forward or back?

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Hi all,

I would value opinions on the following topic which I am trying to pass judgment on. This evening I played 18 with a mate who i havent seen in a while. His golf swing and ball striking was a vast improvment to our last game and he told me it was down to a change in his setup by his teaching pro. He now plays mid irons back in his stance rather than forward, i.e. closer to the right foot. This he says gives a more solid down strike on the ball and real solid shots. I tended to disagree as I have always been told that it wirks in reverse. Funny thing is, when I tried it myself the result was impressive. Is there a hard and fast rule to this or is it different instruction by different coaches. All views greatly appreciated.
Cheers Rob

[rharris06]

Re: forward or back?

This causes other problems in your swing. Like reverse pivot !

His teachingpro knows his swing best, he may of had troubles in his downswing of scooping or whatever, so his pro told him to do this as a quick fix, this doesent mean you should do this! You ahve a different swing to him, you have different problems in your swing than him.

Look, get your fundamentals right and your swing will follow. There is no secret in this game or whatever, just get your fundamentals sound rob.

[Started2k3]

Re: forward or back?

I think it may have something to do with how the individual swings.

I play all my balls slightly back (about a ball width) from the "textbook" positions. If I play them too far forward then I lose a lot of power and control/consistency. I will only move the ball forward (and higher) on the tee box if I have a strong tailwind and the fairway permits.

Note that I hit a very high ball (and reasonably long ) so the subsequent delofting that occurs from impact being back a little actually helps.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: forward or back?

Just a guess on my part, but your friend might be "pulling" the club more so through his impact zone, due to a shorter, more downward swing requiring less lateral body movement. With less lateral movement, the ball would need to be father back to my way of thinking. When you say back near the rear foot, how far back? (If it is way, way back, then he probably has a poor swing issue) Is it back a just a little from what might be considered a normal ball position? Or, back farther than say say the center (sternum) of his body? Does he have a stance that is narrower than what might be considered normal? I can take my stance with the ball centered, then adjust my feet open or closed which gives the illusion that my ball postion has changed. Like I said just some guesses on my part with out seeing your friend's swing

I play all my normal fairway iron, and 3w full shots from the center of my (sternum) stance. Now sometimes when I need to put some more spin on the ball, maybe I am between clubs, or need a lower shot to get under a tree limb, I will play the ball farther back, while making a more concentrated effort to "pull" my club through impact. Doing this also helps me to keep my loft consistant from club to club, which in turn keeps my distances consistant. Just my swing info, while not implying it is correct for everyone else. GJS

[vp27519]

Re: forward or back?

Senior

What do you mean by 'pulling' the club through?

Nicole

[shootin4par]

Re: forward or back?

any instructor who moves the ball behind the center line I would run from, possible problems with having the ball too far back. it will inhibit getting off of your rear side, reverse pivot, mess up swing plane, loose spine angle, promotes closed shoulders at address. encourages an inside take away on back swing, swaying outside of rear foot, may encourage you coming over the top and if I think more then one minute I may be able to come up with more

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: forward or back?

Senior

What do you mean by 'pulling' the club through?

Nicole

My apologies for not explaining the term fully. Some people "pull" the club through impact with their lead hand/side, while others "push" the club through impact with their trailing hand/side. I have read that now days some instructors say the lead hand guides the club head, while the trailing hand supplies the power, which sounds ok to me. I am right handed, and when I took up golf I was taught to "pull" the club down, and through impact with my left hand, and that the right hand was just along for the ride. I think the analogy back then was it was easier to pull a chain than to push it. GJS

[kiwi]

Re: forward or back?

Hi Rob
I play the driver off my left big toe, fairway woods about 2 inches inside my left foot,3,4,5 irons about another inch back towards center 6-9 another inch towards center and all three wedges about 1 inch forward (left) of center.

Hope this helps answer you question.

Kiwi

[vp27519]

Re: forward or back?

Thanks Senior,

I'm a pusher by the sounds of things. My right is quite dominant. What impact can this have on my swing?

Nicole

[BrianW]

Re: forward or back?

Hi Rob,

My advice for ball placement is:

Driver in line with left heel

Long Irons and fairway woods, one additional inch back from there for each club number up to 7 (2" back 2 iron, 3" back 3 iron etc)

7,8 and 9 irons, middle stance.

Wedges slightly back of centre.

Chipping I put my feet together and open towards target then play off my back toe.

The exception to this is when using a PUNCH shot where I use say a 5 iron back in my stance and make a shortened backswing and follow through.

I would suggest that simply placing the ball back in your stance as suggested will cause you to hit with an open face causing fades or slices, it may give some distance though due to the hooded clubface. You would do better in this case by using a longer club with the ball in the correct position.

Regards
Brian

[bill reed]

Re: forward or back?

hi all
why not just take a pratice swing and see where the club first touches the grass,
bill

[MarkC13276]

Re: forward or back?

Hi Robert mate,

Well my advice which I see people havent commented on about putting the ball back in your stance is that your de lofting the face of the club but hopefully you knew this. So in theory you can use a 3 iron like a 1 / 2 iron. This is a typical punch shot where your ball flight will be low. I usally use it on, 1) windy days or 2) if I know the fairways / greens are fast to get my ball running up to the pin.

If I was you I would master changing your ball postion and learn at the driving range as it gives you another tool on the course. Just look at tiger at the open there was a few times he was hitting a 2 iron with the ball in the middle of his stance which gave him a few extra yards.

Cheers
Mark

[BrianW]

Re: forward or back?

hi all
why not just take a pratice swing and see where the club first touches the grass,
bill

Bill

Because different length clubs need to either hit down on a ball or sweep the ball away. When you take a golf swing the club should bottom out by your left armpit (if you are right handed) Shorter clubs should hit the ball before this, longer ones at or after it.

Regards
Brian

[msklar92]

Re: forward or back?

Look at the golf lessons section of GTO for ball position.
Apparently there are 2 ways to approach this.
1) Keep the stance the same width and move the ball progressively back from the left heel to the center from driver to wedge or
2) Play all balls off the left heel and shorten the width of the stance from driver to wedge.

Personally, I try and set the club first to the target, take a small step foward with the front foot and a slightly larger step with the back foot depending on the club.

The problem with all these discussions is that ball position can appear different depending on what you are trying to do with the ball.
Try this - put two pencils on you desk on representing the foot line and one representing the target line. No place a third pencil just outside and parallel to the target line. Put a 4th pencil perpendicular to the railroad tracks. Now, take some coins and put them where the ball and feet should be. Ok, if you feet are square, the ball should appear inside the left heel. Now, shift the railroad tracks and ball and foot markers counterclockwise It should appear as if the ball is foward. For a draw, shift the tracks clockwise and will appear as if the ball is back in stance. My point is, is that is hard to tell sometimes where the ball is depending on what you are trying to do with it. Not sure if makes total sense, but you get the idea

[bill reed]

Re: forward or back?

hi msklar92
very good point, the ball also looks diffrent when you point your left foot out. and the ball looks like its more inside your instep when its not really. if you know what i mean.
bill