What is Driver Lie Angle?
- Callaway Ft Optiforce 440
- Callaway Ft Optiforce 460 Driver
- Callaway Optiforce Driver Adjustment Chart
- Adjusting The Callaway Optiforce Driver
- How To Adjust Callaway Optiforce Driver
The FT Optiforce Driver has been measured with 23% less drag than a conventionally shaped driver., it’s available in two different variations (440cc head and 460cc head), and it’s the first Callaway driver to offer loft and lie adjustability to optimize launch conditions. Callaway filed for the Trademark on the name back on January 30th, and the rumblings are that the new driver is going to be released within the next several weeks. We’re told that stock shaft offerings for Callaway FT Optiforce Driver are the Project X Velocity 43 and Mitsubishi Diamana S+.
Have you ever purchased a driver and later felt that it doesn’t work too well for you? Well, one of the common mistakes that players make while buying new drivers or irons is that they do no adjust the lie angle to suit their playing style.
So, what exactly is lie angle? Keep your driver in the playing position where the center of the sole is touching the ground. Now measure the angle between the shaft and the ground. This is called the lie angle.
Driver lie angle is the measurement between the shaft and the center of sole on a driver. The driver lie angle will either be in the standard, flat or upright position; with each position affecting how the driver interacts with the ball.
The driver lie angle can make a whole lot of difference in a game. Next time before you purchase a new driver, make sure to get the lie angle adjusted to suit your swing and game.
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What is Upright Lie Angle?
Ever wondered why your shots have more hooks or slices? The simple reason is that the lie angle in your club is incorrect for you.
You will slice the ball more often if your lie angle is too flat. On the other hand, if the lie angle is too upright then you will tend to hook the ball more.
So how will this affect your game? You will subconsciously develop a poor technique in order to compensate for these hooks and slices.
This is called ‘swing compensation’. This will, in turn, hamper your consistency. Hence you will not be able to make shots consistently.
To develop powerful swings, you need to be able to play comfortably as well as consistently. Correcting the lie angle can help improve your performance.
Does Driver Lie Angle Matter
Have you ever wondered why so many people stress getting the lie angle right? Lie angle can directly impact your performance to a great extent.
If you have been playing badly and are unable to control your shots, the reason could be due to an incorrect lie angle.
Lie angles are known as directional controls. If your lie angle is too flat, then the golf ball may tend to go towards the right side.
On the other hand, if your lie angle is too upright, your ball might tend to go towards the left side.
Yes, the driver lie angle does matter as it can effect the accuracy and flight of your golf ball. If you find the correct lie angle, then you will be able to make more accurate and precise shots.
Does Lie Angle Affect the Loft
The lie angle is one of the directional controls of the golf club. Loft, on the other hand, is a trajectory control. The loft will also determine how far your golf ball will travel.
The lie angle is measured between the center of the shaft and the ground when the sole of the clubhead is touching the ground or is flat on the ground.
The loft angle is determined as the correlation between the angle of the shaft and the angle of the face of the golf club. These two angles measure different parameters, so no, lie angle doesn’t affect the loft.
As the lie angle will not affect the loft of a golf club, you can adjust the lie angle to your playing style without affecting the loft.
How Driver Lie Angle Affects Ball Flight
Lie angle is one of the most important parameters to adjust when you are buying a club. This is because it affects the direction of the ball during a shot.
If the lie angle is too flat, the ball will move towards your right side. This is in the case of a right-handed player.
For a left-handed player, it is the opposite. If the angle is too upright, then the ball will go towards the left for a right-handed player and vice versa.
It has been found that about a degree of difference in the lie angle can cause you to miss your shot by about 6 feet in a 120 yards game. This can certainly affect the accuracy of your shots.
1 Degree Difference in Lie Angle
In case you are wondering if a 1-degree difference in the lie angle will be noticeable or not, then read on. If you are a consistent player who hits pretty accurate shots, then a 1-degree difference will be negligible.
