To Achieve Consistency - Seek Proper Fitting

The club never lies. Proper club fitting is important. Whatever lie your club is at impact will be the direction the ball will travel.
Golfers need to understand the importance of having correct club lie angle at impact. The influence of ball flight and the direction the ball will travel are due to club face and club path at impact. The technical description of correct club lie is defined as the angle of the centerline of the shaft with the ground; when the club is soled, the center of the club face will be in the middle of the club. In simple terms, when the club is soled, the center of the club head is level with the ground. The lie angle has static and dynamic lie components. Static lie angle is measured when the club is at rest. The dynamic lie angle is measured when you swing the club through impact. If the lie angle is correct through impact, the ball will fly straight and accurate. This is what all golfers are trying to do for consistency. As players, we must understand that there are two principal ways of adjusting clubs to create the correct lie angle at impact. First, make sure at address that the club is properly soled to the ground. Second, make sure you have the correct club length. Club length affects the lie at impact. By increasing the length of your shaft, you will make your club head more upright or toe up. Decreasing the length of your shaft, you will make the club head flatter or toe down. It’s important to know that a few degrees too flat or too upright will make the ball flight very inconsistent, resulting in off-center hits and loss of distance and direction. There are several factors that are needed for proper club fitting, but correct lie angle is a large contributing factor in ball flight control and consistency. Looking at your club face wear can give you some important and beneficial information. If you find you are not wearing out the middle of the club face, make some lie changes and see what happens. For properly fitted equipment, it is best to seek P.G.A. professional club fitters who are certified to fit you correctly.

John Nelson is the South Florida PGA Hall of Fame Class A Teaching Professional who is the Director of Instruction at the Golf Academy located at the County Club of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fl. 954-752-4500 x 204, email: jnelson@ccofcs.com, Web page:  www.ccofcs.com.