Tip 3. Ball Position

Ball Position
By Dana Smith

There is no doubt that the golf swing is a product of the setup. If you’re looking to improve your golf swing, you should take a look at your setup first. It takes very little time or discipline to practice and improve your setup. Just a few minutes each day in your backyard or in front of a mirror working on your setup can promote a golf swing that improves itself. How we hold the golf club and how we stand play a major role in this. In addition to grip and posture, where the ball is positioned in reference to your feet also plays a vital role to your success. While each person has their own definition of “success,” understanding ball position in conjunction with some self-discovery can improve your ball striking as well as gaining control over the direction of your shots.

If you feel that your typically sound golf swing all of a sudden produces inconsistent shots, you too should check your ball position. Just ask Ben Crenshaw, who won the 1995 Masters after his caddy, which he only uses for the Masters, expressed to Ben his concern about where Ben was positioning his golf ball within his stance. His caddy felt that Ben was positioning his ball in a different location than what he had seen in past Masters tournaments.

The ball position can be matched to your type of swing and it can be matched to your physical attributes or ability. However, the ball position should be moved depending on the club you have chosen to use and the type of shot you want to hit.

While your ball position may need to be slightly adjusted based on your swing or physical attributes, the following can be used as a guideline:

In photo #1, you will see that the ball is positioned in the middle of the heels. This ball position will typically match your short irons and mid irons. This ball position promotes a descending approach in which the club produces a divot after the ball.

In photo #2, the ball is moved more toward the target. This will be toward the left foot for right-handed players. This ball position typically matches your long irons and fairway woods. This ball position promotes a more sweeping approach that is still slightly descending. A small divot after the ball is still beneficial.

In photo #3, the ball is positioned even more toward the target. You can see with this right-handed golfer that it is placed directly out in front of the heel of this person’s left foot. This ball position typically matches the driver or fairway woods when you wish to tee it high. This ball position promotes an approach into the golf ball that is more level or slightly ascending, which is needed for the woods.

These are basic ball positions. Again, you may find it more to your advantage to alter these based on your swing or the desired shot. It is important to spend time on the practice tee experimenting. Not everyone gets the same result when they place the ball in the same place within their feet. This is why you need to check these things out for yourself. Many of the answers you have about your game reside in your freedom to experiment. Just like moving your hands on the handle can produce a desired shot, so too can your ball position.

So the question, “Where should I position my golf ball?” has many answers. For the player who is very flexible and athletic, their ball positions will be more toward the target than someone with less flexibility and athleticism. Ball position can also depend on whether your clubs have an offset hosel or not.

Photo #4 shows a picture of how all of these ball positions look when placed in one photo. The ball that is teed up would be for your driver. The ball that is between the other two would match your long irons and fairway woods, and the ball that is addressed with a club behind it relates to your mid irons and short irons.

As the top teachers in the state and contributing writers, Tim Odegard, Dana Smith, Tom Talbott, and Trent Wearner from the Meridian Golf Learning Center would like you to call with any questions you may have regarding this article or anything about your golf game. They offer golf schools, private lessons, after work clinics, the most successful junior golf programs, as well as custom club fitting.

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