A wedge that does not dig.

If you chunk chips, lose half your distance out of rough, or feel the club stop dead in soft turf, the club is digging. Here is why it happens and what can be done about it.

What digging actually is

Digging is when the leading edge goes down into the ground instead of gliding along it. The club buries, the head slows, and the ball travels nowhere near as far as you intended.

It gets blamed on swing path, on being too steep, on nerves. Those contribute. But the reason a dig is so punishing is mechanical: once turf is in front of the sole, the club has to push it.

Where it happens most

• Soft or wet turf, where the ground gives way under the leading edge
• Thick rough, where grass wraps the hosel and twists the face shut
• Coastal and packed sand, which behaves more like soil than like powder
• Tight lies, where there is no cushion under the ball at all

Those are also the conditions most amateur golfers play most of their golf in.

What bounce does, and where it stops helping

Bounce is the angle that keeps the leading edge from being the lowest point of the club. It stops the wedge entering the ground edge first, and it is genuinely the first line of defence against digging.

But bounce only governs the moment of entry. Once the sole is through the surface and material is piling against the face, bounce has done all it can. That is why a high bounce wedge can still feel like it stalls out of wet rough.

What we changed

The sole of the PM1 Noir is cut open through the back of the head, so grass, sand and water pass through the club rather than building in front of it.

The channels run all the way through and are rounded on the inside, so nothing packs into them. The head keeps its speed on exactly the shots where a solid sole would have stopped.

Off a clean fairway lie nothing is different. The sole sits flat, the leading edge stays low, and the ball comes off the face as you expect. The design only does work when there is something to move out of the way.

Three things that help immediately

Whatever wedge you play, these reduce digging today.

• Move the ball slightly back, not forward. Chasing height with ball position steepens the attack and buries the edge
• Keep the handle quiet. Pushing the hands well ahead removes the bounce you paid for and presents the leading edge
• Let the club land, then turn through it. The club stopping is almost always the body stopping first

Who this helps

Worth considering if you play soft courses, if you lose unpredictable amounts of distance from rough, or if your miss is a chunk rather than a thin. It matters less if you play firm, dry turf and already strike your wedges cleanly.

The specifics

More on what makes a wedge forgiving, the sand wedge for high handicappers, or work out your lofts in the fitting guide.