2009 November | All About Golf Sports Lounge Blog

Degree Wedge

November 30th, 2009 admin No comments

Degree Wedge

What is a Golf Wedge and When Should it Be Used?

The golf clubs within a standard set are arranged in order of their degree of loft; that is the angle at which the ball will be lifted into the air when it is hit with the club. You will find therefore that a new set of golf clubs starts off with a 1 wood, otherwise known as a driver which typically has an angle of loft between8 and 13 degrees. This is followed by the 3 and 5 woods. The irons included within this set typically starts with the 3 (although 1 and 2 irons are available), which has a degree of loft between 21 and 24 degrees. Your set will top out with the 9 iron (45 - 48 degrees of loft), Pitching Wedge, which could also rightly be called a 10 iron (47 - 53 degrees of loft) and of course a putter.

However, it doesn't stop there. While playing a round of golf the player will inevitably find himself in situations where he has to achieve a very high loft angle, usually to clear an obstacle such as a tree or a set of bunkers. The progression of loft angles therefore continues with some special clubs which are available to be added to the standard set. The greatest loft angle is given to the lob wedge which is designed to perform exactly how the name implies, that is to lob the ball over an obstacle or at least high into the air. The lob wedge has a loft angle of around 58 to 62 degrees. Below this is the sand wedge with a loft angle of 54 to 58 degrees and the Gap Wedge with a 50 to 54 degree loft angle. As the name implies the sand wedge is particularly useful for sand bunker shots, whereas the gap wedge simply describes a club which plugs the gap in loft angles between the pitching wedge and the sand wedge.

As for when these clubs should be used, well I have alluded to some situations already, in that the sand wedge is likely to be used for escaping from bunkers and the lob wedge is likely to be used to lob the ball over an obstacle. In reality though there is another factor that needs to be taken into consideration and that is the required distance for the shot. For example a typical male recreational golfer will probably hit a sand wedge around 65 yards. One of the characteristics to bear in mind though when choosing to play a shot with a wedge is that because of the very high angle of approach to the green the ball is likely to roll very little, if at all. Accomplished players can use this to their advantage in that they can put backspin on the ball and so instead of stopping dead when it hits the green the ball will actually grip and roll backwards slightly making for some very impressive shots.

Most players when starting out and even when they become more experienced will not have a need to include too many of these specialist tools in their golf arsenal but as the standard rules of golf allow for 14 clubs to be carried out onto the course, it is probably worth investing in at least one wedge. The most likely candidate and probably most versatile of the wedges is the sand wedge and so is the extra club of choice for most players.

About the Author

Wayne Armstrong is the owner of GBGolf.com, a Golf resource website which includes lots of information on improving your game and links to some of the best golf equipment and clothing at some of the best prices you will find.

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