How wide are your feet?

[TheGeekGolfer]

So, being that it's been rather wet and cold up here in the NW, my swing has been struggling.  I was watching Tiger (and some others) on the range during early coverage of Pebble and realized he has a very narrow stance for his irons.

I normally have a very wide stance and decided to try and incorporate this into my golf swing, trying to get a more consistent strike on the ball.  I'm currently a 7.8 Hdcp, but some days I'll shoot 12 over and others 5 or 6 over.  My putting and length saves me, but my iron play is not always the best.  I've always struggled with taking the club way past parallel on the backswing.

I'll I can say is, WOW !  I narrowed my stance and I was really hitting the ball well, without any other major changes.  It also seemed to naturally limit my backswing and even seemed to incorporate (what felt like) a brief pause at the top of the backswing.  My distances were good and the dispersion pattern really tightened up.

My stance (if I measure the distance between my feet) probably went from about 18" wide to about 12" wide.  Just wondering how wide other people's stances are and what effect you've seen on your swing.

[moparman426]

Shoulder width apart.....so whatever my shoulder width is.

[moparman426]

Just went and checked, around 16" between, measured at the ball of the foot.  I don't set my feet up perfectly perpendicular to the target line.  My feet are toed out a bit in my stance.  I set up several times to check it.  I'll narrow it up (a little) when I use my wedge for a pitch/flop though.

[saevel25]

Ranges from the middle of my feet matching the outside of my shoudlers, to the outside of my feet matching my inside of my shoulders

[Beachcomber]

On some par 5's, if I go into attack mode, a hole where I know if I hit a solid tee shot... I can reach the green in two... I'll widen my stance - and tee it up a little higher.  But every other full swing shot - my stance is typically ~ 14 to 15" in width... Measuring my outside left heel - to my outside right heel... Note, my feet are slightly open at address - so I didn't take the measurement from my toes.

[jamo]

Too wide. ;-)

[GaijinGolfer]

Shoulder width.  A narrower stance makes it easier to make a turn but it also makes it more difficult to keep your balance.

[LuciusWooding]

For me, I like to set them a bit wider than some because of my height and lanky build; for full shots I set the outsides of my feet at hip width as a minimum for the 8i and less, shoulder width for mid irons, and the middles of the feet at shoulder width for long irons. I only set a little bit wider for hybrids and FWs, about the insides of the feet at shoulder width. My driver is also pretty close to that, maybe 1-2 inches wider. On specialty shots or partial shots, I sometimes go a little more narrow to prevent turning too far. I typically play partial shots by keeping my backswing shorter and slower.

For me it's not as much the width of the feet as how I set my knees; I like to set my feet about as wide as I can while still keep my knees over my feet (without ). With a driver, I brace my back knee and slightly crouch at address but don't allow my left knee to bend further on the backswing. I don't make a big weight shift with driver, but I make my biggest and fastest turn which requires a sturdy base, especially during the transition. I'm flexible and can turn my hips and shoulders very far around, but only a fast transition, a braced lower body, and a focused pivot puts any strain on my core muscles. They don't lend any power to my swing unless I load them on the backswing. Focusing on keeping my legs still on my backswing is probably the biggest source of my power, and my stance helps govern the amount of turn and keeps everything from collapsing as I reach the top. From there, I can just unload everything in the proper sequence and timing, since the base is in place.

I absolutely take the club past parallel with my driver; if you can do it legitimately with a real turn instead of bending your left arm or something, it's a great source of power and works well if you can maintain your balance. With irons, a shorter backswing and controlled release is called for; it's all about the weight shift and timing to get the club square at impact and bottom out properly. A tighter stance would seem to force you to stay balanced and use your body more, and prevent your head from moving excessively; all things which help ball striking.

[B-Con]

I tend toward too wide a stance by nature. right now I'm placing the middle of my feet at about the outsides of my shoulders for most full iron shots. I've found that a wide stance resists hip turn and encourages a flatter turn. When I want to power fade the ball I'll actually set my stance a little bit wider than normal.

[moparman426]

Originally Posted by B-Con

I've found that a wide stance resists hip turn and encourages a flatter turn.

So, you don't want any hip rotation?  Upper body rotation only?  I am not sure if I am reading this correctly.  Elaborate please.

[westcyderydin]

No you do want to allow hip rotation...

Too wide of a stance will make you want to move or maybe sway back an forth a little bit and make it a little harder to turn.

Too narrow of a stance allows for turning and disallows swaying a little more.  But it could be a little less stable.

You want to be somewhere in between.  The correct distance is probably a little different for each golfer.

[moparman426]

Originally Posted by westcyderydin

No you do want to allow hip rotation...

Too wide of a stance will make you want to move or maybe sway back an forth a little bit and make it a little harder to turn.

Too narrow of a stance allows for turning and disallows swaying a little more.  But it could be a little less stable.

You want to be somewhere in between.  The correct distance is probably a little different for each golfer.

Yep.  I know that, but just wondering if B-Con was maybe backwards in his reasoning (unintentionally, of course).  I used to suffer from the same problem, as if I was setting up in the batters box with a wide stance, looking for left field.  I seldom play ball anymore because of it....  The difference is night and day, so much more fluid, easier swing.  The wider stance for sure promotes a lot more lateral hip movement/weight shift, which I find moves you too far off the ball and out of the impact zone.

[westcyderydin]

No, i think you just misunderstood what he was saying.  He was saying the same thing that i was.  If your stance is too wide i inhibits your hips ability to turn...and then it could make them want to move back a little.

[moparman426]

Yeah, I understand  the issues that having too wide a stance can induce.  Indeed I did misread what was said, not the issues caused, but the fact that I read it as him actually doing that instead of turning his hips.  Only because he said he uses a wide stance, then stated that a wide stance limits hip turn, like he wanted that.

[sk golf]

A narrower stance makes it easier to move hips forward due to less distance to travel and easier to rotate hips.  Wider stance requires a larger move forward.  Neither is right or wrong.  Both have their benefits.

[B-Con]

No, i think you just misunderstood what he was saying.  He was saying the same thing that i was.  If your stance is too wide i inhibits your hips ability to turn...and then it could make them want to move back a little.

and [quote name="moparman426" url="/t/55624/how-wide-are-your-feet#post_679462"] Yeah, I understand  the issues that having too wide a stance can induce.  Indeed I did misread what was said, not the issues caused, but the fact that I read it as him actually doing that instead of turning his hips.  Only because he said he uses a wide stance, then stated that a wide stance limits hip turn, like he wanted that. [/quote] Yep. My current stance is much less wide than it used to be -- and for the better. But I'll occasionally make it a bit wider when I really want to encourage a fade, especially with a longer club.