Golf Stance
There are many different golf stances you will use during a round of golf. There is the basic golf stance, which is used for most shots including Driver shots, iron shots, and long pitch shots. There is also a specific stance for golf chip shots, bunker shots, and of course many different putting stances.
On this page I’m going to cover the basic golf stance.
Proper Golf Stance
It is important to have a comfortable, yet athletic golf stance. You don’t have to follow the instruction below exactly, but you should use them as a guide to finding your own correct and athletic golf stance.
- Start with your feet shoulder’s width apart. The inside of your feet should line up with the outside of your shoulders.
- Point your toes more or less forward. A line drawn from the toe end of foot to the toe end the other should point at your target.
- Your weight should be split 50% on your left foot and 50% on your right foot.
- You should not be on your heels or on your toes, instead distribute your weight evenly between your heels and the balls of your feet.
- Your knees should be slightly bent, not locked
out. - Finally make sure you bend at the hips, not at your waist (belly button) or low back, to address the ball. Bending at the back will set you up for a back injury.
This is the basic proper golf stance. You can tweak this stance to meet your own physical needs. For example if you struggle with balance you may need to take a wider than normal stance (feet just outside of shoulder width). The bottom line is that your golf stance should provide your swing with a firm footing and strong balance.
If you find yourself struggling with balance in your golf swing check out this golf balance drill video.
Power comes from the ground up so your golf stance is more important than you may think.