Golf Lessons: The Ball Position
“Where do I play the ball in my stance?”
This is the most asked question that the PGA pro’s get when they give lessons on the stance. The answer is. There is no universal ball location for everyone.
There are many factors involved in properly locating the ball. Some of the factors are, your flexibility, and the amount of weight shift you have in your swing, balance, and your physique. But there are guidelines you can follow.
Let’s assume that you have a flat lie and you want to hit the ball at the standard trajectory for the iron chosen. The ball will be played somewhere on the left side of your stance, anywhere from the left toe to the center of the stance. What you will find with most good players is a fairly constant ball position.
The only thing that will change is the position of the right foot as shown in the illustration below. If the player wanted to hit it higher or lower he or she will alter the position forward or back accordingly.
How do you find your correct ball position? Take some practice swings and watch where your club makes contact with the ground. After a few swings you will start to see a spot where the club seems to hit over and over again. This is the bottom of the swing.
You want to play the ball in a position just before the club bottoms out so you will be hitting the ball with a slight descending blow. You will want to do this with most of your irons.
As you get to the long irons and woods you will want to move the ball to the bottom of the swing so that you will be making contact with the ball in a more sweeping motion rather than hitting it with a descending blow. This adds in a better ball flight for those clubs.
The moving of the ball position described here is only an inch or two. Any more than this and you will see a noticeable difference in ball flight. Take as an example the Iron Byron perfect hitting machine. When the ball was moved 3 inches forward from its normal position the machine produced grounders. When the position was moved away from the machine 2 inches it produces squibs to the right.
How far you stand from the ball is also very important. But this is also very easy to explain. After you achieve the correct body posture describes earlier in this CD. You simply let the length of the club dictate how far you stand from it.
There is no secret to achieve the correct ball position. It comes from practice and good instruction. Watch this CD over again until you have a good understanding of the ball position. Then go out and practice.
