The Importance of Lie Angle

When I am club fitting, the first thing that I check is what lie angle my student should be using in their clubs. As you can see in the picture to the left, if the lie angle of the club is not correct, the ball will be influenced off line. Basically, if the club is too flat (the toe is hitting the ground) the ball will be influenced to the right of the target and if the club is too upright (the heel is hitting the ground) the ball will be influenced to the left of the target. As you can also see in the picture, the ball is influenced more offline in the higher lofted clubs. The distances in the picture are assuming the club face is square when you hit the ball so you can see that even with a perfect swing, and a square club face, the ball will still go offline if your lie angle is not correct.

The next obvious question is how do you know if your club's lie angles are correct? The best way is to have your clubs evaluated by a PGA Professional. They will tape the bottom of your clubs and have you hit balls from a lie board. This board will leave marks on the tape where the club is hitting the ground at impact which will tell the professional if the clubs are correct, too upright or too flat. The mark will also tell the professional how much the lie angle needs to be adjusted. The lie angles need to be checked this way as the lie angle needs to be correct at impact and not at address.

The second picture in this post shows why you should use a PGA Professional to check your lie angles. This picture shows all the different marks you can get from a lie board depending on club path, club face angle and if the lie angle is correct or not. It is important that the professional takes into consideration all the things you do in your swing so the correct assessment of your lie angle can be made.

If you want any more information on lie angles, or you would like me to check your lie angles, drop me an email via the links on the blog or give me a call on 0402 77 55 46 any time.

Until Next Time,

Brent