Brad, in his question below, asks what bounce is on his wedges. Let's see if we can shed some light and help Brad and all of us on the importance of Bounce.
Brad Kile says:
I have a number of wedges and I notice that the base of each seems to have a different width. I think this is called the bounce. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a wedge with a thick bounce vs a thin bounce width?
The Surge says:
Bounce is defined by club fitters and club manufacturers as, 'The measurement in degrees from the front leading edge of a club's sole to the point that the back of the sole rests on the ground. The more the front leading edge is off the ground, the more bounce the club has. Conversely, the less the front leading edge is to the ground, the less bounce the club has.'
More bounce reduces the leading edge of the club face DIGGING into the ground. This means that the back edge 'bounces' (hence the term bounce) or skids the club off the ground. This is extremely important on sand wedges when hitting an explosive shot out of a bunker. The back edge of the flange causes the club to skip, slip, glide or slide thru the sand. This displaces or throws the sand and ball out of the bunker with the sand. Not enough bounce and the club goes too deep, takes too much sand.
Let's look at Wikipedia says about bounce and the history of bounce on a golf club as invented by Gene Sarazen in the early 1930s.
Wikipedia
A sand wedge, or sand iron, is a type of golf club primarily designed for use out of sand bunkers. It has the widest sole of any wedge, which provides the greatest amount of bounce, allowing the club head to glide through sand and avoid digging in.
History
Gene Sarazen began to win tournaments in 1935 with a new club he had invented that was specialized for sand play. He is hailed as the inventor of the sand wedge. However, history goes about 3 years further back than that. Spoon clubs offered varying degrees of loft and allowed players to scoop their ball out of sand traps and deep rough. As manufacturers became more and more innovative with club design, new types of wedges appeared. Some had concave faces, others featured deeply grooved faces, but not all of these designs conformed to USGA and R&A regulations, and many were banned. With the concave-faced wedge having been outlawed in 1931, Sarazen designed his sand wedge with a straight face. Another modification that he made was to add extra lead to the front edge of the club face, allowing it to cut through the sand more smoothly. After he won the 1932 British and U.S. Opens with the help of his new club, its popularity quickly grew.
Design
The modern sand wedge is often the heaviest iron in a player's bag, with most weighing nearly 40 ounces (1.1 kg). Traditionally it also had the highest loft at 54 to 58 degrees (55'56 being most common), although that distinction now goes to the lob wedge, which often has a loft of 60 degrees or more. It usually has one of the shortest shafts, between 33 inches (84 cm) and 36 inches (91 cm), though in some sets the sand wedge has a longer shaft than the pitching wedge.
Bounce
The main distinguishing difference of the club from most others, however, is a feature called bounce. On most other irons, the sole of the club is perpendicular to the shaft, meaning it is roughly parallel to the ground when the club is at rest, allowing the leading edge to get between the ball and the ground more easily. A sand wedge however is designed with the sole of the club at an angle to the ground in the same position, lifting the leading edge of the club off the ground.
This accomplishes three things. First, this design generally requires more material, which increases the weight of the club head for more momentum and places that weight low and forward in the club head for higher launches.
Second, the angled sole lifts the leading edge off the ground at the bottom of the swing, preventing the club from digging in to softer lies such as muddy ground, thick grass and of course sand, instead tending to skim over the surface.
I saw a list framed on the wall in one of the fitting Tour vans with a title that was something like 'Top 25 inventions or discoveries of the past 50 or so years that have changed golf the most for the better.' Number 1 on the list was Gene Sarazen inventing the sand wedge, which is, in effect, inventing BOUNCE.
More loft means the club has or needs less bounce. This is why lob wedges, from 58 degrees and higher, have much less bounce than sand wedges of 54 to 56 degrees. To lob or flop a wedge shot high and land like a brick on a green, the wedge has a smaller flange and bounce, so the club's leading edge is closer to the ground and can slice under the ball low to the ground and thus pop the ball up quickly and high.
A bunker shot is the only shot the club face does not hit the ball. When sand needs to be removed to pop a ball out, more bounce is needed to help the wedge cut through and keep sliding through the sand. The bounce keeps the club sliding through, throwing the sand and the ball out of the bunker.
Removing sand to hit a bunker shot means the sand wedge must have more bounce on its flange. The texture of the sand can also require more or less bounce for more reliability of successfully executing the explosion sand shot. The firmer or courser the sand, or hard packed sand, to hard pan, to no sand bunkers, less bounce is needed. Fluffy light or fine sand, as is found in Florida, is called 'sugar sand.' It has the texture of Sweet and Low amd needs a lot more bounce to skid through and not dig.
These principle of the right amount of bounce for the sand or hard pan also apply to the type of grass conditions you play on. Higher cut and better watered grass fairways and rough need more bounce. Closer mown and drier and harder fairways and fringes need less bounce. Tour players have numerous wedges with different degrees of bounce for each loft they play. They change wedges from course to course, based on the turf and sand conditions. They also change them if playing conditions change during a tournament, like a lot of rain making fairways and fringes soggy and susceptible to digging where they would use more bounce. I own and use 3 exact duplicate 56 degree sand wedges, each with different degrees of bounce. I change them out based on the conditions. One has 6 degrees of bounce, another has 9 degrees and the most bounce one has 14 degrees.
For most amateurs who can't just bop into the club Tour van and have a new set of wedges made with the correct bounce needed for this week's sand and turf conditions or buy multiple different wedges with different degrees of bounce, there is a solution. Get a sand and lob wedge with a median degree of bounce that will overall work well for all sand and turf conditions. Checking with one of my 'Master Club Fitters,' he gave me the following suggestions for what are the median degrees of bounce for wedges.
For a sand wedge, the median degree is from around 9 to 12 degrees. For a lob wedge, 3 or 4 degrees is the median. I will add that these are just ranges and not only may but WILL vary from player to player for the conditions and circumstances. The best advice I can give is to check with your PGA professional or club fitter for their expert advice in making your selection.
Bounce is important. We all need to know about it and address it, especially in our wedges.
The Surge!