Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide

Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide

Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide – As a golfer, you need to improve your wedge game. All you need to do is figure out which wedges you need in your bag and which loft you should play with each one. Knowing how far you hit each club, as well as the gaps you need to fill, is a big part of figuring out which wedge loft you need.

There are a lot of golf shots that are played from less than 125 yards away, whether it’s an approach shot or one around the green. Because of that, you must have the right wedge loft to make the shot you want. If you’re a good wedge player, you know how far you hit each club and make sure there aren’t any distance gaps between your wedges. During this article, we’ll talk about different types of golf wedges and the lofts they have. We’ll also show you how to choose the best wedge loft for your game.

Different Types of Golf Wedges & Lofts

There are four different golf wedges (Pitching Wedge, Gap Wedge, Sand Wedge, and Lob Wedge), each with different lofts and a unique purpose. Wedges come with different loft options, grind, and bounce, all of which are important; however, this article will focus specifically on wedge loft.

The first thing to understand is that there is no standard loft for any particular wedge. There are general loft ranges, but wedges can be customized to the loft you need. Not all golfers are alike, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” configuration. There’s a wide range of iron set loft configurations, and some golfers hit the ball longer than others. Because of that, wedge lofts are flexible to fit a player’s specific needs. Lofts can also be bent by a degree or two for even further customization.

Let’s look at each one.

Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide

The Pitching Wedge 43°-48°

Most iron sets come with pitching wedges that have lofts between 43° and 48°. More and more golf clubs are making pitching wedges with less loft. There were a lot of people who wore 47°-48° a long time ago. Now, 43°-46° is a much more common range. The reason for this is that golfers are hitting pitching wedges a lot farther than they used to, which means that they need more customization in the lower lofted wedges that they use (e.g., gap, sand, and lob).

Wedged Gap 48°-52° Loft

Gap wedges, on the other hand, fill the space between the sand wedge and the pitching wedge. It is the same thing as a gap wedge, which comes with some iron sets.

Pitch wedge lofts have been going down over the years, which has made the distance between them even bigger. You can use the gap wedge if your PW and SW are more than 20-25 yards apart.

The Sand Wedge 52°-58° Loft

Second, only to a lob wedge is a sand wedge in many golfers’ bags. To play from a bunker, chip around the green, hit full swings to get to the green, and more, this wedge can do it all! From 52° to 58°, sand wedge lofts are the same. They usually have more bounce than lower lofted clubs. Allows the sole to move a little more easily when it comes into contact with the ground because it has a little more bounce. My sand wedge is the one thing I always have in my bag. It’s good for so many things.

A Lob Wedge (Loft: 58° to 60°)

Lob wedges are the most lofted club for most people, usually between 58° and 60°. As many as 64° lob wedges are being made by some manufacturers. If you don’t know what you’re doing, I don’t think you should play more than 60.

In golf, lob wedges are mostly used for flop shots where you need the ball to rise quickly and land softly around your target. Skilled golfers use their lob wedge a lot for chips and pitches around the green because the loft/grind combination can make the golf ball spin a lot and give them more control.

Golfers who are amateurs should be aware of these high-risk, high-reward shots. A lob wedge should only be used in certain situations by golfers with a high handicap. A lot can go wrong when you try to make a miraculous shot with a lob wedge.

However, I still think most golfers should have a lob wedge. It’s hard to learn, but once you do, it can make a big difference in your golf game.

Gap testing and knowing how far you are

To choose the right lofts for your wedges, you first need to know how far you hit each club in your bag, especially your pitching wedge. This will help you figure out which lofts will work best for you. There are a lot of things you need to know about how far you hit each club. A proper gap test is a good idea if you don’t know how far you are from each other or if you want to make sure your setup is right.

Golf club gap testing is when you hit shots with each club in your bag to find out how far you hit them. Large gaps in yardage become more clear.

With wedge lofts, what you want to do is make sure that your distances are evenly spaced inside the pitching wedge so that they’re all the same length. As soon as you know your distances, you can figure out how high your wedge needs to be. This is how it works:

Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide

Some ways to do this:

• Make an appointment with a club fitter so they can do a proper gap test. With their help, you can be sure you’re going in the right direction. Most club fitting fees are waived if you buy the clubs, so take advantage of them if you plan to buy them. Club fitting is worth it.
• Get a launch monitor that tells you how far your shots go, either at a range near you or on your own computer or smartphone. Launch monitors for people have become more affordable over the last few years. A lot of the options are very pricey, but there are some good ones that cost less than $500.
• As you play golf, buy a shot tracking device like Arccos or Shot Scope that can show you how far your shots go. People can tell when they hit practice balls off a mat and when they hit balls in real golf situations.

My Lofts and Distances for my Wedge are shown.

A good way to start is to look at my own setup and how I came to make the decisions that I did. My wedge lofts and full swing lengths are the same right now.

• Pitching Wedge: 47°, 135 yards. This is how far the pitching wedge goes.
• At 52°, it’s 120 yards.
• At 56°, the sand wedge goes 110 yards.
• 60°, 90 yards. This is the Lob Wedge:

In order to get 10-15 yards, Bob Vokey says that you should separate your wedges by 4° to 6° of the loft.

The difference between how far I hit my pitching wedge and lob wedge was 45 yards, so I looked for wedges that would work for my game. To have a club for every distance, I need two more wedges to fill in the gap.

I decided to use a 52° gap wedge and a 56° sand wedge to keep my gaps at 4°. (with the exception of my pitching wedge).

If I get new irons this year, I’m very likely to get fitted for them. Make changes to my gap and sand wedge lofts if I do. I’m going to be using Arccos and Shot Scope this year, so I’ll be able to really get my distances right while I’m on the course. When you hit a mat and get distances from a simulator, you learn a lot. The only thing that’s going to be very close to the real thing is when you play a real round of golf.

An example of a Wedge Loft layout (Wedge Loft Chart)

The following is a list of some common ways to loft a wedge. With the loft of your pitching wedge, you start to close the gap between two things. Work up by 4° to 6° to fill each space.

Carry how many wedges?

I think that every golfer should think about carrying all four wedges (pitching, sand, gap, and lob). At the very least, you should have three things with you (pitching, sand, and lob). There is a big space between your pitching wedge and sand wedge that you need to fill in. You need to add a gap wedge to your set of clubs.

Pitching, Gap, Lob, and Sand Wedge Lofts: A Complete Guide