had 8* instead of the 12* on my old wedge. The difference out of the bunker was unbelievable. I reverted to my old wedge again.

Is that not what you're trying to achieve in a bunker? Hit sand first and slide the club through it

Montgolfier

Anybody know what bounce is on their irons? 7, 8, 9, PW.
Pitching wedge for example nobody cares about the bounce on that wedge. Compared with 52*, 56*, 60*. Why does it suddenly get so necessary to have bounce options?
Because marketing people sold you the idea perhaps.

Whyner

You try hit a cut lob off a tight lie with 14degrees of bounce

Normally about 6degrees on PW and decreases down to about 1degree for a 4iron

It's good to have different bounce options............hard sand/soft sand is another example

Russman

Montgolfier wrote: »

Anybody know what bounce is on their irons? 7, 8, 9, PW.
Pitching wedge for example nobody cares about the bounce on that wedge. Compared with 52*, 56*, 60*. Why does it suddenly get so necessary to have bounce options?
Because marketing people sold you the idea perhaps.

Or possibly because people wondered why wedge X was easier or harder to use out of sand than wedge Y maybe ?

newport2

Montgolfier wrote: »

Anybody know what bounce is on their irons? 7, 8, 9, PW.
Pitching wedge for example nobody cares about the bounce on that wedge. Compared with 52*, 56*, 60*. Why does it suddenly get so necessary to have bounce options?
Because marketing people sold you the idea perhaps.

No, Gene Sarazen closed the deal for me.

Because a pitching wedge is really a nine iron, delofted over the years for marketing. Generally meant for full shots. Full irons also have wider soles, which means you can't add as much bounce to them.

A huge variety of shots generally to be played with wedges, bounce gives you more options. If you don't get it, no need to dismiss people who do as being fools taken in by sales people.

BoardsMember

I read something recently that suggested most amateur golfers have no idea how to play bounce. I'm off 8 and I know that rings true for me anyhow. I understand the concept, but making use of it properly is another thing completely.

Russman

BoardsMember wrote: »

I read something recently that suggested most amateur golfers have no idea how to play bounce. I'm off 8 and I know that rings true for me anyhow. I understand the concept, but making use of it properly is another thing completely.

I think, to an extent, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors put out nowadays about wedge play. We heard Tiger talking about "different release patterns" a while ago.
Maybe its just me, but I think over complicating what's a relatively simple thing can get confusing. For sure, there are different bounces, grinds, sole widths etc., but in truth most standard wedges play much the same (within reason). I know I'm the pickiest, fussiest f--ker in the world when it comes to buying a wedge, but if I'm honest the differences come down mostly to feel (subjective), and heel grind (whether I can open it up or not, as I don't use a 60).