Bounce With It!


Most average players should take advantage of wedges designed for the types of courses they play

The term “bounce” is used to describe a specific design of the sole of wedges intended to reduce the drag of the sole through sand or grass. It also helps reduce the tendency of hitting behind the ball, which leads to those “fat” or “chunky” shots we all despise.

A bounce sole design is characterized by the rear sole edge (the trailing edge) being closer to the ground than the front sole edge (the leading edge) when the club is addressed behind the ball. That relationship of the front and back of the sole creates an angled surface on the bottom of the sole, which resists the clubhead from digging into the turf, sand, etc.

This measurement is in degrees as noted, for example, in the Cleveland wedge series by one, two or three dots. The three-dot wedge has the most degrees of bounce at 16. Titleist’s Vokey design wedges, in contrast, have the amount of bounce noted on the clubhead. Meaning the 200-series wedge with a loft of 58 degrees and bounce of 12 degrees will have 258-12 on the back of the clubhead.

While bounce is a useful aspect of wedge play, if the bounce angle of the sole is too great, it will be a more difficult to hit shots from hardpan or tighter lies. The trailing edge will contact the hard ground first and literally could cause the leading edge to “bounce” into the ball, thus creating a dreaded bladed shot.

The amount of bounce needed depends on conditions. If you play courses with soft, fluffy sand, you'll need more bounce. If the courses you play typically have harder sand, you'll need less bounce.

With all this said, my experience with average players leads me to believe they need bounce. The average player does not open the clubface enough to effectively use the bounce, or they use wedges that don’t have enough bounce and blade shots in fear of digging.

Consider this, if you can open the face and then grip the club and keep the same loft on the club that was established at address from the beginning to the end of the swing, the design features of a sand wedge should never allow it to dig. It’s amazing when I show students that you can actually hit behind the ball in a pitch shot from 30 yards, and the club just slides along the ground and underneath the ball with no divot.

Remember, bounce on a wedge is a good thing.