Golfer's Tip Sheet - Position the Ball in Your Stance 2
Following my last article, describing where to position the ball in your stance, several of you emailed me wanting more about where to have the ball along the line of the shot direction, in relation to your feet. Re-reading the article, I see I concentrated most on distance from the body, as that's what I struggled most with.
By the sound of most of your emails, though, it seems many of you are more interested in the positioning along the line of the shot, rather than from the body. Golfers truly do come in many shapes and sizes! From my original notes I've put this second part of the article together for you.
Recapping the original article, it was about how you need to ball to be the correct distance from you based on the club you've chosen to use. The driver being the longest club means the ball with be furthest from you, with the short irons and the putter being nearest to you.
So what I was taught to do once I'd mastered that, was again based on the club selected for the shot, and placing the ball at different positions along the line of the swing. So there are 2 elements of positioning that are dependent on club selection - distance from the body and placement along the line of the shot.
Based on the length of the club shaft again, the ball will be further up the line of swing for the longer clubs. With the driver being the longest club, when using this we should place the ball right near the front of the stance, along the swing line. ie opposite or nearly opposite your left foot for righthanded golfers.
With its long shaft, the driver requires a bigger, more exaggerated swing than the other clubs. As a result, we don't want to hit the ball too early in the swing, so placing the ball forward along the line of the shot enables us to hit the ball on the up, rather than coming down in the swing.
99% of the time for amateur golfers, the driver will only be used from the tee, so placing the ball on a high tee will combine with this technique of hitting it late in the swing, to hit the ball up off the tee and give us a clean and long strike.
The other clubs, of course, are not as long, so don't require a forward placement of the ball. Staying on the line of the swing, we should place the ball for the shorter clubs back from our front foot towards the middle, with the ideal position for the shortest clubs being directly in front of our eyeline, in the middle of the stance.
By the sound of most of your emails, though, it seems many of you are more interested in the positioning along the line of the shot, rather than from the body. Golfers truly do come in many shapes and sizes! From my original notes I've put this second part of the article together for you.
Recapping the original article, it was about how you need to ball to be the correct distance from you based on the club you've chosen to use. The driver being the longest club means the ball with be furthest from you, with the short irons and the putter being nearest to you.
So what I was taught to do once I'd mastered that, was again based on the club selected for the shot, and placing the ball at different positions along the line of the swing. So there are 2 elements of positioning that are dependent on club selection - distance from the body and placement along the line of the shot.
Based on the length of the club shaft again, the ball will be further up the line of swing for the longer clubs. With the driver being the longest club, when using this we should place the ball right near the front of the stance, along the swing line. ie opposite or nearly opposite your left foot for righthanded golfers.
With its long shaft, the driver requires a bigger, more exaggerated swing than the other clubs. As a result, we don't want to hit the ball too early in the swing, so placing the ball forward along the line of the shot enables us to hit the ball on the up, rather than coming down in the swing.
99% of the time for amateur golfers, the driver will only be used from the tee, so placing the ball on a high tee will combine with this technique of hitting it late in the swing, to hit the ball up off the tee and give us a clean and long strike.
The other clubs, of course, are not as long, so don't require a forward placement of the ball. Staying on the line of the swing, we should place the ball for the shorter clubs back from our front foot towards the middle, with the ideal position for the shortest clubs being directly in front of our eyeline, in the middle of the stance.
About the Author:
Mike Jackson runs an online golf equipment store, where you can buy golf clubs, golf balls, golf gifts, golf bags etc.