just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

[fire_fly21]

The coarse I play at is really small, and therefore I'm always hitting shots where I'm 10-20 yards from the pin (I suck off the tee.) So I bought a huge loft 64 degree Lob Wedge.

My first impression is that it's pretty damn hard to make solid contact because the angle is so great. It's way harder than, say, a pitching wedge.

So is this type of club just really hard to hit with? Should a beginner (me) be using it? Or stick with a pitching wedge for the really short stuff? Thanks for the help.

[LowPost42]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

For short courses, I carry a 64° and drop my 19° hybrid. However, I don't use it for full swings, ever. I use it exclusively for when I've missed the green on the short side.

I find I'm using it less and less as my chipping improves. For the couple rounds where I find myself short sided and I'm not carrying my 64, I open up my 60 and take a smaller swing. I find it's hard to accelerate with such a small swing, though. But when you need a 15 yard fly, a short 64 shot is just perfect.

[fire_fly21]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

ok thanks for the reply.

So when I hit those short 15 yarders w/ the 64, should I be aiming for a very high shot that just dies when it hits the green, or a low trajectory shot that rolls to the hole? Thanks for the help, if you couldn't tell I'm a total nube!

[LowPost42]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

The whole point of 64° of loft is for a high, soft shot that doesn't run very much. If you manage to chip with a 64, it will NOT roll as far as it flies.

[kiwi]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

Use your lob wedge if you have to come over a bunker and stop quick, otherwise practice the chip and run shot with a medium iron. It will save you many shots over a whole round.
The lob wedge can be a great club to have but can also be a curse, with the club head speed generated to hit the lob 20 yards will travel how far if you blade the shot? maybe 50, so your 10 yards further from the hole and a shot has been added to your score card.
I personally think never ever open the face on a lob wedge if hit correctly it will stop dead anyway.

Kiwi

[bloodredsun]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

With such a thin club face I also find it hard to use lob and extra-lob wedges. I bought a 60 degree one a couple of years back and I've only ever used it when it's been baking hot (not too common in London!) and the ground is hard. Else it's too easy to either blade the shot (as mentioned) or hit a fat with the club knifing into the ground. 9 times out of 10 I'd rather have a Gap wedge than a Lob wedge in my bag.

Most people will also say that a low rolling shot tends to be more accurate than a high floating shot that lands with little roll. I find it's the other way around for me (probably from the amount of practise I get from constantly missing the green!). Which you should play depends on the location of the flag and how much green you have to work with. If you need to carry a bunker or there is only a small amount of green to land on before the flag then hit a high flying pitch with a lot of spin so that the ball will stop quickly on landing. If you have more green to work with, then a lower shot with more roll may be a better idea.

For chipping and pitching around the green, I prefer to use my Sand and Gap wedges (56 and 52). I get great distance control and they are still easy to strike the ball cleanly. I'm a little unusual in using a Gap wedge to chip (normally it's a 9 iron or so). Find what type of shot works for you and find which club you do it best with as it's not always the one you think.

[prakcom]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

The 60* LW is life saver for me and I am also considering going in for additional 64* XLW.

[Liam Hancock]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

a 56 to 58 degree is more like it a 64degree is a low haddicappers club.
Liam,

[fire_fly21]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

a 56 to 58 degree is more like it a 64degree is a low haddicappers club.
Liam,

What exactly does this mean? That only very bad players use it, or the other way around? Also, is the 58 degree good for, say, 20' +, or should I keep the lob wedge in there for the very short stuff as well?

[prakcom]

Re: just bought a new 64 degree LW, thoughts?

Well! even though 64* is said to be low handicaper's club but like any other club it is up to us how much we practice to get best of it.

I think it would be better than using open SW/LW for the short approach shots behind bunkers/hazards.