The Truth About Lie Angles
Well struck golf shots are the sum of about a hundred different things working together in a single moment – some mechanical, some mental, some circumstantial, and some a function of the club that’s held in your hand.
Lie angle is one such element that can have a dramatic effect on your ability to strike the ball well.
This Lesson Is For You If:
You want to hit more pure shots
You want a better understanding on how lie angle affects your swing
The Big Picture
What you are looking to accomplish when you swing the club is center face contact.
Additionally, you’d like the impact lie angle as close to 0* as possible, the face to path relationship as close to 0* as possible, and the swing direction as close to 0* as possible (or whatever intended ball flight you’re trying to accomplish).
This is the formula for optimal and consistent ball speed time after time.
Why Does Lie Angle Matter?
Why does lie angle matter to us? Because at impact, when the toe of the club is up, the planar angle of the face (face normal) will be closed to the target line. If the toe is digging, the face normal will present open to the target line.
Factors in Lie Angle
Lie angle at address or static play angles can be influenced by a great many things. The length of a player’s arms, how a player addresses the ball (posture), and the length of shaft are among the factors. However, this is not all that we need to know.
What Happens At Impact?
If a club sits perfectly at address, does that mean that it will come into impact the same way? Not necessarily. Is a club that marks the lie board perfectly the best fit for that player? Same answer.
What needs to be considered is what’s happening dynamically during the swing. Is the lie angle forcing the player into a compensation? Is the player forcing the lie angle into an undesirable position?
Here at The Studio we are fortunate to be equipped with GEARS motion capture which allows us to measure living, breathing profiles of how the shaft is deflecting, drooping and twisting throughout the entire swing. This allows us to understand the interactions between the player, shaft, and lie angle so that golfers can attain repeatable center-face contact.
Stop by The Studio and get fit for a set of the best clubs you will ever have from True Spec Golf or work on your game in one of the most sophisticated swing labs in existence.
- The Truth About Lie Angles - February 13, 2018
12 Comments
Great information. Makes me wonder if I swing the swing I swing because of bad lie angle and my bodies need to make the ball go straight, or do I swing my swing and the lie angle is correct and I’m not compensating?
Christopher,
That’s a great question and something that you can tie your brain in knots with. The beauty of being on GEARS is that at least you’ll get all the data on the club and your swing/body so you can see how things change as you change lie angles.
Best,
Matt
Matt,
Would you know if all golf companies produce the same lie angels in their clubs? And, what is the ideal person that most off the shelf clubs fit (height, length of arms, posture, etc)?
Monty,
Most companies stay in a certain range, but they’re not all the same. We post the standard lie angles in all our iron reviews.
I don’t think there’s a “ideal person” for off the shelf fit because, as this article discusses, it’s not about the static measurements but the dynamic swing.
Best,
Matt
Monty,
Each OEM has a different “standard”. I can tell you at TrueSpec Golf. We baseline everything off of TSG standard and adjust from there. There isn’t a specific “body type” ideal for off the rack/ stock equipment. The reason being that we’re not measuring from a static position (like a lot of other fitting companies do), we are taking into account the ballistic nature in which the individual golfer offends the shaft during the entire swing.
Matt,
Why wouldn’t a lie board with the impact mark in the center of the sole not indicate an appropriate fit ?
Ron
Ron,
You can mark the center of the tape and be completely unable to hit the face or control the face angle. Those two things are much more important than how you mark sole tape.
Best,
Matt
If I extend an iron shaft by 1/2″ my lie angle should increase by approximately 1 degree. If this affects my ball striking, can’t I just grip down about 1/2″ on the club and get back to my original lie angle?
Yes, that should approximate the “original” build.
-Matt
Another important factor affecting lie angle is the position of the shaft when it is gripped. A person who grips the shaft with the butt on the pad of the hand (incorrect grip) will result in an upright adjustment. While if the same person grips the shaft at the base of the fingers (correct position) may not need any adjustment to the standard lie angle. I’ve seen this many times where a golfer is fitted with an upright adjustment to their irons due to incorrect grip. When I have them change to a proper grip the lie angle has to be changed.
My swing was evaluation with irons resulted in 1.5 degrees upright. Should all my clubs be adjusted the same?
Frank,
Short answer: yes.
Follow up question: 1.5 degrees upright from what?
-Matt