How Far From The Golf Ball Should I Stand? (Video) - by Pete Styles
How Far From The Golf Ball Should I Stand? (Video) - by Pete Styles

Question I get asked an awful lot particularly relating to the set up position is how far people should stand from the ball. Now the incorrect answer here is when it’s comfortable because that just doesn’t quite cover all the basics. So people might stand to the golf ball and say, well I’m comfortable about here but they rock back on to their heels, they arch their back and that makes it comfortable for them. Another golfer might be way too far away from the ball, really stretching their arms out having their body weight on the toes and say, ‘that’s comfortable for them as well. So we do need to get you a set and consistent distance away from the golf ball for all of your shots. But that set in consistent position is not the same for every club because clearly different golf clubs have different lengths so we need to stand in very different positions with different shots.

If I was to take my pitching wedge for example I’d be standing here, a nice comfortable distance away and you can see my toes they’re just in front of this white line next to the tee but if I was to swap that over now to my driver, set myself up here because the shaft to my driver is an awful lot longer, I stand a huge distance away from the ball, maybe 12, 18 inches further back than I was originally so a very, very different setup for different clubs. However my hand and arm position and the way they relate to my body should be and can be quite similar. So if I take a pitching wedge here and set myself up, I’m this far away as I take my driver it’s almost going to be off the edge of the mat but you know just how my hands and arms actually hang to a similar position. The different distance away from the ball is not created by me; it’s created by the golf club. So, a nice checkpoint here is that, both of these shafts should just hang down and land just above my knee cap, so about an inch and a half above my knee on my left side, my front leg, that gives me the accurate distance to be away from the ball. If I’m too far away it lands too low, and if I’m too close it lands too high. Another nice checkpoint from here, just get my right distance again is my hands hang quite nicely down underneath my shoulders and then if I rotate my right hand off the golf club and relax it and then bring it back on, it hits the same position. If I was too close to the golf ball here and let go with my right hand, it would hang away from me and I can’t grab the club. Likewise if I’m too far away and stretching, I’d let my right hand go, it swings really inside the ball, inside the golf club handle sorry. So when we take our set up there, grip nicely, relax the right hand and bring it straight back on, that tells me I’m a good distance away from the ball. So every time you go and practice, every time you go and play, let’s get that consistent distance away, regardless of the club that you’ve got, the distance should land just above your knee with your right hand hanging down underneath your shoulders nicely next to the position on the grip. And that’s how you can consistently stand the correct distance from the golf ball. 2014-08-13

Question I get asked an awful lot particularly relating to the set up position is how far people should stand from the ball. Now the incorrect answer here is when it’s comfortable because that just doesn’t quite cover all the basics. So people might stand to the golf ball and say, well I’m comfortable about here but they rock back on to their heels, they arch their back and that makes it comfortable for them. Another golfer might be way too far away from the ball, really stretching their arms out having their body weight on the toes and say, ‘that’s comfortable for them as well. So we do need to get you a set and consistent distance away from the golf ball for all of your shots. But that set in consistent position is not the same for every club because clearly different golf clubs have different lengths so we need to stand in very different positions with different shots.

If I was to take my pitching wedge for example I’d be standing here, a nice comfortable distance away and you can see my toes they’re just in front of this white line next to the tee but if I was to swap that over now to my driver, set myself up here because the shaft to my driver is an awful lot longer, I stand a huge distance away from the ball, maybe 12, 18 inches further back than I was originally so a very, very different setup for different clubs. However my hand and arm position and the way they relate to my body should be and can be quite similar. So if I take a pitching wedge here and set myself up, I’m this far away as I take my driver it’s almost going to be off the edge of the mat but you know just how my hands and arms actually hang to a similar position. The different distance away from the ball is not created by me; it’s created by the golf club.

So, a nice checkpoint here is that, both of these shafts should just hang down and land just above my knee cap, so about an inch and a half above my knee on my left side, my front leg, that gives me the accurate distance to be away from the ball. If I’m too far away it lands too low, and if I’m too close it lands too high. Another nice checkpoint from here, just get my right distance again is my hands hang quite nicely down underneath my shoulders and then if I rotate my right hand off the golf club and relax it and then bring it back on, it hits the same position. If I was too close to the golf ball here and let go with my right hand, it would hang away from me and I can’t grab the club. Likewise if I’m too far away and stretching, I’d let my right hand go, it swings really inside the ball, inside the golf club handle sorry.

So when we take our set up there, grip nicely, relax the right hand and bring it straight back on, that tells me I’m a good distance away from the ball. So every time you go and practice, every time you go and play, let’s get that consistent distance away, regardless of the club that you’ve got, the distance should land just above your knee with your right hand hanging down underneath your shoulders nicely next to the position on the grip. And that’s how you can consistently stand the correct distance from the golf ball.