Loft
The golf club has a design unique in sport. For starters, it has a ‘loft’, which makes the game counter-intuitive. To hit the ball up, one needs to actually hit it down. The club makes impact with the ball first, creates a divot in the soil on its downward journey before moving up into the follow through.
Forward shaft lean
Each club has a shaft (steel/graphite) and a head (steel/titanium). The shaft fits into the head at an angle, making the shaft lean forward (as shown). This forward shaft lean ensures the hands are ahead of the ball (towards the target) at address and (mostly) ahead at impact. Hands behind at impact promote duff and topped shots.
Lean and ball position
The more lofted the club, the more the shaft lean. This fact helps us understand why the ball position in the stance must vary with each club. With a more lofted club like PW, the ball is in the middle of the stance. The hands tend to fall on the inside of the left thigh (for right-handers) with all clubs.
Lie angle
The club rests on the ground at an angle called the lie angle. Since the ball is lying on the ground in front of us and we need to use the loft to get it up in the air, the design demands that we put a lie angle to each club. The lie angle also determines the plane on which we swing the club.
Lie angles and swing planes
The lie angles vary with each club. The more upright the lie angle (as in the PW and the 9-iron), the more upright the plane. As the numbers become smaller, the plane becomes flatter, demanding the golfer to swing on a flatter plane. This important aspect must be clearly understood by every golfer.
Length
The 14 clubs in the golf bag come in different lengths. A rule of thumb is that the shortest club (except the putter) has the maximum loft, most upright lie angle and maximum forward shaft lean. As the length increases, loft reduces, lie angle decreases and shaft lean reduces.
(As told to Rakesh Rao)
