What happens to lofts and lies if you don't get them checked?

[nikeblades00]

I always hear that people should get their forged irons loft and lie angles checked every year. I never have. I hit tons of balls off mats and grass every year. Just curious what are the tendencies usually that happen to the lofts and lies over time? Do they get flatter or more upright? Weaker or stronger?

Edited November 24, 2020 by nikeblades00

[Awainer1]

In my experience... nothing

[PhlashPhace]

I check mine once a month or the Monday before I play in a tournament.  I always play forged irons and in my experience the lies tend to flatten and lofts usually stay the same.

[bvanlieu]

I checked my lofts this past year after about 2 years playing P770s (1025 forged) and a few clubs drifted a smidge, some were still spot on.  I hit a lot of balls, more then 1/2 from mats though I do have access to softer mats at some ranges. 

 

The P790s I have at the 5/6 I don't bother checking after setting them up last year: those puppies are not budging from normal play They take some oompf to bend with a bar. 🙂 

[b.mattay]

I found lofts would creep stronger. When I had 714AP2's, I would have to adjust them every 40 rounds or so. Some clubs would move 1.5-2 degrees

[nikeblades00]

17 minutes ago, b.mattay said:

I found lofts would creep stronger. When I had 714AP2's, I would have to adjust them every 40 rounds or so. Some clubs would move 1.5-2 degrees

Thats interesting and something I've wondered. Ive been playing my mp 54 for 3 full seasons prior to my recent new purchases of p770s.  I hit a ton of balls year round. I feel each club feels stronger lofted .  

[Bigarch]

Interested to hear what others think, but I don't think you can predict what a club will do over time.  Some will, some won't.  There's just so many variables.  I check mine at least once a year and most often there are 2-3 clubs in the bag that need slight adjustments one way or the other.

[spinnywedge]

I always heard that lofts would go stronger because you’re hitting closer to the bottom of the face, and lie angles might tend to go flatter because of toe droop. I had some heavily used wedges checked out one time, and my 56 had gone to 55.5, but that was it. I really don’t think anyone’s going to hit a club enough to notice a difference.

Edited November 25, 2020 by tbrumbeloe13

[Socrates]

3 hours ago, Awainer1 said:

In my experience... nothing

Spot on.

[2bGood]

I have them checked every year, so about 130 rounds and maybe 5000 range balls. 

 

They always need some adjustment. No real pattern I have seen other than short irons and wedges need the most work. Not a surprise as they hit the ball more than longer irons.

 

To my surprise once and while I will notice my club are 'off ' and go in to check them out - The most dramatic was my 9 iron increasing in loft by 2* and my PW decreasing in low by 2*. 

[PhlashPhace]

14 minutes ago, 2bGood said:

I have them checked every year, so about 130 rounds and maybe 5000 range balls. 

 

They always need some adjustment. No real pattern I have seen other than short irons and wedges need the most work. Not a surprise as they hit the ball more than longer irons.

 

To my surprise once and while I will notice my club are 'off ' and go in to check them out - The most dramatic was my 9 iron increasing in loft by 2* and my PW decreasing in low by 2*. 

Everybody is going to be different.  If someone told me there is no way that playing and practicing will alter my lofts and lies I will tell them they're lying because I check them on my machine pretty regularly and they do change.  If the same person told me they check theirs all the time and they never change I would believe them.

 

I hit a lot of balls, I am a relatively high swing speed player and I have a pretty steep AOA so my experience is different than someone like my Dad who isn't very fast and almost never takes a divot.

[b.mattay]

57 minutes ago, tbrumbeloe13 said:

I always heard that lofts would go stronger because you’re hitting closer to the bottom of the face, and lie angles might tend to go flatter because of toe droop. I had some heavily used wedges checked out one time, and my 56 had gone to 55.5, but that was it. I really don’t think anyone’s going to hit a club enough to notice a difference.

Off grass, not really. Hit a bit of root though or hit off mats with concrete underneath and you are potentially looking at a decent amount of adjustment over time.

