Wider Stance for Fairway wood?

[scotth]

Played with 2 strangers today and one of the guys was having an incredibly tough time with his fairway woods and long irons.  He kept topping everything, but was hitting his short irons pretty well. After about 4 holes and some really painful topped shots his buddy suggested taking a much wider stance with a fairway wood.  

After doing so, the rest of the round this guy absolutely ripped some 3 woods from the deck and longer irons.  

I make it a point to not ask for or give swing advice during a round, especially with somebody I don't know, but curious what the logic of widening a stance would be.  I have played long enough to realize that today's mental fix might be tomorrow's huge swing flaw, but was really surprised in the difference in the results this guy had.

His original stance seemed fine to me, and I was frankly shocked how well he hit the ball with what I thought was a way to wide almost uncomfortable looking setup.  Curious what people think of the idea and why it worked.

[Buckeyebowman]

This sounds almost like the "Stockholm Experiment". This showed that nearly every change in workplace routine resulted in an increase in productivity. Maybe this instance is something like that.

As you said, the guy was topping his fairway woods and long irons. Maybe all he needed, for that round, was to get a little closer to the ground, which a wider stance will do. The next time out, it might be the exact opposite. It depends on how he's swinging that day.

I don't remember which ancient Greek philosopher it was who said, "You can never step into the same river twice.", but golf is kind of like that.

[iacas]

What @Buckeyebowman said.

[scotth]

Hey @iacas was hoping you would see this and chime in.  I kind of figured as @Buckeyebowman said anything he did to forget the last topped swings and get out of his head would probably help.

His wider stance was soooo wide I thought he might fall over the first time he tried it.  Which is why I was very surprised when he just ripped a 3 wood off the deck about 230 yards when his previous 4 swings were topped and went about 50 yards.

[Hoganman1]

I may give this a try. I have developed a problem with my fairways and long irons too. I keep hitting them on the toe. At the range I find that flexing my knees and getting lower solves the problem. Unfortunately, I haven't grooved the fix into my swing as yet. A wider stance may help with making the change permanent.

[BallMarker]

For me "for longer drives, widen your stance" doesn't work. I can't get a full turn in either direction.

On full swings, the width of your stance shouldn't change much at all, if any, from one club to another.....but that's just me.....