How conscious are you of you ball position?

Not enough perhaps, it sometimes gets a bit too far forward. It's good with the wedges, but a bit far forward sometimes with the long irons. Harder to get it right since I flare open my feet.

I never paid much attention to it, until my last 2 rounds and it really screwed me up.

 

I've been working on ball striking--trying to look 2 inches in front of the ball.  I think I only had 1 fat shot the last round, which was a big improvement. I was really shocked at how easily and drastically my contact improved.  

 

Anyway, I noticed that my ball position was probably more forward of center for all my clubs, including wedges.  I got into my head that this is incorrect, and that the ball should be closer to center, particular since i was focusing on making my swing bottom out past the ball.  Moving it back had to help, right?  So I moved it back towards center and started hitting bad slices.  I went from dead straight or slight fade to big, almost uncontrollable slices with irons--something i've never dealt with in the past.  Of course it takes me 10 holes to figure that out and even then I forget sometimes.  

 

I guess it makes sense, my arms were not fully rotating or for whatever reason with the ball in the center i'm not getting my clubface square.   

 

I'm going back to not thinking.  

I try to keep it in consciousness, but am not consistent with it for a host of reasons.

 

The below Ben Hogan picture seems to help me, at least for a while.

 

 

I'm slow...how on earth do you read/interpret that figure?

 

Really?  Ok.  You place your feet as illustrated in the picture.  The left foot stays in the same position for all clubs; right foot is adjusted as shown for the various clubs (ex: feet are shoulder width for long irons).  Driver feet positon shown in dark shade.

 

I use Hogan's ball set up, aside for driver, where I put the ball more forward.

But I don't open or close my stance unless I want to hit a certain shot like Fade or Draw.

 

So I guess we all have to find what works for us and we use things like the above diagram as a guide.

 

Anyone agree with me?

Woods and driver just inside the left instep.

Full-shot 7i - Wedges.... middle of stance.

6i-3i ... half inch progressively in front of middle as shafts get longer.

 

chips and partial wedges... a couple of variations depending on shots.

 

The positioning is pretty automatic. I use sticks and stripes on occasion for swing drills, so I can tell if I'm close or not during play.

Interesting. I've always read that the ball moves forward in your stance as the clubs get longer. This diagram suggests the ball stays in the same place, just widen your stance?

 

Also, is opening your stance (ie. bringing the right foot up) a "traditional/conventional" method as your clubs get shorter
 

 

Ball position is VERY, VERY, VERY important.  Its almost impossible to have consistent ballstriking if you arent constantly paying attention to ball position.

I think the better you get the more awareness you have and the more meticulous you are with ball position. I would say that I am aware of my ball position within a 1/2 ball for every shot. I would also say that awareness of the orientation of the back of your left hand, especially at impact, goes hand in hand with awareness of ball position.

Again, this is based on my experience, but I find that the Hogan ball position method helps me to consistently locate the bottom of my swing arc.  If I adjust my position (deviate from the above picture), then my arc changes relative to the ball, wreaking all sorts of havoc.  For me, it's about consistency and repeatability (neither is very strong).

I try to be very precise with my ball position and my sternum.

And because of it it makes it easier for me to figure out my swing when something goes wrong or when I'm striking it consistently.

I always pay attention to were the ball is in my stance. The type of shot and club determine where.

Here is a graphic of my ball position with the different irons. The driver depends what kind of shot I'm hitting. Inside left heel or farther forward for a fade, a bit more back for a draw.

 

Same stance width for all clubs, Zeph?

It's not a big difference on the irons, but it gets wider from wedge to the longest clubs. I should update the graphic with all clubs and stance width one day.