back foot at address with driver

[itzzzberny]

i've been set up with my back foot perpendicular with my target line but i noticed i've been hitting slightly better with my back foot slightly open to the right. front foot pointing roughly 11 o'clock while my back foot is at about 12:30.
just want to see where everyone else is at but also reply with what you've heard is correct.

i remember reading in tiger wood's how i play golf, he also has his back foot slightly open to the right as well.

[geezer]

Wow, 11 votes and no responses.

I like to set up with my right (back) foot slightly away from the target. Gets a decent ammount of turn, while still keeping my lower body stable.

Of course, I'm a rubbish driver of the ball, so maybe this is the wrong thing to be doing, for me.

[Avid Golfer]

i've been set up with my back foot perpendicular with my target line but i noticed i've been hitting slightly better with my back foot slightly open to the right. front foot pointing roughly 11 o'clock while my back foot is at about 12:30.

Both the back foot square as well as the back foot flared slightly open are acceptable positions. In the 1980's the ModelGolf company (formerly known as Compusport) came to the conclusion that most players had the back foot square and advocated that position. Most modern players seem to have the back foot flared slightly. Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, and Nick Price are all golfers who played with square back feet early in their careers, but each of them changed to a slightly flared position.

If you have a problem with too much lower body movement during the backswing, weight moves outside your back foot, you're looking to reduce your hip turn, or you seek a more aggressive leg action on the downswing then the square back foot may suit you. If you have an overactive lower body movement on the downswing, lack flexibility, seek more hip turn on the backswing, or are having problems staying in balance then the flared back foot may work best for you. Here are some pictures you can look at to gage tour pros foot flare: http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/254...ballposdg0.jpg http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4...atsetupsj7.jpg

[AmenCorner]

I've always been taught square back foot, mainly to put a limit on hip turn....but that is just me.

[RyderSim]

I go with a square back foot because I think it makes my right leg more solid and creates more torque in the back swing. I have never had a problem with not enough turn, maybe to much at times.

[Dub]

I go with a square back foot because I think it makes my right leg more solid and creates more torque in the back swing. I have never had a problem with not enough turn, maybe to much at times.

That sounds about right for me, too.

I generally am open just a tad with the rear foot even though I prefer the torque of a square stance. Old football injury on my knee makes that uncomfortable....open helps the pain...but not the shot....I tend to overswing when open and have to remind myself to keep it more compact.

[LottaBalata]

I've always been taught square back foot, mainly to put a limit on hip turn....but that is just me.

After reading Hogan's book

The Five Fundamentals of Golf , I def. started keeping my back foot at 12 oclock. I try to keep my front foot at a 1/4 turn like he explains in his book. Its helped me quite a bit. I used to have both feet open, due to comfort, but we know comfort doesn't necessarily help the golfswing!

[chingali]

I've always had my back foot turned slightly open, around about in the 1 o'clock position as it has always felt more comfortable. I have messed with having it square a few times but it has made no difference to me.

One thing that I do that is not particularly usual is that I have me right knee kicked in slightly towards the target Hogan style, I picked it up very early on while I was learning and reading Hogans Modern Fundamentals book and have kept with it ever since. At setup my right knee is in a normal address position, but just before commencing my takeaway it kicks in a few inches towards the target, it's kind of like my version of a forward press, it's the key that gets me moving. Ever noticed how Nicklaus rotates his chin slightly before commencing his takeaway?

In recent years I have read many times that having the right knee "braced" was one of Hogans "keys", it certainly does seem to limit the possibility of any lateral movement. Whether it is right or not, it's about 20 years too late for me to change it.

[Jack_2251]

I've always had my back foot turned slightly open, around about in the 1 o'clock position as it has always felt more comfortable. I have messed with having it square a few times but it has made no difference to me.

Hey chingali, what course do you play?

[chingali]

Hey chingali, what course do you play?

