Andrew Rice Golf » ball position

Hitting Up or Down? Here’s How to Set Up

Andrew Rice — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:25:48 +0000

: Correct Set Up for a Descending Hit

Shots struck off the ground need to be hit with a descending blow and shots struck off an elevated tee are better when hit with an upward blow - fact! While TrackMan stats for the PGA Tour may show that on average Tour players hit down on their driver (1.3 degrees), as mere mortal golfers, we need to make sure we are efficient and get the most distance we can out of the driver by hitting up on the ball. If you need some more convincing how about this: Golfer A swings at 90mph and hits 5 degrees down on the ball (-5 attack angle). Their average well struck tee ball goes 234 yards. Now, golfer B swings at 90mph and hits 5 degrees up on the ball (+5 attack angle). Their average well struck tee shot travels 256 yards - a gain of 22 yards while swinging the same speed! Ready to listen now….?

I have recently started noticing that many golfers actually set up to hit their irons in the same manner as their woods or vice versa. Ever wondered why so many of your playing partners are either good with the woods and not the irons or no good off the turf and solid with the driver? The answer is, is that there are two different types of swings. One that suits shots hit off the ground or close proximity to it and a swing that suits the upward, efficient hit of a driver off a high tee.

The picture above is an excellent illustration of what I have been seeing. Here, I have a student setting up to a driver and an iron. Notice any similarities? In case you’re wondering the seven iron stance is on the right. They look decidedly alike don’t they? The good news is that this was taken at the beginning of the lesson, she made the necessary changes and gained 14 yards with her driver while maintaining a solid descending impact with the irons.

It should stand to reason that if there are two swings then there should be two different set up positions. Here are the important differences…

Setting up for shots off the ground:

As in the picture at the top of the page the weight should be anywhere from a 50/50 split to favoring the front foot slightly
Your head should be centered between the heels
There should be very little spine tilt away from the target and as a result the shoulders will be fairly level

Setting up for shots off a high tee:

As in the picture below the feet are fairly far apart and there should actually be a little more weight on the back foot than the front foot
The ball is positioned inside the left heel and teed high
The spine should be tilting away from the target a little as you prepare to “swing uphill”

: Set Up for an Upward Strike

The best teacher you have available to you to help with this is a mirror. You are now aware as to what it should look like, but you don’t quite have the feel yet. Get in front of a mirror, set up so that it looks correct (your feel might have something else to say about it!) and take that with you to practice or play.

Chipping: One Method & Three Clubs

Andrew Rice — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:49:21 +0000

Basic Address Position

Golfers love to chip with their favorite club. Regardless of what the shot or situation calls for the majority of golfers are going to use their ‘go to’ club. That is fine if you are a genius around the greens and have the talent and touch to create any shot with that one club, but I am sorry to say that there are very few golfers who can hit those shots and you are more than likely not one of them. There is an easier way.

May I propose a simple philosophy whereby you use one method (easy!) and simply get accustomed to applying that one method to one of three (not too bad!) clubs around the greens…..

The clubs are as follows:

7 or 8 iron: This club produces ashot that flies 1/3 of the total distance in the air and rolls the other 2/3 along the ground like a putt. Use this option if you are close to the edge of the green and there is lots of green between you and the pin. Most of the total distance is covered along the ground.
PW: This club will cause the ball to fly 1/2 the total distance and roll the rest. This is a good club to get comfortable with, because it will be used in most situations around the green.
SW: Here the club causes the ball to fly 2/3 of the distance and to bounce and roll out for only the remaining 1/3 of the shot. This is the go to club if the pin is cut close to the edge of the green and you need the ball to stop quickly. Most of the total distance is covered in the air.

Alignment & Distance from the Ball

Adopt the same basic set up and stance for each shot; feet narrow; ball centered; and the weight slightly favoring the front foot. A good practice drill to get a feel for how the ball reacts once it lands with each club is the following:

Towel/Chipping Drill

All that is required is a small towel, your three chipping clubs and a few balls. Start by trying to land five 8 irons on the towel, paying attention to how they run out. Then hit five pitching wedges and follow that with five sand wedges. Each club should progressively cause the ball to roll less than the previous one and you will see how important it is to control the roll or release of the shot once it lands on the ground.

