If you want to build a lethal short game, learning to use the bounce properly is one of the best skills you can develop. Yet many amateurs overlook this important feature, often because they’re afraid to open their clubface around the green or simply don’t know how to use it properly.
As Joe Hallett, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher, explains in this video, using bounce becomes easier when you understand two simple keys: how the club is designed and how to adjust the clubface for the lie.
Master these two keys and you’ll increase forgiveness, boost your confidence and improve the quality of your contact on every greenside shot.
1. Keep the shaft and clubhead in line
To use the bounce effectively, you first need to understand how your wedges are designed to work. According to Hallett, most wedges are engineered so that the bounce is exposed when the shaft and clubhead are aligned. This allows the bottom of the club to glide through the turf and avoid the leading edge from digging.
“The bounce is not just to hit the ball up high or a flop shot, it’s to make every shot easier for you,” Hallat says.
However, when the hands get ahead and the clubshaft leans forward, this exposes the leading edge. Making it almost impossible to utilize the bounce as intended.
“If I lean the club [shaft] forward, the bounce is gone,” Hallett says.
This only increases your chances of catching the leading edge and stubbing your shot. So how do you get that bounce back? The fix is simple: make sure the shaft of your club is in line with the clubhead.
2. Open the face on uphill lies
Keeping the clubshaft and clubhead in line will almost always ensure proper utilization of the bounce, but Hallett notes one important caveat: your lie.
When chipping on an upslope, the leading edge naturally becomes more exposed, much like what happens when you lean the shaft forward.
“How do you get the bounce back? You open the face,” Hallett says, “Now the club will work the way it’s supposed to.”
Always assume your lie is uphill
Remembering to open the clubface on an uphill lie sounds simple enough. The problem is that most amateurs don’t realize just how often they’re actually chipping on an incline. Hallett explains that around the greens, truly level lies are rare — even if it looks flat to the eye.
“99% of the chip shots you hit, you’re going to be on an uphill lie,” he says.
That’s by design. Greens are built to shed water, which means the ground surrounding them subtly tilts away from the putting surface. Sometimes the slope is obvious, but usually it’s just enough to trick your eyes into thinking it’s flat.
“Even when it seems like a fairly simple level lie, guess what happens?” Hallett says, “The ground is up a little bit. So, you’ve gotta open the face.”
“The minute you open this face, you have this thing on the bottom [the bounce] that allows the ground to become your friend instead of your enemy,” he continues.
To drive the point home, Hallett demonstrates just how forgiving bounce can be by intentionally striking the turf about an inch behind the ball. Despite his low point being off, his contact is still solid because the bounce of the club is able to do its job and glide across the turf.
“The ground is working against you, but now you have leveled the playing field. Use the bounce. It’s your friend. It’s your insurance,” Hallett says.
