Setting Up for the Golf Swing – Ball Position
When we talk about ball position, imagine a straight line drawn perpendicular to the target line, from the ball to your feet. Take notice where the ball is located relative to where you are standing.
A forward ball position is when the ball is located more toward the target, or off your left foot, relative to your stance. You may also think of a forward ball position as being under your left shoulder or armpit. When the ball is positioned forward in our stance, we will generally tend to make contact with a sweeping or ascending blow.
A middle ball position is when the ball is equidistant from your right foot and your left foot, or under your nose or sternum. When the ball is positioned near the middle of our stance, or even slightly forward, we are generally striking the ball with a descending blow.
A ball positioned back in your stance is closer to your right foot than your left, positioned more under your right shoulder or right armpit in extreme circumstances.
The vast majority of golf shots that we hit are played with the ball positioned either in the center of our stance or more forward toward our left foot. Rarely will we hit golf shots with the ball very far in the back of our stance, but these shots are struck with an extreme descending blow, especially with a proper weight shift targetward in the down swing.
It’s also important to note, that if we say to move the ball forward in your stance, this means the ball will be positioned more to the left. Conversely if we tell you to move the ball back in your stance, we’ll want the ball to move more to the right relative to where you are standing. Naturally in golf, we aren’t allowed to move the ball, so in order to adjust ball position, we need to change where we are standing.
In summary, ball position is where the ball is located relative to our stance. A forward ball position is located more under our left shoulder, left ear, or closer to our left foot. This positioning leads to either a sweeping or ascending angle of attack. A middle ball position is located in the middle of our stance, under our nose or sternum. This set up promotes a descending angle of attack. A ball positioned in the back of our stance is located more to the right side, under our right shoulder or armpit. Of course we cannot move the ball, so when adjusting ball position, we instead need to alter where we choose to set up our stance.
