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The Golf Stance Part 5

How far from the ball should you stand? (Continuation)

The complete version of Golf Swing Magic contains an introductory (and very important) section about the appropriate distance you should keep from the golf ball before you take a swing at it.

The online version does not include that preliminary discussion, but this section includes a few important tips on how to calculate the most appropriate distance from the ball taking into account your own height.

How do we know what is the right distance from the golf ball?

Well, strange to say, your golf club, if it is the standard 43-inch driver, will tell you.

Measure the length of the grip. It will be about 11 inches.

Next measure from the lower end of the grip to the little colored plastic band or collar which the manufacturer has put at the top of the hosel.

You will find that the distance is 28 inches. This is the length of the bare or naked part of the shaft.

If you are from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall, the length of this naked shaft is the distance you should stand from the ball for a drive.

And by distance we mean the distance from the tee to a line drawn from the tip of one toe to the tip of the other.

Simple, isn't it? Almost too simple to be true, but that's the way it works out for the vast majority of players of average build using the normal driver.

Adjustments have to be made, of course, for persons with abnormally long or short arms and those with big waistlines.

But the basic formula is sound:

Lower your driver to the ground with the hosel collar at the tee and place your feet so that the line from toe to toe is where the grip begins.

You should now be about 28 inches from the ball.

distance from golf ball: where should you stand? How far from the ball?

Checking your distance from the ball. This shows how easy it is to measure the distance you should stand from the ball, depending on your height.

Players shorter than 5 feet 10 will stand farther away, persons taller than 6 feet 4 will stand closer, with the same standard-length driver.

A person 5 feet 8, for example, will stand about 31 inches from the ball; one 5 feet 6 will stand about 33 inches from it.

The formula holds for the other wooden clubs too, the Nos. 2, 3, and 4, in which the length of the naked shaft shortens slightly with each, and with each of which we stand a little closer to the ball.