Addressing The Ball

[mvmac]

Some things are better answered with a picture.

I do not have a "system" or anything to make myself know that I am addressing the ball correctly.  Will be keeping an eye on this thread.

We get this question every so often so I figured I'd take a pic today. Right pic looks a little funny but you can see the grip end is a fist and a thumb away.

I read somewhere that if you are in a good setup position you should be able to let your hands hang down and just touch the top of your knee cap. This helped me with distance from the ball as well as little more knee bend and bending at the hips. You will find a lot of answers but the key is to find one that keeps you from drifting closer or farther away and being able to cheat the system you are using. So far that system is working for me but who knows in a week or two.

Check out this thread on posture

[whatwoodtigerdo]

We get this question every so often so I figured I'd take a pic today. Right pic looks a little funny but you can see the grip end is a fist and a thumb away.

Check out this thread on posture

Thanks for that. I read that prior somewhere about the back not arching and try to do that. Although the thing about pulling the stomach in seems much easier to do then just trying to round out your back like I was doing. Also I am going to try to keep my chin down because I wasn't doing it because I always thought I had to keep my head up.

As far as the address position though I think I might have said it wrong. When I say the top of the knee cap I don't mean the front, I mean where your knee and thigh connect the fingertips should touch there if you just let you hands hang. Mine is just a tad above that. If you look at your picture, I assume it's you, above on the left if you let your hands hang down from there, or just the right hand is what I have been doing, you can see your extended fingertips will touch just above the knee. Or at least it looks like it, kind of hard to tell from a photo. So far the reason I like using this is because I haven't found a way to cheat it. If I flex my knees to much to get to that position it's obvious, if I bend too far forward to get to that position it's obvious and if I tilt toward my sides because I am too straight up it's obvious.

[14ledo81]

Does the fist and thumb distance work for the driver as well?

[Ernest Jones]

Does the fist and thumb distance work for the driver as well?

Set-up is a little different with a driver because you're hitting off of a tee. Arms are a little more extended like you're reaching for the ball a little bit. At least that's my understanding but maybe I'll learn something new?

[14ledo81]

[quote name="14ledo81" url="/t/74249/addressing-the-ball/0_100#post_984728"]Does the fist and thumb distance work for the driver as well?

Set-up is a little different with a driver because you're hitting off of a tee. Arms are a little more extended like you're reaching for the ball a little bit. At least that's my understanding but maybe I'll learn something new?[/quote] Uh oh... what if it is two fists? How am I supposed to measure that?

[saevel25]

Set-up is a little different with a driver because you're hitting off of a tee. Arms are a little more extended like you're reaching for the ball a little bit. At least that's my understanding but maybe I'll learn something new?

It can be, I think generally the hands are a bit more away from the body. If for irons the hands are underneath the chin and shoulder, then the driver would be underneath the chine to nose. Though it's golf, so its probably different for everyone.

I think it probably has to do more with how the length of the club changes versus the lie angle of the clubs. It just feels awkward to have the hands low and tight with the driver.

Does the fist and thumb distance work for the driver as well?

For me the distance is based on if I have my weight distributed correctly in the feet. If I get too far on my heels, my hands get too close. If I get a good weight distribution between the heel and balls of my feet then the hands feel better more away from the body, just balances better that way.

For me, I got to get my feet right then the arms come second.