How Far Should I Stand From the Golf Ball?
Article by Herb Rubenstein, PGA and Nick Teodisio, PGA
Introduction
This is a very important question and as golf professionals we have not seen a system that really answers this question very well. So, we developed one. This article covers on the “full shot” from Driver to Lob Wedge. Obviously, for chip shots, side hill or uphill or downhill variations will need to be made which are beyond the scope of this article. In addition, the research we did to develop this system was only done with males 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 11 with normal length arms. If your arms are shorter than normal, you might stand a little closer to the ball and if your arms are longer than normal, you might want to stand farther away from the ball. Also, all measurements were made with standard length clubs, and if your clubs are longer than standard, you might need to make an adjustment in our recommended distances you stand from the ball, but not by much.
It is our sense that most people stand too close to the ball. After using this system you might feel at first that when you follow our advice on how far you should stand from the ball, that the ball feels far away from. In fact, this is normal, and you might even feel “disconnected” from the ball, or that the ball might be in “another zip code.”
At the conclusion of this article, we will advise you on how to handle the uncomfortableness of standing farther away from the ball if our system shows you that you might be standing too close to the ball.
Step 1: How to Measure How Far You Are Standing From the Ball
The first challenge is that when you are addressing a golf shot, it is very challenging to measure how far you are away from the golf ball. Certainly, measuring the distance from the toes of your front foot or your back foot makes no sense since depending on the length of the shot, you change the normal ball position from left heel for the driver to middle of the stance for middle irons, and possible one ball back of middle of the stance for wedges. (Note, Jack Nicklaus and some golfers suggest that you hit every shot with the ball off your left heel, and we acknowledge that this approach works for some golfers.
So, we devised the following approach. Do this for each and every club in your bag and start with your highest lofted wedge and go all the way through your bag to the driver.
Address the ball with your club in your hands and the club head centered directly behind the ball and have an extra club or alignment rod, or any straight object that is at least three feet long standing up next to your left leg. Then take the extra club, alignment stick, or straight piece, and lay it down behind your heels. Make sure it is touching each heel.
Then take the club that you are holding in the address position in your hands and lay it down with the center of the club head right behind the center of the ball and the grip of the club pointing in a perpendicular manner toward between the alignment stick or extra club you laid on the ground behind your heels.
For each one of your wedges, the end of the grip of the club should be right in the middle of the instep of your feet at the address position, or five inches from the alignment stick or club you put behind your heels.
Note, your wedges will all basically be about the same length and the length for most 46 degree pitching wedges is 35.75 inches and for a 62 degree lob wedge is 35.00. So, what this means is that you will be moving less than one eight of an inch farther away from the ball for every four degrees or so difference in your wedges which is not measureable in any significant manner except by using the method we have just described.
Now it is very simple. When you want to check how far you are standing from your wedges, just address the ball, keep your feet in the address position, lay a wedge with the center of the club head directly behind the ball right in the middle of your feet and look down. If the end of the grip of the club is about in the middle of your instep you are fine. If you want to be more precise with your measurement, measure the distance from the end of your grip to the alignment stick of club behind your heels and you should find the end of the grip is about five inches from the alignment stick or club behind your heels since the grip is generally 10 inches long.
Next, one at a time and take your 9, 8, and 7, iron and repeat. You will notice that the end of the grip is getting closer to the alignment stick or club you put right behind your heels. For these clubs, the distance from the end of the club you lay behind the ball should be approximately three inches from the alignment stick or club you put behind your heels. That is, the end of your grip should be about 1/3 of the length of your foot from the alignment grip, if you are eye balling it. We call this the “top third” of the foot (with the “top” of the foot being the end of the heel). The lengths of these clubs, 9, 8, and 7 irons respectively are 36.5, 37, and 37.5 inches.
When you get to your 6, 5, and 4 irons, the end of the grip should be about two inches from the alignment stick or about 1/4 of the length of your foot. We call this the “top fourth” of the foot (with the “top” of the foot being the end of the heel). The lengths of these clubs, 6. 5, and 4, irons, respectively are 38, 38.5, and 39 inches.
Now, here is where the magic begins. If you have a hybrid with a length of approximately 41 or 40.5 inches, (usually a 17 or 18 degree hybrid) then when you address the ball with the hybrid, with the alignment stick behind your heels, and lay down the hybrid with the club head directly behind the center of the ball and the grip pointing directly to the alignment stick, the end of the grip should be perfectly touching the alignment stick or the edge of the shaft of the club you laid down behind your heels.
