Distance from ball

[mackingchicken]

Lately I have felt a bit uncomfortable when standing over the ball!

Just wondering what is the correct distance from the ball at address. Is there a 'proper' way or just comfort?

[PeterFaragher]

Hey Mackingchicken

One great tip that I have always found helpful is to address the ball and then let your arms hang loose and if you can touch the tops of your knees your going to be in a fairly good position. From that position just take the club in your hands with whatever feels comfortable.

Each player is different so we all stand a different distance.

Hope this helps you out, would love to know how you get on.

All the best

PeterFaragher

[dchoye]

It trial and error for me at the beginning. I like to make a waggle to figure how far away I'm from ball I usually do this with my irons then setup club face directly behind the ball For what ever reason the woods I like to hinge my wrists and address from the heel

[RayG]

In the words of Lee Trevino after watching someone top their drives: "hmmm, looks like you're standing too close to the ball.... after you hit it..." I use that one a lot...

[iacas]

General guidelines (assumes somewhat reasonable body position too):

1. Assume your setup position.
2. Take your left hand off the club and make a "thumbs up" or "hitchhiker" hand position.
3. Touch the base of your palm to your zipper and note where the thumb is relative to the butt of the club.

The butt of the club should be about where your thumb is. Any more and you're probably too far away, and any less and you're probably too close.

But, as with all general guidelines… Jim Furyk would disagree, for example. :)

[joekelly]

My experience recently in changing my posture at address was that the new felt quite weird.  So i concluded that habit is very powerful in determining comfort.  We like what we know.

[arturo28mx]

[QUOTE] One great tip that I have always found helpful is to address the ball and then let your arms hang loose and if you can touch the tops of your knees your going to be in a fairly good position. [/QUOTE] This is great advice I totally agree with. Arms must hang loose. look at this video of Ernie Els. Most professionals have similar stance. [Video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufc0Ij8y2Zw[/Video] His arms are absolutely vertical. His hands are almost touching his legs. Most amateurs stand too far from the ball, arms stretching out causing tense shoulders.

[mvmac]

General guidelines (assumes somewhat reasonable body position too):

Assume your setup position.

Take your left hand off the club and make a "thumbs up" or "hitchhiker" hand position.

Touch the base of your palm to your zipper and note where the thumb is relative to the butt of the club.

The butt of the club should be about where your thumb is. Any more and you're probably too far away, and any less and you're probably too close.

Yep

look at this video of Ernie Els. Most professionals have similar stance.

His arms are absolutely vertical. His hands are almost touching his legs.

Most amateurs stand too far from the ball, arms stretching out causing tense shoulders.

Camera angle is a little "behind" him making the arms look more vertical than they actually are.

Good angle on the right. If the arms get vertical, going to tend to have too much weight into the heels at address. Most good players have some hang "away" from from them.

[DEsler]

I like Butch Harmon's tip.  While addressing the ball, let your right hand go with your arm limp to swing out to your side.  If it swings straight out to the side you are pretty close to the right distance, if it falls back to your side at an angle you are probably too far away.  It's quick and easy to do when out on the course or on the range.

[jbishop15]

I like to take the club in my hands and extend it out in front of me, while making sure my arms are still connected to my chest. Then I just bend over.

[Kieran123]

I have just re worked my setup position. I never felt like I was too close to the ball, but I was far too close, causing me to be far too upright.

New setup on left. Old setup on right

My arms dropped vertically ( almost in towards my body - see above). I could NEVER get the club coming from the inside in this position because I was too cramped up

Now that I've moved back from the ball, my arms 'reach' a little to the ball, my knees have a little more bend, and my swing plane is so much better on the downswing.

It doesn't look like much, but it makes a huge difference for my swing and getting it on plane

It's still a little uncomfortable, but getting better every day I swing the club. It's been the most simple and effective change I have made to my game. PERIOD.

[mpb1472]

I have just re worked my setup position. I never felt like I was too close to the ball, but I wa far too close, causing me to be far too upright.

New setup on left. Old setup on right

My arms dropped vertically ( almost in towards my body - see above). I could NEVER get the club coming from the inside in this position because I was too cramped up

Now that I've moved back from the ball, my arms 'reach' a little to the ball, my knees have a little more bend, and my swing plane is so much better on the downswing.

It doesn't look like much, but it makes a huge difference for my swing and getting it on plane

It's still a little uncomfortable, but getting better every day I swing the club. It's been the most simple and effective change I have made to my game. PERIOD.

Have you ever seen how far off the ball Nicholas Colsaerts stands? I am more comfortable and have better results setting up similar to you. Otherwise, I feel tight and restricted .

[Draftstone]

I took lessons in the past month and for the adress position, the pro was simply telling me that once you put the clubhead behind the ball, if you let the shaft of the club come down and touch your leg that is forward (left for right handed golfer, right for left handed) while keeping the clubhead behind the ball, the tip of the shaft should touch just a couple of inches under the middle point between your hip and your knee (toward the knee). That way, it is pretty easy to find the correct position for every club no matter the shaft length (I have a lot more solid contacts since using this tip for setup).

[JKolya]

A question I have related to this is the clubhead position at setup (toe up, leading edge flat). Pretty sure there are other threads on that, but it relates to distance from the ball because when I setup with the leading edge flat, I feel like I am standing too close to the ball, and the end of the grip points into my abdomen. If I stand at a more comfortable distance with my arms hanging freely and the end of the grip towards my belt, then the clubhead is toe-up at setup. It is frustrating because I was fit for a new set of clubs last year (first ones ever), and feel like the guys did a poor job. I would have gone somewhere else, but it was a demo-day with a special deal and I could not pass up the price.