Ball Position in relation to body

[David]

This question relates to ball position distance from your body. As I understand it your stance at address should be slightly rounded with the arms bent slightly, hands positioned about a fist length from your thighs. At impact however, this position changes with your arms straight at impact among other body changes. Not considering where the ball is along the target line (below the front ear), where should the club be placed behind the ball at setup so that at impact you have the best chance of center strike?

A second related question is, given your hands are placed approximately a fist length from your thighs at setup, at impact has this changed? To me it feels like my hands and therefore the shaft are actually getting closer and on top of my body. Wouldn’t this dictate a set up position where the ball is lined up with the hosel of the club or does that shaft of the club flatten to move it towards the ball more despite being pulled in?

Thanks

[Tathata Staff]

David,

Thank you for your question. Given the level of detail in your question it seems like you have acquired a deep understanding of many of the program’s principles. To answer your first question, ideally we would like to see the club setup behind the ball so that the ball is in the middle of the sweet spot. As it relates to your second question let’s first look at a few of the differences between the setup and impact positions.

At impact:

a) the glutes are pushed back slightly more

b) the chest and ribs have lifted

c) the hands and arms are still 1 fist length away from the thighs or so but because the chest/ribs are lifted they may feel like they are closer to your torso

d) the arms have straightened to account for the lifting of the chest/ribs

e) knee flex is fairly similar

Given these differences they all end up averaging out throughout the motion so that we can setup with the hands a fist length away from the ball and return the shaft to the same plane it was at address with the hands a fist length away from the thighs or slightly less. If the chest/rib cage only raised you can see how this would move the hands closer to the ball. We push back in the glutes and straighten the arms to counterbalance this. Interestingly and something never talked about in the golf swing is how the hands and shaft angle actually work up just before impact to the position they are at impact as the body begins thrusting. It sounds like your understanding of the principles are spot on. If we can provide further clarity please let us know.

[David]

Thanks. got it.