Like a few others I have been mucking around with the ball position recently - just trying to find a way to make it simple on course. When I practice I often use alignment rods and it makes the process pretty simple. I go with the club head off the left heel approach recommended by Tom. On course it is not as simple for some reason so I worked out a method that seems to make it a lot easier for my brain to understand.
I start with a comfortable shoulder width stance and put the pall in the middle. When I stand over the ball my brain can feel the ball is indeed centered and I tested this many times using the alignment rods. Form there when I put some weight on my left side the ball position shifts to my right eye - again I can feel this very consistently, and my club path low point is just ahead of the ball. Then I just keep my left foot in place and move my right back, depending on what club I have in my hand, to get the balance and power position I want.
With this method it makes it easier for me to consistently move the ball forward or back in my stance if I want to move the ball at all - which I am learning to do. This works for pretty much all clubs with the exception of the driver which I still prefer to have more forward. It just feels right and keeps me from hitting the ball to much on the heel.
AE
Interesting discussion because Nicklaus maintained a constant ball position (or so he illustrated in his books), meaning he aligned the ball to the inside of his lead heel. After that he adjusted his trail foot forward or back pending the length of the club. I'm sure he actually did move the ball around, but in the grand scheme of things it makes sense to position the ball at the low point, which is (more or less) slightly to the right of the lead armpit. Moving the ball around is fine, but IMO one should only do so after one can consistently hit the low point.
Tom' setup of centering the ball a club width from the left heel and then adjusting the stance for each club by moving the back leg to the right seems to conflict with his system for controlling draws and fades based on moving the ball more forward or further back on the arc of the grid. The latter method works well for shaping shots but it changes one's relationship to the ball, a practice which Tom stresses to avoid.
Thanks for sharing your system for ball placement to control the shot shape. I follow Tom's "grid" system and it translates to the course pretty well so fat. To start, set up with an imaginary ball in line with the Left heel (I'm right handed), then place the ball one club length to the right of that line and open the face slightly and take a normal swing. It should be inside out or neutral but not out to in and gives a straight shot or baby draw. To increase the draw, move the ball to the right, opening up the club face with tracing the path of the "grid" arc making sure that you shallow the club in the downswing. This is the easiest, most consistent method to hit draws that I have encountered. It takes all the guess work out of it. Hitting fades is follows the same system... you just move the ball forward of the "neutral point". I agree that with the driver its not quite that simple. You get more distance placing the ball forward but in my experience that often results in a fade or worse. I think you are supposed to compensate by increasing the forward tilt (the "reverse K") at setup but doing so doesn't work consistently for me yet. I wonder if violating the Stack and Tilt code a bit by momentarily shifting the weight to the right leg on the backswing would help. Suggestions?!
Sound like you've engineered that to suit yourself quite well, Alan! This is definitely one of those areas where we need to infuse a bit of our individuality and then let our ball striking and shot shape be our guide.
Nice work, and thanks for sharing your process!!