Dear Patrick,
The rule has four main parts: 1. all putters must have at least 10 degrees of lie; 2. the shaft can angle towards the target or away from it in the vertical plane of the targetline no more than 20 degrees either way; 3. the shaft can bend only within the first 5 inches of the sole of the putterhead; and 4. the shaft has to be straight above the neck.
So 80 degrees (or 10 degrees off vertical) (or 9 degrees upright from the standard 71 degrees) is as far upright as it can go.
The text of these rules is in Appendix II of the Rules of Golf -- Design of Clubs,
http://www.usga.org/rules/rules_2002_03/index.html. I've underlined the main parts concerning shaft straightness and angle.
DESIGN OF CLUBS
A player in doubt as to the conformity of a club should consult the United States Golf Association.
A manufacturer should submit to the United States Golf Association a sample of a club which is to be manufactured for a ruling as to whether the club conforms with the Rules. If a manufacturer fails to submit a sample before manufacturing and/or marketing the club, the manufacturer assumes the risk of a ruling that the club does not conform with the Rules. Any sample submitted to the United States Golf Association will become its property for reference purposes.
The following paragraphs prescribe general regulations for the design of clubs, together with specifications and interpretations.
Where a club, or part of a club, is required to have some specific property, this means that it must be designed and manufactured with the intention of having that property. The finished club or part must have that property within manufacturing tolerances appropriate to the material used.
1. Clubs
a. General
A club is an implement designed to be used for striking the ball and generally comes in three forms: woods, irons and putters distinguished by shape and intended use. A putter is a club with a loft not exceeding ten degrees designed primarily for use on the putting green.
The club shall not be substantially different from the traditional and customary form and make. The club shall be composed of a shaft and a head. All parts of the club shall be fixed so that the club is one unit, and it shall have no external attachments except as otherwise permitted by the Rules.
b. Adjustability
Woods and irons shall not be designed to be adjustable except for weight. Putters may be designed to be adjustable for weight and some other forms of adjustability are also permitted. All methods of adjustment permitted by the Rules require that:
(i) the adjustment cannot be readily made;
(ii) all adjustable parts are firmly fixed and there is no reasonable likelihood of them working loose during a round; and
(iii) all configurations of adjustment conform with the Rules.
The disqualification penalty for purposely changing the playing characteristics of a club during a stipulated round (Rule 4-2a) applies to all clubs including a putter.
c. Length
The overall length of the club shall be at least 18 inches (457.2 mm) measured from the top of the grip along the axis of the shaft or a straight line extension of it to the sole of the club.
d. Alignment
When the club is in its normal address position the shaft shall be so aligned that:
(i) the projection of the straight part of the shaft on to the vertical plane through the toe and heel shall diverge from the vertical by at least 10 degrees (see Fig. I);
(ii) the projection of the straight part of the shaft on to the vertical plane along the intended line of play shall not diverge from the vertical by more than 20 degrees (see Fig. II).
Except for putters, all of the heel portion of the club shall lie within 0.625 inches (15.88 mm) of the plane containing the axis of the straight part of the shaft and the intended (horizontal) line of play (see Fig. III).
2. Shaft
a. Straightness
The shaft shall be straight from the top of the grip to a point not more than 5 inches (127 mm) above the sole, measured from the point where the shaft ceases to be straight along the axis of the bent part of the shaft and the neck and/or socket (see Fig. IV).
b. Bending and Twisting Properties
At any point along its length, the shaft shall:
(i) bend in such a way that the deflection is the same regardless of how the shaft is rotated about its longitudinal axis; and
(ii) twist the same amount in both directions.
c. Attachment to Clubhead
The shaft shall be attached to the clubhead at the heel either directly or through a single plain neck and/or socket. The length from the top of the neck and/or socket to the sole of the club shall not exceed 5 inches (127 mm), measured along the axis of, and following any bend in, the neck and/or socket (see Fig. V).
Exception for Putters: The shaft or neck or socket of a putter may be fixed at any point in the head.
Deliberately bending the putter shaft is fine, so long as you don't do so "during a stipulated round," and so long as the end result still conforms to the Rules.
There is a great story about Lee Trevino in the first half of the 1970s and his first Ping putter. Practically everyone on Tour was using them, and after the British Open, Trevino went to play in the Dutch Open and decided to try one. He went to the pro shop at the course and they had only one left. It did not suit Trevino in terms of lie and loft, but he bought it anyway. He took it back to his motel room and for the next couple of hours, he stomped it on the floor and slammed it into a bed post until he figured he got it right. He then went on his hottest streak ever and won, I think, 18 events in a couple of years. Then it was stolen.
Manufacturers have started offering custom lie angles recently. Ping offers custom fitting, and describes the options this way [
http://www.pinggolf.com/fitting_putters.html]:
Lie angle is determined by your preferred hand position and the length of the putter. Having the proper lie angle enhances your ability to square up the putter to the target line. During this step, it is important that you use the same putter, gripped at the same length, as was used to originally determine the final length of the putter. While you are in the putter address position, the fitter can read the proper shaft angle from the Putter Fitting Gauge. Most PING putters with hosels can be adjusted as much as 8° upright or 8° flat. Putters with curved shafts can also be adjusted, but to a lesser extent.
You will notice that 8 degrees is about as much adjustment as the Rules of Golf permit, so that system pretty much covers the waterfront. There are other manufacturers who also offer custom products.
In addition, you have two other options: custom clubmakers, and club adjustment services. For more information about custom-fit clubmakers, my webpage here has some links:
http://www.puttingzone.com/Putters/putterfitting.html. One of the adjustment services is PutterFitting.com,
http://www.putterfitting.com/: videotape your stroke and send it to them, and they will come up with spec changes, and will also do the bending of your putter to these specs. Local club repair shops can also bend your putter, but you better have a good idea of what is desirable. They just do whatever you ask them to do, and don't know that much about proper setup for a good stroke in your case. Course pros and some retail shops also offer bending services.
Not all putters can be bent easily or without danger of disaster, so sometimes it is a crapshoot. You can risk getting the shaft a bit twisted or even crimped (a crimped shaft above the allowed 5 inches from the sole is not a "straight" shaft).
I hope this answers your question. If you need further info, just let me know.
--
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
The PuttingZone.com
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