Lie angle

[adamstone]

Just took my new clubs out for a test drive. Every shot with the irons were 6-10 left. The clubs felt too upright to me so I got out the lie board and sure enough I need to go 2 deg flat! I'm assuming this is causing my misses left. I'm generally a solid ball striker and was wondering what you all thought about the lie angle

[DocP]

I just got new irons (P790's) and the fitter set me up 1 degree flat.  It has decreased my draw by a few yards.  My last two iron sets were 1 degree upright and my common miss would be left.  So my experience confirms that a flatter lie angle will help keep a right to left ball flight manageable.

[adamstone]

Thank you. Did it just decrease your draw or did your ball start off more on line? Possibly both?

[1badbadger]

Lie angle is an important, but often overlooked aspect of your irons.  Why is it so important?  Because it affects the direction your shots fly.

When players don't have the lie angle adjusted to their swing, it can cause shots to fly off-line, like the OP described.  Many people don't realize the lie angle could be the reason their shots are missing to the right or left, so they make adjustments in their alignment or swing to compensate.  This leads to many problems.  It's hard to compensate exactly the same way every time, so it's hard to be consistent.  

Everyone should have their lie angles checked on a regular basis (at least once a year).  It's easy and doesn't take very long, and if your clubs need adjustments it isn't expensive.

[adamstone]

2 minutes ago, 1badbadger said:

Lie angle is an important, but often overlooked aspect of your irons.  Why is it so important?  Because it affects the direction your shots fly.

When players don't have the lie angle adjusted to their swing, it can cause shots to fly off-line, like the OP described.  Many people don't realize the lie angle could be the reason their shots are missing to the right or left, so they make adjustments in their alignment or swing to compensate.  This leads to many problems.  It's hard to compensate exactly the same way every time, so it's hard to be consistent.  

Everyone should have their lie angles checked on a regular basis (at least once a year).  It's easy and doesn't take very long, and if your clubs need adjustments it isn't expensive.

That was my thinking. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking correctly before I started treating my swing instead of my equipment. Thank you. Will changing the lie angle 2 deg flat affect the feel at set up?

[DocP]

I think it accomplished both, a little less draw and better initial direction.  The club position feels better also since my arms can hang down more naturally.  

[1badbadger]

10 hours ago, adamstone said:

That was my thinking. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking correctly before I started treating my swing instead of my equipment. Thank you. Will changing the lie angle 2 deg flat affect the feel at set up?

It doesn't really affect the feel, but it will have a slightly different look.  It won't be very difficult to get used to this...it's a pretty easy transition. 

Ideally each iron should be hit off a lie board and adjusted accordingly, but if you're unable to do that you might want to just have 1 or 2 irons adjusted initially...you could do the club that you prefer to practice or warm-up with, or 1 short iron and 1 mid iron or something like that.  This will give you a chance to hit them to determine if they were bent the correct amount, or if they were bent too much or not enough.  They might need to be tweaked one way or the other.  When you have it dialed in, then have the rest of the set adjusted.  This will avoid having to go back and have all your irons bent again if it wasn't quite right the first time.

On a side note, there are some guys get overly concerned about how much the toe is up at address or if the heel is a little off the ground when they set up to the ball and things like that...what's important is what's happening at impact.  I've seen players who will alter the way they set up to the ball in an effort to get the sole flat on the ground at address, but that's not necessary.

[arturo28mx]

You already know this, but lie angle is very dependent on posture. For years I thought I needed 2 degrees upright until I took a lesson that showed me I had poor posture. Once I fixed my posture I could  use neutral lie angles with no problem.

[Lowcut]

Arturo is dead right. Posture posture posture. I played 2* upright as well until I fixed my posture. Now about 1* with the correct length shafts +1/4-3/8”. I would go see a fitting pro, or even a local shop and have them sole marki tape each of your clubs. Hit several balls and gauge where you are at with each individual iron. Adjust to how each sole marking tape is indicating. At minimum I would hit the 3, 7 and PW to see if there is a trend and adjust all either flat or upright depending. For reference on how weird each person fitting is. I’ve see guys taller than me 6’, need to shorten the shafts because that had gorilla length arms and vise versa like me long torso regular arms need 1/4-3/8” long on everything... it’s a personal sport with personal fitments the way I see it.