Set Up Your Golf Shot: Address the Ball at the Perfect Distance (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Set Up Your Golf Shot: Address the Ball at the Perfect Distance (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

How do you address the golf ball at the perfect distance? So now let’s look at how you’re going to get a good basic set up to the golf ball. Real major part of the set up is maintaining a good distance from the golf ball. Now one of the main reasons why this is quite difficult for a lot of people to get the concept of is because the club is at different lengths. So your 7 iron is different to your driver is different to your pitching wedge. So you can’t just have a set measurement. You can’t just measure 2 and a half feet back from the golf ball and get the same position every time, because the club length changes. So you’re set up has to change to account for that as well.

So here’s a really good little tip to get you setting up to the golf ball correctly, When you’re in a nice address position, just laying the club sort of solid, nicely flat on the floor. Move yourself around to what you would consider to be a normal address position, and then just feel like the shaft of the golf club points nicely about your belt buckle level. If the club’s held to high up in the air, you’re often going to be tempted to stand too close to that one, and likewise, if you stand to far back and have the club too low, this point too low on your belt buckle, and you’re too far away from the golf ball.

Another great little tip to get you the right distance away from the golf ball there would be to take a nice address position, just with a comfortable knee flex, club pointing at your belt buckle as previously described. Then just lower the shaft of the golf club down to your left kneecap, or your front kneecap, and it should land just about 2 inches above the top of your knee. The club is nicely leveled to the ball, so I’m not moving the club away to accommodate that, or pulling it in to accommodate it. The club is in a good position, drops down just above the top of my kneecap there.

Now if you had a driver, the position would be exactly the same, just above the top of my kneecap. I would stand further away for that. Likewise, closer for a wedge, but it would still hit just above my kneecap. And that’s how you get a good distance away from the ball. Check that every single time you play a shot. So I get a lot of my clients, when I’m teaching, just to have a routine where every single time the set up to the golf ball, nice address position, quick check, and then they’re good to go. And if they drop that down, they can feel, did it land in the same place as normal, if I’m too far back, I’ve missed my spot. If I carry on with this swing, there’s a chance I’m going to hit that ball from the toe, or I’m going to be off balance, trying to react for that. So if you can get a good distance away from the golf ball, that’s a real fundamental part of building a good sound consistent golf swing.

 2012-05-23

How do you address the golf ball at the perfect distance? So now let’s look at how you’re going to get a good basic set up to the golf ball. Real major part of the set up is maintaining a good distance from the golf ball. Now one of the main reasons why this is quite difficult for a lot of people to get the concept of is because the club is at different lengths. So your 7 iron is different to your driver is different to your pitching wedge. So you can’t just have a set measurement. You can’t just measure 2 and a half feet back from the golf ball and get the same position every time, because the club length changes. So you’re set up has to change to account for that as well.

So here’s a really good little tip to get you setting up to the golf ball correctly, When you’re in a nice address position, just laying the club sort of solid, nicely flat on the floor. Move yourself around to what you would consider to be a normal address position, and then just feel like the shaft of the golf club points nicely about your belt buckle level. If the club’s held to high up in the air, you’re often going to be tempted to stand too close to that one, and likewise, if you stand to far back and have the club too low, this point too low on your belt buckle, and you’re too far away from the golf ball.

Another great little tip to get you the right distance away from the golf ball there would be to take a nice address position, just with a comfortable knee flex, club pointing at your belt buckle as previously described. Then just lower the shaft of the golf club down to your left kneecap, or your front kneecap, and it should land just about 2 inches above the top of your knee. The club is nicely leveled to the ball, so I’m not moving the club away to accommodate that, or pulling it in to accommodate it. The club is in a good position, drops down just above the top of my kneecap there.

Now if you had a driver, the position would be exactly the same, just above the top of my kneecap. I would stand further away for that. Likewise, closer for a wedge, but it would still hit just above my kneecap. And that’s how you get a good distance away from the ball. Check that every single time you play a shot. So I get a lot of my clients, when I’m teaching, just to have a routine where every single time the set up to the golf ball, nice address position, quick check, and then they’re good to go. And if they drop that down, they can feel, did it land in the same place as normal, if I’m too far back, I’ve missed my spot. If I carry on with this swing, there’s a chance I’m going to hit that ball from the toe, or I’m going to be off balance, trying to react for that. So if you can get a good distance away from the golf ball, that’s a real fundamental part of building a good sound consistent golf swing.