Ball Position With Different Clubs

Video Transcript

When finding your ball position with your pre-swing routine, you want to make sure it’s in the right place. That’s why we want to start with the right foot behind, aim the club and place the left foot approximately two inches past the ball, then widen your stance. It will be narrower with a wedge and wider with a long iron, I have a 6-iron so it’s somewhere in between. But that’s how you find your ball position. Why do I want the ball there? Because my left arm and the club form the radius of the swing and the bottom of the arc will be right beneath the point where my left arm should be pointing at the ground; that’s about at my arm pit. So I want the golf ball just behind that so that I can strike the ball first and then take a little bit of a divot in front. Notice how when I measure off my club keeps clipping that grass just in front of the ball. That would be ideal ball position for a 6-iron. Now if I were hitting a driver, the ball would be a couple of inches farther forward, because it is teed up. As I widen my stance notice how my armpit is a little farther back. The ball is off my left heel, I’m wider. The wider I get, the farther behind the ball I tend to be with my head. I can test this in practice by taking a little baby swing and I should be able to take that ball right off of the tee. This is a real good test when you practice to make sure your ball position is correct. So remember, get the ball position right. It should be very near the bottom of the arc, a little behind the bottom of the arc with an iron, at the bottom or slightly in front of the bottom with a wood. If you do that, you’re all set and again, back to the routine, the three steps helps you ensure that you do it the same way and gives you a chance to have the same ball position. It’s very critical for solid contact, without solid contact it is hard to shoot low scores.

Jack Lumpkin
Sea Island Golf Club
100 Retreat Ave.
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Tel: 912-638-5119

Jack Lumpkin is a legendary instructor to PGA Tour Pro Davis Love III and is listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and Golf Digest's #12 instructor in the world.

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