How To Determine Lie Angle of A Golf Club

The lie angle is one of the most important things to get right when buying golf clubs. Many golfers do not get it adjusted after purchasing a set, which is remarkable. Golf shots can travel up to 10 yards offline because the lie angle has not been adjusted for the swing. 

What Is Lie Angle

By definition, the lie angle is the angle between shaft and ground when the club is measured in a normal playing position with the sole touching the ground line. 

Unfortunately, there is no set lie angle in the golf industry. Different manufacturers have varying lie angles, making adjusting the lie angle doubly important after buying yourself a set of clubs. Most golf club fitters will measure you before adjusting the lie angles on your clubs. 

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How Does It Affect Your Shots? 

Lie angle affects the initial direction of your shots. When the club is too upright, the toe is not making contact with the ground at impact with the ball. If your club is too flat, the heel is not making contact with the ground at the point of impact. 

If the club is too upright, your shot will veer to the left of the target, and when the club is too flat, your shot heads to the right of your intended target. For every degree that the lie is off, your shot will travel 4 yards off the direction you aimed for. Approach shots become a little harder to land in the right area. 

Adjusting the lie angle in your club will get more consistency with direction as you hit straighter regularly. Other factors affect distance and accuracy, but there is little chance of getting your shot in the intended area without getting your lie angle correct. 

There have been arguments by some golfing experts that it is more important or better to concentrate on posture before worrying about the lie angle. Your posture over the golf club as you strike the ball will have a significant impact on whether it lands two yards or 20 yards from where it was supposed to land. A correct posture with a wrong lie angle will not get the desired results.

A trip to a golf club fitter for lie angle adjustment reduces the number of times you will land in the rough after aiming for the middle of the fairway. The initial direction of the golf ball after impact is directly affected by where the clubface is pointing. As a player, you can invest in a lie-fitting board impact tape to help get the best lie angle for your clubs and games. 

What Lie Angle Should My Irons Be? 

By doing a wrist-to-floor measurement, you will be able to determine the correct lie angle for your set of irons. Reputable golf club fitters have charts that show the right lie angle for every measurement.

You put on your golf shoes and stand with your arms hanging in a normal position. Then measure the distance from the crease on both your wrists to the floor. The measurement is used to match your correct lie angle via a chart. 

The standard lie is what golf clubs are manufactured and designed with. A flat lie angle is lower in degrees than a standard lie. The upright lie has higher degrees than the standard lie. So your clubs may require a one-degree upright or flat adjustment, depending on your wrist-to-floor measurements.  

Posture plays a vital role in getting the correct lie angles for your irons. Poor posture and improper weight distribution lead to incorrect readings when using divot patterns and lie boards. It has been argued that it is sometimes useless to adjust lie angles without practicing and perfecting your posture first. Once a golfer can set up a golf ball, lie angles become a more impactful factor in their game and can be adjusted to the intended swing.    

There are lie-angle alignment tools that help golfers with clubs. A good lie angle alignment tool shows when the clubface is opened, closed or square. The tool shows you where the clubface is pointing on a side-hill lie, and you can adjust your stance to hit the ball where you want to. 

Lie angle is only adjusted on irons and some hybrids. It is very rare to find drivers being adjusted because they do not usually touch the ground during a game of golf. It is advisable to go into the market and get tools like boards, tape, or lie alignment tools to help get a better lie angle for your irons. 

How Is the Lie of a Golf Club Measured?

The traditional way of using an impact board and placing tape at the club’s sole has been found wanting in its accuracy. Club fitters used the marks made by the tape on impact with the ground to make necessary adjustments to the lie angle.  

The manufacture of non-durable products has also impacted the use of tape in the golf equipment industry. The Longshot Impact Recorder is arguably the most commonly used tape globally because of its durability and moisture resistant qualities.

Fitting boards have also become a bit scarce on the market. Big stockists like Amazon regularly report that they do not have stock of good boards like the Dynacraft lie fitting board. A good tape and board will give you good lie angle readings when available. 

Launch monitors are more accurate but are too expensive for the average golfer. There are good smartphone apps like My Golf Bag 1.0 that measure the lie angle of golf clubs. My Golf Bag 1.0 is available from the App Store at under $3 and measures loft as well. 

A simple way is to measure the lie of a golf club is to draw a line at the back of a golf ball with a marker. Make the line face the clubface. When you hit the ball, this line will appear on the clubface. Your iron is too upright if the line is slanted towards the toe. A line pointing towards the heel means your iron is too flat. A perpendicular line crossing the grooves of your clubface means the lie angle is just right for your swing. 

Another quick way to measure the lie is to check the divot pattern left on a flat part of the ground. A divot with a rectangular shape and perfectly even depth shows that you’re hitting the golf ball with a perfectly soled club. If either the toe or heel side of the divot is deeper than the other, you need a lie angle adjustment for your irons.  

Why It’s So Important To Have The Right Lie Angle

Even if you strike with a perfectly soled club, the ball hooks when on a side-hill above your feet and fades when on a side-hill below your feet. When the club is not sitting flat on the ground, the shot will not hit where you want it to. 

Your swing and body need to be in sync with your club’s lie angle; otherwise, you will cost yourself strokes on the golf course. If the lie angle of your clubs is wrong for your swing, it creates pushes and pulls that increase mishits. 

 Accuracy is greatly affected by the lie angle of your clubs. In drivers, lie angles mostly range around the mid-50 degrees, while they will be in the mid-60 degree mark in short irons. Long irons have lie angles of between 59 and 64 degrees. 

The correct lie angle will increase the accuracy of your shots. You can put in a great swing but still see your shot move away from the target because of poorly fitted lie angles. All club fitting sessions must have lie adjustment as an essential part. Accuracy builds confidence which dramatically improves your all-around game. 

FAQs

Lie angle is an essential but primarily underrated part of a golf game. Here are some frequently asked questions on the subject of lie angle.

Conclusion

Launch monitors have made it easy to measure the lie angles of golf clubs. Even the traditional divot patterns and tape on the sole give a golfer a pretty good idea of whether lie angles need to be adjusted. Incorrect lie angles always result in you missing the targeted landing area. 

Adjusting lie angles without working on your posture and weight distribution may not produce the desired results for your game. Knowing how to set up a golf ball and stand over it properly is essential before getting the perfect lie angles for your golf clubs. Posture and lie angle affect your shots almost equally, and both must be given proper attention in your golf game. 

There is no standard measure for lie angle in golf, so you have to go out and get what goes with your body measurements. A reliable fitter will use lie alignment tools that give the best measurements and make correct adjustments on your irons.

After buying a set of irons, measure your wrist-to-floor and get the club fitter to make adjustments according to your swing and body. As with all things in golf, always make the best adjustments for your particular game. 

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