You may have noticed that some golf clubs have numbers marked on the bottom of the club.
These numbers represent the degree of loft that particular club has. The higher the loft, the higher the ball flight.
How Far Should a 60 degree Wedge Go?
Depending on the golfer’s clubhead speed and ball position in their golf stance, the average distance of a golf ball struck with a 60-degree wedge is about 50-75 yards.
Professional golfers can hit their 60-degree wedge around 100 yards while beginning golfers hit their 60-degree an average of about 30 yards.
While these distances are just the norms, there are specific tips and strategies you can use to gain extra yards and to produce longer shots with your 60- degree wedge.
What is a 60 degree wedge?
A 60- degree wedge, also called a lob wedge, is a golf club that has 60-degrees of loft.
The amount of loft a club has is used by golfers to determine how high or low they may want to hit a golf shot.
The higher lofted clubs will travel high into the air and land softly while the lower lofted clubs, like a fairway wood, will move lower to the ground and travel further.
To determine what loft a club has, you can rest the club on a flat surface and measure the angle of the club face.
Or (the much easier way) look at the bottom of the club to read the loft measurement.
A 60- degree wedge will get the golf ball up quickly and land softly with little roll. Because the ball falls softly, the 60- degree wedge is widely used around the greens to make the golf ball stop quickly on the putting surface.
Tip: If you want to look at an affordable lob wedge, I recommend the Cleveland CBX wedge that you can read all about here!
When To use 60 degree wedge?
It can be a bit tricky when first using a 60- degree wedge when deciding on the right time to use it.
Because of the large sole on the bottom of the lob wedge, it can look pretty intimidating for beginning golfers and can be difficult to hit consistently.
The best time to use a 60-degree wedge is during these 3 situations:
- You are just off the green but in the rough
- You have to hit over an obstacle like a hill or tree
- You have to get the golf ball to stop very quickly on the putting surface
1) You are in the rough, just off the green
If your golf ball is in the rough just off the green, using a 60- degree wedge can help pop the golf ball up into the air, sliding underneath the ball.
Using other clubs like a pitching wedge or 9-iron may get caught in the long grass while the lob wedge gets the ball up and moving.
2) You have to hit over an obstacle
As we have talked about, the lob wedge gets the golf ball up into the air quickly.
So if you encounter a hill or tree in your path, a 60-degree will help you get the ball over the obstacle and back into a good position.
3) You have to get the golf ball to stop quickly on the green
Have you ever played golf courses that had speedy greens?
The trick when playing these types of courses is to use your lob wedge to add loft to your shots around the green.
The higher you hit the golf ball, the more you will decrease the amount of roll on the green.
Many professional golfers use the lob wedge to add spin to their shots to get shots closer to the hole.
Tips For the Perfect Lob Wedge Shot
Now you might be wondering if there is a way that you can add length to your wedge shots. Maybe you are hitting your wedges too high and losing distance.
Or perhaps you just aren’t getting enough consistent contact.
Here are a few tips that will help you add more distance:
Tip #1
Move the golf ball back in your golf stance towards your back foot.
When hitting a wedge shot, golfers need to have a steeper angle down at the ball to compress the ball and utilize the loft of the club.
So by playing the ball further back in the stance, you will hit the ball at a steeper angle and add more distance.
Tip #2
Strengthen your golf grip so that you see three knuckles on your top hand.
A stronger golf grip will keep the angle of your clubface at a more neutral or closed position when making contact with the ball.
If the grip is not strong, there will be a tendency for the clubface to turn open which will cause the golf ball to travel higher in the air and not travel as far
Tip #3
Keep your weight on your front leg and hit down at the golf ball so that your wedge hits the ground and makes a divot.
Trust me; the grass will grow back. Many golfers pick up too quickly when making wedge shots because they fear to hit the ground.
By keeping the weight forward, you will find that you will make better contact off the center of the club face and start to have consistent divots after hitting the golf ball.
Do golf sets come with a lob wedge?
Most golf sets do not come with a lob wedge.
The typical golf set comes with 3-PW irons where fairway woods, the driver, putter, and wedges are all purchased separately.
One of the main reasons why golf sets don’t usually come with wedges is because of the customization that many golfers like when playing with a wedge.
Golf wedges come in various degrees ranging from 46 degrees all the way to 64 degrees.
So depending on how far a golfer hits other clubs in their bag, they may prefer to use specific degree wedges that best close out any distance gaps between clubs.
Tip: The most popular wedge set that golfers like to use is the 52, 56, and 60-degree clubs. If you have the time, you can look at these very affordable wedge sets to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
A sand wedge has lower loft than a lob wedge and is between 53-57 degrees of loft. The primary job of the sand wedge is to get the ball out of a bunker or out of rough around the green.
A gap wedge is a golf club that is lofted in-between a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. It usually has around 52 degrees of loft. The purpose of the gap wedge is to “bridge the gap” between a pitching wedge (which generally has 46 degrees of loft) and a sand wedge (that usually has 56 degrees of loft).
A flop shot is a golf shot that goes very high in the air and stops abruptly. Popularized by golfers like Phil Mickelson, golfers can hit flop shots by using a lob wedge and playing the ball off of their front foot, opening up the clubface and accelerating under the ball.
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