Problems w/ stance and placement of ball...Help?

[btdickey99]

Ok here recently I have slown down and shortened my swing to give me a more consistent swing and make better contact.

I did this bc before I felt like I was swinging too hard, causing my balance to be different causing topped shots.

Anyway I have always struggled with the placement of the ball in my stance. With me having such a steep swing an inch of difference can change where the ball flies and my contact(obviously).

I am asking what are some drills that you have found very helpful for keeping a consistent ball in your stance?

Thanks for the help

 

[natex14]

I think we rencently went through this, and I didn't make any friends from my comments.

In my humble, hacker opinion, you should be able to hit the ball wherever it is in your stance. That being said, I hit my wedges between the middle of stance and my back foot. That is where I start with my normal shot, and move it around from there. If I am hitting the ball a little lower, the ball will go back further. If I'm around the green, and I'm hitting a flop that is all wrists, and my club face is wide open, and my stance is wide open, the ball might be pretty far forward, just trying to slide the club under the ball and send it up. If I'm hitting a three iron, the ball will be between the middle of my stance and my front foot.

Again, I have no idea how good of a golfer you are, but a decent golfer can hit the ball wherever it's placed, but I don't know any of my friends that hit the ball really well that hit their irons forward in their stance.

The idea is to hit down on the ball, not hit up on the ball. The only time you really want to hit up on the ball is your driver.

Now, wait ten minutes for me to get flamed. :emot-ange

You did ask for drills, and I am doing a little edit here, because I didn't really give you any. Like I said, I gave you where I think the ball should be placed. If you want to know where you hit the ground with each club, you can put a tee in the ground a couple inches from your swing path and take a few swings, making note of where your club hits the ground with each club. That will tell you currently where you should be placing your ball with your current swing.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[warbirdlover]

I don't know about hitting the ball cleanly no matter where it is in your stance (there, I said it in my own humble, hacker way... ).... My teaching pro believes moving your head all over the place leads to shanks and in my case he was right. Keeping my head stilll and also not getting "Elvis legs" made a huge difference for ME. Others might flame me for that but different strokes for different folks I guess. Once you find the best ball position without moving your head around and consistent contact follows.

And some good old whiffle golf balls in the back yard will show you what works or not.

 

[natex14]

I don't know about hitting the ball cleanly no matter where it is in your stance (there, I said it in my own humble, hacker way... ).... My teaching pro believes moving your head all over the place leads to shanks and in my case he was right. Keeping my head stilll and also not getting "Elvis legs" made a huge difference for ME. Others might flame me for that but different strokes for different folks I guess. Once you find the best ball position without moving your head around and consistent contact follows.

And some good old whiffle golf balls in the back yard will show you what works or not.

Ok, get out the gloves, here we go. Just kidding. On your backswing, most pros move their heads behind the ball, and keep it behind the ball until after impace, especially on their drivers, so keeping your head still is actually a bad thing for most people. But, like you said, to each his own. I find if I keep my head still I hit down on my driver too much.

I agree though, get the plastic balls out and figure out where your swing hits the gound with each club and go with it. If you want to change that, go get a pro to help you.

 

[PureStroke]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

 

[Skiddlydiddly]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

So why don't you PM him, then?


As to the topic, I've been improving my ballstriking recently by playing the ball in line with my left armpit, and only varying my stance width for different clubs. It's probably different for everybody. Experimenting, or seeing a pro, is probably the only way to figure it out

 

[natex14]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

Come on, let's here it. I have gotten flamed a few times on here for stating the obvious, so don't hold back because someone read "The Book" and can't stop preaching. Crap, here comes the ban. lol

Seriously though, let's here what you use, it's not going to hurt. Don't let some of these guys keep you quiet. You will prove to them you are a good golfer by coming back and giving good advice.

 

[Wi-Golfer]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

And so it begins again, sigh.


I play my wedges further back in my stance, while I keep pretty much everything else centered. I know according to the so-called experts in the game, typically the ball is placed forward for driver & last year that's what I did. But the more I have played the more my swing has evolved & right now if I place it forward I get massive hooks. Placing it center has eliminated that for now.

 

[BrandonM7]

Come on, let's here it. I have gotten flamed a few times on here for stating the obvious, so don't hold back because someone read "The Book" and can't stop preaching. Crap, here comes the ban. lol

Seriously though, let's here what you use, it's not going to hurt. Don't let some of these guys keep you quiet. You will prove to them you are a good golfer by coming back and giving good advice.

Werd. Plus if it turns out to be something everyone thinks is stupid we'll at least get some entertainment out of it.

 

[natex14]

Werd. Plus if it turns out to be something everyone thinks is stupid we'll at least get some entertainment out of it.

What does Werd mean to you? Is that like weird but different?

Brandon, I take it you were not on the last thread that got locked.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

Just from an unbiased opinion, and one that actually agreed with your initial "Opinion" to some degree in the other thread. I don't think you were torched for your opinion, but instead your attitude in expressing such. Not to say I don't come off abrasive to some people at times, but I pick my battles and usually only do so when I feel people are being deceptive. I usually pick my battles in that sense as opposed to being belligerent to anyone who disagrees with my way of thinking or opinion.