If your game is inconsistent and you have some trouble hitting very accurate and precise shots, then a difference of 1-degree may not make much difference to you.
It has been found that around 90% of golfers cannot discern a change of 1-degree in the lie angle. The 10% are very consistent players and hence will be able to make out the change quite easily. If you play quite well, then maybe you may notice the change in the lie angle.
2 Degree Difference in Lie Angle
If you have a club with a difference of 2-degree in the lie angle from the standard, you will notice a lot of differences.
If the angle is flat, then the golf ball will go towards the right and if the angle is too upright, then the shots will move towards the left. Based on this, you will be able to figure out what changes need to be made to the lie angle.
Most of the players will be able to notice the sudden change in the shots if there is a difference of 2 degrees in the lie angle. Beginners and amateurs may have some trouble discerning the change. This is because they may not have complete control over their clubs.
Standard Lie Angle for a Driver
The standard lie angle of a driver can range anywhere between 50 to 60 degrees.
If you are wondering what the terminologies in regards to lie angle are, I’ll explain them to you now..
If you find a golf club with a standard lie angle, it means that you have picked up an off-the-shelf golf club. The lie angle is not adjusted to suit your playing style.
A club with a flat lie angle means that its angle is lower than that of the standard club. A club with an upright lie angle has a higher angle than that of the standard club.
Cost to Adjust Lie Angle of the Driver
If you have some clubs or drivers that need lie angle adjustments to them, you might need to take them to a clubsmith.
The clubsmith will measure out your lie angle and check if it is perfect or upright or flat. Depending on this they will be able to make the necessary corrections on your clubs or drivers.
The rates charged for these corrections may vary from place to place. If you are a regular customer and buy a lot of products from them, they may do it for free.
Ideally, the clubsmiths may charge anywhere between $3- $10 per club. Some places also include an additional fitting charge of around $25- $30. In such cases, it would be a good idea to take all your clubs at once to avoid recurring fitting charges.
How to Adjust Driver Lie Angle
When you are buying a new club, some manufacturers will adjust the lie angle to suit your playing style. They may not call it the lie angle. They have their terminologies for it. They call it the fade, neutral and draw adjustments.
Callaway Ft Optiforce 440
Do not get confused as they mean the same thing as lie angle. The fade setting is used to make the angle flat whereas neutral means no change. Draw setting is used to make the club or driver more upright.
A lot of brands have adjustable drivers and clubs. You can pick out the closest standard club or driver and then adjust the setting to reach your playing level.
Ping G400 Max Driver Lie Angle and Adjustment
The Ping G400 Max is one of the most forgiving drivers available in the market. A lot of beginners as well as experienced players, prefer using this particular driver.
Callaway Ft Optiforce 460 Driver
One of the common complaints from golfers is that when they change the loft angle of the driver, the lie angle seems to have changed.
You can have a launch monitor to measure the loft and the launch angle. If you feel that the lie angle needs to be adjusted, you can use the adjustable hosel and customize it to fit your game playing style quite easily.
The standard lie or the neutral lie is 59° for this model. You can choose to increase or decrease it based on your preferences.
Ping G410 Driver Lie Angle
The Ping G410 driver is an enhanced version of the G410 Plus model. All the features of the G410 Plus are available in this model in addition to some extra features. Fade corrections and slice corrections are excellent in this driver. This is one important additional feature found in Ping G410.
This model has a loft of 10.5° that can be adjusted to about 1.5° on either side meaning the loft can be brought down to 9° or 12°.
The driver has an average lie angle of 58.5° which is about 0.5° greater than the standard 58°. With these specifications, you can easily hit more distance with this driver.
Callaway Optiforce Driver Adjustment Chart
The technology makes the balls go straighter down the fairway. With a head weight of about 200gms, this seems to be an ideal one for players looking to play consistent games.
Callaway Rogue Driver Lie Angle Adjustment
Every driver and club will have some minor differences. If you have a Callaway Rogue driver and are wondering how to change the lie angle or adjust the various settings, then worry not.
