Where exactly should the ball be in your situation? Top 100 teachers have a system

You need golf and a golf ball.

Plus two alignment sticks.

And Cameron McCormick’s formula.

And with those, he says, you can get the right pitch width and ball shape.

The insight comes via an Instagram video a GOLF Top 100 teacher posted this week – and it just might take your swing off the ball. Place your feet too close or too far apart, and you’ll be mishit. Set the ball too far forward or too far back in your stance, and you’ll be off.

Below is the video. Below are some notes.

In this video, Jordan Spieth’s long-time coach put the ball down, put the golf club to the right and towards him, and put another club in line with him. The front steering wheel serves as a bookshelf; his feet work like others. The last guide rod helps to measure.

With that setup, McCormick’s formula is (for the right fielder):

— For the driver, the left foot should be 7 inches from the ball, and the right foot 18 inches away.

– On a 4-iron, the left foot should be 10 inches from the ball, the right foot 12 inches from the ball.

– On the 8 iron, the left foot should be 10 centimeters from the ball, the right foot 10.5 centimeters from the ball.

– For the lob wedge, the left foot should be 10 inches from the ball, and the right foot 8.5 inches.

Good stuff. Now, are the ratings universal? No, it isn’t; the players are not the same. But McCormick’s alignment rod setup can be used to build your own formula.

Let’s keep the discussion of the football field going. Last December, GOLF’s Jessica Marksbury wrote an article titled “The no-nonsense way to find your ball position at every club,” and you can read that article by clicking here, or scrolling down.

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Improper ball positioning is one of the easiest ways to get yourself into the wrong lane on the field.

I know this from experience: For some reason, I tend to play the ball too far for my situation. When I was first told about this issue, I was shocked. Moving the ball up a smidge has done wonders for my shot quality, without making any changes to my swing.

That’s why I was interested in asking Top 100 Teacher Kellie Stenzel for her best advice on how to create a no-nonsense ballpark system that can work until the bag runs out.

“Everyone is different,” Stenzel said. So I think the easiest way is to just practice with whatever club you’re hitting and see how the club hits the ground.

A golfer’s pivot and weight transfer can vary, depending on the player, Stenzel says, which is why paying attention to your swing in practice helps a lot.

“If your club wants to hit the ground in the middle of your stance in your practice swing, your ball position should be slightly forward of center,” says Stenzel.

Another way to determine where to put the ball is to pay attention to your misses.

“If you hit it fat, you might be hitting the ground where the ball should be,” said Stenzel. “Try to move the ball where you hit down, back or in the middle.”

This method also helps when you encounter uneven lies, says Stenzel.

“If you have a rising lie and practice swing, you might see a divot a little behind center on a right-handed golfer, and if that’s the case, get the ball back,” he said. “Put the ball in the spot where the throw tells you.”