When I am giving lessons to new students, more times than not I have to adjust how far or close they stand to the ball when they are hitting their irons. Almost always I find golfers stand too far away, so let’s focus our attention on that.
Most golfers don’t have a clear understanding of what is correct. They just do what is comfortable. Their arms, especially the right arm on right-handed golfers, are rigid and locked in a stiff, un-athletic manner.
This is one of the root causes of poor swing mechanics. Extending the arms so far away from the body creates a myriad of problems. “Reaching,” as I call it, throws everything off—it changes the optimum swing plane, which creates a poor swing-path; it throws your balance off and makes it difficult to make solid, consistent contact with your irons.
In addition to that, being too far away from the ball and over-extending your arms actually reduces your club-head speed so you won’t hit the ball as far and certainly not as straight.
Your address position is the foundation for the entire golf swing and if you begin in an improper position, you greatly decrease the odds of hitting a good golf shot.
Hopefully this photograph will explain and make it easy for you to understand how to get into a proper set-up position. It’s pretty simple. I really only look for one thing: I want to see the toes, the butt end of the grip and the center of the shoulder on the same vertical line.
If those three things are touching that line, you’ll be in great shape!
I know, when hitting a ball your view isn’t from the same angle as shown in the photo, so how do you know if you are set up properly?
All you have to do is let your arms hang straight down. Don’t reach.
There needs to be a little softness in the right arm. If you set up like this, you’ll find a lot of your swing issues will be diminished. Many of you will feel, at first that you are standing too close to the ball but I can assure you, you are not. If you feel that way it’s because you got into a bad habit and were too far away from the ball to begin with.
As Byron Nelson said, “You can never stand too close to the ball.”
I find that many older golfers I have given lessons to don’t have their hands on this vertical line. Want to know why? Because as many men age, their bellies gets bigger. As the belly grows bigger, the arms naturally reach more away from the body because their gut is in the way.
Hey, no shame, it happened to me too.
Again, this causes the swing plane to change and golfers then will swing more with their arms and less with their torso, and that’s the reason many of you wonder why you don’t play golf as well or hit the ball as far as you used to. If you are conscious of this fact and do a little maintenance and make sure you are not “reaching,” you can continue playing awesome golf even though your body is no longer so awesome.
Remember, this relates to irons only. With your hybrids and woods, your arms need to extend away from the body somewhat because the clubs are longer and you hit these clubs with more of a sweeping motion.
Try this and your swing will feel more fluid and athletic. Your path will be better. Your contact will be better. The ball will fly longer and straighter. You’ll once again get that great feeling of hitting your irons in the sweet spot.
The coachofgolf is shutting it down for the year. Thanks to everyone for the great response and a special thanks to Saratoga TODAY for giving me a forum to share with you. I’ll be back in March of 2014. If you have ideas for future articles you’d like me to address, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. In the meantime, have a blessed holiday season.
Fred Fruisen is the coachofgolf. Fruisen is a PGA Professional and the head golf coach at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. For more lessons, go to the website coachofgolf.com. For personal instruction, call (518) 565-7350.
