We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Drawbacks of a wider stance?

fistfullofbeer

fistfullofbeer

Akshay ("Ak" + "Shay")
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
1,310
Reaction score
47
Location
Whidbey Island, WA
Handicap
20's
I have noticed over the last two rounds that keeping a wider stance for pretty much all of my clubs provide me a lot of stability and helps me make better full swings. I have a consistent problem with falling back during my backswing and the wider stance provides a lot more balance in my backswing. I also feel that I have a better shoulder turn and takeaway as well as I am not going too far inside in my backswing.

Not sure if this has been working for me because I am a shorter person (5'5") and but I was curious if the wider stance could lead to some other flaws that I need to watch out for.
 
A wider stance will only be an issue if you don’t clear your left side or hang back on your right.
 
I've been using a wider stance to lower my CG and keep myself in balance. I definitely feel like I'm losing some swing speed, because it's harder for me to get a full 45* hip turn but my drives are straight as a string right now, so until that changes it stays.
 
Id say that the only real disadvantage is that it makes it more difficult to turn and shift your weight.
 
Tadashi70 said:
A wider stance will only be an issue if you don’t clear your left side or hang back on your right.
Click to expand...

Freddie, what would be the reverse, a negative for a tighter stance?
 
Tadashi70 said:
A wider stance will only be an issue if you don’t clear your left side or hang back on your right.
Click to expand...

What he ^^^^^ said.

I use a wider stance as well, especially off the tee. Helps create a wider swing arc, back to the target, & fire the left side ... Boom!
 
Imagine swinging a club with your feet together, literally touching. You’d sacrifice balance doing this, but your hips and shoulders would turn effortlessly. Getting your “belt buckle” to the target on the follow-through would be extremely easy. And clubhead speed would be improved.

The opposite holds true with a wide stance. You’ll improve balance, but sacrifice speed and body turn.

Find the narrowest stance you can live with and still have balance. There’s a reason the pros stand with feet ~shoulder width apart.
 
Buster1 said:
Imagine swinging a club with your feet together, literally touching. You’d sacrifice balance doing this, but your hips and shoulders would turn effortlessly. Getting your “belt buckle” to the target on the follow-through would be extremely easy. And clubhead speed would be improved.

The opposite holds true with a wide stance. You’ll improve balance, but sacrifice speed and body turn.

Find the narrowest stance you can live with and still have balance. There’s a reason the pros stand with feet ~shoulder width apart.
Click to expand...

That's what happens to me.
The wider stance feels more powerful.
Gradually I will get too wide and my swing is all upper-body.
 
Buster1 said:
Imagine swinging a club with your feet together, literally touching. You’d sacrifice balance doing this, but your hips and shoulders would turn effortlessly. Getting your “belt buckle” to the target on the follow-through would be extremely easy. And clubhead speed would be improved.

The opposite holds true with a wide stance. You’ll improve balance, but sacrifice speed and body turn.

Find the narrowest stance you can live with and still have balance. There’s a reason the pros stand with feet ~shoulder width apart.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about the speed aspect? I thought the theory behind getting a wide base especially for driver was to increase that speed due to a wider arc. Speed comes from the arms/hands so a wider arc would make sense and needing a wider base allows for that stability. These are genuine questions as I don't know fully. not an instructor, but my profession/education history is deep with biomechanics and kinesiology.
 
Drawbacks of a wider stance?

IceyShanks said:
Freddie, what would be the reverse, a negative for a tighter stance?
Click to expand...

Well, yeah. The opposite of wide is narrow. Either extreme can cause issues with the release of the lower body. Most golfers should be no more than shoulder width apart. But there are exception to every rule.

JB has a wide stance and gets through the ball well. Stenson has a wide stance is hits it as good as anyone on the planet. Beags has a narrow stance, plays 3 times and year, does just fine.
 
Last edited:
PapaJohick said:
Are you sure about the speed aspect? I thought the theory behind getting a wide base especially for driver was to increase that speed due to a wider arc. Speed comes from the arms/hands so a wider arc would make sense and needing a wider base allows for that stability. These are genuine questions as I don't know fully. not an instructor, but my profession/education history is deep with biomechanics and kinesiology.
Click to expand...

