How to measure loft and lie?

[mwilkins25]

I’m looking for an inexpensive tool to measure loft and lie on my irons. 

 

I do not plan on bending them myself but I just bought a skytrak and plan on spending the off-season dialing in gapping.

 

the cheapest thing I found is this tool but I don’t really understand how it works, if it will be accurate or if I need any other tools so use it: 

 

https://www.golfworks.com/golf-club-loft-and-lie-protractor/p/gwpro/

“inexpensive” for me is under $75. 

 

thank you!

Edited November 1, 2020 by mwilkins25
More info

[Colej]

You could download a inclinometer app to your phone? 
 

then you’ll need to just make sure you use it to plumb the shaft at 90* to the ground 

[Stuart_G]

56 minutes ago, mwilkins25 said:

I’m looking for an inexpensive tool to measure loft and lie on my irons. 

 

I do not plan on bending them myself but I just bought a skytrak and plan on spending the off-season dialing in gapping.

 

the cheapest thing I found is this tool but I don’t really understand how it works, if it will be accurate or if I need any other tools so use it: 

 

https://www.golfworks.com/golf-club-loft-and-lie-protractor/p/gwpro/

“inexpensive” for me is under $75. 

 

thank you!

 

The protractor is what you use to measure the loft after the club has been mounted in the loft/lie gauge.  e.g. one of these.

https://www.golfworks.com/value-line-golf-club-measuring-gauge/p/hgcg/

https://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-apprentice-spec-gauge/p/gm1007/

https://www.golfworks.com/maltby-golf-club-gauge/p/gw1040/

 

The key to using it is finding a way to 'mount' the club so the shaft is on a perfectly vertical plane and the face angle is completely zero'd out and position it at the correct lie angle.   That's the key to getting accurate measurements regardless of what is used to do it.  The gauges make it easier (but not in a fool proof way) - especially for someone who is not experienced in positioning the club properly but they are certainly not the only way to do it.  

 

Lie is much trickier to get an accurate measurement than loft.  I have the least expensive of those gauges and while it works fine for loft and face angle, I find it useless for lie angles.  If I had a bigger need for lie angle, I'd get the third one.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Stuart_G

[BNgolf70]

Just watched this.

 

[mwilkins25]

2 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

 

The protractor is what you use to measure the loft after the club has been mounted in the loft/lie gauge.  e.g. one of these.

https://www.golfworks.com/value-line-golf-club-measuring-gauge/p/hgcg/

https://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-apprentice-spec-gauge/p/gm1007/

https://www.golfworks.com/maltby-golf-club-gauge/p/gw1040/

 

The key to using it is finding a way to 'mount' the club so the shaft is on a perfectly vertical plane and the face angle is completely zero'd out and position it at the correct lie angle.   That's the key to getting accurate measurements regardless of what is used to do it.  The gauges make it easier (but not in a fool proof way) - especially for someone who is not experienced in positioning the club properly but they are certainly not the only way to do it.  

 

Lie is much trickier to get an accurate measurement than loft.  I have the least expensive of those gauges and while it works fine for loft and face angle, I find it useless for lie angles.  If I had a bigger need for lie angle, I'd get the third one.

Thanks again for the reply. So basically I need one of those mount units before I can accurately measure the loft, right? That cheap protractor only works if I can mount the club correctly?

[Stuart_G]

10 minutes ago, mwilkins25 said:

Thanks again for the reply. So basically I need one of those mount units before I can accurately measure the loft, right? That cheap protractor only works if I can mount the club correctly?

 

The second sentence is correct.  The first is not exactly correct.   Technically you just need some way to mount of fix the club in the right position.  Using one of the machines designed to do that is easier but it's not impossible to jury rig an alternative, particularly for loft.

[Colej]

Found this on the golfmechanix site. Tried to link it here but it wouldn’t work. 

[Socrates]

2 hours ago, BNgolf70 said:

Just watched this.

 

Biggest problem I see in this video is that he knows what the lie and loft numbers are supposed to be when he uses the iphone.  I doubt if someone who didn't know what the numbers were supposed to be, would even get close except by chance.  Length was a joke if you have a margin of error of +/- 1/2."

[Socrates]

4 minutes ago, Colej said:

Found this on the golfmechanix site. Tried to link it here but it wouldn’t work. 

This will work, but you have to know how to make measurements and how to set the club up properly in the device to be accurate.

 

This one (or similar) would be as low as I would want to go to get good and repeatable numbers.

http://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-apprentice-spec-gauge/p/gm1007/

[Colej]

That’s what I have but a older version. 

[mwilkins25]

1 hour ago, Socrates said:

This will work, but you have to know how to make measurements and how to set the club up properly in the device to be accurate.

 

This one (or similar) would be as low as I would want to go to get good and repeatable numbers.

http://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-apprentice-spec-gauge/p/gm1007/

What makes this one more difficult to use vs the more expensive one? I’m less worried about getting the exact loft, what I need is to be consistent across all of my clubs. 

[Socrates]

15 minutes ago, mwilkins25 said:

What makes this one more difficult to use vs the more expensive one? I’m less worried about getting the exact loft, what I need is to be consistent across all of my clubs. 

There is no device to square up the face and to allow for a reference line to make sure the sole is in a consistent place to give you accurate and repeatable lie measurements.  You either eye ball it or you need to make your own device. 

[Awainer1]

You bought a launch monitor but don’t want a loft lie gauge yet want to know your lofts. You should have started with the gauge and worried about the launch monitor later. 

[mwilkins25]

20 minutes ago, Awainer1 said:

You bought a launch monitor but don’t want a loft lie gauge yet want to know your lofts. You should have started with the gauge and worried about the launch monitor later. 

I’m not sure how the two are related. 
 

Also, I don’t know where you got that I don’t want a loft lie gauge. Before I posted, I didn’t know what it was and asked what I needed to measure. 

[Petem]

Hi

Find a club that you definitely know the loft of. Place the face onto a flat surface like a table top or worktop with the hosel right up to the edge. If you have a work bench you could clamp the head face down. Measure the shaft just below the ferrule with a phone or digital inclnometer. What ever the difference is apply that to every other club.

For my example I have a 9 iron I know is 42° the phone inclinomter showed 36° therefore a difference of 6°.

I measured my clubs in the same way adding 6° to each measurement. 

I found all my clubs spot on except 4 iron which was 2° weak.

 

As for lie angle ??

 

[high5golf]

On 1/23/2022 at 5:14 PM, Petem said:

Hi

Find a club that you definitely know the loft of. Place the face onto a flat surface like a table top or worktop with the hosel right up to the edge. If you have a work bench you could clamp the head face down. Measure the shaft just below the ferrule with a phone or digital inclnometer. What ever the difference is apply that to every other club.

For my example I have a 9 iron I know is 42° the phone inclinomter showed 36° therefore a difference of 6°.

I measured my clubs in the same way adding 6° to each measurement. 

I found all my clubs spot on except 4 iron which was 2° weak.

 

As for lie angle ??

 

Awesome post. Thanks for this.