{Golf Ball Position Setup}

Introduction:

Before I get into golf ball position setups, I want to touch briefly on your own particular golf swing. You must have your own consistent golf swing before you should start thinking about other technical aspects of the golf swing like golf ball position.

I see a lot of golfers, especially beginner and novice golfers go out and try to emulate or copy the swing of say, a Tiger Woods or another pro golfer. Unfortunately this thought process never works.

The fact of the matter is that no two golfers swing the golf club the exact same way.

The next time you are at the driving range look at all the golfers hitting balls and you will notice that everyone of them has a different golf swing.

Each golfer has their own unique body style and muscle groups therefore they each have their own unique golf swing.

A golfer that is tall and thin will not have the same swing as someone that is shorter and heavier.

So what I’m trying to say here is you need to go out and develop your own consistent golf swing that is natural to your talents.

Whether you have to take a quick lesson from a professional or go out and practice on your swing alone, just remember your golf swing should feel natural and not forced.

Once you feel you have reached this comfort zone with your golf swing we can now go on and learn about your golf ball position setup for each of your clubs.

What is Golf Ball Position?

Whether you are on the tee box, in the fairway, chipping up near the green or on the green putting, when you approach your ball and take your golf stance, your golf ball should be in the correct position in your setup.

Each one of your golf clubs have different length shafts, with your driver having the longest shaft and your wedges having the shortest shaft. Taking this into consideration directly determines what position your golf ball position should be in your setup.

Golf Ball Position for Your Driver

In a Typical 18 hole round of golf you will use your driver on about 14 of your tee shots. That doesn’t sound like a lot but if you think about it, these 14 shots with your driver can determine the total outcome of your round of golf.

With that being said, hitting your drives in the fairway makes this game of golf much easier. The farther and straighter you hit your drives, the shorter and easier your approach to the green will be.

When hitting your driver you want to hit the golf ball on the upswing, giving you more launch and less ball spin thus giving you more distance and accuracy.

The ideal ball position for your driver is for the ball to be lined up off your left heel at address. What this does is guarantee that you make contact with the ball past the bottom of your swing arc on the upswing.

Another thing to take into consideration is the height that you tee your golf ball up. With the larger driver heads available today you must make sure you tee the ball up high enough.

Practicing these tips on a regular basis will have you splitting the fairway down the middle more often than not.

Golf Ball Position for Your Long Irons and Hybrids

I believe one of the toughest golf shots you can face is the shot with your long irons. This would include your 4, 5, 6 irons. I also believe with most average golfers it is totally a mental thing.

The everyday weekend golfer probably drives the ball somewhere around 220 yards or fewer. On a 400 yard par four that will leave you 180 yards left to reach the green.

This is where the mental part comes in to play. After your drive you get to your ball and look how far the green is and your first thought is, I’m going to really have to crush one to reach that green.

Well, that is actually the farthest thing from the truth.

What you need to do first off is to practice hitting your long irons and hybrid clubs more and learn how far you hit each one of these clubs.

Most golfers tend to not take enough club and end up trying to kill the ball, thus ending up with a terrible shot.

The golf ball position setup for your long irons and hybrids should be, take your stance with the ball about a two golf ball distance back from your left heel.

Because of the longer shaft on these clubs this setup will allow you to hit the ball with a descending blow and follow through straight towards the target without taking too much of a divot.

Always remember to let the club do the work as they were designed to. Take a nice easy, smooth swing and you will be hitting these shots on the green with much more consistency.

Golf Ball Position for Your Mid/Short Irons

Your mid and short irons basically consist of your 7, 8, and 9 irons. These clubs would be used on shots from 120 yards to around 145 yards from the green depending on what level of golfer you are.

Because of the shorter shaft on these clubs you will have much more control of them. Sometimes when you feel you are in between distances you can choke down on the grip and have even more control.

For this golf ball position you want the ball right in the center of your stance, narrow your stance a little and setup a little closer to the ball.

These shots require a more pendulum motion as opposed to a wider, flatter swing as with your long irons and your driver. You want to strike the back of the ball taking your divot beyond the ball position.

This technique will launch the ball higher and allowing the ball to land softer on the green.

The only time you should deviate from this setup is if you have an awkward lie in the fairway.

If you have an uphill lie you want to set up with the ball a little forward of center and if you have a downhill lie you want to set up with the ball a little back of center in your stance.

Golf Ball Position Setup for your Wedges

Most golfers carry three wedges in their bag. Their pitching wedge, sand wedge and their lob wedge. There are many setup positions for each one of these wedges.

Your Pitching Wedge:

Your pitching wedge can be used anywhere from 120 yards up until chipping around the green. If you are taking pretty much a full swing with your pitching wedge you want the ball positioned a little behind center of your stance.

If you are near the green and have no obstructions a plenty of green between you and the hole you want the ball setup far back in your stance which will keep the club face closed giving you less loft and the ball will roll out to the hole.

Your Sand Wedge:

Well, the name of the club says it all. This club is used mostly when you are in the sand trap.

To execute this shot properly you want the ball in the center of your stance, open the club face, swing back and through, striking the sand about two inches behind the ball.

With this shot the club never touches the ball, the sand actually pushes the ball out and on to the green, hopefully near the hole for an easy par.

Your Lob Wedge:

Your lob wedge or 60 degree wedge is the most lofted club in your bag. Most commonly it is used when you are fairly close to green and you need to get the ball up high over an obstruction and land softly on the green.

Say you came up short on your approach shot and you have a sand trap between you and the green. Take your lob wedge and setup with the ball in the middle of your stance.

Your back swing will depend on how far you want the ball to travel and land. You don’t always want to take a full back swing with your lob wedge but always a full follow through. Take plenty of time practicing with this club.

Golf Ball Position Putting:

More than half of your golf strokes in a round of golf are made on the putting green, so the better you get at putting the better your golf scores will be.

As far as you’re putting setup goes every golfer is different, so every golfers putting technique will be different. There is two things every golfer needs to do to improve you’re putting.

In you’re putting setup you will first need to be sure to strike the ball on the center of the putters face, second, you want to strike the ball on a slight upward path.

This will ensure you have topspin on the ball moving forward which in turn will give you a truer straighter roll which will hole you more putts and cut down on your three putts, thus lowering your scores.

So get to the putting green and start practicing you’re putting. You will be surprised how much difference it will make in not only you’re scoring but also how much more fun you will have playing this great game.

One more thing about putting:

Another way to dramatically improve your putting is learn how to read greens. Learn more about reading greens by checking out my article,

learn how to read greens like a pro:

In Closing:

I hope you have enjoyed my article on golf ball position setup. I’m sure if you practice all have gone over here you will take your golf game to a new level.

If you have enjoyed this please feel free to leave a comment below and any questions you may have I will answer them as soon as possible.

Good Golf To You

Robert