Speed comes from legs, hips and shoulders. The arms are along for the ride.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Speed comes from legs, hips and shoulders. The arms are along for the ride.
Click to expand...

We are referring to club head speed correct?

Also, what do you mean speed comes from shoulders, but not the arms? I didn't mean that all speed came from arms and hands and to get armsy with the swing. Obviously all parts are needed to be in proper sequence to have the greatest head speed possible. I was trying to say that isn't club head speed more correlated to arm/hand speed and less to hips?
 
PapaJohick said:
We are referring to club head speed correct?

Also, what do you mean speed comes from shoulders, but not the arms?
Click to expand...

Yes, Club head speed.

The shoulders move the arms back and through. Not the other way around. You turn the shoulder 90* against a stable base to produce stored power. When you release the should back through the swing, you release that power.

Let say you just use your arms. You’ll never achieve 90* while keeping the club in a positive position. To achieve a 90* turn and weight transfer with just arms, you’d have to slide back and the arms would be past parallel.

So we use the shoulder to achieve 90* and the arms swing along the arc. The ideas is to get the arms and shoulders working together to maximize your club head speed.
 
One problem I struggle with is shifting/sliding away from the target in the back swing. Its that big stable base that lets you shift or slide back without losing your balance in the backswing. As Freddie mentioned, the shifting tends to leave me hanging back on my right side. My instructor had me narrow my stance, especially with my irons, because it promotes more rotation and less shifting through the swing. When I start hitting fat shots that's one of my keys to check my stance width.
 
tanker337 said:
One problem I struggle with is shifting/sliding away from the target in the back swing. Its that big stable base that lets you shift or slide back without losing your balance in the backswing. As Freddie mentioned, the shifting tends to leave me hanging back on my right side. My instructor had me narrow my stance, especially with my irons, because it promotes more rotation and less shifting through the swing. When I start hitting fat shots that's one of my keys to check my stance width.
Click to expand...

I think where people get lost is in the ‘turn’. If you stand in front of a mirror, cross your arms over your chest and turn the shoulders 90* over the inside of the rear leg. You’ve completed the back swing. This move not only build power but it also gets you behind the ball. Not only that it gives the swing time to develop on the down swing provided you don’t slide in front of the ball prior to impact.
 
Tadashi70 said:
A wider stance will only be an issue if you don’t clear your left side or hang back on your right.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! This worked wonderfully for me the last few rounds but since it looks like the narrow stance is preached heavily almost everywhere I should ask. Not only were my drives the most consistent over the last round but they were also the longest. My irons and hybrids were very well hit as well. There were some terrible shots ofcourse but I attribute that to my lack of focus and not going through my swing routine.

I don't know if I am explaining this right or not but I feel like with a narrow stance I am more upright (which makes sense could I would end up standing taller) and my chin gets in the way of my shoulder turn. To fix that I end up going too far inside in my backswing and then coming back outside-in on my downswing and slicing the ball.
 
Buster1 said:
Imagine swinging a club with your feet together, literally touching. You’d sacrifice balance doing this, but your hips and shoulders would turn effortlessly. Getting your “belt buckle” to the target on the follow-through would be extremely easy. And clubhead speed would be improved.

The opposite holds true with a wide stance. You’ll improve balance, but sacrifice speed and body turn.

Find the narrowest stance you can live with and still have balance. There’s a reason the pros stand with feet ~shoulder width apart.
Click to expand...

IMO you nailed it. Great post!
 
Tadashi70 said:
I think where people get lost is in the ‘turn’. If you stand in front of a mirror, cross your arms over your chest and turn the shoulders 90* over the inside of the rear leg. You’ve completed the back swing. This move not only build power but it also gets you behind the ball. Not only that it gives the swing time to develop on the down swing provided you don’t slide in front of the ball prior to impact.
Click to expand...

Yep...100%. In my experience helping folks they tend to get uneasy if their back points to the target on the backswing. Folks have told me they feel like they are "losing control", moving too far "away" from the ball.....while it's just the opposite because they return much faster and with far less effort.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top