I hope this helps and thanks for reading.

Golf’s Fundamentals: Ball Position

Andrew Rice — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:49:14 +0000

Ball Position with a Short Iron

The majority of questions I get asked about the golf swing pertain to the fundamentals. Here is everything you need to ensure proper ball position:

The ball should be placed from the center of the stance to the inside of the lead heel – depending on the club being used.
The ball should be centered for the short irons, slightly forward of center for the mid-irons and inside the heel for the driver.
I prefer a ball position that favors being back in the stance versus forward as when the ball is a little back, it makes it that much easier to get the weight in front of the ball at impact. A necessity for a compressed strike!
A good routine to develop is to start the address by keeping the feet together with the ball directly between the feet. For a short iron take an equal small step with each foot; for a middle iron take a small step with the front foot and a bigger one with the back foot; and for the driver only step with the back foot.
Check your ball position frequently in front of a mirror. Remember, when feel is involved it always feels correct, but sometimes you need to see it with your own eyes to determine whether it is correct or not.

Ball Position with a Middle Iron

Most of the greatest golfer’s of all time used a wide range of ball positions, but it is amazing to me how few of them place their golf ball forward of the position recommended in this article. Start each shot with an eye towards impact (yes, even ball position helps!) and you too can enjoy more crisp and penetrating golf shots.

: The Driver!

Things to Ponder:

Okay, there apparently is somebody who gets fired up for the Fedex Cup events – Steve Stricker! He has an amazing record in the short history of the events. Or maybe it’s just that later in the season they play on old school northern style golf courses?
Greg Norman picks Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott for the President’s Cup….Whaaaat? I thought I was in the running ahead of Scott! Is he trying to play his fellow country man into form?
Could there even be politics in the amateur game? This certainly seems to be the case as the US Walker Cup selection commitee has selected Peter Uihlein ahead of the well-respected Dan Woltman. (A post Walker Cup note: Uihlein went 4 out of a possible 4 points and led the US team to victory! Somebody must have known something.)

Two Shots for Sand Success

Andrew Rice — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:13:38 +0000

In order to be a great bunker player you need more than one shot. How often have you found yourself in the sand, twenty feet from the hole, and you need to hit a high, soft, spinnning shot to have any chance of getting up and down? Or found yourself sixty feet from the target and you now need a lower, running type bunker shot in order to reach the hole? You need to learn these two shots!

Feel the Face this Open for the High Shot

The first shot is a high velocity, high trajectory, high spin shot. It is most often struck with the most lofted club in the bag. In this situation the ball needs to come to a screeching halt very soon after landing, due to the fact that you have very little green to play with.

Here is how to play the shot:

Using your most lofted club, open the face as much as possible. You should feel as if you could balance a glass of water on the face of the club at address – take note of the picture above.
The velocity and speed in the swing is what gets the ball high and spinning, so even though this may be a short shot it requires an aggressive approach. Hit it hard!
Going through impact try to feel the hands scoop under the ball. The club head releases under and thus the club face stays open through the hit. This is an important element to this shot as it allows the golfer to hit hard, yet when releasing the club properly, the ball goes up versus far.
Practice this shot from good lies off of a slight up slope in the sand. While hitting the shot as hard as you can try to see how high and short you can make the ball travel.

Post Impact

The other shot is a low velocity, low trajectory, low spin shot. It should most often be played with the second most lofted club in the bag. If you have an LW it would be the SW, or if you only have an SW then you should use the PW. In this situation the shot needs to traverse a large portion of either flat or downhill green. There is ample opportunity for the ball to roll like a putt!

Play the shot this way:

Using a lesser lofted club the stance should be of average width and the ball position is still forward of center.
The clubface remains open, yet to a lesser degree than the above shot.
This shot is played almost in slow motion as there should be very little speed in the swing. I often call this the ‘dump and run’ shot, as it should just get out the bunker, land early on the green and roll to the hole as if it were a putt.
The hands should be light throughout the swing and it is okay to actually roll the face a little through impact. This serves to lower the shot further and causes the ball to release more.
Do not attempt this shot when your ball is lying on an upslope! An upslope requires a more aggressive swing and that robs the ball of its ability to stay low.
Practice is vital for this shot as it tends to take a few tries before sensing the correct speed of the swing.

