Lie Adjustment - Question

[KJP]

I recently completed a series of lessons at GT (Marc was great!). We spent parts of two lessons working on fitting - in particular the lie board. We came to the conclusion that 2* flat was the right lie for me. I've been playing for nearly 40 yrs and I'm currently a 7 hcp.

Prior to the lie adjustment, I hit my 7 iron 155 with 3 yds of draw. After charting a few rounds with my standard loft, I determined that 80% of my iron misses were left, with the ocassion snap hook. I then had the irons adjusted 2* flat and found that the 7 iron was slightly shorter at 150 and the 3 yds of draw was now 3 yds of fade. The misses are almost evenly distributed left and right. I'm not complaining, I seem to be more consistent, but I'm going back for some more lessons and I want to have an intelligent conversation with Marc. After so many years of hitting the slight draw, this fade thing will take some getting used to.

Does my description sound like the right result after the lie adjustment? Should I make any swing adjustments to attempt to get my draw back? Any web links to discussions on lie adjustments would be appreciated.

Thanks folks - much appreciated.

kjp

[jvincent]

That sounds right. If your lie is too upright at impact, the face will actually be pointing slightly left of target so that's where the ball will end up. Think of it as hitting a ball above your feet.

[Chieflongtee]

Sounds like the adjustment was too steep. After the adjustment were the clubs retested on a lie fitting board? A dynamic fitting is way superior than static fitting.

[BC MIST]

I recently completed a series of lessons at GT (Marc was great!). We spent parts of two lessons working on fitting - in particular the lie board. We came to the conclusion that 2* flat was the right lie for me. I've been playing for nearly 40 yrs and I'm currently a 7 hcp.

Prior to the lie adjustment, I hit my 7 iron 155 with 3 yds of draw. After charting a few rounds with my standard loft, I determined that 80% of my iron misses were left, with the ocassion snap hook. I then had the irons adjusted 2* flat and found that the 7 iron was slightly shorter at 150 and the 3 yds of draw was now 3 yds of fade. The misses are almost evenly distributed left and right. I'm not complaining, I seem to be more consistent, but I'm going back for some more lessons and I want to have an intelligent conversation with Marc. After so many years of hitting the slight draw, this fade thing will take some getting used to.

Does my description sound like the right result after the lie adjustment? Should I make any swing adjustments to attempt to get my draw back? Any web links to discussions on lie adjustments would be appreciated. kjp

If "80% of my iron misses were left," you were not drawing the ball, you were hooking it. With a pure draw the ball starts right of your intended target line(inside path/slightly open clubface) and curves/draws back to your intended target line. Anything that goes left of your target line is a hook. Similarly, balls that curve left to right but curve back to the target line are "cuts," or fades, while everything else is a slice, to some degree.

A shot that hooks goes farther than one that slices so the slight distance loss, after the lies were altered in understandable.

"The misses are almost evenly distributed left and right." tells me that the lie adjustment has helped as your misses are no longer 80% to one side, but 50/50. If the lies were too flat and if the club face was square at separation, the ball would start straight and curve slightly right. If the clubhead path was a little from the inside with lies that are too flat, the ball would go straight right(a push). Now, because half of your shots end up left of your target, even with a curve to the right, there is a swing problem in that you are coming over the top and "cutting" across the ball.

So the test is not just where the ball ends up or what curve it has, but where the ball starts before it begins to curve. If it starts left, its a swing problem; if it starts straight or slightly right, do not change your swing, but, it could be a lie problem, a too weak of a grip problem, or you could be coming off the shot through impact. The lie board will reveal if it the first one, and Marc must check to see if it is either of the last two. If Marc makes a significant change in your swing, then get the lies checked again after you feel the swing change has been perfected.

An incorrect lie angle of say 2*, will cause a 4 iron shot to move off line only a LITTLE, but a short iron shot to move off line a LOT. So whatever testing you do make sure it is with the short irons and insist that you be checked again after any adjusting to the lies has been done.