"True" bounce

You bought a wedge. It says 10 degrees of bounce on the back but is it actually 10 degrees? Perhaps, but it depends on something called camber, and when that's accounted for, you get your "true bounce" for a club.

We all know what bounce is, so i'll jump ahead. The degree of camber in the sole of an iron or wedge will determine a club's true bounce, meaning, how much the club's flange and sole are truly exposed to the turf during a swing. Camber is the degree to which the sole is rounded - front to back, or from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the sole, and heel to toe. More camber, or more rounding, means the bounce measurement (in degrees)is actually less than stated, because the sole's width is reduced with respect to initial turf interaction. If you have a sweeper type swing, irons and wedges with more camber are preferred, helping to keep the leading edge closer to the ground. If you're a digger who comes in steep, more camber can be a problem as it lessens bounce and can cause an iron or wedge to dig deeper than one would want, leading to fat shots and poor contact.

So what to do? Finding the degree of camber that's right for you can be done one way for sure. The next time you're hitting irons at a pro shop into a net, grab a lie board and lie tape and tape up the sole of the club. Pay attention to where the lie board mark is on the tape after a few swings. Ideally, the mark should be in the center of the sole, between the leading edge and trailing edge, representing the optimal bottom out point for the swing and that particular golf club. If it's closer to the leading edge, you don't have enough bounce with that particular iron or wedge. If it's towards the trailing edge, there's too much bounce and the flange is catching too much turf towards the back, which can raise the leading edge.

With wedges, there's a caveat that has to do with how wedges are used outside of full shots. We know what bounce does for soft sand shots. It's a good thing in that case. Consider, however, the tight lie flop and how you approach this golf shot. If you like to set the face up square for this type of shot, you'll do fine with less bounce and less camber. The leading edge will stay down close to the ground under the ball. If you like to roll the face open however, look for a wedge with more camber as the rolled sole will help to keep the leading edge close to the ground as you add bounce by opening the face.

Finally, one last word on heel/toe camber and that is the effect is has on side hill lies. It's helpful to have a little more camber heel to toe for such lies. Less of the sole will grab, allowing for solid contact. Pay attention to how you do on such shots with your current irons and where you tend to play.

And, if you do evaluate your irons and wedges and realize you have too much or too little bounce, but don't want to spend the money to replace your equipment, consider changing the loft to get the optimal bounce angles you need. Decreasing or increasing loft by one degree will lessen or increase bounce by one degree at the same time. Be mindful of distance gaps of course and the bending tolerances of your clubs as it'll vary depending on the steel type.

There it is. Good luck bouncing along.