Golf ball position through the set is often misunderstood.
Why do we move the ball position around in the stance?
In today’s golf lesson, Aussie Golf Pros take you through 2 ball positions systems you can use, to guide your on ball position for all clubs, from wedges to irons to driver.
Each method is simple and easy to follow and is utilised by tour professionals.
The Two Methods
The Famous: Ben Hogan Method
" The radius of the swing arc gets shorter, the bottom of the arc should only move in "
This image is out of his book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf .
The ball doesn't move closer to the right foot - the right foot moves closer to the ball.
The Common Setup: Different Ball Positions
If you look down any range you will find this is the most common method of ball position in the golf swing. ( 90% )
If you're like us then you have been told your entire golfing life to play short irons toward the back of your stance, and move the ball forward as the club gets longer?
That never made sense to us because as the radius of the swing arc gets shorter, the bottom of the arc should only move in.
The reason we should move the ball position for every club is that we want to optimise the angle of approach into the golf ball.
Ideally, we’ll hit down on a wedge shot and hit up when driving from the tee.
With the ball sitting on the grass, we need a slightly descending angle of attack, to ensure that we hit the golf ball first, then the turf.
The perfect point to brush the grass or begin a divot is immediately after the golf ball, for maximum control.
Ball position for driver is different, as we have the option of using a tee.
This gives us the opportunity to launch the ball with less backspin but still on a high trajectory.
Pete Styles
-PGA Professional-
Ben Hogan, as well as Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman (amongst others) advocate placing the ball forward in the stance always, no matter which club you are using.
The main argument is that it promotes consistency because the ball is always located on the same spot relative to the left foot.
Studies with launch monitors like Trackman have proved that by hitting the driver on the up, we can achieve these perfect launch conditions.
By changing the ball position for each club, we can adjust the angle of approach throughout the set, without changing our swings too much.
We often hear advice from our playing partners, such as ‘Play Wedge Off The Back Foot’.
Try to think of any other ball sport, where you would strike or release the ball from behind you.
Batting in cricket maybe, but that would only be if you were playing behind the wicket.
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Ideally, like in all other sports, we will be moving towards the target at the moment of impact or release.
This creates better momentum and increases power output.
We realise that you’re attempting to hit the ball first and then the grass but at what cost to accuracy and consistency?
Learn what are the ideal attack angles and how much we should move the golf ball around in our stance.
Special thanks to Free Online Golf Tips for the images.