Golf Instruction Ball Position

This is a little bit of a taboo subject, people tend to think that the ball position moves dramatically around the stance from sand wedge to driver, however thoughts have changed and in fact the ball stays in the same position throughout iron shots and moves about an inch forward for wood shots. What's that I hear you say? I know!! This page will help you understand why you want to keep the ball in the same place. When we play golf we are constantly trying to control variables, we want to even control things that we have no control over, however ball position is one thing we can control. Good ball position will give a consistent angle of attack.... Consistent! When we move the ball around our stance so much ask the question what's consistent about that. What does change is the width of stance, this will not move the balls distance from the left foot, but it changes your centre of gravity. A ball 3 inches inside the left heel will look at the back of the stance in a 5 inch width stance, for example a chip shot. A ball 3 inches inside the left heel with an 18 inch width stance will look to be position at the front of the stance, but in fact the ball and your left foot hasn't moved. When we widen and narrow the stance we are changing our centre of gravity, our sternum position. Nowadays we teach ball position and relate it around our sternum, follow these simple instructions and you will soon be making a consistent contact with the ball.

Instruction

Make your stance and position the ball about 3 inches inside the left heel. Take your golf club and position the butt end of the club into the sternum. For a 9 iron narrow your right foot until the club hangs vertically over the ball. Take note of the width of your stance, keep this position and place the club behind the ball and you will feel the correct position for a 9 iron. Put the club back into the sternum and widen your right foot about an 2 inches, take hold of the club and position it behind the ball, this would be a good position for a 4, 5 iron. The right foot widens and narrows depending on the length of club and this moves the sternum forward and back in relation to the ball, but the left foot and the ball does not move for the irons. When you are hitting fairway woods you want to have the sternum well behind the ball, this will produce a shallower angle of attack and will help you sweep the ball away. When hitting the driver position the ball about an inch inside the left heel, again helping you to shallow your angle of attack which will help you sweep the ball off the tee and this will give your shot a better launch angle, less spin and maximum distance. Watch the Video link at the top of the page to help you understand the correct ball position.