[ChipNRun]

 

One day I talked to a woman college golfer who plays out of our golf club. She uses Mizuno forged irons.

 

She gets the loft and lie checked on her irons twice a year: once in January before the main college season starts, and once in June before joining the summer amateur circuit.

[nikeblades00]

Thanks for the replies guys. Its just something I've always wondered. Come to think of it my perceived distance gains are probably just swing improvements more than anything!

[Socrates]

Checking is fine, but you have to make sure that you are checking them on the same machine by the same person.  There is no way you can be certain of anything if you use one machine and then 6 months later use someone else's machine.  If you want accurate and repeatable results, you should be using a machine dedicated to measuring lie and loft and not bending machine unless it has been calibrated and known to be accurate.

 

IF you do find a change make sure that the hosel is what is bending and not the shaft.  If you are using KBS shafts, there is a very good possibility that the shaft is what is bending and not the hosel.

[MK7Golf21]

depends on how soft the irons are, not a bad idea to get them checked once or twice a season if you play alot with forged. Cast irons like Ping won't budge and don't really need it or irons like the 770 that are a harder forging

[nikeblades00]

4 hours ago, Socrates said:

Checking is fine, but you have to make sure that you are checking them on the same machine by the same person.  There is no way you can be certain of anything if you use one machine and then 6 months later use someone else's machine.  If you want accurate and repeatable results, you should be using a machine dedicated to measuring lie and loft and not bending machine unless it has been calibrated and known to be accurate.

 

IF you do find a change make sure that the hosel is what is bending and not the shaft.  If you are using KBS shafts, there is a very good possibility that the shaft is what is bending and not the hosel.

Interesting about the KBS shafts. I do play KBS tour shafts. I will go to the same shop to get them checked . 

[Socrates]

2 minutes ago, nikeblades00 said:

Interesting about the KBS shafts. I do play KBS tour shafts. I will go to the same shop to get them checked . 

Most times it is hard to see because it's usually only 1º or 2º and hidden by the ferrule.  It becomes very obvious when you take the shaft out of the head.  I mention it because one might just slap the club in a lie loft machine and see that it isn't to spec and bend the club.  Now the problem has just been covered with a band-aide.

[pricenicky]

DO GET THEM CHECKED. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HIT OFF MATS WITH FORGED.My  0311 PXG were very soft and would flatten after 2 months of hitting 3 times a week.Cast clubs no problem.Most forged will flatten especially with a negative attack angle.

[nikeblades00]

2 hours ago, pricenicky said:

DO GET THEM CHECKED. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HIT OFF MATS WITH FORGED.My  0311 PXG were very soft and would flatten after 2 months of hitting 3 times a week.Cast clubs no problem.Most forged will flatten especially with a negative attack 

To be honest everyone says get them checked but I would beg to differ if your playing great golf dont change a thing 😆

[Exactice808]

I get my loft and lies checked every 6 months to 1 year.

 

1) Used get lie angles 2* flat (5'8") meaning I had to bend them. This also means it eventually goes back. (PS, I play standard now)

2) 2* can change starting direction, so the beating over time can change anticipated starting direction, due to the lie angles going more upright.

3) Lofts tend to get stronger,  I had a 4iron 24*, 1 year later 19*.  thats stronger than a hypothetical 2 iron.  I would have delusions of grandeur that I was smashing my 4iron (This was extreme never had it happen again but it did happen, 5* stronger)

4) If the loft between sets change 2* your gapping can go off.  as most gaps are only 3-4* difference, this can be half a club difference in gapping and affect your playability.

 

It ONLY takes 15 minutes and $20 to have them checked normally..... so when you go check out new clubs for the fun of it, take your clubs in to have them check while you are browsing the store.... by the time you are done your loft and lies should be done.

 

 

 

[pricenicky]

3 hours ago, nikeblades00 said:

To be honest everyone says get them checked but I would beg to differ if your playing great golf dont change a thing 😆

 

[pricenicky]

thats true  but I kept noticing after awhile that shots were going right . A quick check revealed that the irons we're flattening.