Was this good advice?

[Philip9210]

Played my first 9 of 2010 today. So I was paired up with a guy I've never played with before, and he was a good deal better than me, but by no means a scratch golfer, I would say probably a 15-20 handicap. So I was struggling, and he told me that on the next tee I should set up my stance parallel and then shift my right foot back to where my big toe was aligned with the middle of my other foot. It's hard to describe, but it looked like a closed batting stance in baseball. So I am like "There is no way this will work..." and I take my 3 wood and tee off...dead straight and then on my iron shot...dead straight, my jaw dropped. He told me that as I slowly get that down to begin moving my foot back to where they are equal with each other. Sure, I still hit a good many bad balls, but my game improved drastically, it just felt a little weird. What do you guys think about this? I don't want just a quick fix, and a bad habit, should I continue doing this or no? Thanks!

[HDridin_Golfer]

Well if it works, then I would say it was good advice. A text book swing is not for everyone..

[FHopper]

must have been fixing a slice.

[Philip9210]

Well if it works, then I would say it was good advice. A text book swing is not for everyone..

Yea, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to give me a bad habit or anything that I would need to fix later on. A short term fix by making a long term problem would be bad. haha especially having only been playing for a year.

[Rexx]

He tried to get you in a draw stance, hoping it would correct your over-the-top (outside-to-inside) swing. Fine on the course where you're just trying to make it through the round with "whatever works", but not a permanent fix if you ever want to be as good as you can be. To learn to help yourself, you'll need to learn the flight laws for the golf ball (ie. why the ball starts left/right/straight and why it hooks/slices/goes straight). Then, when your ball starts straight and slices right, you can say, "Well, the club face was square at impact, but the club path was out-to-in... lemme try to get my club path to come more from the inside." Oh, and probably seeing an instructor for all the fundamentals (grip, stance, etc) is a good thing. Good luck.

[ks8829]

my good friend swing in the same position and it helps him straighten his slice.

[Shanker]

I do that on my driver with a close stance, stronger grip and it has definitely improved my slice...I was always to the right of the fairway..with a 'closed' stance my ball is more of a fade and my driving has been improved...

Tip I read from David Leadbeeter (Sp??)
- close your stance
- head and eyes aim right of the target
and you'll hit straigther fades then slices...

[Zeph]

It does "fix" your slice, but if it helps, I don't know. You can swing the same way and get away with it, but why should it be different when you start moving the foot forward again? Moving the foot back only means you can swing the same way you do now and get better results, but how can you get better from it? How does it teach you anything?

I'd recommend you get some lessons, or even better, video tape your swing, upload it to Youtube and post it here. You've got a long way to go on your golfing journey, the sooner you start using video, the better. Using band aids and fixes from random people and golf magazines rarely last.

[Gioguy21]

I had a bad slice a few years aback when i was coming back to golf...i did the same thing...and slowly crept up the right foot to the correct alignment and yes it does work as long as you're practicing on fixing it in the end game...it's a 'fix' but there's other things wrong in your stance if you have to resort to it all the time

[soloredd]

That swing you feel when you have your feet like that: learn it. That is why it worked. Try to capture that feeling to where you can repeat it. I'd also recommend before going back to squaring your feet that you put your feet together and use the fixed swing. Get your feet completely out of the picture, just learn to rotate and get the club going on plane. Then start getting in a wider stance.

But, yes, lessons above all else.

[Philip9210]

Just a quick update, went out and played 9 again today, noticed that on my 8-pw that I could move my foot a lot more back, almost completely square and make nice contact and get it within a reasonable distance of where I was aiming. However, on my longer irons, I had to move my foot a good deal further back than on the short irons. I can def. feel the swing being different when I go into that stance. I also feel like when I address the ball in this position it feels like it is going to be a good shot. Strange, but love that I am seeing a little bit of progress.