Quote:
Originally Posted by LyleG  huh?
If the club does not strike the ground the lie angle will have no bearing what so ever. |
I would agree with Poe4soul on this one. Even if your club does not touch the ground, your lie angle will affect your ball flight. Golfsmith used to sell a magnet with a pole sticking out of it for about 6 inches or so to demonstrate this phenomena (
link to a similar device here.) The the club sole is parallel to the earth, the pole will point toward the target. As you raise the toe on the club, the pole starts to point further left of the target. As you raise the heel, the pole starts to point to the right of the target. The effect is more dramatic on higher lofted clubs such as wedges and less prevelent on lower lofted clubs such as hybrids and fairway woods. At impact, if your toe or heel is raised due to poor lie angle the ball will travel off line as described even if you contact the ball before the earth.