Golf Clubs: How ill fitting irons can cause poor Driver shots.

Club Lie Angle

One of the frustrations of being a golf professional is that sometimes when you give people advice they assume it's because you are trying to sell them something. Now although I do provide custom club making and fitting at my facility www.jrgolfacademy.co.uk this is not the core of my business. My business is making people achieve their golfing goals. An easy way to help yourself do this is by playing with the correct equipment. I have numerous stories of golf club members and pupils of mine who come to me with a big grin telling me how they just bought a new set of irons for their local golf superstore or via the internet and talk about what a bargain they got. My first question to them, after they've told me, without me asking, how much they paid/saved on these clubs, is 'did you get them fitted?'. They either answer with a no, but i hit them on the range and they were the best. Or they will tell me how the guy in the shop (usually a 18 handicap golfer like themselves who's had a couple of hours training) watched them hit balls and said they look about right and custom fitting would be a waste of time.
There is so many things wrong with this it's untrue, and if you think being a beginner means that it won't make a difference to you then you are very wrong. Lets break down this down and talk about iron sets first.
Iron Sets
Lie angle
This is the basic adjustments you need to make according to a persons individual setup and physical profile. For an experienced golfer this will take more into account their current setup and swing to match how they address the ball. If the lie of the club is wrong then the player will not be able to get the whole of the club face on the ball as half of it could be in the air at address and impact. Having the correct lie angle (the way the club sits on the floor) on your irons is a fundamental of good iron play. A poor lie angle can lead to:

Inconsistent distance controlErratic strikingPoor shot direction Another aspect of a poor lie angle that is often overlooked is the detrimental effect it can have on your golf swing. An incorrect lie angle can ultimately aim the club poorly at address, forcing the golfer to make adjustments during their swing to correct the initial alignment.In general a golf club that is too upright (toe up) for a player will aim left at address and a club that is too flat (toe down) will aim right. Also, an upright golf club will promote a toe strike whereas a flat club will encourage a strike towards the heel.Add to this the uneven impact with the turf and you can appreciate how important lie angle is. One of my clients had a club that was 5' too upright for him this meant his clubface was aiming 15 yds left with a 6 iron. This meant that he had to compensate in his swing by holding the club open through impact. This created a swing in which from his backswing he should have been hitting a nice draw but he had to compensate for his clubs and hold it off to hit straight. This swing obviously continued through to his woods which meant he sliced those way right. Once we got him the right lie in his irons he could actually release the club and create his draw without fear of it going left. After a couple of goes on the range he then began to translate this to his woods too and his whole game move forward massively. 
He actually stated afterwards that before when he went to range with his driver only he could draw the ball, but once he used his old irons and moved back to driver he couldn't get it to draw. His statement to me after the results he saw from his fitting was "how on earth can people expect to improve when playing with the wrong equipment?" My answer is with great difficulty. 


Beginners and juniors(Parents) should take note ill fitting clubs when starting the game is the worst choice you can make. It will force you to develop a swing with terrible habits that can be almost irreversible. Lie angle is just one of the factors to take into consideration there are even more areas that can have just as detrimental effect if not suited to you or your game. GO AND SEE A PGA PROFESSIONAL! GET FITTED OR WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME, its you choice.