The coloured dot on the hosel of a PING iron tells you its lie angle: how upright or flat the club sits against PING's standard, Black. On a used set it is the quickest fit check you have. This is PING's chart colour by colour, the Yellow and Purple dots you'll find on some older sets, and how to work out your own colour before you buy.

Quick summary

• PING's current chart has 10 colour codes in 1° steps, from Maroon (5° upright) to Gold (4° flat), with Black as the standard lie.
• The upright colours run Blue, Green, White, Silver and Maroon (1° to 5°), and the flat colours run Red, Orange, Brown and Gold (1° to 4°).
• Your colour comes from your height and your wrist-to-floor measurement: on PING's chart, a golfer 5ft 8in tall with a 35-inch wrist-to-floor lands on Blue.
• Older PING sets can carry 2 colours the current chart doesn't use: Yellow, which is upright and sits between Green and Blue, and Purple, which is flat and sits between Red and Orange.
• An iron that is too upright for you starts a right-hander's shots left, one that is too flat starts them right, and a club fitter can usually bend a set a degree or two to correct it.

PING colour code chart: every dot and its lie angle

PING's chart has 10 colour codes, from 5° upright to 4° flat, and each one is marked by a coloured dot on the iron head (PING). Black is the standard lie. Each colour is a step of 1° away from it:

The lie angle of an iron is the angle between the shaft and the ground when the sole sits flat. Upright means the shaft stands closer to vertical, which suits a golfer whose hands are higher at address; flat means the shaft leans further over, which suits lower hands.

The degrees on the chart are changes from each model's own standard lie. PING's spec tables give every iron's lie angle for Black at standard length, model by model, so a Black Dot G440 and a Black Dot i210 are both built to standard but won't always share the exact same lie.

Where is the dot on a PING iron?

The dot sits on the hosel, the neck of the club where the shaft goes into the head. Every iron in a set built together carries the same colour, so a look at one iron usually tells you the set.

PING wedges carry dots too, and our used PING wedges name the colour in the listing title, the same way our iron sets do. Match the wedge dot to your irons and the lie stays consistent from the long irons to the lob wedge.

Drivers have no dot, and none of the PING drivers of the last 15 years carries one. PING uses the colour code chart for iron fitting, and in a driver fitting the fitter asks a series of questions to set a starting shaft flex and loft (PING).

What PING colour am I?

Your PING colour comes from 2 measurements, your height and your wrist-to-floor. Plot both on PING's chart and the point where they cross gives you a colour and a shaft length. Karsten Solheim, PING's founder, introduced the chart in the early 1970s, and PING still uses it for the first recommendation in an iron fitting.

How to measure your wrist-to-floor

1. Stand on a hard floor in the shoes you play in, with your weight even and your back straight.
2. Let your arms hang relaxed at your sides, with your shoulders level.
3. Have someone measure from the crease where your wrist meets your hand down to the floor, in inches.
4. Measure both sides and use the average if they differ.

How to read the chart

At the same height, a higher wrist-to-floor moves you towards the upright colours, because shorter arms for your height put your hands higher at address. At the same wrist-to-floor, a taller golfer moves towards the flat colours. PING's chart shows a golfer 5ft 8in tall with a 35-inch wrist-to-floor, and that point lands in the Blue band at standard length.

The colour bands on PING's chart run diagonally. If your point falls outside the highlighted diagonal band, PING's instruction is to slide it sideways until it meets the edge of the band and read the colour and length there.

The length that goes with your height

The same chart sets a shaft length from your height alone:

Our listings show length on the "Measures" line, so a set that reads "Standard" suits golfers from about 5ft 7in to 6ft 0in on PING's chart.

Why a fitter checks the chart with real shots

The chart gives a static fit, from how you stand. PING's fitters take your wrist-to-floor, hand size and height first, then have you hit shots and refine the specs from there, because your hands at impact can sit higher or lower than at address. Many fitters put tape on the sole and have you hit off a hard lie board: a mark towards the heel means the iron is too upright for you, and a mark towards the toe means it is too flat.

What does the wrong dot do to your ball flight?

A wrong lie tilts the face at impact, so the ball starts off line even from a good swing. These are the signs for a right-hander; left-handers swap left and right:

The miss grows with loft, so a lie that is wrong for you shows most on the 9 iron and wedges and least on the long irons. A golfer who pulls short irons left but hits the 5 iron straight is a typical case of a set that is too upright.

For most club golfers, we treat 1 colour either side of your own as a fair match on a used set. At 2 colours or more, check your strike on a lie board before you buy, or plan to have the set bent.

Old vs new PING colour chart: Yellow and Purple

Older PING irons can carry 2 colours that the current chart doesn't use. PING's own order and repair forms still list them in their place in the colour order: Yellow sits between Green and Blue, so a Yellow Dot iron is upright of standard, and Purple sits between Red and Orange, so a Purple Dot iron is flat of standard.

PING doesn't publish the degrees behind the older codes on its site. On an older set, read the dot for its direction and its place in the order, and expect the exact lie to differ a little from the same colour on the current chart.

The serial number on the hosel ties a set to its build. PING keeps the custom specifications behind every serial number for decades, and if a club from a set is lost, broken or stolen, it can supply a replacement made to the original specs (PING). If you are adding a single iron to an older Yellow or Purple Dot set, give the fitter that serial number so the new club matches.

Can you bend a PING iron to a different colour?

