Instruction
Ball position: The forgotten fundamental
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).
Photo 1
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.
Photo 3
Photo 4
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 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.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.
For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.
Setup
You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.
While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.
Get a Better Shoulder Turn
Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.
In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.
Stay Better Connected in the Backswing
When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.
Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.
Conclusion
I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.
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Col Walker
Mar 30, 2017 at 7:40 am
i kuke this article and your writings generally , but….
“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.”
are you still happy with this description? this seems to defy basic geometry to me
surely if a RH golfer sets up to ball with good basics, then as he/she gradually and progressively opens the stance , ie turning left, by say 20 degrees, then that ball is by definition moving BACK in their stance because if they were to set the club back down in front of them normally the clubhead would be way ahead of ball(and vice verca) please clarify thanks
KK
Aug 1, 2015 at 12:19 am
The pic of the lob wedge is incorrect in visualizing the manufactured loft. Lob wedges have more loft AND usually more bounce so you can’t sole the club that way or it will dig half way to China. And it will be de-lofted. The correct visualization of the lob with is, I believe, with the shaft position at the neutral position, must like the driver.
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Joseph
Mar 13, 2014 at 1:19 am
I am 49 years old and just picked up my Taylor Made Burner Woods $ Ping Eye 2′ 1-W Irons after 23 years of not playing ANY golf whatsoever. I went and bought a Ping G15 1 12* Wood when I realized that my TMB was the size of a modern 5W, lol! To make a long story short, I shot a 101 (Redhawk Golf Club, Temecula Whites) after hitting about 100 balls at the practice range. If I hadnt chunked or topped so many darn iron shots I would have been in the mid-80’s most likely.
I havent been able to figure out this ball position thing and that is what is driving me nuts. With my driver, I can pretty much hit a Draw, Straight or Fade on demand as long as I dont screw up. My irons are driving me nuts because I cant figure out the ball position.
One thing not discussed here in your article is how far the ball should be away for you. You may have covered it by the Belly Button reference but it wasnt specifically addressed.
Another point is should you always (as a starting point) start with your ball off or your left heel and simply adjust the ball position for different clubs by adjusting your stance width or should your ball move forward or rear ward of your left heel based on your club selection.
Thanks,
Joe
Dennis Clark
Mar 13, 2014 at 7:34 pm
Check the rest of my articles. This might help: http://www.golfwrx.com/173231/how-far-to-stand-from-the-golf-ball/
Jake
Feb 26, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Dennis, I am a little confused on your explanation of “point the handle of your clubs towards at your belly button and the ball will be position correctly”. In photo 3 of your lob wedge, you can see (and you also state) that the handle is leaning past the head and is pointed to the golfer’s left shoulder. According to your explanation, this is the incorrect ball position because the handle is not pointed at the belly button. Now keeping the golfer’s right leg and the club planted where they are, we can point the handle at the belly button by pushing out the golfer’s left leg. So now the golfer has a widened stance and the butt of the golf club is pointing at the belly button (albeit at an angle). However, the golf ball is now no longer near the left foot or the center of the stance, it is now in the back of the stance by the golfer’s right foot. Are you saying that this is the correct ball position for a lob wedge? Also, in photo 4 the driver’s handle hardly leans left or right of the clubface. So by the belly button placement, the correct ball position for a driver is in the middle of the stance?
I am getting confused with your explanation, and I’m wondering if you can clarify it for me. I love your other articles, I just can’t seem to grasp this one haha. Keep writing Dennis, your tips and advice are greatly appreciated!
