Open Stance?

[mdl]

For years my misses with my mid and long irons and my 2H have been straight pushes or over-draws/hooks.  My natural flow when I'm trying to get power from my lower body is obviously a bit too far from the inside.  I've always felt just opening my stance would be some kind of quick fix and I must have some major mechanical flaw that I needed to fix.  This weekend I watched a bit of the Golf Channel's replay of Nicklaus' win at the '86 masters.  I got to thinking, if the bear can play most every shot with an open stance, then why can't I?

I had an awesome range session where I kept my back foot perpendicular to the target line directly at the point I wanted to land the ball but with my front foot both rotated open and dropped back 2-3".  This turned my misses into big push fades, but I felt way more in control and had one of the best range sessions with the 5i and 4i that I've had in a long time.  The shots that felt right on were either dead straight or even very very slight draws.

My question is this.  Nicklaus was mostly playing a power fade with the open stance with his longer clubs.  Is it "acceptable" to play for a slightly open stance with a dead straight or slightly drawing shot?  By acceptable, I mean, am I covering up some bigger swing flaw and should keep working on being able to hit it straight with a square stance or as a fade with an open stance?

FWIW, I felt over the weekend like I had much more feel with the open stance, and I had to think less mechanically to hit the next shot well after I messed something up.

[GaijinGolfer]

Id stick with a square stance.  Ive had much the same problem for years and lately Ive been working really hard on my posture and found that having good posture (not slouching over the ball) fixed my problems with being able to do an effective turn and fixed my tendency to hit a push or a push-hook.

[phillyk]

If you feel that by having an open stance, you can hit the ball the same way every single time, then by all means, do it. Nicklaus had an open stance and was extremely consistent, of course.  But, I've learned over the years, that by trying something different one time may start off well, but the control fade that you say you like will over time develop into a slice. I'd stay with whatever stance you have now and control your wrist movement more or you turn, because that is what is making your inconsistency.  Control your wrists to either have the push or draw first, then you can mess with specifics in your swing to be both accurate and consistent with that.  I'm not sure on this, but I think KJ Choi plays a fade to slice as his normal consistent shot.  But the point is, what ever way you believe you can achieve the highest accuracy and consistency is what your shot should be.

[RC]

An open stance is preferred over a closed stance, in my world.  In fact, an open stance is better for me than a square stance, it helps me get back to the ball with my hips more open.  So many greats used open stances; Trevino, Nicklaus, Couples, and, yes, even Johnny Miller said it was a unique thought that caused him to open up his stance on the day of his magical 62 (or whatever it was.)  Whether the stance is open or not does not really determine whether the ball flight may or may not be straight, a draw or fade.  In fact, hitting a draw is a little easier for me with an open stance with a little closed or square shoulders and a slightly open club face -- that is just the way it works for me.  If I close my stance, the shot is usually more of a pulled hook, lower flying shot or sometimes a push.

The real answer is probably unique for every golfer and style of swing.  Use whatever stance works the most reliably.  Actually, I think shoulder alignment is slightly more important than your feet anyway.  Use what works.  Oh, and I would use the alignment of the heels of the feet as a best indicator of stance alignment.  Just an opinion.

[mdl]

Obviously one range session doesn't mean anything, and god knows I've had plenty of little tweaks that had me on the money one day at the range or on the course but that didn't turn out to be great long term changes.  I only post about this because for years when I forget mechanics and just try to stay loose and smooth and whip through the ball I put my mid-long irons 5% further than normal, dead straight flight, and 5-10˚ right of my target.

I'm just wondering if some of the better players out there think this is an obvious non-starter or something it's worth giving a shot for 4-6 weeks and see how it develops.  I haven't updated my HC in a while, but my putting and short game have improved and I've put up a 74 and a 76 in the last 6 months and have shot a bunch of 30-something back nines, some of those on quite difficult courses, so I feel like I'm on the verge.

But my best days I still feel like I'm keeping things tense and just barely controlling my swing enough to keep getting good results.  I was thinking that given what feels most natural for me a lot of the time this open stance might be an answer cause I'd like to work towards a point where my great days are the ones where it feels effortless and smooth and flowing, not the ones where I'm hanging on by the skin of my teeth and succeeding in barely keeping control over my swing each hole.

[mdl]

@RC,

Thanks for the heels vs. toes for evaluating alignment tip.  I've wondered whether to consider it an open stance when my heels are aligned but my back foot is perpendicular and my front foot is flared, so the front toe is a little open relative to the back toe.  Either way, what I'm talking about trying is a flared front foot with the front heel maybe 1-2" open relative to the back heel.