I'm a member at Callala Bay Country Club, it's a 9 holer (plans are underway to begin building another 9) played from different tees to make up 18 and it is outrageously difficult for a shortish course. It's your typical little coastal country track, little upturned pudding bowl greens and VERY tight fairways with the added bonus of kikuyu fairways with no run, lots of wind and about 4 billion gum trees and coastal scrub. We have a few long par 4's (over 400m) where you need to drive the ball 250m+ in to 20m landing areas to leave a mid iron in, and a couple of mid to long iron par 3's to tiny well bunkered greens so it is no pushover. Silly thing is, my handicap goes down when I get out and play supposedly more difficult Group 1 tracks than when I stay at home!

I get out there most weekends and play in the comp and I also manage to get in a few additional rounds a few times a week plus most mornings I sneak away early in the mornings to hit some balls. I'd love to have a better course available to play every day of the week but the area is so beautiful and I am so happy living here that there is no chance of me ever moving. The course is about 5 minutes drive from home or about 10 minutes walk if I bash my way along a few bush tracks. I also manage to get away down the coast once a month at least to play at Mollymook and I also get out to local courses such as Worrigee, Nowra, and up around Wollongong as often as I can, usually once every month or two. I also get up to Sydney quite regularly and play at places like New South Wales, St Michaels, The Lakes etc, it's handy knowing a lot of people from my younger days when I could play bit otherwise you'd never get a game at those places. Where abouts on the Central Coast do you play? I used to play up there quite a bit about 20 years ago, I've played pretty much everywhere decent up there quite a few times.

[ganjagolfer]

on shots where a i want to hit a duck hook, i set up like a duck with both front and back feet pointing out at 45 degree angle

[Jack_2251]

I play at Tuggerah, Wyong and Gosford, but I am a member at everglades.
Everglades is much the same as what you described : Short, tight and small greens.
I haven't played much sydney golf, and the ones I have played I haven't enjoyed as much as Hunter regions and Country Courses.

[Chas]

I used to be a 90 deg guy but now I'm more of a 12:30 player. Maybe it's just that I'm getting stiff in my old age.

Nice post AvidGolfer. Makes sense.

[mikelz]

I go with a square back foot because I think it makes my right leg more solid and creates more torque in the back swing. I have never had a problem with not enough turn, maybe to much at times.

I'm with you. I don't want any hip turn on the backswing. I want shoulder turn and a solid base.

[MrKadash]

I've had my back foot ever so slightly open ever since I took up the game. It never occurred to me to try anything else --- I know, enlightening post. My front foot is another matter, as I have always tinkered with it.

[lolzzlolzz]

One correct stance... left foot turned out a quarter of a turn, and right foot straight forwards at 12' o clock.

Turning the right foot to the right kills tension between the hips and your upper body, which you need for power.

[Avid Golfer]

One correct stance... left foot turned out a quarter of a turn, and right foot straight forwards at 12' o clock.

Its

not true that the right foot needs to be square to produce power. Nick Price wrote in his book the Swing that he was worried about that before he switched to a flared foot, but he found flaring his foot did not negatively effect his distance. Look at the long drive champion Jason Zuback in the swing sequence photo linked below. His back (right) foot is flared out at address. http://golfzilla.ca/assets/0/24/77ca...94fc363e1e.jpg Look at Fred Couples (in the top 10 in Driving Distance this year) in the picture below (wearing white visor and white shirt). He also has his back foot flared. http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/254...ballposdg0.jpg Look at Charles Howell III (considered along with Sergio Garcia to be one of the best pound for pound drivers of the golf ball on the PGA Tour), and Adam Scott (also in the top 10 in Driving Distance this year) in the picture below both of whom have their right foot flared. http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4...atsetupsj7.jpg Need any additional proof?

[lolzzlolzz]

Maybe you're right... I still think a flared right foot brings more problems than what it does to help the swing... which makes me wonder...

what is the purpose of letting the foot angle out from 12 o clock? how does it help the swing at all?