Ping Zings Black Dot vs. Blue Dot

Question
I bought a near mint set of vintage Ping Zing black dot standard lie clubs with JZ stiff shafts. I have been palying golf for thirty or so years, recreational, with about a 22 handy cap. I have been playing with the same set of off the shelf Wilson irons for 25 years and hit them well. I see on  Pings color chart that I'm best suited for a blue dot .75 degree up. Since I have already purchased this very nice $300.00 set of Ping Zings and just play about twice a month, would a .75 degree make that much difference? I feel, if I have been playing with a 25 year old set of Wilsons and hit them well, the black dots should be fine for what little use I will be giving them. Do you agree? Also, just for my understanding, what benefits would the .75 degree upright offer? Thanks!

Answer
Hey Allen

I really don't think you'd see enough of a difference to make a change, especially if your only talking about one color code away.  If the lie angle of a club is too flat, the toe of the club could strike the ground first and cause miss hits.  Conversely, if they are too upright the heel will dig in first, and will cause the ball to go left.

If you've only looked at the measurements for PING's fitting system, you've done what they used to call a "static" fitting or measurement.  To be accurate you would have to do a "dynamic" or swinging fit also, which involves swinging a club onto a lie board.  Using some impact tape on the sole of the club, it's possible to see exactly which part of the sole of the club strikes the board first.  The impact point should be in the middle, and not too far towards the toe or the heel.  You might be able to do this yourself using some masking tape and swinging onto a patch of hard dirt, or an artificial mat at a driving range...just be careful not to hurt your wrist.  If you decide you want to have them bent you can send them back to PING.   They will bend them, re-paint the dot and even change the data associated with the clubs serial numbers. (If you ever lose your 5 iron you could re order using the serial number from the set, and the replacement would match the altered set.)

Ok, that's a lot of information that if I were you I'd just not worry about.  We're talking about less than one degree of difference in lie angle, and you only play a couple of times a month.  I really don't think you'd ever really be able to tell the difference.

Good Luck

John