Bingo. Now you have the easiest way to check how far you should be standing away from the ball. If your hybrid is a 20 or 21 degree club, and therefore one-half inch to one inch shorter, there will likely still be an inch from the end of the grip to the alignment stick or club you laid behind your heels. If your hybrid is 16 or 17, degrees, and therefore one-half to one inch longer than the then the hybrid will just rest on the alignment stick or club and go past it slightly.
However, do not rely only on the hybrid measurement alone, even though it is the easiest to measure. Measure every club and get used to your new distance you stand from the ball for every club.
With your three wood/metal, which is usually 43 inches, the end of your grip should be approximately one inch past the alignment stick or club you laid down on the ground behind your heels.
With your driver which is usually 45 inches in length, the end of your grip should be approximately two or two and one-half inches past the alignment stick or club you laid down on the ground behind your heels.
Do This Measurement With An Instructor or Fellow Golfer
You can do this entire measurement system with a ruler, a set of clubs, but it will go much faster if you do this with a fellow golfer. Record where are distance wise before any adjustments for each of your clubs. Then compare the distance to the chart below and adjust to the suggested distance.
After You Adjust
If you are making an adjustment of an inch or more from the ball, it will take some time to get the feel for how to swing the club and get solid contact with the ball on the center of the clubface. Make sure that if you are now standing farther away from the ball, that the toe of the club is not off the ground. You may need to raise your hands a little at address when you stand farther from the ball to make sure the club head is flat on the ground. If the toe is in the air, even a little at address, it is likely to come into contact with the ball a little “toe up.” The result of a “toe up” hit, even in the center of the face is the ball will go left. (Similarly, if you have the heel up at impact, the ball will likely go right, even if you have hit the shot in the center of the face).
If you are now standing farther from the ball, you will feel you can’t get the club out there, and at first, you won’t. For a while (maybe 5 or 10 shots with each club, especially the longer ones, you might top it. You might hit it low, and you will have trouble hitting the center of the club face. This is normal, and expect after a couple of hours over a couple of days on the range or in a simulator, this new position will have the following benefits.
Benefits of Standing The Right Distance From the Ball
· Better balance and stability
· Lower weight distribution, thus increasing the proper use of the legs
· No getting “crowded” as your hands come through the hitting area
· Less dispersion and greater control both regarding distance and direction
· Smoother swing without losing swing speed
· Might add a little width to your stance, thus promoting additional stability
· Better loading of your weight on your right foot (heel) on the backswing
· Better and quicker weight transfer to your left foot on the downswing
· Better use of large muscles rather than hands to guide the club head through the hitting area.
· Wider arc to your swing
· Possibly longer backswing
Conclusion
Finally, there is an answer and a simple measurement system to address the question: How far do I stand from the ball at address?
Of course, it depends on what club you are hitting, the length of your arms, the length of your clubs (we used standard length clubs for this research project) and possibly your torso dimension.
Our research shows that there are only three basic “distances” (relative to club length) with your irons (lob wedge through four iron), and three slightly varying distances (relative to club length) with your hybrid, 3 wood and Driver.
The measuring system we developed is simple and you should check how far you stand from the ball with each club once a month, as you will shift around without realizing it, and that will impact your swing, your control over the ball, and you cannot figure this out without this or some other rigorous, but simple measurement device.
Here are the distances, all measured as the distance between the ball and the back of your heels using the club you have in your hand at the moment of address.
Lob Wedge
Sand Wedge
Gap Wedge
Pitching Wedge
End of grip middle of foot, 5 inches from club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip middle of foot, 5 inches from club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip middle of foot, 5 inches from club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip middle of foot, 5 inches from club you lay down behind your heels
9 iron
8 iron
7 iron
End of grip at top 1/3 of foot, or 1/3 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 3 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at top 1/3 of foot, or 1/3 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 3 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at top 1/3 of foot, or 1/3 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 3 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
6 iron
5 iron
4 iron
End of grip at top 1/4 of foot, or 1/4 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 2 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at top 1/4 of foot, or 1/4 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 2 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at top 1/4 of foot, or 1/4 of the foot away from the end of the heel, and 2 inches from the club you lay down behind your heels
18 degree hybrid
3 wood
Driver
End of grip at right at your heel and touching the club/alignment stick you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at one inch past your heel and lays one inch past the club/alignment stick you lay down behind your heels
End of grip at two inches past your heel and lays two inches past the the club or alignment stick you lay down behind your heels
We hope you find our measurement system useful and we look forward to your feedback.