We often hear people talk about how the golf swing should be the same regardless of the club. So you take your club you make the same swing, you take a different club you make the same swing, and that to an extent is fairly true. But actually the ball position or the setup position should be very different. So if I’ve got a wedge here, I’m going to play the ball almost out of the centre of my stance. If I was then to take a seven nine I’d play the ball position slightly more forwards in my stance.

If I were to take a driver, I’d play the ball a long way forwards in my stance. So that’s three very different ball positions for three very different clubs. But actually there’s one constant that remains throughout all of those setups and that really is your hand position. So when I take my wedge again, ball position in the middle like we just suggested. But the hand position now stays on the inside of the left thigh with the handle pointing at the inside of my left hip. So my hands with my wedge are quite a long way ahead of the ball, hand position on the inside of the left thigh.

As I move over to my seven nine, ball position changes slightly, hand position remains the same. Hands just on the inside of the left thigh, shaft and handle pointing at the inside of the left hip. So my ball position is moved, my hand position hasn’t moved. And now as I move to my driver, ball position on the inside of the left foot like we suggested previously, hand position inside of the left thigh, handle pointing inside of the left hip. So my hands now with my driver, a level, or even slightly behind and with my wedge, my hands were well ahead.

So I create forward shuffling with the wedge and maybe a bit of backward shuffling with a driver. My hand position remains position remains the same, my ball position changes. So next time you’re setting up to the golf ball and you’re considering how you should address each individual club understand the ball position will move, but your hands will remain in the same place.