Ball Position

Ball Position: How important is it?

By: Bruce Munch

Head Professional, White River Golf Club.

One of the key fundamentals in the setup for a golf shot is the ball position. Well, just how important is it? Although it is not as important as a good grip, with a proper understanding of ball position, we can create shots we were previously unable to execute.

In the old days of golf instruction, it was taught that the ball position varied with every club. The higher the number, the more back in the stance the ball was played, with the 7 iron being the only club played in the center of the stance and with the lower numbers, the ball was moved incrementally forward in the stance. Naturally the woods were played forward, with the driver, the most forward, played off the instep of the forward foot. This could have been because older clubs had a different loft difference from club to club versus today’s clubs, so to maintain a consistent yardage gap between clubs, the ball position had to change.

This is not so today. Modern Irons will typically have a 4 degree difference from club to club. Assuming you have a good lie, all irons, except the 4 and 3 should be played slightly forward of center. If you address the ball with the club head in the center of your stance, you will achieve this slightly forward ball position.

Let’s start with ball position for putting. I like to see my students play the ball forward in their stance. With the ball forward it is much easier to see the line to the hole. If you play the ball forward and set up with your hands over the ball and the club head in the center of your stance, you will be assured of having your hands forward at address and hopefully at impact. Always a good thing.

For the chip shot, on the other hand, the ball should be played back in the stance. This helps us to hit down on the ball to pop it into the air. Players who try to scoop the ball onto the green, rather than hitting down and allowing the club to do the work will find little success.

Have you ever heard that you should hit down on your irons, but sweep the woods? Well, this does not require a different swing, only a change in ball position. When properly set up, with the hands holding the club forward of center, the trailing shoulder should be lower than the leading shoulder since the trailing hand is below the leading hand. When we change to a wood, which is played more forward than the iron, the hands will also be more forward to maintain the straight line from lead shoulder, to lead hand to club head, therefore the trailing shoulder will be more down than it would in the setup for an iron shot. The lower the trailing shoulder, the flatter the swing path, so the setup allows for a more sweeping swing with the woods, than the irons.

Sand shots, although played with an open stance and club face, should still be played in the middle of the stance since we are trying to pass the club under the ball and the center of the stance is the best place to accomplish this.

So, now that we know what we usually do with ball position, let’s look at why we might vary it. The two most basic reasons we will deviate from normal ball position have to do with ball flight and lie.

A bad lie, in the rough, will require a ball position back of center to enable a steeper angle of attack. Just as we move the ball forward to create a more sweeping swing with the woods, we move the ball back in our stance to reduce the loft of the club and create a steep angle of attack. This is important because out of deep grass, we have little chance of sweeping through it.

Now, once you have a repeatable swing, you can vary ball position to change the flight of your ball. A ball played slightly back in the stance will travel lower and farther than a ball played slightly more forward. By varying ball position, you can vary the ball flight, so if you are in between clubs, change the ball position, rather than the club or your swing.

So now, instead of 14 clubs, by changing ball position, (and I mean by one ball width) you now have 28 clubs. Try it at the range, you might like it.

Keep in mind, if you move the ball too far forward, you will tend to slice it, if you play it too far back you will tend to chunk it. Remember what Harvey Penick said: “If the doctor tell you to take an aspirin, don’t take the whole bottle” .

Good luck with your game.