The ball position is very important as it can influence a multitude of areas in the swing. These mainly include swing path and weight transfer. Most people who come in for lessons tend to have their ball position too far back in their stance. Having the ball back can be useful when hitting a low shot under trees or keeping it under the wind but generally having the ball back of centre of your stance will cause weight transfer issues.
When the ball is too far back, the body is aware of this and hence the head tends to move behind the ball during the backswing and then tends to stay back too long during the follow through. This often causes 'topping' as the weight stays too long on the back foot. The reason for the head to move and then the weight to stay back, is that the body instinctively prefers to be looking at the back of the ball when hitting a golf shot.
The ideal position to have the ball for irons is just forward of middle of the stance. This allows then to have the head just behind the ball. If you draw a line down from the left ear of a Tour Pro, it will usually lead directly to the ball. With the ball being just forward of middle, the weight now can then easily move onto the front foot because the sensation will always be that you need to move forward in order to hit a solid golf shot.
The other main influence not having the ideal position is swing path. Remembering the path of the swing works like a semi circle around the body with the middle of the semi circle roughly being in the middle of the stance. If the ball is too far back, the path of the swing will still be moving in a right direction, hence causing a 'push' or a 'draw'. The same can be said if the ball is too far forward, the path will be working more on a left path which can cause you to 'pull' the ball or 'slice'.
Therefore just remember the main positions when setting up for your shot. The wedges I place in the middle of my stance, for all other irons just forward of middle along with my 3 hybrid. The fairway woods I place another ball further forward in the stance and the Driver opposite my left heel.
If you'd like any further help in understanding ball position just contact myself at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.
Comments