Determining Ball Position

Figuring out where to play the golf ball in your stance can be a difficult task to manage for beginning golfers. There are a few basic guidelines to follow when determining where to play the golf ball in your stance to hit the golf shot you desire.

One guideline is the play the ball more towards your back foot for shorter clubs like your wedges, and more towards your front foot when hitting longer clubs like your driver. This is mainly to help promote the best contact with the golf ball as possible and achieve the desired distance you want for each club. Hitting wedge shots effectively is influenced a great deal by hitting down on the ball and controlling the loft of the club at impact, which is made easier by playing the ball slightly back of the center of your stance. Hitting drives to achieve maximum distance is achieved best by hitting the ball slightly on a slight up-swing, which is most easily achieved by playing the ball towards your front foot. The ball position also has some influence on the path of the clubhead when it strikes the ball. When hitting a wedge shot more toward your back foot, you will catch the ball at impact with more of an inside-out swing path than normal. The opposite is true with driver shots because you are playing the ball more toward your front foot you will impact the ball on a slightly more outside-in swing path than normal. It is important to take these factors into consideration when thinking about your golf shot.

Ball position also allows you to hit a golf shot higher or lower depending on where you place the ball in relation to your stance. When you place the ball more towards your front foot, you can hit the ball higher in the air because you will have less forward shaft lean at impact, which adds loft to the clubhead. The opposite is also true, when you place the ball more towards your back foot you can hit the ball lower because you will have more forward shaft lean at impact, which de-lofts the clubhead.

In conclusion, ball position in relation to your stance depends on exactly what type of golf shot you want to hit. Different ball flights can be achieved through different ball position set-ups, but there are a few guidelines that help beginner golfers such as playing the ball toward your back foot with a short club and toward your front foot with a long club.