Do lie angle adjustments modify the playing length?

If a set of irons are 1.5 degrees flat and you bend the lie angle back to standard would the playing length change slightly? Especially when measuring with a sole plate and a Mitchell ruler that takes the lie angle into consideration?

No.

There are different methods for measuring playing length. Under some they would not change, under others they would. But even for those that they would change it's really a very small amount - measurable, but negligible.

> @Bimmer1 said:

> If a set of irons are 1.5 degrees flat and you bend the lie angle back to standard would the playing length change slightly? Especially when measuring with a sole plate and a Mitchell ruler that takes the lie angle into consideration?

Yes and no.

Mitchell uses a fixed lie angle of 60* (USGA standard for drivers), so you want see much of a difference using that ruler.

We can quantify it using SW since we know that a tad more than 3* up or down, moves SW by 1 SWP.

If we say 4 up or down = 1 SWP then 1* = 0.25 SWP and if we set 3* up or down = 1 SWP, the 1* on lie becomes 0.33 SWP

If we use 4* lie = 1 SWP

1/8" of an inch up or down is 0.75 SWP or equal to a change in lie angle of 3*, and that makes 1.5 to be a difference of 1/16" of an inch.

so yes we change it slightly, but we dont count it as a play length difference, only the influence it makes for SW and flex, and thats why we should do loft and lie angle as the very first task when building a set. if we leave it until they are play ready, and now adjust them "right", we trow off our specs for SW values, so to get the dry fit numbers to become the numbers on play ready clubs, we need loft and lie set right from the start. (to standard if we dont know what fits, so changes becomes equal for all if needed.)

Yes it changes length. If you were going say from 2 upright to 2 flat I would guess around an 1/8 inch.