Putter Lie Angle

In my last article, I wrote about the effects of lie angle with your iron clubs, and I mentioned that the process of combining golf instruction with club fitting is very important, mainly because the two need to go hand-in-hand. This is no different when looking at the effect that lie angle has on putting consistently.

For example, if your putter has loft on it (99% of putters do) then if the lie angle of your putter is too upright and the toe of the putter is up in the air you will be prone to hit your putts to the left. And the more loft you have on your putter the more your ball will go left. Conversely, if the lie angle of your putter is too flat and the heel of the putter is up in the air you will be prone to hit your putts to the right. As before, the more loft you have on your putter, the more your ball will go right.

The next time you are playing with some friends, take note of whether their putter head is sitting flat on the ground. Then compare to the tour players on TV. Putting is a huge part of scoring, so nearly all of the pros have their putters fitted to their own stroke with the correct lie angle, length, weight, etc.

I know that there are players over the years (pros or not) that use ill-fitted putters with incorrect lie angles and some have learned to adapt to the putter and putt quite well, but please note that this is an exception rather than the rule.

If you are putting inconsistently or are missing your putts consistently to the left or right, when you get a spare five minutes before your next round, grab your putter and do a quick check to see if your putter head is level, and sitting flat on the ground. If it is hard to see, then a great little tip is to place a video camera (or even just an iPhone with the camera/video app running) on the ground directly behind your putter, and just make a few practice putts. The results may surprise you.

A side note, the longer or shorter you make a putter (or any club for that matter) the more the lie angle is affected, this is why a PGA Professional with experience in putter fitting should assist you one-on-one to determine YOUR specifications.

Please make a booking at The Sydney Putting Studio based at The Ridge Golf Course in Sydney if you need assistance with either your putter or to improve your putting – Phone 02 9541 4960.

About Glenn Whittle

Glenn Whittle is an AAA PGA Member and Head Coach of the NSW Institute of Sport, Golf Program. He was also the 2008 NSW PGA Teacher of the year. To book a putting session personally with Glenn, phone The Ridge Golf Course and Driving Range Pro Shop on (02) 9541 4960 or visit www.sydneyputtingstudio.com

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