How far apart are your feet at address?

[1par2win]

Made an observation this week-end. In the past I have been told I have a narrow stance and have worked at getting my feet about as wide as my shoulders. My ball striking (irons in particular) has been worse this year and finally I decided that I would address the ball how it feels comfortable to me. My feet as it turn out are slightly inside my shoulders. It isn't Bobby Jones narrow but my feet are closer together than most. The effect was my ball striking was much more solid and accurate but I did lose a bit of distance. My opinion is I will take the accuracy of hitting more GIR and taking one more club than trying to pound iron shots into greens. I hit 6 out of 9 greens in reg and played the back 9 3 over. Just wanted to know if anyone else had addressed this issue of stance.

[jlund]

When I set up for an iron shot my feet are slightly insde my shoulders. But when I set up for a Driver or Fairway Wood shot, I widen the stance a bit.

[drocpdp]

My instructor told me my feet were too narrow too... I keep mine shoulder wide... It seems too wide... but i guess my shoulders are wide...

Put a club on your shoulders... measure how wide they are.... and then put that same measurement on your foot width...

It helps stability etc. and helps with your swing and various turns, etc...

[bunkerputt]

Made an observation this week-end. In the past I have been told I have a narrow stance and have worked at getting my feet about as wide as my shoulders. My ball striking (irons in particular) has been worse this year and finally I decided that I would address the ball how it feels comfortable to me. My feet as it turn out are slightly inside my shoulders. It isn't Bobby Jones narrow but my feet are closer together than most. The effect was my ball striking was much more solid and accurate but I did lose a bit of distance. My opinion is I will take the accuracy of hitting more GIR and taking one more club than trying to pound iron shots into greens. I hit 6 out of 9 greens in reg and played the back 9 3 over. Just wanted to know if anyone else had addressed this issue of stance.

I wonder if it's not that your clubs are too long for you, and widening your stance puts you closer to the ground. Did you try choking down on the club a half inch or so when you were going through that bad ball-striking phase?

I used to have a pretty narrow stance for my height. When I looked down at my feet, it looked like all the pictures I've seen of foot placement (for guys 5'10"). But I'm 6'3 with long legs. So when I have a stance that would be considered 'normal', I end up exhausting my hip adductors and flexors trying not to slide. A little wider and it feels like I can "brace" without using too much muscle. The other way will get the ball pull-hooking late in the round, as my legs get just too tired to work correctly. Comparing address positions to golfers with similar builds who are great ball-strikers on tour has made me a little more confident that I've finally gotten it into the ballpark. There are a few guys on tour who have a pretty narrow stance. From the Peter Kostis analysis I've seen, it seems like they have very little weight shift. If you tend to be an aggressive shifter and turner, I think a wider stance will work out better because it tends to inhibit both shift and turn.