Duffers Corner

Do you constantly hit the ball thin? Do you take a larger than average divot? Are your shot patterns consistently going right? These are all signs that the clubs you are playing have not been properly fit to your unique swing.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your irons properly fit to your swing. Most of the time your averaged sized weekend duffer won’t need any major adjustments, a tweak here or there will do, but you will be amazed with the results.

A few years back I was having issues with my short game, so I thought I should consult my local pro for some chipping advice, maybe a tweak or two might save me a couple of strokes. After hitting a few dozen balls he notices a consistent enough pattern and decides to put me on a lie board to see if he could pinpoint any issues. “Your clubs are too flat.” Now I have been around golf for 30+ years and I never thought for a second that my irons weren’t a perfect fit for my game. “Are you sure?”

Lie Board - Special hitting surface material leaves a small temporary mark on the sole of the clubhead indicating lie angle at impact.

Fitting on a lie board is about the simplest and most accurate way to determine your irons proper length and lie angle. What my local pro was able to tell me is that due to my height (6’6) and short arm length, I needed irons that were 5 degrees upright, not 2 degrees like I have had them since the beginning of time. I called instant BS. No way. Don’t attempt to convince me that my short but perfect swing needs irons that are off-the-chart-upright. I just can’t envision that mutilating my clubs is going to make that much of a difference to my game. But I was still curious, so I had my pro only adjust my pitching wedge. I thought to myself, “my clubs are forged, I can always bend them back, no harm no foul.” Honestly it felt pretty good. My shot pattern was perfect! Straight on target with a slight draw, just like the good old days. But I was still reluctant to have my complete set adjusted, so I told my pro that I would practice with the pitching wedge some more before I decide to have my complete set bent upright.

A couple of days later I am out on the golf course, first hole, par 4 385 yards, after a perfect drive that left me about 95 yards to the pin, I pull out my pitching wedge. It didn’t even cross my mind that I was about ready to hit a shot that I had been struggling with for months with a club that I thought my pro had butchered by bending it 5 degrees upright. With a slight open stance and a short three quarter swing (I’m just hoping to make it somewhere on the green) I watch with complete amazement as my ball, with a smidge of a draw, barrels in on my target line and after hitting the green, on its 3^rd bounce, it rolled right in the hole. I KID YOU NOT!

Let’s just say that after the round I couldn’t get to the pro shop fast enough to have the rest of my set adjusted.