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Does having the ball too far forward cause a slice?

Author

Emma Payne

Published Jan 13, 2026

Be careful not to play the ball too far forward, however, as this will only exacerbate that slice and lead to even more left-to-right curve. Once you establish ball position, make sure to get your body aligned correctly--in particular, your shoulders. They should be square, or parallel left, of your target line.

What causes your ball to slice?

A slice happens when a sidespin is put on the ball, causing it to curve to the right for a right-handed player and to the left for a left-handed player. Sidespin to the right is caused when the clubface is open (pointed right) relative to the path the club is traveling as the club impacts the ball.

What happens when ball position is too far forward?

The forward ball position shifts the shoulders open to the target, which leads to an out-to-in swing and usually a slice. Standing too far from the ball pulls the upper body downward, leading to a compensating stand-up move through impact, another common cause of the slice.

Is my driver ball position too far forward?

When the ball is too far forward while hitting the driver, you will have trouble 'reaching' the ball at impact – meaning you will hit the ball low on the face most of the time. If you feel that impact is taking place low on the face, try moving the ball back in your stance an inch or two.

What happens if you stand too far away from golf ball?

Standing too far from the golf ball will result in poor posture, which could result in inconsistent shots and no control over the ball. Standing too far can result in less distance, heel shots, and can cause you to lose balance easily. Standing too far from the ball is pretty common for beginner players.

33 related questions found

Why am I topping the ball with my irons?

Typically, a ball is topped because the club has not gone far enough down towards the ball or you catch the ball on the way up, instead of at the bottom point. A lot of things can cause this to happen: A club that's too short. An awkward stance.

Is my golf posture too upright?

If your posture and spine angle are too upright, your swing plane will be too upright and this means that as you swing the golf club away from the golf ball, the club head will move too vertically up from the alignment pole.

How does ball position affect driver?

Ball position allows you to make contact with the ball at the right angle and with the correct face angle. If you never change your ball position, you'll probably struggle to hit some shots because your clubs weren't all meant to be hit the same.

Should hands be in front of ball with driver?

The ball should be positioned forward in the stance therefore you DO NOT start with your hands ahead of the ball at set up. Because the ball is on a tee, the driver will hit the ball on the upswing and your hands will be in the middle of your body at impact. Your hands will not be forward at impact with the driver!

How far should you be from the golf ball?

The ideal distance you stand from the ball is best measured by taking your bottom hand off the club at address and seeing if the butt end of the club is a hand span from your front leg. Checking the separation between the end of the club and your leg will help you swing the club on the proper plane.

Where should the ball be when putting?

Your ball should be positioned just forward of the middle of your stance. Determining how close the ball should be to your body is a bit more complicated. It is generally agreed that you should set your putting posture so that your eyes are positioned directly above or just slightly inside of the ball.

How important is ball position in golf?

Golf ball position is one aspect that affects the direction the ball travels. Moving the position of the ball forward or backward, even just a little bit, will result in a noticeable change in the flight and direction of the ball.

What causes a high slice?

The most common cause of a slice is an open club face. This open club face will give you contact that isn't square and often feels like a “side swipe.” The most common cause of an open club face is an incorrect grip as your hand position will directly reflect in the face.

How do I stop slicing?

Strengthening your grip by rotating your lead hand clockwise (so you can see more knuckles) will prevent you being able to open the face so much on the downswing. And it will also promote a closed (or closing) face. Sometimes that's all it takes to fix a slice.

Does a strong grip fix a slice?

TIP FOR YOUR GRIP: Set your left thumb on the back side of the grip and your right one on top. If you hit a lot of slices, you should "strengthen" your left-hand position on the club. All you have to do is grip it more in the fingers, as opposed to the palm.

Does a wider stance help in golf?

A stance just wider than your shoulders: Gives you a stable platform over which you can turn your upper body. Encourages your hips to stay level throughout the swing; the left hip is likely to drop when your stance is too narrow, causing mis-hit shots.

How does tee height affect driving distance?

Does Tee Height Effect Driver Distance? The height of your tee effects your swing path into impact, especially with the driver. This, in turn, will have an influence on the spin that the ball will have on it. Teeing the ball up can help vastly reduce the spin on your drives and so increase distance.

How does ball position affect shot shape?

Positioning the ball back in your stance tends to produce less-lofted shots, since you've forced the club to come into impact on a steeper angle of attack. As you move the ball forward in your stance, your swing gets shallower and the face tends to remain open.

How far should you be from the ball with a driver?

The right pinky touches the left thigh while the right thumb sticks out to the butt end of the driver. A fist and a stretched out thumb works well too. For a golfer who is 6′ and up, this distance usually ends up around 7 inches from thigh to the butt of the club. For golfers around 5'4″-5'10”, it is around 6 inches.

What is the correct tee height for driver?

From a poll of GOLF's Top 100 Teachers, the ideal tee height is about 1.5 inches for driver. A good checkpoint is that half the ball “peeks” above the crown after you sole the club at address. For a 3-wood, peg it about half an inch and just a quarter inch with an iron.

Should you stand tall in the golf swing?

Standing tall makes it easy to turn through the shots and easy to turn in the backswing – it suits a lot of golfers. Jason Day and Rory McIlroy have very athletic postures because they work out a lot and this helps them really stand over the ball, but this type of posture might not be for everyone.

Does posture affect golf swing?

Poor posture causes a range of negative knock-on issues in the golf swing and be a major power leak because of the way it limits your ability to turn. “Rotation in the spine is going to occur better when it's straighter,” Rick Sessinghaus, Collin Morikawa's longtime coach, says.

Why am I topping the ball with my fairway woods?

One common reason that amateur golfers may get into the habit of topping fairway woods is that they are trying to help the ball up off the ground. When you look down at address, you see that your three wood, for example, doesn't have a lot of loft.