Is this a bad idea?

[James_Black]

I normally hit high iron shots with little spin, if I need to get the ball to "check" more I put the ball in the back of my stance so I come down more on the ball.

Is this a bad idea, would a different technique give better results?

[CoolBreeze20]

I wouldnt worry much on ball position if you are looking for spin. Much more important is making sure you hit the ball with a descending blow. Where your ball needs to be placed to accomplish this depends on where your swing arc bottoms out.

[right handed phil mickelson]

I wouldnt worry much on ball position if you are looking for spin. Much more important is making sure you hit the ball with a descending blow. Where your ball needs to be placed to accomplish this depends on where your swing arc bottoms out.

Which depends on your ball placement lol

[James_Black]

which means?

[upah]

...which means you are correct. There are two ways to affect the spin of a shot:

1) Vary the ball position like you've mentioned. This varies your angle into the ball, increasing/decreasing the amount of spin.

2) Vary your swing speed. Speed means spin. Given two identical attack angles, the one with the higher swing speed will spin more. Swinging easy will typically generate similar distances, only resulting in lower shots that tend to release a bit.

[CoolBreeze20]

If someone doesnt have a descending swing (they are a "sweeper" of the ball) I dont think moving the ball back will help them produce spin or hit down very much. What I have mostly seen, is this causes them to hang back and flip their wrists even more, hitting thin shots. Moving the ball back is not a cure all for hitting down on the ball if the swing arc isnt correct to begin with.

[upah]

Everyone's swing is decending at some point, correct? Thus, a "sweeping" swing as you decribe can't be had without first swinging on a decending path from the top of the golf swing? Moving the ball position to a point just before your swing bottoms out ensures a descending angle of attack. Sure, if you simultaneously change other things, this tactic won't work, but neither will anything else for that matter.

Just a thought. I'm not a coach or anything, but it seems logical to me.

[iacas]

Everyone's swing is decending at some point, correct? Thus, a "sweeping" swing as you decribe can't be had without first swinging on a decending path from the top of the golf swing? Moving the ball position to a point just before your swing bottoms out ensures a descending angle of attack. Sure, if you simultaneously change other things, this tactic won't work, but neither will anything else for that matter.

The problem with that is if your swing bottoms out too early, you could get into a position where you're putting the ball off your back foot to try to make sure you're still descending a bit into it, and that leads to all sorts of

other problems. The real solution is to figure out why the low point of your swing is too far back and to move it forward so that, with a "normal" ball position, you can still catch the ball and then the ground.