How far forward is your ball position on a 7 iron? Mine crept 2 inches

[LinksLover]

Filmed my swing last week for the first time in about a year and almost fell over. My 7 iron ball position had drifted to basically my front foot. No wonder I've been fighting thin shots and the occasional chunk all season.

Went back and looked at old footage from a couple years ago and the ball was sitting center, maybe a hair forward of center. Somewhere along the way I started creeping it forward, probably chasing a higher flight or trying to "cover" the ball or whatever drill was trendy that month. Classic.

Moved it back to just inside my left heel for mid irons, center for short irons, and hit about 40 balls off real turf yesterday that were as pure as anything I've hit in months. Same swing, same grip, same everything. Only difference was where the ball was sitting on the ground.

Which makes me think half of us are out here grinding on drills when the real problem is just ball position. Feels obvious in hindsight.

So where do you all play it? 7 iron specifically. Middle, left heel, somewhere in between? And has yours moved over the years without you noticing?

[DrivingRange_Dan]

Oh man the creeping ball position thing is SO real. Mine went the opposite direction though, I drifted it back toward center and started hitting these low pull draws I couldn't explain for like two months. Filmed it, ball was basically off my back instep. Brutal.

For the 7 iron I'm about a ball and a half inside the left heel. But here's my hot take, and I'll probably get roasted for it: ball position is usually a symptom, not the disease. If your low point is behind the ball you'll unconsciously creep it forward to make contact work at all. Then you "fix" it by moving the ball back and it feels amazing for three weeks until the low point drifts again and you're back to square one. Been there, done that, bought the shirt.

The turf vs mats thing is what really messes people up too. Mats let you get away with murder on forward ball position because the club just bounces off and skids into the ball. Real turf? Fat city. I'd bet half the guys who "suddenly" discovered their ball position was off play mostly off mats.

Have you tried putting an alignment stick or even a tee in the ground at your ball position when you practice? Sounds dumb but it stops the creep, because you literally can't lie to yourself about where it is. I do it maybe once a month now and it's kept me honest.