There you are, with nothing between you and the green but a big, nasty bunker. Plus the pin placement is kind of close to the far side of the bunker, leaving you not much real estate to work with. So you ponder, “#@%$! What do I do now?” Answer: Hit a lob wedge!

When you need to give the ball a lot of height with a soft landing that sticks, hit a lob wedge. It’s a great club for getting over all kinds of hazards and obstacles that stand between you and the green.

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Now, some say that the lob shot is too complicated for beginner golfers — that beginners should wait until they’ve mastered more basic skills before trying to hit a lob wedge. But others say that beginners should learn to hit a lob wedge early on because it’s beginners who are more likely to end up with their ball in places that really need a lob shot.

So if you’re ready to add to your arsenal of shots, it’s not too early to start learning how to hit a lob wedge.

Meet the Lob Wedge
Technically, wedges are irons. All irons have some degree of face tilt, called loft, to lift the ball into the air at varying degrees. Wedges take that loft to the extreme. The pitching wedge is typically included with the basic set of irons. But the gap wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge are usually sold separately or as a three-club set. If you get one as a present, you can tell everyone that you got a “wedgie” from your wife for your birthday.

The purpose of wedges is to lift the ball on a high, short trajectory with a lot of backspin. They have the shortest shafts and the most loft of any of the clubs. Wedges are often identified by their degree of loft. The lob wedge, which has almost the greatest degree of loft, is often referred to as a 60-degree wedge. Lob wedges are available in lofts from 58 to 61 degrees.

Clubs with an even higher degree of loft are called ultra loft wedges or X wedges. X wedges have a loft of about 64 degrees. But seriously, for beginner golfers, it’s much too soon to be talking about anything X-rated. (Ah, golf humor!)

There’s also a feature of irons and wedges called “bounce.” Bounce is the amount of roll on the sole plate of the club head that helps to ensure that 1) the correct degree of loft is delivered as the club hits the ground behind the ball and 2) the club doesn’t dig too deeply into the turf. But bouncing may be a little too X-rated for beginner golfers, too! For now, just look for a bounce angle of 10 to 15 degrees.

The lob wedge is the perfect club for hitting a high, short yardage shot over an obstacle such as a bunker, water hazard or tree. The appropriate distance to hit a lob wedge is when there is about 40 to 60 yards to the green (a bit less for ladies and junior players).

How to Hit a Lob Wedge
As with all golf clubs, there are key elements to pay attention to when learning how to hit a lob wedge. They are stance, backswing, downswing and follow-through.

Stance: Keep your feet and shoulders in line with the target. Balance is important here; keep your weight evenly balanced over both feet.

Play the ball in the middle of your stance. If the ball is too far forward or back, you won’t get the maximum loft and backspin on your shot.

Backswing: Normally you only need a backswing about three-quarters full. Don’t go past parallel at the top. (The exception to this is for very short shots when the backswing might not go past about one quarter. But that’s a more advanced shot for later.)

Downswing: The downswing and impact are the keys to the lob shot. The downswing must be accelerating at and through impact. This acceleration can only happen when the hands are leading the club head. Don’t fall prey to the dreaded “hand lag” that decelerates the club and wrecks the lob. One tip to acceleration is to lead the downswing with your left hand (for right handed players) so it’s even with or ahead of the club head at impact.

Impact and slightly undercut the ball to lob it airborne.

Follow-Through: Accelerate through impact and end with a full follow-through swing. (OK, there’s an exception to this, too, for very short lobs, but that’s another thing for later.)

The entire action can be compared to striking a match: approach, accelerate and strike swiftly, then complete the stroke. Performed correctly, the lob is one hot shot!

When you need a high, arching shot with a soft landing and little to no roll, only the lob wedge will do. With practice and patience, even high-handicappers can learn to hit a lob wedge successfully.

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