Marc: Welcome to the Golf is Hard TV, the golf show for the rest of us.
Dave: We are getting there, full swing stuff, you want to ask some question today.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: Or maybe I had pointed it out--
Marc: You pointed out. So it was a par through, it's about --
Dave: Say about 150.
Marc: About 145 yards, that’s right, wind is blowing left to right, 7 Iron because my new distance on a 7 Iron is actually 150, which is mind blowing for me, but that’s a distance. I hit the ball, hit it a little thin, it was a little short and Dave pointed out that my ball position was wrong and that was actually causing some issues. So this episode is about ball position and I think it is going to be an important show to understand where to put the ball when you hit it.
Dave: Yeah, it's very, very important and here is this what happened with him, his ball is a little bit too far forward and we will explain this. The ball went -- it was great swing, pretty good contact, the divot was -- the bottom of this one is probably right under the ball, it should be in front of the ball, we know that from prior episodes.
Marc: That’s right.
Dave: Which cause the ball to go much too high and the wind took it pushed it back, end up being little short of the green, whereas just by simply moving up ball back about two ball widths back in the stance, that would have been a nice and low boring shot right in the middle of the green. So that’s a difference.
Marc: It is still part of that hole by the way.
Dave: Yeah, it is, a great chip. Where did you learn how to chip that was?
Marc: -- this is the Internet thing, Golf is Hard TV and you might have heard of it. Alright let me go with the camera and you talk about ball position.
Dave: Okay, ball position. Okay, folks here we go, ball position and you can see I setup a club here. This ball is obviously going to be right in the middle of my stance, typically this is the way I kind of judge it is if I have a 6, 7, 8 Iron; ball is pretty much going to be right in the middle of my stance. I am just talking about a normal trajectory shot. If I am going to hit it lower, I might put it more back in my stance with that 7 Iron, but that’s different episode and we will talk a bit about that.
This is just what type of ball position do we want to do have on a normal shot, normal full swing and you have heard a lot of different things, move it forward with the longer Iron, back with the wedges and we will talk about why and I think that is really the right way to go as we are learning the game. So a 7-Iron and this is a great way for you all to start positioning your ball. So, if you have a 7-Iron, put it right in the middle of your stance. There you go, that’s a good 7-Iron ball position. Now we have a wedge in our hand, then you are probably going to move it back about two ball widths right there, you can see and this is probably more or less where I would position a wedge, somewhere here or maybe a ball and a half. I would probably put the wedge actually right about there and that would be a full pitching from the fairway. The question is why do we do that and Marc, I just heard you ask why. Didn't I?
Marc: You did, I was thinking actually why.
Dave: Why do we do that?
Marc: I don’t know.
Dave: And that’s why we are all about here on Golf is Hard, explaining the why and the concept.
Marc: Dave why? I mean I just have no idea, but seriously though because you are talking about a half an inch.
Dave: Yeah.
Marc: And you are making a big deal of it.
Dave: Right.
Marc: So it is a big deal?
Dave: Yeah it is a big deal. Let’s talk about your 7-Iron.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: That was about, probably a much too far forward. So the bottom of the swing was right under the ball, it should have been out in front of the ball, would have been a lower shot, it would have been at the trajectory the club was actually designed.
Marc: Right.
Dave: So you would have hit that shot with proper ball position, would have gone off with that trajectory and you can see if it is a little more far forward, you can see how that club is now pointing more up. So now you are hitting it higher and you also have to make sure you time it perfectly because most of the time you are going to hit that thin.
Marc: That’s right.
Dave: Or you are going to hit it flat, same thing because the bottom of the swing now is moving back when your ball is too far forward.
Marc: So inches here matter. So as you were talking, I was thinking, boy, the difference is maybe half an inch, an inch, but it is actually a big deal.
Dave: Yeah and here is the why. That’s part of the why; this is why in terms of what’s happening physically.
Marc: From a physique standpoint.
Dave: Okay, I will need a little run to swing here. So, okay we talked about ball -- this ties in to hit the little ball before the big ball to some degree, but we are going to keep it very simple. Remember the bottom of the swing is at the sternum. So if I am taking a full swing with the wedge and this is right, full swing with the wedge now, I am going to move it back in my stance, I have a little weight left, my bottom of the swing is in the front of the ball with the wedge as I am just setup there now because the ball is back.
And a full swing with a wedge, you are just not going to pivot back to the right side, you want to keep everything in front of the ball. So I want to play it, I want to play it -- that was a great shot by the way. I want to play it towards the back of my swing -- towards the back of my stance because I want to make sure that I get the bottom of the swing out in front of the ball. Now 7-Iron, middle of my stance; it is a longer club, it is still a full swing but there just is going to be a little more pivot back on to the right side with a 7-Iron and we get to the driver which in longest call, there is the most pivot back to the right side.
So with the ball in the middle of my stance now, I am going to pivot back and as I start to come down without keeping it very simple as I pivot down and through I end up actually in the same position as I would with the wedge, but because there is more pivot, the bottom still in front, the ball start in the middle of my stance. Now if I have a 3 or 4 Iron, I want to play that a little more forward and I am going to cover off on one more thing here with relative to ball position which is also very important.
So a 3 or 4 Iron which we are actually not hitting for, let's say, Hybrids, we although have 3s and 4s, probably try a 4 or 5 Iron and probably a Hybrid. Any longer club you can play it a little more forward in the stance. There is certainly more pivot and by the time you get back to that ball you are going to have pivot it through the bottom of the swing is going to be in front of the ball.
Now let me just make one last very important point on why we move the ball and it has to do with how steeply the club is swinging down into the ball. You know we might have to redo this whole episode because it is -- alright, let’s keep going, you can work it out. So --
Marc: How about just going to leave that in.
Dave: No, it might be good to leave it in. Okay, so we talked about ball position in terms of pivoting, bottom of the swing, being in front of the ball very, very important. How much divot do you take with a Hybrid Marc of the fairway versus say a wedge or a 5 Iron? As 5 Iron compared to a wedge.
Marc: 5 Iron to wedge? More divot with the wedge.
Dave: Yeah, exactly.
Marc: Is that right?
Dave: Yeah.
Marc: Excellent. I win something?
Dave: You do, you won a Golf is Hard TV hat.
Marc: Alright.
Dave: Well how do we get it made? Any hat manufacturers out there you want to partner up with us, give us a call or send us an E-mail. Okay, so that’s exactly it and that's another reason why we want to play the ball a little more forward with the longer Irons or a Hybrid of the fairway as there is a lot less divot in that shot. When we get to the bottom of the swing, it is slightly in front of the ball still, but it is not as severely steep like a wedge and you don’t want it to be. So the ball position allows you to kind of sweep, you are still hitting down and through, but that ball position out in front will allow you to have a little more of a sweeping motion, it is a lower, obviously it is a less lofted club, a lower more boring trajectory.
And there you go, I hope I answered the question about ball position, why do we play a little more backward with the wedges, why do we play in the middle with a 6 or 7, a little more forward with a long Iron or a Hybrid, ball position.
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