lie angle for hitters
 

I assume that the clubshaft for a hitter will be more upright (my impression from Ted's video). Should I worry about the lie angles of my clubs in switching to hitting?

Channelback

Both hitters and swingers may determine their preferred plane angle.

If your lie angle is too steep, the ball will go right. If the lie angle is too flat, the ball will go left. You need to have the correct lie angle for your plane angle at seperation so the ball will come off of the club straight...assuming your alignments are correct.

I always thought that for a right handed player if the lie angle is too upright the ball will go left, and if too flat it will go right. Am I missing something?

lie angles
 

I'm sure both of you are right in the way in which you're looking at the problem. I think what he was trying to say was that if you come in steeply with the hands compared to club, it goes right and vice versa. The more simple explanation is that: toe down impact = right and toe up impact = left. It's because of the loft of the club that it's more right or left with the more lofted clubs.
The only true way to find the appropriate lie angle is a dynamic test (hitting the ball off a lie board). The fingers to the floor test is terrible.

Lie or "Lies"
 

The lie board can tell lies. If you swing over the top the lie board says your clubs need to be more upright. I think that observing the ball flight and the divots will give you the best results.

Re: Lie or "Lies"
 

Rick,

That is exactly why teachers should be the only people fitting golf clubs. If you understand how to read the marks made on the lie board you can tell if the swing is too steep or too shallow. Fat hits and thin hits will also give misleading readings. By reading the marks I am not only refering to the location of the mark but also the shape of the mark. There is really only one shape and one location that will be accurate. The lie board does not lie if you know how to read the marks then fit accordingly.

Hunter

There is a device you can stick on the face of a club that is like a steel rod. I think it is a magnet. If the club is soled square, the rod will point straight. If you steeping the club, the rod tilts out to the right. This means that you will either need to swing this way and adjust the club's lie angle flatter OR change your swing to bring the club in shallower. Likewise, if you flatten the club, the rod titls out to the left. This means that you will either need to swing this way and adjust the club's lie and steeper OR change your swing to bring the club in shallower. The bottome line is that your club's lie angle need to match your plane angle at seperation. If not, you can make perfect swings all day and never start the ball on line.

The Magnetic Lie Tool
 

Gary Wiren sells this Magnetic Lie Tool for $19.95 (retail) on his website www.golfaroundtheworld.com . Telephone 1-800-824-4279.

Re: Lie or "Lies"
 

The lie board never lies to a trianed eye. That's why teaching and fitting cannot be separated, and also why you should not test a lie angle indoors. I never fit lie angles to flaws, unless they tell me that they will never take a golf lesson to improve the swing. Only then will I fit the flaw.

Re: Lie or "Lies"
 

My son and I both got fitted this afternoon by our pro, who definitely knows how to fit. My son is 6'1" with long arms. Fitting by measurements dictated he go to clubs a half inch longer than standard. But our pro was quick to point out the flaws in that method. We then went straight to the lie board. Turns out the Ping orange dots (2 degrees flat) that he got 2 years ago still are the correct lie for him.

I recently picked up a new set of Titleist 704 CB's pretty cheap off of ebay which came with standard lies. My Mizuno MP 29's were 2 degrees upright. Turns out with the Titleist, I need to be between 1-2 degrees. Since my misses tend to be hooks, my pro advised to go 1 instead of 2. The more upright lie could tend to lead to making my misses (hooks) worse - because of the "toe up" issue Ted describes above.

For my son, the pro was careful to point out swing path issues that were causing mis-hits, which are not to be confuse with lie-issues.