How far should you hold a golf club and stand from the ball? The correct distance from the ball is similar to the correct distance you should park your car to the curb.
If you don’t pull your car into the parking space enough, you leave your tail out in the road to be kissed. If you drive in too far into the space, you’ll hear it from your front spoiler or grill.
How far you hold the club and stand from the ball can be really as simple as this statement: “One hand size from the butt of the club to your body.”
However, if it was that easy, we wouldn’t have to talk about it.
The proper distance from the ball ultimately starts with good posture. When you’re set up in an athletic and balanced posture, it will allow your arms to hang and hold the club the proper distance from your body.
A good exercise to make sure you are set up in good posture is to stand tall with arms extended and club pointed up in the air. Let your arms fall toward the ground, then tilt your torso forward from the hips.
It’s important you tilt your torso from the hips and not reach with your arms, where you upper back is rounded. Then unlock your knees slightly and unhinge your wrists where the club is on the ground.
When looking at your golf posture from the down-the-line view, you should be able to imagine a straight line from the back of your shoulders, down the front of your knees and through the balls of your feet. When the club is resting on the ground, the butt end of the club should be pointing at your belt buckle.
From a proper posture, the ideal distance the end of the club should be from your body is about a hand width. This holds true for every club.
The most common error is standing too far away from the golf ball, where your arms are reaching forward and a dozen fists that could fit between the club and your pants. This error will derail your backswing from the start by forcing the club too far to the inside, requiring you to lift the club and then deliver the club over the top and slice the ball.
It’s rare to stand too close to the ball. But if you are, it will likely force you to stand too tall in your posture and create a steeper swing plane. However, the closer you are to the ball, the more help you’ll get with your chipping and putting; it forces you to swing more straight back and through and less on an arc, creating better consistency.
So the next time you go and park yourself up to your golf ball, start with your posture by standing tall and extending your arms, then let your arms fall, tilt from the waist, bend your knees slightly and let the club lay on the ground. A simple hand width will do.
Peter Harris is the director of Golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears weekly in the Recreation page during the golf season.