Ball placement

[jrm1493]

I've had a lot of time to go to the range the last week or so (wife is working nights) and I've discovered that I really hit the ball a lot better putting it well back in my stance, farther back than you usually hear people recommend... lined up with the inside of my right foot for wedges, and even in the middle or slightly back of middle for 3 wood and hybrid.

The trajectory is a lower but man I'm crushing all my clubs and I think I'm hitting fewer fat and thin shots. I don't care too much about the lower traj because with my A2's they still want to fly pretty high and 7-iron down seems to land pretty soft (getting more backspin I guess). I'm taking huge divots (I'm sure the range is pissed because I completely destroyed about a square yard of turf last night) and its really helping me make a descending blow on the ball. As far as I can tell this is an easy way to make sure my hands stay ahead of the club since I'm not very athletic but I am big and strong.

I'm still hitting driver off the inside of my left foot so i'm catching that on the upswing like you're supposed to. Anyone think there is anything wrong with putting the ball this far back or is this what I should have been doing all along?

[mikelz]

  jrm1493 said:

I've had a lot of time to go to the range the last week or so (wife is working nights) and I've discovered that I really hit the ball a lot better putting it well back in my stance, farther back than you usually hear people recommend... lined up with the inside of my right foot for wedges, and even in the middle or slightly back of middle for 3 wood and hybrid.

Play it the way it works for you.

If you want an ideal swing, I don't think there is one. I know if I play it too forward for me, I'll stay with the swing and snot hook it.

[lamebums]

I agree. Play whatever works best for you. The only thing I put forward in my stance is my driver or 3 wood when it's on a tee. Or I'm going to thin the hell out of it.

[Richie3Jack]

It probably works because you have other flaws in your swing and playing it back in your stance helps compensate for that.

Once your swing gets better, the more important ball position becomes IMO. My only concern would be is if you're trying to get better, possibly to a single digit handicap, then you may have some difficulty since you're doing some unorthodox things.


That being said, I find most high handicappers play the ball too far back with their woods and too far forward with their irons and too far back with the putter.




3JACK

[augafan48]

true. you are probably hitting the bll well that way because your swing bottoms out to early. If you put the ball where it should, you either bottom out to early, fat, or you dont hit the ground at all, thin. Putting it back gives you the ball first then divot impact, but it encourages flaws.

[joseywales]

I grew up playing in Oklahoma winds so I learned how to play the ball back in my stance early to keep it low. If you live in Texas, I'm sure you have the same consistent winds to deal with. It's ok if you can learn to control it because it can be a good swing to use in windy tournaments while others are struggling with the wind and trajectory problems. The main thing to watch is being sure you have consistent distances with all your clubs playing it like that.

[marpr]

  mikelz said:

Play it the way it works for you.

I agree with M Elzey.

What ever works for you. Golf is like an old classic car you can never throw away= Constantly changing things, making adjustments, spending way too much money and working on it against your partner's wishes.

[hawkeye]

in recent lessons it's been pointed out to me that my ball was placed well towards my left toe (right handed player) and when the timing was out i had a lot of pushes. When I rotated fully i would hit high pulls.

Now i have the ball in the middle with a 6-P and slightly to the left, progressively, with 3-5 irons. It's put some pressure of my getting my timing correct (ball going straighter more often) and improved my ball striking.

If I wanted to be a more consistent ball striker i needed to change. But I got down to 5 doing things the "wrong" way. Whatever works for you really.

[Raidermatt]

This game is hard enough for us hackers without trying to change something that's working, so I agree with the other posters, go with it while it works.

I will say that I was also playing the ball back in my stance for all of my irons because I hit the ball better that way. But as I've started coming less outside/in with my swing path, and also since I strengthened my grip, I've found I'm getting better results playing the ball more in the middle for my short irons, and gradually further up for longer irons/hybrids/FWs.

So I'd say do it while it works, but be open to changing it later if you make other improvements in your swing.

[rstyle]

I used to do that. ...............and loved the way I would hit the ball.
Until I took some lessons and the pro showed me that the reason it worked was because I did not keep the angle of the wrist steady on my forward swing and would rotate the hands too quickly. The only way I could hit it was to hit it early (ball back) before I rotated my hands.............................................he fixed me............................and I have never been able to hit the ball that well again!!

It is a flaw. Watch the good , long players , and how long they can keep the wrist slightly cocked and the palm of the hand and clubhead moving towards the target before turning their hands over while making a divot after the ball.
But.................those guys are very flexible and we are not. If you are having fun and scoring well, then keep doing what you are doing.

[jrm1493]

  rstyle said:

But.................those guys are very flexible and we are not. If you are having fun and scoring well, then keep doing what you are doing.

Like I said before, I think this is helping me because I'm just not that athletic or flexible. I'm fairly strong and not overweight but I have never been much of an athlete. About the only thing in sports I've ever been above average at is shooting in basketball.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I've only ever had one lesson so that is definately something I could use to maybe find out if I have some gross errors, but I have videotaped myself a few times and couldn't find too much wrong (other than a wobbly right leg which I'm trying to fix). I also have a fairly low swing plane but I don't think its all that bad. My dad and 2 uncles are self-taught and low single-digit handicappers, but unfortunately I seem to have gotten most of my athleticism from my mom. I think I'm making good progress, though; since I've gotten serious about golf last summer (and starting keeping a real score) I've gone from shooting in the mid 110's to around 100 (with a low of 92).