A great golf shot doesn’t start with the swing, it starts with the ground beneath your feet. Your stance is the silent foundation of your entire motion, dictating balance, power potential, and the path your club will travel on. This guide will walk you through the essential elements of building a solid, repeatable stance so you can set yourself up for success before the club even moves.
Think of your golf stance like the foundation of a house. If it’s weak, cracked, or uneven, everything built on top of it will be unstable. In golf, a poor stance forces your body to make all sorts of last-second compensations during the swing just to make contact with the ball. This leads to inconsistency - the fat shots, the thin shots, the slices, the hooks. We’ve all been there.
A solid, athletic stance, on the other hand, does the opposite. It creates a stable base that allows you to rotate powerfully around your spine. It puts you in a balanced position from which you can generate speed and transfer energy efficiently into the ball. It quite literally sets the stage for a free, athletic, and repeatable golf swing. Master your setup, and you’ll find that the swing itself feels much, much easier.
A "stance" isn't just about how far apart your feet are. It's a combination of several interlocking pieces: width, posture, ball position, weight distribution, and alignment. Let's break each one down into simple, actionable steps.
Your stance width is your source of stability and mobility. Too narrow, and you'll struggle to stay balanced. Too wide, and you'll restrict your ability to turn your hips, robbing yourself of power. The goal is to find the sweet spot.
Don't just measure it and lock in. Feel it out. You should feel grounded but also able to turn your hips and shoulders freely in a practice motion. That feeling of "balanced mobility" is exactly what you're looking for.
This is arguably the most important - and most misunderstood - part of the setup. Many golfers bend from their waist or just slump their shoulders, which restricts rotation. The correct move is an athletic hinge from the hips.
Here’s how to feel the correct posture:
Yes, this might feel weird at first. As golf coach Rick Shiels points out, it’s an unusual position for any activity other than golf. You’ll feel like your rear end is "sticking out" more than it should. But if you were to see yourself on video, you’d look like a golfer ready to pounce. This athletic posture creates essential space for your arms and club to swing freely around your body.
Where you place the ball in your stance is an instruction to yourself about *when* in your swing arc you want to hit it. Hitting it in the wrong spot can lead to heavy or thin contact without you doing anything else wrong. Here’s a simple system to follow:
Your weight distribution at address primes your body for the correct movement. While subtle, it makes a significant difference.
One of the most common setup faults is aiming the body directly at the target. This almost guarantees a swing that goes "over the top," leading to pulls and slices.
The best mental image is a set of railroad tracks:
To practice, lay two alignment sticks on the ground to form these tracks. Get used to looking at the target while feeling your body aligned left of it. This proper alignment allows the club to swing down on the correct path from the inside, giving you a chance to hit a powerful draw or a straight shot.
Thinking about all these pieces on every swing can lead to "paralysis by analysis." The solution is to build them into a quick, repeatable pre-shot routine that makes a great stance second nature.
A simple routine looks like this:
Trust it and swing freely. This routine turns a complex checklist into a smooth, confident sequence that delivers a perfect stance every time.
Building a consistent golf stance is about discipline, not complexity. By focusing on the essentials of width, athletic posture, correct ball position, and proper alignment - and hardwiring it all with a pre-shot routine - you create the foundation from which good swings are born.
Perfecting these habits takes reps, and sometimes you need in-the-moment feedback to know you're making the right adjustments. That’s precisely why we created Caddie AI. When you're faced with a tricky lie in the rough or feel uncertain about your setup, you can snap a quick photo with your phone. Our AI will analyze your ball's position and surroundings to give you immediate, practical advice on how to adjust your stance and approach the shot, giving you the clarity and confidence to commit to your swing.
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Walking onto the first tee with sweaty palms, worried you’ll be a good partner to paly wtih...or even asked back again ...We’ve all been there - trust me! The real trick of feeling confortable... is about how you handle you’re ready to plsy. THIS guide explains the simple rules of the rode to show you hnow t play golf while staying calm relaxed and focused... an having much morse fun while you,',re aat it? You'll also play with confidence a dn make fiendsa while you're at i
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