There are 4 fundamentals to a good setup position that every golf pro should teach. They are grip, alignment, posture and ball position, which we could discuss in more detail if you contact me. But, I like to add a fifth, which is distance from the ball. There are 2 (of these 5 fundamentals) that I think are really important to always remember in order to get the right setup over the golf ball.
The first is distance from the ball. I’ve been asked many times by many of my students (over the past 17 years) how to know how far away to stand from the ball. Well, my answer for them is that your hands should always hang freely under your shoulders and be about a fist width from your waist. Then, your actual distance from the ball will change based upon the different clubs with different lengths.
The second factor which is important in setup is ball position, as it changes whether you’re hitting short irons, mid irons, or long irons and woods (from the back of the stance to more forward in the stance accordingly). As for long irons and hybrids, I like to play them just inside my front foot. As for woods, I have pretty much the same ball position (as with the long irons and hybrids) except for the driver. I like to play the big stick usually right in line with my front foot, however you could position it anywhere from just inside the left foot to just in front of the left foot, based upon what feels comfortable to you and produces the best results. Just also remember that the trajectory of your ball flight will change based upon a more back (lower trajectory) or more forward (higher trajectory) ball position.