Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Consistency is the No. 1 indicator of a great golfer. Everyone can hit one good shot, or play one good hole, but the key to greatness is stringing good shots, good holes and good rounds together.
This is no easy task. Even the best players in the world make bad swings, card bogeys and shoot high scores. There’s no such thing as perfect golf. The best we can do is minimize mistakes and be as consistent as possible.
With all the moving parts in a swing, it’s very difficult to make the exact same movement on every shot. But while the moving parts of a swing are difficult to replicate, the fundamentals in the setup are not.
Things like stance, alignment and ball position aren’t the most exciting things to practice, but they are some of the easiest things to do consistently. That’s why this offseason, I’ve dedicated myself to practicing these fundamentals on every shot.
How to practice perfect ball position
Although practicing during the winter isn’t the easiest thing to do, I try to get to the simulator a couple times a week to get in some reps. In the past, I simply used this time to keep my body lose and my golf muscles working. But this offseason, I decided to become obsessed with pre-shot fundamentals.
Lately, the thing I’ve been working on the most is ball position. And for help measuring ball position, I bring a yard stick with me to every practice session.
I like to lay the yard stick on the ground pointing down my target line, and then I stand with the center of my stance right in the middle (at the 18-inch mark). Then, on every shot I hit, I put the ball in the same exact place in relation to the marks on the yard stick.
This ball position will varies for every club. For example, with my wedges, I want the ball to be right in the center of my stance, so I place it in line with the 18-inch mark before every shot. With short irons, I put the ball at the 16-inch mark. For longer irons, I move it up a little more and line the ball up with the 14-inch mark. The ball sits at 10.5 inches for fairway woods and then for driver I like it to be at the 9-inch mark.
Is it tedious to practice this way? Yes — but the benefits are worth it. No longer am I guessing or eye-balling the correct ball position. Now when I hit a shot, I know exactly where the ball should be in my stance for every club.
In a game with so many variables, it’s important to control what you can. And if you can nail your ball position on every shot, you’ll be that much closer to the. consistency that defines good golf.