With a few minutes spent experimenting with the above suggestions in the sand you will soon start to lose some of the angst we have all experienced when stepping into a bunker. Give it a try and please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Additional Resources:

How to Hit Great Bunker Shots

Luke Donald’s Buried Lie

A Great Impact Position = Compression

Andrew Rice — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:32:23 +0000

: Tiger makes an Impact

We have all heard the sound of a properly struck golf shot: the ball squeezing off the face and fizzing toward the target with the divot flying and the ball penetrating the air with a seemingly single-minded purpose. This is the sound of compression! This is golf acoustics at it’s finest.

The compression of a golf ball only comes from a well executed, subtle, downward blow on the golf ball. A strike where the face is square and the path is straight. The easiest way to achieve compression is by getting into a great impact position. Here is how:

Set up with the stance width fairly narrow and the lead eye over the ball. The ball position should favor a little more back than forward.
Remain fairly centered over the ball in the back swing. Obey the 84 degree secret!
Drive the weight (hips and thighs) onto the front foot without getting the head forward of where it started. This is what I refer to as body curve!
Trap the ball by leading with the handle into the hit. The hands must beat the club head to impact. With the weight comfortably favoring the front foot this creates the descending strike on the ball which in turn leads to compression!

Notice the uncanny similarity between Vijay and Tom in the illustrations. While they have each already impacted the ball it does appear that the handle of the club got beyond the ball prior to impact as they both achieve the appropriate amount of body curve.

A recipe for compression!

A great strike on the ball is a necessity when you play a course like the players will face in the 2009 U.S Open at Bethpage Black. The long and punishing test is designed to expose any ball striking flaws that may exist.

Here are a few U.S.Open notes:

Newsday.com has some great up-to-the-minute news and photos – Long Island style!
What does Hank Haney do while watching Tiger hit every single shot of the last two weeks? I think he was in every picture I saw of Tiger.
I find it interesting that there have already been four withdrawals. If my game or body was not in top shape I think I’d stay home too!
I predict a winning score of -5 and I predict someone in a red shirt will win!

Setting Up for a Great Impact (Part 2 of a Four Part series)

Andrew Rice — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:36:04 +0000

So often I read that it is important to be “behind the ball”. While this statement is almost correct I would prefer for a golfer to be “over” the ball and this sense initiates with the set up position.

The Set-up

The set-up encompasses ball position, stance width and spine/shoulder tilt. Let’s take a look from the ground up.

With the irons I would like to see the ball played from the middle of the stance – keep in mind, that in order to hit down on the ball, a must, the weight must be in front of the ball. Notice that I said weight and not body or head! When the ball is centrally located it is that much easier to hit down on. As you get to the longer clubs(woods) slide the ball up toward the inside of the left heel. In the Ben Hogan illustration you’ll notice how his ball is not quite in the center but a little forward. This is due to his pronounced hip slide into impact which still allowed him to be able to hit down on a more forward ball position.

As far as the stance width goes, I prefer a narrower stance than a wider one and here’s why. A narrow stance allows for the weight to get to the front foot easily – that’s why you should be chipping and pitching with a narrow stance. Too wide and you’ll have a hard time getting onto the front foot without excess movement.

Head position and spine tilt is the most important factor in the set-up! I read an article yesterday pontificating about if you tilt away from the target you’ll reduce your slice. Well, you might reduce the slice, but you’ll have a hard time making solid contact with the ball. All the best ball strikers set up as Hogan has here, with the head positioned between the feet, the left eye over the ball and the spine just about vertical. There should also be a minimal amount of shoulder tilt when the spine is vertical. Make sure you avoid any excess tilt into your back side as this will make it almost impossible to get “over” the ball at impact.

Set yourself up to get into a great impact!

Things to ponder:

Harbourtown and the TPC Louisiana are both Pete Dye golf courses. They look like they are from different planets!
Can Steve Stricker finally get the job done on Sunday? It’s been a while!
Tiger Woods is a great champion, but does he play golf the way it was meant to be played? Does modern equipment let him play the game “his way”? I offer Greg Norman and Nick Faldo as contrasts.
I was going to ask, ” When will Sergio grow up?” but I’m not sure he ever will.
Will Sergio ever grow up?