Great info I'm going to check the next time I go to the range. Thank you.

I have never been fitted for lie angles.   I will have to try this at the range next time, especially since I am 6 foot 3 and use normal off the rack clubs.

I went to a callaway demo day a few years ago and the guys there used a sharpie and an impact tape that had a protractor drawn on it. They would draw a sharpie line on the ball and see how it looked on the impact tape. They said that better players didn't like hitting off a lie board because they would subconsciously try to miss it. 

 

I did this yesterday and my lie angles were pretty close.  Good to know, thanks!

Nice tip. Does dry erase work as well or strictly sharpie?

This is how they fit us for lie angle at the Callaway center. I like it much better than the lie board method.

Very cool.

This method is how I was fitted for my AP2's last week. Was surprised since my last fitting 7 years ago I was 1* upright but now that my clubs will be 1/4" shorter, I was standard lie. 

I was a club fitter at Dicks Sporting Goods for a little over a year before returning to coaching.  This is one of the ways I used to fit customers for lie angle. Ball flight is the second best.  I used a wider chisel tip sharpie.  Sometimes I would also use a line drawing aide that you put the ball into to ensure that the line was straight.  Lie boards are unreliable for the simple fact that the club head will skip or skid and straighten out at impact.  On grass is definitely better.  You also have to remember that golf clubs are longer now than they were 20 years ago, primarily to "prevent" slicing ( I believe the theory was that since most people slice, if a club is slightly longer, thus more upright, the heel contacts first and "closes" the club face). 

This is one of those old school ideas that still works. Believe it or not, some fitters, in the 1980s, used a crayon to do the same thing. 

I use the sharpie idea to see where I am impacting the ball on the club face. 

It’s a nice simple method. My hosels are covered with sharpie marks.

I did this the other day at a club demo day with Callaway at our range.  Everything about my swing is standard.  The sharpie mark was vertical.  However, I still hit everything a little towards the heal and not in the center of the club, as you can see in the picture ( I need to buy new clubs, not sure I have much grooves anymore on this 7-iron ).  

On 6/12/2018 at 8:14 AM, jsgolfer said:

I did this the other day at a club demo day with Callaway at our range.  Everything about my swing is standard.  The sharpie mark was vertical.  However, I still hit everything a little towards the heal and not in the center of the club, as you can see in the picture ( I need to buy new clubs, not sure I have much grooves anymore on this 7-iron ).  

I believe, depending on the configuration of the clubhead, and especially with the shorter irons, the sweet spot is actually slightly towards the heel and not directly in the visual center of the face.

1 hour ago, colin007 said:

I believe, depending on the configuration of the clubhead, and especially with the shorter irons, the sweet spot is actually slightly towards the heel and not directly in the visual center of the face.

Oh sure, just tempt me to shank it.

2 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

Oh sure, just tempt me to shank it.

Lol lol lol

Well, it would be a "better player's" shank, understanding that the sweet spot is slightly inside, and also coming from the inside could introduce the hosel coming into play....

1 minute ago, colin007 said:

Well, it would be a "better player's" shank

I'll sleep better knowing that 😖

Quote

If the line is perfectly vertical your lie angle is good to go (right pic). If the line is tilted out towards the toe of the club (left pic), your club is too upright and the lie angle needs to be flatter to get the line to vertical. Vice versa , if the sharpie line is tilted towards the heel your club, the lie angle is too flat and you would need to bend the club more upright.

Hi, 

I am new to the game and trying to grasp as much as I can. I wonder how this relates to lie angle numbers. For example. If I am hitting 7 iron at 62 degrees and the sharpie line is tilted toward the heel meaning I need more upright setup, would the adjustment to my club be toward higher degree number, 63, 64 degrees?

Thanks

I would only suggest an adjustment if your findings are consistently as you stated. 

And welcome to TST! 

I read about the sharpie method last week in a Tom Wishon article - it's great to see it in practice. 

On 9/18/2018 at 12:04 PM, MauiMilan said:

Hi, 

I am new to the game and trying to grasp as much as I can. I wonder how this relates to lie angle numbers. For example. If I am hitting 7 iron at 62 degrees and the sharpie line is tilted toward the heel meaning I need more upright setup, would the adjustment to my club be toward higher degree number, 63, 64 degrees?

Thanks

Yes, if the line is consistently pointing to the heel, then you'd bend towards a higher degree depending on the, I guess, the amount of tilt.

How do you change the lie angle on clubs that are not forged?  I always thought you were not able to do this.  

By the way, dry erase works great.

Also, it comes off the club and the ball really easily when you are done.