Yes. A club fitter or repair shop with a loft and lie machine can bend most irons by a degree or two, which moves a set by 1 or 2 colours. PING's repair orders note that the colour code a club can reach depends on its model, its age and any earlier adjustments, so ask the fitter how far your set can safely go.

The paint does not change when the lie does. A Black Dot iron bent 2° upright still shows a black dot, so on a used set the dot tells you how PING built it, and a previous owner may have changed it since. Look at how the irons sit at address, and if the listing photos don't settle it, ask us.

Length changes after the factory work the same way. A set cut down or lengthened by a previous owner plays differently from the length PING built it at, which is why the "Measures" line matters as much as the dot.

How do you find the dot colour on a used PING listing?

Our PING listings put the colour in the title, as in "PING G425 Red Dot Irons / 4-SW / Stiff Flex", and the close-up photos show the dot on the hosel. These are the checks we'd make on any used PING set:

1. Colour. Compare the dot in the title with your own colour, and allow 1 colour either side.
2. Length. Read the "Measures" line: Standard, or a length over or under it.
3. Serial number. It is on the hosel. Note it if you might add a club later, because PING builds a replacement to the specs on file for that serial.
4. Grades. We grade the head, shaft and grip separately, and our condition grades run Excellent, Very Good, Good and Fair.
5. A worn dot. Old paint fades and chips, and hard scrubbing with a wire brush takes it off faster, so cleaning golf clubs with a soft brush around the hosel keeps the colour readable.

The other checks for buying second-hand golf clubs apply too: grooves, shafts, grips and the faces of the short irons. Anything you buy from us can be returned within 60 days, for a refund in the first 14 days or for store credit from day 15 to day 60.

Used PING iron sets by dot colour

Every set below names its dot colour on the listing. Grades run head, shaft and grip, in that order.

PING G440 Black Dot irons

Shop now →

Black is the colour to buy if you have never been fitted and your iron shots don't favour one side. Our used PING G440 range includes a Black Dot 5-9 set on Regular flex UST Mamiya Recoil Dart F3 75g graphite shafts with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Midsize grips, at standard length, for about £595. Head, shaft and grip are graded Excellent. The set stops at the 9 iron, so you would add a pitching wedge and a gap wedge.

PING G425 Red Dot irons

Shop now →

This set suits a tall golfer with long arms. Red is 1° flat, and the shafts measure 1.5 inches over standard, the length PING's chart gives golfers 6ft 6in to 6ft 7in tall. Our used PING G425 range includes this Red Dot 4-SW set on Stiff flex Dynamic Gold 120 S300 steel shafts with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips, for about £553, graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip. A golfer of average height would find these long and flat. They can be cut down to standard, though shortening a shaft lowers the swing weight, so the heads will feel lighter.

PING i210 Green Dot irons

Shop now →

The i210, launched in July 2018, is a compact PING iron for better players, and Green is 2° upright on PING's current chart. That suits a golfer whose wrist-to-floor is high for their height. Our used PING iron sets include this Green Dot 4-PW set on Stiff flex KBS $-Taper 120g steel shafts with Lamkin UTX grips, at standard length, for about £428, graded Good on head, shaft and grip.

PING G25 Yellow Dot irons

Shop now →

The G25 came out in 2013, and its Yellow Dot is one of the older codes, between Green and Blue, so the set is a little upright of standard. It is a forgiving PING set that comes with a gap wedge. Our used Regular flex iron sets include this 4-GW set on PING CFS Regular steel shafts with Lamkin Crossline grips (PING grips on the wedges), at standard length, for about £324, graded Good on head, shaft and grip. If you add a single iron later, PING can build it to this set's specs from the serial number.

Frequently asked questions

What is the black dot on PING irons?

Black is PING's standard lie, the middle of the chart with 0° of change. Most golfers who buy irons without a fitting get Black, and it is the safest colour to buy used if you don't know your own.

What is the blue spot on PING irons?

Blue is 1° upright of standard, the first step up from Black. It suits a golfer whose hands sit a little higher at address than average, and a golfer 5ft 8in tall with a 35-inch wrist-to-floor lands on it.

What colour PING dot is 2 degrees flat?

Orange is 2° flat on PING's current chart. Red is 1° flat, Brown is 3° flat and Gold is 4° flat.

What does PING red dot mean?

A Red Dot iron is 1° flatter than standard. It suits golfers whose hands sit a little lower at address, often taller golfers with long arms, and a right-hander who is too upright for Black may find the ball starts straighter with Red.

What is the PING Eye 2 red dot?

On a PING Eye 2, Red means what it means today: 1 step flatter than Black. The Eye 2 is decades older than PING's current chart, and every model has its own standard lie, so the exact lie behind an Eye 2 Red Dot can differ slightly from a Red Dot iron built today.

Are old PING clubs worth anything?

Yes. The 2013 PING G25 set above, graded Good, is about £324. What yours fetch depends on the model, the condition and the set make-up, and our UK trade-in values show what to expect. We take PING clubs through trade-in and part exchange, paid by bank transfer or as store credit worth an extra 10%.

Which PING iron is easiest to hit?

PING's G irons are its easiest to hit, because PING builds them for forgiveness, while its i irons, such as the i210, have smaller heads for better players. Of the sets above, the G440 (2025) is the newest G set, and older G sets such as the G25 still suit high handicappers on a budget.

Can I play PING irons that are not my colour?

Yes, within reason. 1 colour either side of yours is a small change that most club golfers won't notice. At 2 colours or more, expect the ball to start off line, and have the set checked on a lie board and bent if needed.