Tips · WEDGE SHOTS · TOUR PROS · SLOW MOTION

A tour wedge shot spins over 150 times a second.

TrackMan's PGA Tour averages put a pitching wedge at about 9,300 rpm, over 150 turns a second, and a driver at about 2,500. Friction with the face sets the ball spinning; the spin makes it climb, land steeply and stop. Grooves mostly clear away grass and water.

The one to remember

Wedge spin comes from friction; the grooves are there for grass and water.

Facts and sources

  • TrackMan's PGA Tour averages (published 2024): a pitching wedge launches at 23.7 degrees with 9,316 rpm of backspin and lands at 52 degrees; a driver launches at 10.4 degrees with 2,545 rpm and lands at 39 degrees.
  • 9,316 revolutions a minute is about 155 a second.
  • In an oblique impact the ball first slides on the face; friction slows the slide and spins the ball up. At wedge lofts the spin is dominated by friction between the clubface and the ball's cover, and in dry conditions the groove configuration makes little difference (USGA and The R&A, 2006).
  • Grooves channel away water or grass, like the tread on car tyres; that is where they add spin (The R&A, 2008; USGA and The R&A tests from the rough).
  • Since 1 January 2010 the top professional tours have played under a Condition of Competition that limits groove volume and edge sharpness (an effective edge radius of at least 0.010 inches on clubs of 25 degrees of loft or more), aimed at bringing spin from the rough back to the level of old V grooves.

Illustration: the strike, the slow motion, the spin marks, the flights and landings, the ball zipping back, the groove close-ups and the water and grass squeezed along the grooves are drawn to explain, not measured (the angles 52 and 39 degrees are TrackMan's tour averages); the grooves are drawn larger than life so they show.

Sources

  1. PGA TOUR averages (yards) · TrackMan media kit; published with “New PGA & LPGA Tour Averages”, TrackMan (2 May 2024) checked 11 October 2026
  2. 3 steps to improve your spin rate in golf · TrackMan (18 August 2025) checked 11 October 2026
  3. The ultimate guide to understanding Trackman · TrackMan (18 October 2024) checked 11 October 2026
  4. Interim Report: Study of Spin Generation · USGA and The R&A (7 August 2006), as published by the Japan Golf Association checked 11 October 2026
  5. The R&A announces new golf club rules (5 August 2008), as reproduced by Geoff Shackelford · The R&A, via geoffshackelford.com checked 11 October 2026
  6. Rules of Equipment, Supplementary Paper C: 2010 Club Face Markings · The R&A checked 11 October 2026
  7. A study of the effect of rough height on tour player performance using U- and V-grooved irons · The R&A and the USGA (9 July 2007), as published by the Japan Golf Association checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

A tour player's wedge shot spins more than 150 times a second. TrackMan's tour averages put a pitching wedge at around 9,300 revolutions a minute. At impact, the ball slides up the face for a split second, then friction grips it and sends it off spinning backwards. That backspin makes it climb, and it drops in steeply. On the green, it stops quickly, or even zips back. A tour driver spins only around 2,500 times a minute. It lands flatter, and runs on. On a clean strike, the grooves add little to the spin. They clear away grass and water, like the tread on a tyre. Since 2010, tour players have had to use smaller grooves with rounder edges, to cut their spin from the rough. Follow Fact Caddie for more.