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One of the first things my golf coach taught me was where to position the ball in my stance for taking shots. To non-golfers, this might seem an unimportant part of the game, but all of us who play will realise there are significant differences between ball positions.

Your normal golf stance should be with your body sideways to the direction you want the ball to go. There are now 2 elements to where you position the ball. The first is how far away from your body the ball should be. The second is what sort of position the ball should be in between your feet.

First things first. How far away from you should the ball be? Essentially, you want to position the ball on the ground at the exact distance from you that your club head will reach in your normal stance, at the point of impact on the ball in your swing.

That is to say, with you stood in your normal stance, legs apart, hold the club as normal and put the head of the club onto the ground, at the point where you would be in your swing when you strike the ball. The club will be at a right angle to the direction you wish the shot to go, with the club head at the right point for impact.

Obviously, with golf clubs having shafts of different lengths, this distance away from you will be different according to the club. For instance, the driver is the longest club, so the ball with be farthest away from you. Whilst a pitching wedge is a very short club, so the ball will be nearer to you.

Next is where you put the ball in relation to the position of your feet. We’ve started with the ball where the club head would naturally go – that is, in the middle of your feet, at the right distance from your body for the club head to hit it correctly.

Now we draw an imaginary line along the direction of the shot. This line should begin a few feet back from the ball and continue through the ball and along the direction line a few feet, with your club perpendicular to the line in the middle.

The ball should now be placed along this line according to which club you’re using. Drivers, woods and long irons should see the ball furthest up the line. (ie nearest to your left foot for right handers). Shorter irons and wedges will see the ball stay where it is now, in the middle of the line, exactly in between your feet.

Mike Jackson runs an online golf equipment store, where you can buy golf clubs, golf balls, golf gifts, golf bags etc.

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