Larrazabal tip No.2: Ball position

Pablo Larrazabal, the 2008 French Open Champion and European Tour Rookie of the Year is one of the most exciting players on Tour. The energetic Spaniard, comes from a family of golfing champions and as a FootJoy amabssador, offers Golfmagic.com visitors series of great golf tips.

As I explained in my previous article about hovering the driver at address, I'm a feel player so I'm not thinking too much about technique when I'm hitting shots. I like to listen to what the shot I am facing is telling me and that will decide the type and shape of shot I will hit.

I like to feel comfortable over the ball - that is the most important thing but golfers, especially those who are new to the game must understand that the position of the ball in your stance changes depending on the length of the club in your hands.

For the longest club in my bag - the driver - I place the ball just inside my left heel. This helps me to generate power and leverage as I extend my arms through impact and give the ball maximum clubhead speed.

If you play the ball too close to the centre of your stance with your driver, you will launch the ball too low or hit weak shots as you try to compensate with your hands for the low launch.

The ball should be moved a little bit further back and closer to you for the fairway wood or the hybrid and just about the centre of your feet for the mid-irons. For the shorter irons with more loft, I'm looking for a steeper attack at the ball so most of the time the ball position is a little right of centre.

Ball position is very important but it is also important to be comfortable over the ball. Make sure you compensate for the length of the shaft - the longer the shaft the further forward in your stance.

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