Choosing the right wedges: What is bounce?

A few videos and a short summary on bounce and how you should keep it in mind when choosing your wedges.

After recently looking for some new wedges for the golf bag I’ve tried to figure out which ones are best for me, particularly when it comes to loft and the bounce of the golf club.

You don’t want to have too much of a gap in terms of club face angle between your wedges – no more than 4 degrees is ideal so that you can play a host of different shots that will cover the continuous range of distances needed to be played around the green.

But also as important is the bounce of the wedges – something most golfers don’t have a clue about. Lorien Scott talks generally about them in first the video above.

The bounce is the angle that the line of the leading edge and sole of the club makes with respect to the ground, as illustrated in the image on the right. So for example, you can buy a 56-degree wedge with a low, medium or high bounce. But how do you know which one is best for you?

Understanding how the bounce of the wedge will affect your golf shot is complicated, and perhaps it’s the main reason many people don’t know too much about it. But getting the loft and bounce right can make a huge difference to your short game.

A lot of what is around on the internet relates more to the softer, more heavily grassed American golf courses which lend themselves more towards a higher bounce – as the club will slide down and under the ball much easier.

In Australia, we generally have drier golf courses with tighter lies around the green and often a low-bounce club is what you should be favouring. And as mentioned in this video below, in Melbourne’s sandbelt courses, for example, the bounce on the wedge can have a huge impact in getting out of the bunkers.

But it depends a lot on your own golf swing and the types of golf courses that you generally play, so go chat with your local pro and see if you have the right bounce on your wedges. You might cost yourself a few shots around the green.

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