Ball Position & Placement of the Feet

Many golfers ask me should I use one ball position or move it around in my stance depending on which golf club I am using? I have found the simplest solution is to use one ball position and then vary the width of the stance by moving the back foot. For all standard shots, position the ball about 5 to 10cm inside the front foot.

As the length of the club/shot increases, increase the width of stance by moving the back foot away from the target. For the driver, the player will use the widest stance where width of the shoulders is the same as the width between the heels of the feet. We call this a shoulder’s width stance. As the club shortens in length (3 wood, 5 wood, etc.), the stance narrows slightly.

From the pictures it appears as if the ball is moving back in the stance as the stance narrows. This is not the case. In all 4 cases, the ball position remains the same with respect to the left foot. The reason the stance widens for longer clubs is because it shifts the center of the body back, away from the target. This decreases or naturally shallows the angle of attack on the ball at impact. Since longer clubs have less loft the angle of decent must be less and visa versa for shorter clubs. It allows the player to use one swinging motion for all the various clubs.

Larry Petryk
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