Ball position advice

[janmolby]

I had a lesson last week in which my instructor discussed ball position & he gave me some drills on how to position the ball correctly depending on the club I'm using. I just want to check with everyone that I'm doing what he told me to do because even though he went through it twice I'm doubting myself that I'm doing it right. As I'm not going back to him for 2 weeks I don't want to be practicing the wrong thing between now & then. I know people have different thoughts on exactly how to do this but what I'm looking for is someone who uses a similar technique & who can say that I'm doing it correctly or not.

To start with I'm to place my feet close together, maybe 1 or 2 inches apart, with the ball in the middle of my stance. Then for a sw, pw or 9 iron I'm to move my left foot 1 shoe width to the left & my right foot 1 shoe width to the right. For an 8, 7 or 6 iron I'm to then move my right foot another shoe width to the right. For a 5, 4 or 3 iron I'm to move my right foot another shoe width to the right.

For the driver I'm to place my feet close toegether, maybe 1 or 2 inches apart, with the ball in the middle of my stance. Then I'm to move my left foot slightly to the left, say half a shoe width & my right foot 3 - 4 shoe widths to the right.

These are for full shots, not chip shots near to the green or whatever.

 

[golf_bug]

I am not a pro (!) but, ball position is a little like everything else in golf i.e. different for everyone. What you are aiming to do is put the ball just before the bottom of your swing arc for irons, and just after it for woods. This encourages a decending blow for irons, and a slightly ascending blow for woods. Your Driver is different as it is teed up, and you want to hit it on the upswing, hence you move it forward.

Various pros give different advice on this subject. Nick Bradley advocates placing the ball in line with your left armpit for every club, but just varying the width of your stance (this is how Jack Nicklaus was taught also, but he also opened his stance as the clubs got shorter!). This gives you a permanant reference point. Other Pro's suggest that the ball should be in the middle for all clubs (check out a guy called Ron Del Barrio on Youtube). I think that most would support your pro's advice....moving the ball forward the longer the club in your hand.

At the end of the day its down to preference. Everyone's swig is different so there cant be a definitive ball position. I would suggest that you stick with your pro's advice for now (he has seen your swing after all), but don't treat it as gospel (he may be quoting text books, rather than actually looking at your swing arc). If you are not hitting it well then discuss changing the ball position when you next see him.

Hope this helps.

 

[janmolby]

Well yes & no golf_bug, I'm not questioning what he told me as he watched me hit a number of shots with a number of different clubs before he said anything. What I am questioning is how I remember what he told me, as in does what I have written above sound like it's correct.

 

[bobmac]

does what I have written above sound like it's correct.

I would say yes.
I cant and wont suggest any other way as I haven't seen you swing, but what you have written looks about right.
There are a couple of things I would maybe change, but I would have to see your swing first and as I cant, I wont

 

[janmolby]

Cheers bob, just looking for a bit of reassurance that what I think I remember & what he actually said are pretty close

I have to go back in 2 weeks for my next lesson & he told me he would work on some other stuff then but for now getting ball position sorted was enough to work on.

 

[Parmo]

My pro told me to keep the ball about 2" off the left foot and just widen the stance for each club or vice versa. It doesnt feel great and I prefer a fraction from to the right but will work on it over winter.

 

[Hendy]

My pro told me to keep the ball about 2" off the left foot and just widen the stance for each club or vice versa. It doesnt feel great and I prefer a fraction from to the right but will work on it over winter.

got the same advise as well.. wanted me to play everything off the left heel.. started out ok with it, tho soon changed to suit myself. Ie pw/9 etc from the middle, working my way up the left heel as i go up the clubs till i come to the driver off the left heel.

Not sure if its right or not tho i feel like i am hitting my irons alot better for it.

edit: just out of interested janmolby who did you have your lesson from? Your not far off myself if your in donegal.

 

[RGDave]

My pro told me to keep the ball about 2" off the left foot and just widen the stance for each club or vice versa.

Is this 2" off the toe (towards the middle), like almost level with the inside of the heel?

I struggle with consistent ball position. Especially with 3 and 5 wood.

 

[JustOne]

got the same advise as well.. wanted me to play everything off the left heel.. started out ok with it, tho soon changed to suit myself. Ie pw/9 etc from the middle, working my way up the left heel as i go up the clubs till i come to the driver off the left heel.

Not sure if its right or not tho i feel like i am hitting my irons alot better for it.

In THEORY your swing arc should bottom out at the same place every time.. so that's about where you want the ball to be. If you move the ball around then THEORETICALLY you are having to make adjustments to your natural swing arc on every shot you hit - which is why it's recommended by some to hit the ball from the same place with all clubs except the driver (when it's tee'd up).

If you want to try and shape shots (eg: keep it low) then you can certainly move the ball position around to suit accordingly.

I say in THEORY as I can't be bothered to get into an argument about it

 

[janmolby]

Hendy, I'm a member of Letterkenny Golf Club & Seamus Duffy has a training center there so had the lesson with them, it was actually Shaun Devenney who did the lesson. I believe he works between there & Roe Park in Limavady. Only had one lesson so far & due to weather & work I haven't gotten out to practice as much as I would like but hopefully it's going to be a help.

Send me an private message if you (or anyone else reading this) ever fancy playing in Letterkenny as the course has improved a lot over the last couple of years & is a tough challenge now.