13 replies to this topic

[cdfas]

Does lie angle matter for a driver?

[Hstead]

I would think it does.  I know as soon as the weather gets better I am going to experiment with the 913 lie angle.  I plan to mark a perfect straight line on the ball with either a dry erase marker or some lipstick or something.  Then I will align the ball with the line vertical and hit it, then check to see if the line is vertical on the 913 or if it is at an angle.  May or may not be important but it will occupy my mind and give me something else to fiddle with.  I have a feeling it might help me find the best setting.

[seasterl]

I don't think so for drivers or fairway metals because of their severely rounded soles.  Irons, on the other hand, have flatter soles that need to interact with the turf, so lie angle is going to be more important there.

[Colby327]

Yes.  You'll want the face square through impact, and having the correct lie angle will assist in that.

[hbear]

But also consider how clubhead droop factors into the fold with drivers (well all clubs, but most pronouced with drivers).  

To the OP, yes lie angle does matter.....but much less than it would with irons/wedges.

[GMR2iron]

Remember, you are swinging a driver much flatter than an iron, and not interacting with turf. It is probably not as much an issue as it is with an iron/wedge. If you are swinging very flat( toe is up), it would probably cause a pull, and conversly, too upright may push the ball. Could be an issue for someone very tall, or very short. When I was fit for my driver (extensive fitting), lie angle was checked, and reccomended "standard". However, iron fitting said 2* up. Same swing, all clubs- I hit a consistent baby draw. I like the lipstick idea, could tell you if you are way out of line, causing pushs or pulls.

[GMR2iron]

Just remembered a trick my pro taught me about do it yourself lie angle check. Works with any club, but since this about drivers, here goes... Put some double sided tape on top of a tee, where you'd normally put a ball. Now stick it on the face of your driver, so the tee points down the target line when you take your normal driver stance. To see what happens with too flat a swing, ground the head, then lower the grip toward your knee. See how the tee starts pointing left. Hello low pull. Try different planes to see results. Even more pronounced on high lofted iron and wedges, shows you why ball goes left when above your feet, right when below.

[Hstead]

Exactly GMR, the turf interaction really doesn't have anything to do with lie angle.  With an iron shot, you should hit the ball first and it should be long gone before the turf could twist the face to impact the flight.  The tee trick is exactly like a lie angle rod with a magnet that attaches to the face.  The more loft, the more the lie angle will effect the flight.  If a 58* wedge is off by 1 degree it will send the ball farther off line than a 8* driver, but still I want all of my clubs to be square when at impact.  

I see many get it backwards too, if the club is too upright the ball goes left, if the club is too flat it goes right.  It is exactly the same as hitting a ball above or below your feet.  If you hit off of an uneven lie with the ball well above your feet, the toe is higher than the heel, and will point left of the target.  If you had that same angle, toe above heel on a flat lie, it would send the ball in the same direction which would be left.  It has nothing to do with turf interaction really.

When hit off of a lie board, which is a smooth hard surface and has no "turf", you will see the same results with a bad lie angle, the ball will fly off line.

Edited by Hstead, 06 January 2013 - 06:51 PM.

[cdfas]

The reason I asked the question in the first place (and I wouldn't normally care since I buy most of my clubs off the rack) is because I am bidding on a new tour issue RBZ driver and other than loft and weight, the seller lists the lie as 61deg as tested at the factory. How am I supposed to know what that means? I mean... normally it's not an issue when buying off the rack. Should I even care?

[Hstead]

 cdfas, on 06 January 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

The reason I asked the question in the first place (and I wouldn't normally care since I buy most of my clubs off the rack) is because I am bidding on a new tour issue RBZ driver and other than loft and weight, the seller lists the lie as 61deg as tested at the factory. How am I supposed to know what that means? I mean... normally it's not an issue when buying off the rack. Should I even care?

Standard lie for a Titleist 913 is 58.5 so yes 61 will be different.  I would imagine standard for most drivers is around 59 or so.  2 degrees upright will make it go left more so.

[Florida Gator]

Most of the tour heads I see have more upright lie angles.  They must use them for the tour guys that swing harder because they may get more toe droop in their swings.

[cdfas]

Sounds like in the future I should buy off the rack and just get someone to hotmelt the head to my desired weight. Luckily the bid is likely under where these things sell for so I there is a good chance I will not win the auction. I do like tour issue clubs because they do report the club's precise loft and weight which I understand fluctuates a lot in off the rack clubs.

[cdfas]

On an adjustable loft driver... What is the effect of increasing the loft on the lie? For example, if I change the loft by .5deg, how does that affect the lie?

[Vegaman]

Much less than in other clubs, you are not supposed to hit the ground with the driver..Of all the clubs, the driver is the one where lie is the least important aspect.