I will explain how the adjustments work. Some drivers have just a D and N settings in the driver whereas others have +1, D, S, and N settings.
Well, if you have issues with your hooks or slices, then adjusting the +1 settings can help you. It can easily offset some of the hook pull.
The S stands for standard, D stands for draw, and N stands for neutral. Whenever you are adjusting the settings make sure that the cogs line up. This is important for consistent game play.
How to Measure Driver Lie Angle
Lie angle as we all know is very important for playing a perfect game. It is the directional element of the driver or the club. Incorrectly measuring the lie angle can lead to inconsistencies and inaccuracies while hitting the shots.
The driver lie angle is measured between the shaft and the ground with the club placed in the playing position. Make sure that the center of the sole touches the ground.
The easiest way to measure the lie angle is by using an industrial golf club specification gauge. These are available from manufacturers.
Adjusting The Callaway Optiforce Driver
You can also use the triangle method to calculate the lie angle of the driver by making it lean against a wall and thus forming a triangle. The basic principles of math are used to make these calculations.
Driver Lie Angle – Flat Vs Upright
All this while I have been talking about lie angles and how to adjust them. So now let us focus on why they are important. If your lie angle is too flat, then you will hook your shots more.
On the other hand, if your lie angle is too upright, then you will tend to slice more. In general, it is common to have clubs or drivers which are upright than flat ones.
The lie angles can make the golf ball go in all directions if they are not adjusted to suit you. They are called the directional settings of a driver or a club.
Driver Lie Angle for Short Golfers
Most of the clubs are designed to suit people who are tall or have an average height. By average height, it means around 5’6” tall. How do people who are short or have below-average height manage?
Club fitters can make adjustments to your clubs and driver to ensure that the shaft is smaller by about an inch and the head is heavier to compensate for it.
They will make the necessary calculations to make sure that the club or the driver has the same characteristics as that of the original after making the changes.
How To Adjust Callaway Optiforce Driver
In general, short players require more upright lie angles than the average height players. The lie angle will depend entirely upon your swing and not on your height. You will have to get the clubs or drivers fitted at the clubsmiths.
Driver Lie Angle for Tall Golfers
Tall golfers also do not have it easy when playing golf. The standard golf equipment is designed for people with average height.
If you use the standard golf clubs or drivers, then you might have to end up bending over more to hit the shots.
Apart from having the shaft or the hosel increased by an inch or two to suit your height, you can also adjust the lie angle.
Try swinging the club after the height adjustments are made. If you hook or slice the ball, then change the lie angle appropriately by a degree or two. In general, the lie angles are greater for taller people.
Drivers with Adjustable Lie Angle
Drivers are available with adjustable lie angles. This means that there are various ranges of drivers available that fall between various ranges of lie angles.
You need to be fitted for your lie angle based on your swing and choose the closest driver angle available. Then, you can adjust the angle quite easily to fit your playing needs.
Some of the best drivers and their lie angles are listed below.
- TaylorMade 2017 M1/M2- fits people with the angle between 56-60°.
- TaylorMade 2016 M1 — Suited for people having lie angles between 58-62°.
- TaylorMade SLDR — Has a range of 59-62° for the lie angles.
- Titleist 917 D2/D3 — This is one of the standard models with the lie angles in the range of 57.75-60°.
Driver with the Flattest Lie Angle
Are you having trouble with your driver? If your shots are having more slices, then maybe it is time to look for a driver with a flatter lie angle.
That being said, it is not easy to find good quality drivers with very flat lie angles.
I have compiled a list of some of the best drivers which have low or flat lie angles. These are recommended by golfers all over the world and generally are very forgiving.
- Titleist 910D3 – It has a mid-launch angle and has a moderate spin. It is a 445cc driver and has an adjustable setting as well.
- Ping Anser, Ping G25 – The loft angle is adjustable by about 1.5° in these two models.
- Cobra King Pro drivers– These drivers have a fade setting which can be used to lower the lie angle.
Read more:How to Measure and Shorten Golf Driver Shaft Length
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