As an example the M890 driver and #3 wood both have a 58 degree lie yet the driver is built 2″ longer. What is the reason? Shouldn’t the length be more dependent on lie as in the irons?
Britt Lindsey Answered question April 23, 2021
As an example the M890 driver and #3 wood both have a 58 degree lie yet the driver is built 2″ longer. What is the reason? Shouldn’t the length be more dependent on lie as in the irons?
Because the loft is much less in the woods, the lie has less effect on the direction. Also, at the lengths most drivers and fairways are made today, the shaft droop is much greater in woods than in the irons, so the actual lie flattens out more at impact. This second point doesn’t really help answer your question, I know. Generally speaking, and if you look at the lie angles of most of the major companies drivers and fairways, you will see the drivers in the 58 – 59 degree range and the fairways ranging from 56.5 to 59. The nature of the a fairway wood design and it’s sole, and the fact that fairways are played at basically what driver lengths were a few decades ago, dictate what the lie will be. I believe the ranges we are at as an industry were arrived at based on testing and the angle that the clubheads needed to be at impact. Shaft technology and the way players swing today all come into play. Ideally you would like to be able to fit the lie of fairway woods and drivers the same way we do with irons, dynamically using a lie board. But woods are hit differently, especially drivers. The compound angle still exists between the lie angle and the loft, but again, much less effect on direction due to the lower lofts. Some adjustable fairways allowed some lie adjustment, but you don’t see many adjustable fairways any more and the amount of adjustability was small and the ball flight effect was even less. The actual lie angles and the progressions from drivers to fairways are counter to what we see in irons, where as the club gets shorter the lie gets more upright. I wish I had a better explanation as to why, but I don’t. We have progressed a little more upright from the old persimmon days and that is due to the lengths and the amount of shaft droop. Our M890 specs are really what they are because that is where they tested the best, and looked the best at address. That is the best explanation I have.
Britt Lindsey
Thanks for the thorough explanation. Most helpful.