Playing the Ball at the Back of the Stance

The previous article discussed the position of the golf ball in your stance and how that impacts on the ball flight.  We looked at how positioning the ball at the front of the stance can produce greater loft and how you can use that to your advantage.

Today, we are going to look at playing the ball at the back of the stance and what that means in terms of ball flight.

To move the ball back in your stance, do not place the ball in the position you think is best towards your back foot.  Place the ball in the centre of your stance and move your feet and body forward until the ball is closer to your back foot than your front foot.

By having the ball further back in your stance, two things will happen.  Firstly, you will be contacting the ball earlier in your swing.  By moving the ball back in your stance, you have pushed it closer to the swing path and that means the club will contact the ball sooner than it would if you left the ball in the middle of your stance.

As a result, this will deloft the club.  That means the ball will not fly as high in the air as it usually would when using the club of your choice and having the ball in the middle of your stance.  In what circumstance would you need to deloft the club and hit the golf ball lower?

If you are facing a strong headwind, that is the wind is driving towards you when playing the shot, you will need to hit the ball lower.  This will keep the ball out of the strongest part of the wind and allow it to travel further than if you hit is higher in the air.

Another reason why you might want to play the ball back in your stance and deloft the club is when you have an obstacle in-front of you.  A common example is tree branches.  Perhaps your tee shot did not go to plan and you find yourself playing from under some trees.  The branches are quite low so to make sure you avoid them, you can play the ball back in you stance and hit the ball lower, under the tree branches.

Playing the ball back in your stance also reduces the chances of hitting the ball fat and is useful when attempting to play delicate chip shots.  However, it does increase the chance of topping the ball so keep than in mind when playing the ball back in your stance.