The Pitching Wedge

Pitching wedges are an extension of your golf irons and they usually come with your set when it is purchased, yet it is still considered to be part of your wedge grouping. In fact some club manufacturers refer to it as the "first" wedge. Pitching wedges can also be purchased separately but usually don’t need to be. It is the least lofted club of the four golf wedges.

The golf pitching wedge is typically used for longer approach shots into the green, low pitch or chip shots and even longer bunker or sand shots. This club usually has a loft of somewhere between 44 and 50 degrees. It also has a very minimal amount of bounce on the bottom of the club compared to some of the other wedges you should have in your golf bag. You really wouldn’t want a lot of bounce on these clubs because it wouldn’t allow the front edge of the club to slip under the ball and make solid contact.

The pitching wedge is usually the only wedge that a lot of amateurs or beginners will have in their bags for mainly one reason – they come with your set. They are great to learn the characteristics of what this type of club can do; but they shouldn’t be the only wedge you have in your arsenal.

Learning to hit your pitching wedge can be a lot of fun because it allows the ball to fly at a fairly high trajectory and still carry a good distance. Players usually hit this wedge anywhere form 110 to 125 yards with the pros getting as far as 140. Also because of the higher trajectory golf shots tend to stop fairly quickly on the greens.

For any amateur trying learn the game of golf, hitting your pitching wedges solidly and knowing out exactly how far they travel is a critical to getting better and can give you a huge advantage over your fellow golfers. From here you can go on and master the other golf wedges you should have in your bag.

You will find the more you play it is critical to have a good short game. Be sure to check out the section on Wedge Shot Training to get the most out of you wedges.

Typical Specifications

For every company that has a pitching wedge, each will try to make theirs unique. However, by looking at the details we will notice that they are all quite similar. The loft, lie, and bounce will fall withing certain ranges. For example we have listed a few manufacturers clubs and the specs for each so you can see what we mean.