Why Ball Position Is Important

A key element to a successful golf shot is setting up with correct ball position for the shot you want to hit. There are different opinions about this and I have even heard tour players answer the question "Where should the ball be in my stance?" in different ways.

I typically will keep this as simple as possible when giving a lesson. First you need to understand what the trajectory of the shot will look like when putting the ball further back or up in the stance. The answer to that is if it is in the back of your stance you will see a low shot and if it is up in your stance you will see a higher ball flight when making solid contact with the club face.

Before hitting any shot it is critical you pay attention to getting the ball in a good position in your stance for the shot you are trying to hit. Below I have set up for three different shots. All the way on the left I have set up for a chip shot and you can notice that my stance is alot more narrow and I have flared out my left toe towards the target. The picture in the middle is for a pitch all the way up to a full shot with my irons. On the right I have set up with my driver with that ball position in line with the instep of my lead foot (Left). Again setting up for the shot I want to hit.

So now why is ball position so important? You can have the best swing in the world but if the ball is in a location where it is not getting in the way of the center of the face of the club during the down swing, then it doesn't matter. I see so many golfers come to me struggling to hit the ball well and they are working so hard on their swing but pay no attention to where the ball is in their stance. It blows my mind why something so simple and important gets completely ignored by probably 90% of golfers.

We know that a good swing with good ball position will more often than not result in a good shot. But what does bad ball position cause? For those of you who are still reading, congratulations you made it to the most important part of the read. BAD BALL POSITION CAUSES COMPENSATIONS!!!!

• A ball too far back in the stance for a full swing will cause somebody to hang back and more often than not chunk the shot

• Ball position too far up in your stance with a driver will cause your shoulders to be open at set up and more than likely you will pull the ball.

• Ball position for a chip shot that is too far up in the stance will more often then not come up short because there will be too much loft on the club at impact

• Ball position that is too far back in the stance for a putt will cause the ball to skid and not getting rolling on the green right away which can cause distance control issues.

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