Home » Dynamics of a Sand Wedge

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One of the shots a lot of golfers dread is the bunker shot.  However, we have a tool to help us deal with playing out of sand: The Sand Wedge.

 

The Sand Wedge has been designed with one primary focus…to easily get the ball out of the sand and preferably onto the green.

 

To do this it has a reasonable amount of loft (usually 56 degrees) to get the ball up in the air.  However if you were to use a normal wedge to play a bunker shot you would have to be very careful that it does not cut deep into the sand. To counteract this effect, the sand wedge has what is called "bounce" – it has a wide curved sole.  If you place your sand wedge on firm level ground you will likely notice that the front edge sits up to ¼ inch off the ground…this is the "bounce".  What this does is to prevent the sand wedge sinking into the sand as you play a shot. It literally skims or bounces through the sand.

 

 

MARK PEARSON plays and coaches golf professionally in the UK . With over 25 years golfing experience, Mark teaches a combination of good technique and proper course management techniques to enable golfers to get the most from their games. Mark is the author of "How to Master Putting and Putt like a Pro" and offers a FREE 7 Day E-Course on "Course Management Keys". More information is available at http://www.masterputting.com  

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