Play with what you're dealt?

[loopy]

I've noticed a few things lately... I seem to swing better and hit the ball better using a slightly open to open stance. This has also trickled into my putting stroke. I've thought about the past times that i've closed or opened my stance to try to achieve a draw or fade. Trying to hit a fade I'd open my stance a shade and intstead of fading the ball goes relatively straight, closed stance and I feel stuck and usually let hang out right. I know some of the pro's play with an open stance, but would I be better off fighting what's natural or just play with what I'm dealt?

[RIduffer]

I've noticed a few things lately... I seem to swing better and hit the ball better using a slightly open to open stance. This has also trickled into my putting stroke. I've thought about the past times that i've closed or opened my stance to try to achieve a draw or fade. Trying to hit a fade I'd open my stance a shade and intstead of fading the ball goes relatively straight, closed stance and I feel stuck and usually let hang out right. I know some of the pro's play with an open stance, but would I be better off fighting what's natural or just play with what I'm dealt?

As you mentioned, some great players use an open stance (Fred Couples, Lee Trevino). I'd say play it if it helps.

[Dub]

Keep going with as long as results are there.

[Randy4h]

I read a while ago that most golfers unconsciously set up with a slightly closed stance. I'm guilty of this myself at times. It helps to have someone stand behind you and check. Just the other day, I was hitting balls on the range and my friend asked where I was aiming. When I told him, he said I had a closed stance. I had gotten lazy over time and was not being precise with my setup. When I set up square, I could feel it free up my swing again.

This was also true for putting. I had developed the bad habit of setting up closed to the target line, which caused me to pull my putts. I have to be careful to make sure I am square (which looks open to me).

[grantc79]

I've noticed a few things lately... I seem to swing better and hit the ball better using a slightly open to open stance. This has also trickled into my putting stroke. I've thought about the past times that i've closed or opened my stance to try to achieve a draw or fade. Trying to hit a fade I'd open my stance a shade and intstead of fading the ball goes relatively straight, closed stance and I feel stuck and usually let hang out right. I know some of the pro's play with an open stance, but would I be better off fighting what's natural or just play with what I'm dealt?

How old are you and how flexible are you?

An open stance will limit your backswing and make your forward swing easier. This is a very good thing for many, many players including pros. If you have flexibility issues then you will hit the ball a lot easier and fluidly using an open stance and you will gain accuracy and power by doing so because having a fluid forward swing is much more important than having a longer back swing.

[Travtex]

When I first started, I had the Pull Hook of Death. I did some drills from McCord's Golf for Dummies, I think it was. You hit the ball standing basically 100% open, with your body facing the target at address and the ball directly to your side. THOSE went straight, lol.

I still drift open a little bit now and then, and still have the tendency to pull the ball. My misses are usually dead pulls, unless I get handsy and/or get my hips out of sequence and push fade the crap out of it.

[ohiolefty]

Freddie gets more open as the yardage decreases. He's got a Jim Thome stance with a wedge in his hand.

Do you think with Couples and Trevino this has to do with back trouble? The reason I ask is because I've had some back issues and, right as I was first coming back, I had to open my stance a little to get through it and get the hips cleared on the downswing...otherwise, the only way I could get through was to completely lose the angle and get the face ahead of my hands. As the back shored up, I went back to my normal setup.

[cory]

I think you should continue to use your setup if it is comfortable for you. A guy I played with in a league a few years ago had that same open setup and just played it, knowing that if he did'nt hit it straight, it was going to fade. He was great at judging the fade. He explained the same problem of feeling "stuck" when he setup closed or even square.

[joepro23]

If you are only slightly open, then it is really no big deal and you could easily stick with that. If the hole calls for a draw though (dogleg left for example), you want to get over "feeling stuck" when having a closed stance and get comfortable bringing that shot out. At the range work on also closing your shoulders and not just your stance, that may be why you are leaving it out to the right. What happens to so many people is they have one setup so ingrained and get rusty on the other ways to address the ball. So, there is nothing wrong with an open stance as your go-to shot, but it doesn't hurt to have that draw shot still in your bag in the future.

[loopy]

Thank for all the input. The one question of age and flexibility..do I have to answer that? Average flexibility and about 4 months south of 40. The flexibility thing is kinda funny, we got a Wii last year and Wii fit and I had all these grandiose ideas of really doing the yoga and stuff. Its funny how life and one six year old son can get in the way of that. I never checked to see if maybe what I view as square might be closed and vice versa so I'll have to check that out once all the white stuff disappears. Thanks again.

[Woodtek]

Just trying to fill up my posts so I can start one. As a 56 yo with multiple physical issues due to my years of carpentry, I tend to set up square with feet and hips but open with my shoulders. When I bring my shoulders back to square it causes tension in my lower back, due to three bad disks. What I want to know is why when my drives start to push or fade and I set up aiming left to compensate the darn ball goes straight . I guess for me to use what I have I have to wait until after the shot and decide I should have done this or that.

[RIduffer]

One thing that might be worth mentioning here is that most pros set up to the ball with their left foot flared 45* or so toward the target. This is not an open stance, just a foot position that allows the body to turn through. Some people set up with both feet flared outward to allow better rotation on the backswing and downswing (again, Fred Couples does this). So if you have flexibility issues, toe-ing both feet out might allow more freedom to turn, while maintaining square alignment.

[Shanks A Million]

I have an open stance, but I'll be willing to bet that almost no one else here does. It's natural for people to set up closed. Most people set up with their feet pointed at the target. Bad idea. Your feet do not point at the target, they point left of it. When you set up square, you feel as if you're target is around 1 o'clock. This is one of several reasons so many people slice, they aim right, and try to hit it left.

If you go out and stretch your right arm out, and point your finger at your target, then stretch your left arm out, and point it parallel to your right, then you have your aim point. Aim your feet where your left arm points to. You might even be amazed at how far left that is. Always use alignment sticks on the range. Without them, you're pretty much guessing where you're aiming.

[tm22721]

Don't worry about static positions even at setup. The swing is dynamic and must be automated leveraging natural forces like action-reaction to eliminate the inconsistency of manipulation.

Here is a hint to automating your swing. In Five Lessons Hogan says "tension is the key to the whole downswing". "It unwinds the shoulders the arms and the hands in the correct order". "It helps the downswing so much it makes it almost AUTOMATIC".