# Effects of adjusting lofts



## Skypilot (Feb 24, 2018)

I bought an M1 3HL Fairway Wood which is really a fancy name for a 4 Wood.
Now I want something that equates to a 6 Wood.I've got Ping 5 and 7 Woods.
 So I could increase the loft on the 5 or decrease the loft on the 7.Just wondering what the other effects would be as I understand that adjusting the loft on Woods opens or closes the club head giving a gearing affect that will tend to make the club fade or draw.
Can any one anyone explain this to me or point me to a link that does?


----------



## Imurg (Feb 24, 2018)

Add loft and you effectively close the face a touch
Decrease loft and you effectively open it.


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Feb 24, 2018)

Imurg said:



			Add loft and you effectively close the face a touch
Decrease loft and you effectively open it.
		
Click to expand...

Only if you put the sole flat to the ground & then grip it. If you grip the club before grounding it so the face is square then this is not the case.


----------



## duncan mackie (Feb 24, 2018)

Skypilot said:



			I bought an M1 3HL Fairway Wood which is really a fancy name for a 4 Wood.
		
Click to expand...

Loft alone doesnt make a wood - by that argument you couldn't compare 8.5 and 10.5 lofted drivers, let alone 12!


----------



## Skypilot (Feb 24, 2018)

Good grief, everyones got something to say except answer the question. Which was what effect does adjusting the loft have.  Oh well, over to youtube.


----------



## the_coach (Feb 24, 2018)

Skypilot said:



			. Which was what effect does adjusting the loft have.
		
Click to expand...

*
if you add loft you effectively close the face a tad*
*if you decrease loft you effectively open the face a tad *_(as has already been said in post #2)_ (makes no difference if you ground or don't ground the club as you have still altered the head settings - if you then over compensate by gripping the handle differently that's a separate issue & something you don't really want to be doin whether the clubs are hovered or grounded at set-up)

_would consider what your normal shot shape curvature is with the 3 metal _- the hl is a good option for most index players (though jason day had a tm 3 hl in his bag not sure if he still does) as most index players play with too little loft on their 3 metal & they don't have the club head speed needed to deal with less loft)

if the shape tends to fade sometimes slice don't really want the face opening up a tad more
the m1 3hl should travel as far as a 'norm' 3 metal anyways so don't see necessarily why you would adjust that from norm if you use it a bunch instead of driver you'd still want the distance so would leave it as manufacturers setting

then you really need to know how far you carry the 3hl plus how far you carry both the 5 & 7 metals with them set as norm both in relation to the 3 & each other if both the 5 & 7 are in the bag plus also how they both dial in with the carry of whatever club is next say 6i or whatever

it's not really just about the lofts of the clubs per se it's about the carry distance of those clubs in question to give optimum gap distance coverage thru the top end of the bag

may find you don't need to adjust any - or if there's a gapping distance issue adjust the 5 metal or 7 metal or both in the direction you need (to add/subtract loft) to give you the required carry distance.


----------



## Foxholer (Feb 25, 2018)

From memory (of my old Bombsquadgolf days) where there was an obsession for lowering loft as a means of 'taking the left out of play!....The 'tad' that Coach mentioned is 0.6* (closed or open) for each degree of loft. 

That only applies it the hosel is simply bent. If you are using an adjustable hosel, there MAY be both (separate) loft and face angle adjustments available and/or the loft adjustment may also compensate for the 'natural' face angle one!

Btw. If you check my signature, you'll find I've adjusted 2 15* Adams woods - 1 up and 1 down to effectively get 2-wood and 4-wood clubs. They work very well, with no sign apparent left/right bias! Shaft length feels fine too.


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Feb 25, 2018)

the_coach said:



 if you ground or don't ground the club as you have still altered the head settings - if you then over compensate by gripping the handle differently that's a separate issue & _*something you don't really want to be doin *_

Click to expand...

I can't understand this. I always grip the club so that the face looks square in my grip, unless I want to hit a fade of a draw, in which case I'll hold the face open or closed, i.e. weaken or strengthen the cgrip.


----------



## Skypilot (Feb 25, 2018)

Foxholer said:



			From memory (of my old Bombsquadgolf days) where there was an obsession for lowering loft as a means of 'taking the left out of play!....The 'tad' that Coach mentioned is 0.6* (closed or open) for each degree of loft. 

That only applies it the hosel is simply bent. If you are using an adjustable hosel, there MAY be both (separate) loft and face angle adjustments available and/or the loft adjustment may also compensate for the 'natural' face angle one!

Btw. If you check my signature, you'll find I've adjusted 2 15* Adams woods - 1 up and 1 down to effectively get 2-wood and 4-wood clubs. They work very well, with no sign apparent left/right bias! Shaft length feels fine too.
		
Click to expand...

Many thanks. Just the sort of info I was after.

In my first post I Put M1HL in error. It's the M2HL which has a fixed loft of 16.5. This is closer than I want in loft  to my Ping 5Wood (18 deg) and too big a gap to my Ping 7Wood (21 deg) (only want two woods in bag) I knew that adjusting loft up or down can increase tendency to draw or fade so was looking for members  to give their views.


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Feb 25, 2018)

Skypilot said:



			Many thanks. Just the sort of info I was after.

In my first post I Put M1HL in error. It's the M2HL which has a fixed loft of 16.5. This is closer than I want in loft  to my Ping 5Wood (18 deg) and too big a gap to my Ping 7Wood (21 deg) (only want two woods in bag) I knew that adjusting loft up or down can increase tendency to draw or fade so was looking for members  to give their views.
		
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but i firmly believe that if you grip the club correctly you will neither hook nor slice. It's simple physics.


----------



## hovis (Feb 25, 2018)

Maninblack4612 said:



			I'm sorry, but i firmly believe that if you grip the club correctly you will neither hook nor slice. It's simple physics.
		
Click to expand...

alot of people including myself grip the club using the graphics from the grip.  

to say that a correct grip makes it hard to hook or slice is silly.  you can have the best grip in the world but stop your hips rotating too early and your hands will overtake and hook the ball out the park.


back to the op.    if you add loft you will close the face regardless of the club being grounded or not.   you might notice the face is closed and adjusted your grip to compensate but that is a different issue


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Feb 25, 2018)

hovis said:



			alot of people including myself grip the club using the graphics from the grip.  

to say that a correct grip makes it was to hook or slice is silly.  you can have the best grip in the world but stop your hips rotating too early and your hands will overtake and hook the ball out the park.


back to the op.    if you add loft you will close the face regardless of the club being grounded or not.   you might notice the face is closed and adjusted your grip to compensate but that is a different issue
		
Click to expand...

A correct grip makes it harder, then, that's what I meant. And the only way to orient the clubface is in relation to the grip, I.e. the hands


----------



## hovis (Feb 25, 2018)

Maninblack4612 said:



			A correct grip makes it harder, then, that's what I meant. And the only way to orient the clubface is in relation to the grip, I.e. the hands
		
Click to expand...

yes but there are many factors that effect the way the hands work.  a good grip isn't going to stop a hook or slice that is caused by a swing flaw (which most are)


----------

