Ball Position

Golfers seem to accept grip, aim, alignment and posture as important fundamentals, but ball position is forgotten at times. That’s unfortunate because the more consistent a golfer’s ball position is, the more consistent his or her shots tend to be.

So, what’s the proper ball position? Well, it’s a little different for every golfer, but the best place to position the ball is slightly behind where the swing reaches its low point on a shot from the ground, and slightly ahead of where the swing reaches its low point for a shot from a tee.

The problem with defining ball position is one of relativity. It is not enough to say, “The ball goes back in your stance,” or “Play it in the middle” for the simple reason that the width of a golfer’s stance varies considerably from club to club. And many golfers don’t understand the relationship between stance width and ball position, and if you’re one of them I’d like you to try this experiment.

Position the golf ball off your left heel (if you’re a right-handed golfer) and take a very wide stance. The golf ball will appear forward in your stance (see photo 1).

From that position, bring your right foot in close to your left foot and look at the ball in your stance. The now magically appears in the middle or even the back of your stance even though you never moved the ball (see photo 2).

To learn how to use ball position to create a good attack angle, curvature and more consistency, you must first establish a starting point, which is the place you’ll position the golf ball for shots of normal trajectory. Here’s how to do it.

Sole the club with the manufactured loft on it — not de-lofted or with extra loft added — and look at the angle of the golf club. The lob wedge, a golfer’s most lofted club, will lean slightly forward, meaning the handle will rest ahead of the head (see photo 3). The driver, which is usually a golfer’s least lofted club with the exception of the putter, will lean backward (see photo 4). This is normal and part of the design of the clubs.

Now for the easy part. Point the handle of the clubs at your belly button and the ball will be positioned correctly. You’ll notice that to do that, you will need to change the width of your stance (about the width of your hips for a wedge and a little wider than your shoulders for a driver) and slightly adjust your ball position as well.

The procedure I described above will help you get into position for all shots of standard trajectory, and we can refer to this position as the “starting point.” From there, golfers can move the ball forward to hit higher shots or rearward to hit lower shots. But changing ball position can also have an effect on other critical factors in the golf swing.

The effect of ball position on angle of attack, path and shot shape

Angle of attack: If you need to hit more down on the golf ball (steeper), move it a little back of your starting point. If you need to hit up on the ball (or get more shallow), move it a little forward. Remember that this is a ball position tip; there are several things in the swing that factor into this as well.

Path: Move the golf ball back to hit more right and forward to hit more left. Notice, however, that attack angle and the path are actually part of the same dynamic. When you’re hitting DOWN, you’re hitting more right, and when you’re hitting UP, you’re hitting more left. I use ball position to help a lot of players feel a change in their swing path.

Shot shape: You can also add curvature to your ball flight simply by moving it in your stance. For more draw spin, try moving the golf ball back of the starting point. For more fade spin, try moving it forward of the starting point.

The reason for these changes is where the golf ball is struck in your swing arc, which changes your face-to-path relationship. The farther back the ball is in your stance, the more inside-out golfers can swing to give the ball draw/hook spin. And the farther forward your ball position is, the more outside path you will create, which will give your shots a fade/slice spin.

One further point on swing path: If you aim farther right, the golf ball will move back naturally, and if you aim farther left, the ball will move more forward.

Now you know how vitally important ball position is. Along with the grip, it is one of the most important fundamentals and the one MOST people struggle with. Golfers who slice tend to play the golf ball too far forward in their stance, and those who hook the ball tend to play it too far back in their stance. You need to overcome these instincts. If you do straighter, more well struck shots will be yours.