Since I designed my first line of wedges in the late 1980s, I can confidently say that I have interacted with close to a hundred thousand golfers–whether through countless phone calls, to the thousands of golfers I’ve engaged personally, to the online wedge-fitting platforms I have created, to the near-decade of writing my blog as “The Wedge Guy.”

Through all those engagements with golfers of all skill levels, the most frequent topic of conversation, confusion, and exasperation has to be the subject of bounce and grinds on wedges. And it’s no wonder, with the mind-boggling array of bounce/grind/loft combinations offered by the major and minor brands who engage in the wedge category.

I was honored that GolfWRX turned to me to write the first article in their sure-to-be-a-hit series called “Gear Junkie 101.” My goal with this examination of bounce and grinds is to help you develop a complete, and maybe slightly different understanding, of just how the sole of your wedges works and how to tackle the difficult process of finding what specific sole design will work best for you on a day in and day out basis.

What is bounce?

So, let’s start with a basic definition of “bounce.” Very simply, bounce is the downward angle of the sole of a wedge (or any golf club actually) from the leading edge to the trailing edge, measured in degrees from the pure horizontal plane (i.e. the turf). Typically, the bounce angle as it applies to wedges ranges from mid-single digits (5-8 degrees) to the mid-teens (12-15 degrees). It should make sense that the higher the degree of bounce, the more the sole of the club will tend to be “rejected” by the turf.

That’s pretty straightforward, but the subject is anything but that simple.

The “effective bounce” of a wedge is a function of both that measured bounce angle and the width of the sole. For example, a narrow sole with 12 degrees of bounce might perform almost the same as a wider sole with 8 degrees of bounce. In today’s marketplace, there are narrow sole wedges with bounce angles as high as 30-40 degrees, while the early lob wedges had very wide soles and claimed bounce angles of almost zero (they really were not that, of course). Since you are always making some degree of a descending blow to the golf ball, a negative bounce wedge would be more of a shovel than a wedge. Oh, and if part of the sole has a “negative bounce,” where the sole’s surface slants back upwards from the plane of the turf, then that part of the sole is going to have a very minimal effect on turf interaction.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, this image from golfguideforbeginners.com is certainly helpful.

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What are wedge grinds?

Now we can add to this expanding high/low bounce equation the myriad of various “grinds” available to golfers by the numerous companies engaged in the manufacture and marketing of wedges. From the custom world, the options are practically endless, and it appears most of them stem from detailed work with specific tour professionals (more on that later). Some like a sharper leading edge, while others want it more rounded. Some like a pretty straight leading edge, while others prefer some curvature from heel to toe. The options are practically endless when you are standing next to the guy on the wheel actually doing the grinding.

They also talk about “toe relief”, “heel relief” and a nearly whole alphabet of specific grinds – ‘C’, ‘K’, etc. But all these are proprietary references by the manufacturers, and there are no set of “standards” as to what each grind really is. That makes it tough on golfers to figure out what will serve you best. The market leader alone offers at least six different “stock” grinds, and other brands have their own countless variations as well. So how do you make sense of all that and choose the sole design that will serve you best?

I will share that, in my experience, only the very best golfers can really tell the difference between grinds and sole designs that differ only slightly from one another. Because tour players spend thousands of hours honing their wedge skills, they can feel things that are barely measurable. And, of course, the major brands bend over backwards to accommodate their staff professionals. These guys and ladies can fully appreciate the subtle nuances of one wedge to another that might look identical to an untrained eye. A one- or two-degree difference in bounce, or a sole width that is only 50 thousandths of an inch wider or narrower can make a difference to these elite players. But then, they get to test and try wedges provided to them for free, so they can experiment all they want, can’t they?

Leading edge, trailing edge, and heel grinds on Tiger Woods’ 56-degree TaylorMade MG2 wedge.

It has been my observation that even the very best recreational golfers typically do not approach this acute level of skill, but I have seen some that can detect differences that would escape notice of even active recreational golfers of more “average” skills.

I’ll get a bit skeptical here in saying that I have long challenged the notion that bounce can be accurately “fitted” through a simple examination of your swing path and/or the turf. My difficulty with that premise stems from those extensive golfer engagements wherein the vast majority of golfers–regardless of handicap–revealed to me that both turf conditions and their swing path are constantly changing. Hmmmm. Then how could you possibly “fit” either variable? That would be like trying to buy a pair of shoes if your feet were different sizes every day, wouldn’t it?

But you have to start somewhere to sort through the wilderness of bounce angles and grinds, so, let me offer you my advice and see if that can’t help you through the process.

First of all, I believe that the potentially negative effect of the “wrong” bounce is much less on full swing shots than it is on the short delicate shots around the greens–clubhead speed can make up for a lot. Unless the bounce angle of the wedge is just a terrible match to your most common full swing path, I think “close is good enough” in this aspect. In general, however, I think if you play the usually lush turf of the northern U.S., you will benefit from a more aggressive bounce and/or wider sole than if you play the typically tighter turf of the south and southwest.

Please understand that is a generalization, however.

Secondly, I do not believe you can fit bounce off of artificial turf, as even the best mats do not really imitate the real thing, where you will encounter different grasses, grain against and/or with your shot direction, etc. There is simply no substitute for trying different bounce options on the course itself, hitting shots you face regularly from the variety of turf conditions you encounter on a round-in, round-out basis. If you are serious about trying to get the right wedge, you simply have to hit a wide variety of shots with it (or one like it) to see how it performs under all conditions and shot types.

So, if you were looking for a shortcut, I just do not have one. In my opinion, to accurately evaluate any of the various bounce angles and grinds in search of the best wedges for YOU, you must take them to your course and hit the shots you hit regularly to see how they react to YOUR technique and conditions. In this wedge trial and testing process, put most of your focus on your bunker shots and a variety of short shots around the greens. Dollars to donuts says that this process will allow you to find one or two bounce/grind combinations that separate themselves from the pack as best FOR YOU.

Hey, this is golf, and if it was easy, everyone would do it, right?