If what you said in this post is how you truly feel, I'm not sure why you are still around. Not that I recall ever butting heads with you in the past, but this comment and a couple from the other thread seemed childish to me. While this one is said with a bit of sarcasm, and is usually the case when I do the same, I was not getting impression about the others. Would be kinda sad actually, because you seemed to have some interesting perspective and a sense of humor initially.

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As far as ball position, anymore it is more of an after thought where I usually more play the ball where it is comfortable in relation to my club postion and looks correct. So I concentrate more on my setup and technique as opposed to ball position, then simply put the ball behind the clubhead. I have always seen several trains of thought on this. The two most common being keeping it in the same position, many times under your heart for a RH golfer. For me I not only usually keep it back further that, but use the other, which is further forward the longer the club gets. Although I usually have my driver slightly further back this most, which is almost always indicated it should be at your left heel as it is the only you hit on the upswing. You also need to give consideration to the fact that your stance width will vary for many for each club.

 

[PureStroke]

Okay Dickey maybe youd like to purchase a book called BETTER GOLF BY JULIUS RICHARDSON This guy nows his stuff and is the top 50 teachers by Golf Digest . He helped me for free for about a week. He knows his stuff and can help you figure out your issues from a simplified approach. Im sure you can order it used off of amazon or online book store. The drill that I like and still do is the IMPACT BAG any and every golfer should own one. It helps to feel the correct impact and eliminates slices and fat shots. It also adds distance to your irons, and shoes you were your hand and left hip should be at impact. They cost around 20-30 bucks. But I highly recommend this book for starters. Mr Julius is a good friend and Mentor of mine and a REMARKABLE Gentleman of great Golf knowledge.

 

[FATC1TY]

I'd honestly suggest you try and keep the ball generally on "your zipper"..

From there move it a little. A 5-6i should be even with your zipper, and a 3i should be closer to your left foot. Likewise, a 9i, would be a tad bit back in the stance, due to the difference in the club length.

Being said, it's different for many people. If I'm wanting to get a high ball flight from say, a 52* wedge, and don't have a huge amount of ground to fly, I'll play it back, almost inside my right heel.

I used to have a problem with topped shot, and usually fat shots. The ball position was almost irrelevant to that, honestly. Keeping my head behind the ball, throughout the swing. Keeping my swing on plane, and keeping my hands out of the mix fixed those problems.

Focus on keeping your left arm close to your body during the swing. I do that religiously now, so when I set up, I reach out the max amount I know my arm "flares" away from my body, line up with the middle of the club at address, and I know without a doubt, depending on the shot I want, that I'll generally get the middle of the club on the ball.

Also, keeping your spine tilt static throughout the swing is extremely important to keeping the fat and thin shots away.. No matter the ball position, if you jerk your head around, foward and back, and you lose your spine tilt, the ball position is trivial at that point.

Try starting with a 6i with the ball dead center, or 1 inch foward of your zipper, and try it all out.

 

[FATC1TY]

I would love to give you my opinion and drill that will help you figure this issue out.........But.. I CANT BECAUSE I WILL GET TORCHED BY THE WEEKEND PROS ON HERE . Im sorry I cant help you dickey

I don't know what the deal is, nor do I care- but why the sarcastic hostility?

Give it a break already, bro.

 

[btdickey99]

I'd honestly suggest you try and keep the ball generally on "your zipper"..

From there move it a little. A 5-6i should be even with your zipper, and a 3i should be closer to your left foot. Likewise, a 9i, would be a tad bit back in the stance, due to the difference in the club length.

Being said, it's different for many people. If I'm wanting to get a high ball flight from say, a 52* wedge, and don't have a huge amount of ground to fly, I'll play it back, almost inside my right heel.

I used to have a problem with topped shot, and usually fat shots. The ball position was almost irrelevant to that, honestly. Keeping my head behind the ball, throughout the swing. Keeping my swing on plane, and keeping my hands out of the mix fixed those problems.

Focus on keeping your left arm close to your body during the swing. I do that religiously now, so when I set up, I reach out the max amount I know my arm "flares" away from my body, line up with the middle of the club at address, and I know without a doubt, depending on the shot I want, that I'll generally get the middle of the club on the ball.

Also, keeping your spine tilt static throughout the swing is extremely important to keeping the fat and thin shots away.. No matter the ball position, if you jerk your head around, foward and back, and you lose your spine tilt, the ball position is trivial at that point.

Try starting with a 6i with the ball dead center, or 1 inch foward of your zipper, and try it all out.

Thanks for the very helpful post. After reading thru it all I am thinking and in my living room set up and have noticed that as of late I have set up a little bit far from the ball. And now after you posting something as small as this sentence I remember when I was hitting my irons the best and most accurate was when I was set up close to the ball.

And thanks again to all that have helped and thrown advice out

Edit: And I typically play the ball for my L/S/G Wedge about an inch back of my zipper, P-7 dead center of my zipper, and 4-6 inch up and hit the ball really high