Ball Position in Your Setup Off the Tee

[Kevlar10]

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

[Yukari]

Whatever works, you should stick to it and ignore comments from the peanut gallery.

[Groucho Valentine]

Thats a weird place to put it. And TBH i dont know how you even hit the ball with how you set up to it... But hey but if it works for you 🤷‍♂️

[Double Mocha Man]

38 minutes ago, Kevlar10 said:

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

That ball way up there gives you a chance to get the club rotating/turning over better.  I'm surprised about the low tee.  With the hands set forward you must be hitting down on the ball.  Have your tried a higher tee?

[Shindig]

I need to figure out what I was doing with my tee shots, because I drove it beautifully two days ago and the two days since then, not so much.

As for OP, do what works for you.  There are ways that are generally better, but if you're hitting it fine in an unorthodox spot, go for it.

[Double Mocha Man]

I get over to my left side quite easily, with good turn, so that is my ball position too... ahead of my left foot. Play all my irons off my left heel.

[Kevlar10]

I actually tee it lower to avoid hitting moon shots.  I think it forces me to extend my swing and keep a lower ball flight.  Next I’m going to work on getting my hips through before the club and shifting my weight to the front foot earlier. The hips are supposed to help close the club face quicker and the weight transfer is supposed to keep the ball flight lower.  If these fixes work, I may be forced to move the ball back a little in my stance, who knows.

That’s why I like this forum.  It’s a great sounding board for advice.

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, Kevlar10 said:

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

I used to do this very same thing until the Golf Gods figured they’d had enough. I was called into a Winnebago in the middle of nowhere and several Gods in white robes (cartoon oddly) begrudged me for my success and ended it. Tread lightly and I recommend you delete your post and never mention it again.

[Patch]

What ever works is my motto. As long as the OP can hit those types of drives consistently, there is no need to change that particular ball position

Some years ago when the Natural Golf swing was in it's heyday, I saw NG golfers using a similar ball position, in front of their lead foot.

This of course was not where Moe Norman's ball position was, but everything else they did was similar to his NG swing. They were pretty accurate off the tee as I recall. 

My ball position, for my driver, is not in front of my lead foot, but it's not much behind it either. This position matched up well with my semi, neutral grip. Most of my drives are playable, but they are not that long (anymore) either. They don't have time to go too far off line...lol

[Talldog]

And how did Joe expert drive the ball? Are you sure he wasn't just trying to play head games with you?

If you were a pro, with unlimited time to practice, I would say you should fix this, because you might be able to improve your driving, and every bit counts for a pro.

But, as an amateur, if you are consistently hitting it 270-280 and keeping it on the fairway, I'd guess there are other areas of your game that need more attention first.

[Zengolfer]

If it works for you, go with it.  I know that ball position has been moving forward over the years as clubs have gotten longer.  The longer the club is, the farther forward the club bottoms out.

It used to be that it was taught that you should position the ball even with the logo on your polo shirt (left shoulder), then it changed to having it just inside of your left heel and now it seems like its taught that it should be even with your left toes.

I play mine even with the toes on my left foot and that seems to work well.

[Cantankerish]

17 hours ago, Kevlar10 said:

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

Kevlar10, this is my exact situation also.  I actually close my stance some also. I vacillate between just in front of the foot to just behind it.  I can not see a consistent difference. My friends just shake their heads.  I also tee up very low.  And I have a fairly positive angle of attack, so the ball goes straight up if I pull the tee up even slightly.  I have had my adjustable driver set as low as ZERO degrees loft and still sent the ball on pretty much the same vertical path.  I sorta ended up at this stance after countless days at the range trying to excise the slice demons.  I feel that it is a duct tape solution though.  I think that I still have a clubface/path imbalance.  But the point of impact with the ball is so late in the swing that I am able to draw it.  And I occasionally hook some.

My slice was so debilitating that it kept me away from the game for decades.  This fix has invigorated me, and I am loathe to mess with it.  But the fact is that it probably means there is a ceiling on the quality of my drives.  I hit long drives, and much straighter than I used to.  But I still send a couple OB each 18.  If this is you, then keep plugging.  Or better yet, talk to someone who knows wtf they are talking about instead of reading the stupid things that escape my brain.  Trainers should be specialists in nuking a slice once and for all.

[Zippo]

18 hours ago, Kevlar10 said:

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

I'm curious where you had the ball teed up when hitting the bananas? As for your question, I think only you can answer that one. My opinion is that you're paying for the round. Unless your intent is to turn pro you should tee it up however it will produce a result that gives you enjoyment most of the time.

[lastings]

20 hours ago, Kevlar10 said:

 I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  

I think it would be great if you set up a member swing thread.   I'd be curious to actually see this in action. 

[Kevlar10]

5 hours ago, lastings said:

I think it would be great if you set up a member swing thread.   I'd be curious to actually see this in action. 

I’ll post a video soon.

[ncates00]

I used to set up with the ball position further forward with driver, as much as with my left foot behind the ball. I’ve gone back to having virtually the same ball position and (pretty much) stance with every club. I still hit on the way up with driver and slightly down on everything else.

I find that keep ball position the same helps me more than varying ball position ever did. I pretty much have every club in the same spot from putter to driver. I have a narrower stance with putter and chipping but the ball is still off my left chest. 

Only time I’ll move the position is for worm burner shots out of trees. I’ll put it further back then but a “standard” low trajectory shot is still same ball position; I just take 2-3 more club and swing easy and shallow to keep the ball low and no spin. 

On 7/1/2019 at 4:20 PM, Kevlar10 said:

I was out this weekend as a single and one of the threesome I was with made a negative comment about the ball position in my setup when I’m on the tee.  I set up with my front foot about two inches behind the ball.  I hit a draw on the first hole that went just under 280 and the next par 4 (3rd hole) he brought this up.  I said, “I know, I do it intentionally”.  My tee shot went straight and about 270.  I did hit one hook during the round.  I’m not annoyed that he brought it up, I just wanted to solicit opinions.  I changed a lot in my setup and swing over the last year because I was driving miserably.  I was routinely hitting banana slices and was at the point where I didn’t enjoy playing.  I also lacked any confidence off the tee.  I now tee the ball very low, keep it in front of my front foot and start with my hands and my club in front of the centerline.  It may not be the classic setup but it has worked very well for me this year.  I’d like to feel that I’ve found “my swing”.  If it is completely wrong, is it so wrong that I should care as long as it works?  I do hit a hook once in a while but the worst on the other side is a slight fade.

Go with what works for you and gives you good results. Work out that two way miss though. Pick a shape and play it. 

[Double Mocha Man]

19 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

I find that keeping ball position the same helps me more than varying ball position ever did. I pretty much have every club in the same spot from putter to driver.

Not that you would want to emulate Jim Furyk, but this is what he does.

[saevel25]

I try to line up the ball with my left shoulder. Depending on the width of my stance this can change how it is positioned in relation to my lead foot.