Club Loft
Club loft is the angle at which the clubface of a club is tilted backwards.
Loft decides the trajectory and the distance of your shot. It is measured in degrees. Little loft produces flat, long balls; a lot of loft high, short ones. The driver comes with about 9 to 12 degrees, a sand wedge over 50. The numbering of the irons mirrors exactly this graduation: a 5 iron has less loft than a 9 iron and flies correspondingly farther. Worth noting: modern clubs often have stronger lofts than older models of the same number. A 7 iron today can correspond to the loft of an earlier 6 iron.
Knowing your lofts helps you choose the club on the course. An example: your ball lies 120 meters short of the green, with a branch hanging low into play in front of it. You need enough loft to get the ball rising quickly, so you choose a wedge instead of the 8 iron. Conversely, into a headwind you use a club with less loft for a flat, controlled flight. If you know the spacing of your lofts you also spot distance gaps in your own bag and can close them in a targeted way.
The most widespread misconception is trying to actively help the ball up. The loft provides the lift on its own if you swing through cleanly and strike the ball slightly from below and forward. "Scooping" produces topped and fat shots. A second mistake is confusing loft and lie: the lie describes the angle between shaft and sole, not the tilt of the face. You can read details about the trajectory and how it comes about under the term loft.
FAQ
Do I have to actively help the ball up so that it rises?
No, that is the most widespread mistake of all. The loft provides the lift on its own if you swing through cleanly and strike the ball slightly from below. Actively "scooping" produces topped and fat shots — trust the angle of the club and swing through.
Why does my new 7 iron fly farther than my old one?
Modern irons often have stronger lofts than older models of the same number. A 7 iron today can correspond to the loft of an earlier 6 iron, which is why it flies farther. So when changing clubs compare loft degrees instead of numbers, otherwise gaps appear in your distances.
What is the difference between loft and lie?
Loft is the angle of the clubface and controls the height and distance of the ball flight. The lie, by contrast, describes the angle between the shaft and the sole of the club and influences how the head sits on the ground. Both values are measured and adjusted separately during a fitting.