Last week, we talked about one of the fundamental differences in club fitting philosophy between the PGA and an OEM is in regards to lie angle. The OEM’s teach that lie angle is adjusted to make the sole flat at impact, while the PGA generally uses lie to adjust for ball flight. The PGA will say that if a player hooks the ball, we need a flatter lie to make the ball go right. This week we’ll discuss the other fundamental difference in how the PGA and OEM’s view lie angle.

Ever hear someone say “If you add a half inch, the club is more upright”? At face value, this statement is just plain false. If you take a 7-iron that is 37″ long with a 62* lie angle, take the grip off it and add a half inch to it – you now have a club that is 37 1/2″ long with a 62* lie angle. If you don’t adjust the lie angle on a loft/lie machine, the lie angle is THE SAME. Period. End of discussion.

Now, if someone says “If you add a half inch, the club PLAYS more upright”, this is a very different statement, and it could be true. It could be true, but under conditions we would never want. Huh? These conditions would exist on a swing robot where we keep the butt end of the club in exactly the same position off the ground (hand height) and we adjust the ball position in or out depending upon the length change. In this perfect scenario, the club WILL play more upright. Pondering… Wondering when the last time I fit a swing robot was… Oh yeah. I remember, now. Iron Byron was STD Length and STD Lie in an X100… Haha. All kidding aside, actual players introduce different dynamics into the equation when a fitter changes parameters (like length).

Try an experiment for me. Take your 6-iron, your 7-iron, and your 8-iron out of your bag. Lean them against a wall with the butt caps all at the same height. Use an angle so that the 8-iron soles flat on the ground. Notice how the 7-iron toe is slightly off the ground, and the 6-iron toe is more so? It’s clear to see that the longer length club (despite the manufactured lie difference of each club) is too upright to sole correctly when the grip end is positioned at that “height”. Does this make sense?

Thinking about this further, even though the the lie angles on the irons are different by a half degree or so, the shortened length does not make up fully for the handle positioned where we placed it. This means that a club that is too short for a player (if nothing else changes and his hands are in exactly the same place as they are with a longer club) will be too flat AND too short. Conversely, If a club is too long for a player and the hands stay in exactly the same place as they would for a shorter club, the club will play more upright. THAT is a TRUE statement. We can picture this on a swing robot.

Consider this question… WHY would you give a player a longer golf club? So that his hands stay in the same place (of course not)? Or so that his posture and set up change to a better position (of course, YES)? You’re giving the player a longer club so that his set up changes to an optimal position. We give him a longer club because we want him in a different position. This means that since the player has changed his set up, we now do not know what the change in length has done to the lie angle. He changed his hand position, so all things are not equal.

Guess what? If you took a 37″/ 62* 7-iron from a player and handed him a 37 1/2″/ 62* 7-iron – you have exactly that. A 37 1/2″/ 62* golf club – NOT one that is more upright. If the player changes his address position due to the longer length (like we want him to), the club doesn’t effectively play more upright either. It’s still 62* until you adjust it on a loft/ lie machine.

If you hear someone say “I added a half inch, so I don’t need to go upright”, they need help. Ask them what the face tape at impact said. THAT is the only thing that tells you if you need to adjust lie angle or not.

Once you settle on a length, you now need to RE-FIT for lie. The player is in a new position at address and at impact, so LIE angle will need to be re-checked and re-addressed.

I hope this helps. Happy Fitting. Adapt, Learn, and Grow.