By Kim Jeong-kyoo
Korea Times Golf Columnist
To hit the ball flush you need to set up properly so an efficient swing is made repeatedly without manipulation during the swing. It is hard to be a consistent golfer unless you develop a swing that repeats without manipulating your in-swing movements. Swinging the club itself is almost out of control. The only things that you can control are your pre-swing preparations including grip, posture, alignment and ball position.
To hit the ball consistently well it is smart to focus on what you can control. It is not reasonable to strive to keep things that are out of your control under your control.
All the components of the pre-swing preparations are important, but the ball position is one of the most critical elements for successful shot. Even the greatest golfers cannot hit the ball perfectly without placing the ball at a right spot. When the ball position is not proper, you will produce poor shot, however good swing you make. Ball position is that vital to shot quality.
Happily enough, you can control the ball position as perfectly as the top pros do, once you learn it correctly.
For short- and mid-irons place the ball just behind the lowest point of your swing arc. That allows the clubhead to strike the ball on a slightly descending angle of approach, creating a divot in front of the ball.
For a pitching wedge the ball needs to be placed just opposite your sternum and the ball is played gradually farther left from there as the club length increases. The longer the club, the more left the ball needs to be positioned.
Ball positions for long irons and fairway woods are between your body center and left hip-joint. That reduces the clubhead's angle of approach to the ball, making divots become gradually smaller and shallower as the club lengthens. With long irons and fairway woods you need to sweep the ball off the grass with a level or slightly descending angle of approach.
When the ball is hit off the tee with a driver, the ball is positioned across the outside of your left hip or just opposite your left instep. That position is in front of the lowest point of your swing arc and encourages a slightly ascending angle of approach of the clubhead to the ball.
Avoid positioning the ball too far forward or backward in your stance. Placing the ball too far forward in your stance causes you to align your body open relative to the ball-target line and positioning the ball too far backward causes you to set up with your body closed.
The clubhead tends to move along the shoulder line and with your shoulders open you will swing the club back outside the ball-target line, returning it to the ball on a steep path that is from outside the ball-target line. You will produce either a pull to the left or pull-slice depending upon the clubface alignment at impact.
You will also hit a lot of topped and thin shots if you play the ball too far forward in your stance.
Similarly, with your shoulders closed, you will swing the club inside the ball-target line going back, pushing it to the right or hooking it.
Also crucial to solid ballstriking on the sweetspot of the clubface is the distance from the ball.
You will produce weak hooks off the toe of the clubface if you stand too far from the ball, and you will hit heeled shots to the right if you stand too close to the ball.
To stand properly without crowding or standing too far away from the ball, stand erect with your feet shoulder-width apart and bend at the waist, keeping your spine straight and allowing your arms to hang loosely from your shoulders. Then, flex your knees till the kneecaps are directly over your insteps. All done correctly, your forefingers will be pointing to the tips of your toes.
Unless you establish the correct distance from the ball at address, you cannot hit the ball solidly as you will lose your balance. Your body balances itself during the swing and you are forced to fall forward toward the toes or backward toward the heels if you stand too close to or too far from the ball.