Ball Position Poll

[erikpmort]

well doesn't matter as long as it works a?

[jdumoit]

I was really self-conscious about my ball-flight. I only see it when it's up in the air, not how if got there. So I took a lesson with my club pro and asked him how to fix it. He watched me hit a few, and said 'Why do you want to change that?' So I guess it's not a problem... Freddie Couples, my golf hero, has a high ball flight as well.

[erikpmort]

exactly. Not all the tour players have the "perfect textbook swing" its just the standard. get er done!

[mikelaw]

I posted this in another thread. This is what I use and was taught. And of course, I don't line them up near my toes. The longer the club, the further away.

cool, but i think the driver should be 1-2 more ball widths left.

[mikelz]

I'll look around the garage to see if I still have my Sam Snead Stance Mat.

[NM Golf]

I really struggle with ball position. I have a bad tendency to get the ball too far back in the stance. Because of this problem I always pay really close attention to the guys on tour and where they position the ball.

Mind you not all of them are the same, but I always find in general they play it more forward than I do. Some play the driver off their front foot's big toe. Most of them move the ball back as the club gets shorter but they still play their clubs a little forward of middle.

[irspow]

Ball position is different for every club and for every type of diffent grip. No ball position is correct for every person. Many variables cannot be accounted for, even wrist flexibility play a vital role.

Take any short iron and your normal grip, let your arms hang as relaxed as possible, then bend at the waist until the club touches the ground. Note that position. Do the above with your driver. You will find that your driver naturally hangs further forward than say your nine iron. This is because of the different relationship between center of masses of the particular clubs with respect to your naturally hanging position of your hands. This demonstrates why different clubs occupy diffents relative position within any persons stance. And these positions are not arbitrary ones that some so-and-so recommends.

Now take a short iron with your normal grip, rotate the face open 5 degrees, and repeat the process described above. Not the spot which the club touches the ground. Now take the same club, rotate the face closed 5 degrees, repeat process above, and you will find that it will touch the ground behind where it was when the face was opend. Again, this has to do with the changing position of the center of mass of the club relative to your hands in their natural position.

I hope that this has demonstrated that any guideline at ball position is totally uninformed and ultimately flawed. Every person's skeletal structure, wrist flexibility, grip position, stance, and endlessly ongoing variables influence the true position of a naturally hanging clubhead.

I know this is long-winded but it is one of those areas that I believe has proven to be one of the most detrimental to golfers everywhere for quite some time. Let the club go where it wants to, placing it arbitrarily where someone else does will doom you to a lifetime of inconsistency.

By the way, this method allows for correct ball placement on all lies not just those at the driving range.

Tom

"Love golf, live golf."

[Andrew]

Driver(tee)-Off front heel
3wood(teee&fairway;)-off front heel
5wood(fairway)- high in my stance.Almost off front heel
Hybrids-Middle to front of stance.
Long irons-pretty much off front heel
mid irons-Middle
Short Irons-Back in my stance.
Wedges-Way back of stance
Putter-middle.lol

[domvalentine]

I have them according to the general advice given.
Driver furthest forward, wedge furthest back.

Perhaps I should start varying that?..Hmmm...

[MrKadash]

Mostly in the center for almost all of my iron play, but adjustments for type of shot I want to execute. I may be further forward than recommended with the driver, off the left big toe.

[RX Phoenix]

I'm finding better results by playing everything in the center except driver, SW a bit back . . . we were taught to position differently for every club, but I believe this brings too many variables into play. Play it in the center and get more consistency, just be sure to take the club back on the right trajectory for the club, low/shallow for the woods and steeper for the short irons.

[swingsmooth]

If you play all your irons from the middle of your stance you'll be delofting your longer irons. This might be advantageous for some shots by promoting lower trajectory and more roll but a disadvantage if you want the ball to land soft and stop. Your longer clubs are designed to be played more forward in you stance. Conventional technique dictates that your wedges should be played from the center of the stance graduating up to your driver which should be played just inside your target side heel.

[NM Golf]

I posted in this thread earlier but have recently made a change. I have gone with the Jack Nicklaus theory of one ball position for every club. I play every club off my left heel.

I used to be of the theory that as the club got shorter, ball position should move backwards until the wedges were played in the middle of the stance. And there is nothing wrong with this line of thinking, it just wasn't working for me.

The reason I switched was I constantly had problems with alignment and ball position that in turn caused problems with my consistancy. I struggled every time I played trying to make sure I had the correct alignment and ball position, and it took away from my ability to just play the game.

Putting the ball opposite my left heel has, as Jack said, taken that one area of concern out of play. So basically, its one less thing to think about. Its not for everybody, but it has definately work for me so far.

So like I said there are two schools of thought for ball position. Try them both and see which is best for you.

[Oggiss]

Driver - some centimetres to the left of the middle
irons - middle
Putter - left to the middle

[supercow]

Pretty much one to two inches behind the left heel for every shot. Main reason is for sheer simplicity and so I don't have to worry about how far back or forward the ball is for every single shot.

[Drunk Driver]

I would find it difficult to strike the ball properly if I played all my clubs from the same position, because they are different lengths. Plus I don't think the faces on some of my longer clubs are designed to be played from the middle, I'd have to line them up with an open face.

9 iron is the only club I play from the middle of my stance. I play my driver from left heel, and the other woods and irons somewhere in between according to length and what feels comfortable.

I play my wedges a little behind the middle, and closer to my feet.

[golow72]

The longer the club, the farther forward I play it. Except for my lob wedge witch I play about halfway between my left heel and center. I tend to get too steep if I play it in the middle. This obviously changes if I'm trying to control trajectory.

[kc8kir]

I am going to have to agree with Jack Nicklaus on this one. He, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson all positioned the ball just inside the left heel. Sounds like a solid method to me.

Remember it is inside the left HEEL, NOT THE TOE. I had this problem early on, where I didn't recognize the difference. Lots of slices later, it is back in line with the left pectoral (logo on shirt, whatever).

My problem lately is positioning myself consistently and not shifting around in my posture / club angle once I am setup. I tend to feel tilted one way or the other with each different type of club. Sometimes I forward press, sometimes I don't. Probably going to try writing down my preshot routine and sticking to it until it is a habit. Too much variability at this point.

I like the setup up with both feet together, then right foot goes away based on the club. Really have to avoid getting too wide. Bobby Jones once played a tournament with a stance no wider than the length of his hand. If you look at videos of Nicklaus swinging, he is pretty narrow on short irons, and really not that wide on the driver / fairway wood. The narrow stance gives really crisp contact with those scoring clubs and provides great backspin. Look at Tiger sometime, and you will see he has his feet just outside the shoulders for the driver. I really would not go any wider.

My problem right now is fairway woods and long irons. Not gonna surrender to hybrids... i want a swing that will be fundamentally correct. Not trying to lift the ball. Trying to sweep the inside corner (in to out) with a slight descending angle (my normal mid-iron shot is a 5 yard fade). Maybe I am just trying to swing too hard? I took my focus off the ball and tried just swinging along the grass right behind the ball (ie through the ball). Helped a little. Still slicing and hitting fat.