Dennis Clark
Feb 26, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Jake… these photos were taken to illustrate a procedure that one can use as a guideline for establishing ball position. Photo three is more done to illustrate that the wedge is built differently than the driver. In it I believe my hands are forward of the belt buckle; this photo is more to make the point i just described. Think of this article as a guide or system to help find a starting position. Nothing should be further back than the middle of the stance for normal trajectory shots, regardless of how wide the stance is. I wrote this tip to illustrate that clubs are built differently, and we line up to them accordingly. One of my top players (+5) prefers his hands well ahead to keep his attack angle steep enough; so it does vary. And remember that the hand position to start is NOT the position at impact. Thx for reading and Im glad you enjoy my instructional approach. DC
Dennis Clark
Feb 26, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Jake if you like my teaching, stay tuned for next article which details the most common drills I use to correct swing faults
Matt Reynolds
Feb 21, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Thanks for the article — but its just the opposite for me. I have been tinkering with the driver all ball position all winter and I finally think I have it figured out. Unfortunately…it is just the opposite as you said (due to my swing of course). When I play it off my heel I get a nice fade to almost a slice…but when I play it off my middle toe (well out front) I get my draw. Big toe is practically a straight shot. I feel that if I have the ball off my heel my hands are not allowing the club to fully rotate resulting in an open club face at impact and vice versa with the ball off my middle toe — she is starting to close and produces a mild draw. I know my swing is the issue…but it works and I have never been more consistent in my drives than I am right now heading into the 2014 season. Anywho, I just thought I would throw that out there… 🙂
Dennis Clark
Feb 21, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Matt
You need to get some FLIGHTSCOPE or Trackman numbers and send them my way…If you’re anywhere near naples FL, Id be glad to put you on my FLIGHTSCOPE machine. You have an unusual face to path relationship and Id love to see it. This of course is assuming center contact; heel hits and toe hits, all bets are off
Robert Rohanna
Feb 21, 2014 at 3:11 pm
Thank you Dennis. This is a method that Dennis taught me when I was struggling with my ball position. It helped me win the state open Championship.
Dennis Clark
Feb 21, 2014 at 3:29 pm
You’re welcome Robert. I might add that Robert just posted a nifty 136 at the half way mark in his first PGA co sponsored event. We have worked together for some 10 years and you’re about to hear a lot about him. A great talent and student! Nice playing Robert.
Jerry Stidham
Feb 20, 2014 at 6:27 pm
Just so I am clear, does the “handle” of the club always point to your navel at address?
thx
Jerry
Dennis Clark
Feb 20, 2014 at 6:30 pm
Pretty much…other than specialty shots, i.e. low or high, yes pretty close. At least it’s a good reference point.
Shallowface
Feb 21, 2014 at 11:53 am
Jerry, that’s why I asked the questions and made the comments I made. What I saw in Photo 3 didn’t seem to match the text.
Here’s another point of view.
http://www.leisuregolfbr.com/ball-position/
Sean
Aug 6, 2019 at 4:26 pm
The camera angle on the photos of Nicklaus you link to isn’t square to his target line. This is why it appears that the handle of each club isn’t approximately pointed at his navel. Camera angles when filming or photographing a swing are critical – anything that isn’t aligned to the target line (e.g. put a club or alignment stake down on the ground and square the camera to it) will cause parallax issues.
Jack is doing essentially what Dennis describes – widening or narrowing his stance to produce the appropriate ball position. Also, keep in mind that Jack played a cut/fade, so he moved the ball a bit more forward in general to promote a left path at impact.
Travis
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:10 am
Don’t let the interwebs know it alls get you down, Dennis. I literally shot 8 strokes lower doing this today compared to 6 days ago on the same course. I couldn’t believe how well I was striking the ball!
Thanks for sharing this!
Dennis Clark
Feb 20, 2014 at 7:13 am
You’re welcome; I share my experiences of 50 years being around this game because it’s what we as dedicated PGA Professionals do. It is our job to help promote and grow the game. My instructional pieces are almost all experiential. Hogan once said that the answer to golf is “in the dirt”. So is Teaching. It is not found on the internet, in books or tapes. When one stands behind people on the lesson tee for 30+ years, patterns emerge. The things that work, I use; those that don’t, I simply abandon. And hopefully my readers are the benefactors of that “research” 🙂
Dennis Clark
Feb 19, 2014 at 8:31 pm
The suggestions I make are generalized tips that I have seen be effective over a number of years. But if the way you’re doing it now is working FOR YOU, please…continue! It’s not about prettier, it’s all about making the golf ball behave!
Shallowface
Feb 20, 2014 at 5:46 am
That’s what’s it’s all about, Dennis. Exchanging ideas so we all get better. Nice talking to you!
Jack
Feb 19, 2014 at 10:01 am
Thanks for the article Dennis, this is great info. Do you ever make it back up to Philly?
Dennis Clark
Feb 19, 2014 at 8:28 pm
I did last summer unfortunately I was in a building most of the time! I had open heart surgery at U of P. Very successful and feeling GREAT! Did you work with me up there?
Jack
Feb 20, 2014 at 11:53 am
Great to hear you feeling better! No we have not worked together, but would love to have you out over at Huntingdon Valley CC if you are in the area.
Dennis Clark
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Thx. I’d love to. I might do some teaching in the Philly area this summer.
