Distance from ball for shorter golfer

I am a shorter golfer, 5'8", and have had a lot of trouble hitting my irons consistently. It was just pointed out to me a couple of days ago that my irons were not lying flat when I take my stance. The toe may be a inch or so raised from the ground.

I have found that if I take my stance farther from the ball, the club lies flat on the ground and my left arm is in line with the shaft. Using this stance, I'm making better contact with my irons than I ever made before--much more consistent and more solid.

My question is this: is it normal for shorter golfers to make such an adjustment? I feel more power in my new stance, but I am wondering if I should have the lie of the clubs changed so that I can take my stance with my arms hanging straight down.

Bill

hey billly the kid,
you said
"I have found that if I take my stance farther from the ball, the club lies flat on the ground and my left arm is in line with the shaft. Using this stance, I'm making better contact with my irons than I ever made before--much more consistent and more solid"
since you have seen the results I do not need to give you and explanation other then I REALLY like the description of what you are doing. With the toe up as high as you said it was previously it is OBVIOUS you had too much angle between left arm and shaft. Now it is OK to have some angle but not much

IT is ALL about the set up

Standing too close to the ball is bad. You need to make room to allow your arms to swing on a wide arc going back and a shallower one coming down. If youre stood too close you are inhibiting both of these things.

Look at the Goose at address for example

http://content-golf.live.advance.net...osenswing7.jpg

See how his hands are 'low' and in line with his eyes, and the angle of the club to the ground is correct. Very atheletic and not crowded in any way

2 keys to stance

1) Proper body tilt - buttocks extending beyond the heels. slight knee flex
and body tilt about 25 to 45 degrees.
2) Arms should hand basically straight down from the shoulders, or slightly extended. Reaching too mcuh for the ball will only give you a false sense of power. As a rough guide, if you hold the club with the left hand, you should be able to swing the right hand between the left hand grip and the left thigh.

Re: lie angle - remember, the shaft bends down as you swing so the should be some angle as it sets on the ground. The degree of angle depends on your swing. If you hitting well, don't worry about it.

Thanks, guys.

What confuses me is that what I read about the setup says that your arms should hang down from the shoulders at address and from there lay the club in your hands. Jim Flick writes about how Hogan (or was it Snead?) didn't carry anything in his right pocket because he didn't want it to interfere with his backswing. Obviously, such a backswing would require a stance much closer to the ball than what I have.

It seems logical that if one has the standard length of clubs, one will have either to stand closer or farther away and/or incline less or more at the spine according to one's height in order to have the same angle.

For instance, Goose's photos are with the driver, but when he hits a mid-iron, doesn't he set up closer to the ball? My setup with the mid-iron would be like his setup with the driver. Goose is 6', so he has me by four inches.

Also, if you have one-plane swing, do you not set up a little farther from the ball?

It seems that either my stance is okay because it seems to be working, or I need to have the angle of the lie of my clubs changed in order to be able to stand a bit closer to the ball.

And I know, someone should say, "You think too much---just hit the ball!"

Bill

1) The distance from the ball is only affected by the length of the club. You setup otherwise should not vary, except postion of the ball and distance between the feet.

2) And yes, according to Hardy, one planers have more spine tilt and arms slightly more extended.

3) I don't know much about club fittting, but i believe there is some tape you can put at the bottom of your irons to see where the iron meets the ground. the mark should be in the middle.