Sam
Feb 19, 2014 at 9:36 am
Dennis,
Amazing info. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Shallowface
Feb 19, 2014 at 8:00 am
You say to start with the handle pointed at the belly button, but with the wedge in photo 3 it looks like the handle is pointing ahead of that.
What I do notice is that the hands are in the same place opposite the inside of your left thigh with every club, and then the construction of the club, dictates the ball position.
That’s how I get my ball position. Sam Snead wrote about that in a book back in the mid 70s. He described it as putting the hands in an imaginary holster opposite the inside of the left thigh.
Then, let’s say you want to move it back for a low shot. The ball moves back, but the hands stay up front. I see so many people move the hands back along with the ball. It doesn’t work.
Getting the hands in the right place in front of me, at the correct height, and my eyes parallel to my target line (which I hardly ever see mentioned in modern instruction but failure to do it is the cause of all kinds of problems including the yips) are the three critical pre-swing things for me to be consistent.
Dennis Clark
Feb 19, 2014 at 8:59 am
Dynamic loft alteration. Greenside bunkers hands behind. Lob shot hands behind….jacks eyes weren’t parallel when he cocked his head. They get parallel when clubface is square, left when it’s closed, right when it’s open. That’s where many of my students over the last 30 years have struggled. Slicers look left, those who hook right.
Shallowface
Feb 19, 2014 at 12:47 pm
In Golf My Way, Nicklaus blamed turning his head to where his eyes were lined to the right for his three year slump in the late 1960s, a slump which featured a lot of hooks and a reduced ability to fade the ball. He said he corrected the faulty head turn and they were parallel after that.
Dennis Clark
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:50 pm
http://youtu.be/4kjHIseDz4g
Shallowface
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:53 pm
Page 104 and 105 of Golf My Way.
Dennis Clark
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:15 pm
I have helped thousands of students closing their shoulders and cocking their head to the right. Those who take the club up and outside can’t see the inside unless their looking that way. Jack did it his whole life. Look at the 5 iron on 16 at the 86 Masters. “Golf My Way” is a good read not entirely instructive. I watched Jack hit balls at Lost Tree Village many times and walked with him dozens of times at various points in his career. He’s the greatest champion the game had ever known but didn’t always do what he thought he did. Thx. DC
Shallowface
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Just watched that video.
Of course I can see the head turn back, but it’s impossible to say that the alignment of the eyes changed.
The few instructors (Jim Flick is one) I’ve seen that mentioned eye alignment felt that aligning the eyes to the right is a recipe for disaster.
I know it is for me. I saw Michael Breed give a lesson to one of the Big Break contestants and fixed his chipping yips by fixing his eye alignment. I’d been fighting that for years. Made that one change, no more chipping yips.
I’m glad you were able to help some folks with it, but it’s a disaster for me.
Dennis Clark
Feb 18, 2014 at 9:55 pm
Photo 1 looks more left heel you mean. The answer is something called parallax. A slight difference in camera angle makes a big difference in appearance. Ever look at the speedometer from the passenger seat? Wedge near middle of narrow stance, driver off left heel of wider.
Andrew
Feb 18, 2014 at 9:42 pm
Is Photo 3 and 4 the spots you’d actually place the ball to hit a standard drive/wedge shot? If so, it looks like you are playing the ball 3-4″ off the left heel. Photo 1 looks more like just off the right heel.
Daniel
Feb 19, 2014 at 11:58 am
If you put a ball in front of the clubhead in those photos it would be in the proper spot. Photo 1 looks correct because there is a ball in front of the club.
Martin
Feb 18, 2014 at 8:04 pm
I totally agree with the article and this is almost always the problem when I start hitting it bad.
Only does my experience differ with the driver, when I tee it back a bit I tend to hit down on it and hit big ballooning fades with 8 iron spin.
paul
Feb 18, 2014 at 7:28 pm
I totally agree with the title. Its the easiest thing to forget about during setup. Its really easy to put the ball in the same spot everytime regardless of club. I found with my wedges I always hit balls right of the hole (lefty). Moved the ball back 2″ and I hit straight, 2″ more puts balls on the left side of the pin. Now I know where to aim, and put the ball. Can’t wait for the snow to leave and hit the range to experiment.
Dennis Clark
Feb 18, 2014 at 7:56 pm
You and thousands it seems. Im lucky to live in Naples, FL but I hear horror stories north of here! Snow must go!
Pete
Feb 18, 2014 at 8:11 pm
How do I send a swing video to you Dennis?
Dennis Clark
Feb 18, 2014 at 8:31 pm
YOU TUBE and let me know the name/number of the video