A crucial step in elevating your golf game and adding consistency to your scoring is developing a repeatable correct golf stance for every club in your bag.
A proper golf stance can be broken down into 4 separate fundamentals:
- Width Your Feet Are Apart
- Finding The Correct Amount of Knee Bend
- The Angle/Direction Your Shoulders Point
- Proper Weight Distribution
Our breakdown will cover all four of these proper golf stance essentials and provide you with the checklists we use to make sure we have the perfect golf setup for every shot!
Table of Contents
How Wide To Stand With Your Golf Stance
Since each golf club category (wedges, irons, and woods/driver) is different lengths, the width your feet are apart in your stance will change depending on which club you’re swinging.
A good reference to how wide you should stand in your golf swing is to identify what it means to stand shoulder width apart. A great way to find the width between your shoulders is by holding a club parallel between your shoulders and grabbing to mark each end. After you find the distance between your shoulders, put the club on the ground and place the inside of your feet on these marks.
Wedge Stance
Beginning with your shortest clubs, your stance will be slightly closer than shoulder-width apart for full wedge swings and even closer together for pitch and chip shots. For wedges, my feet essentially lined up with my collarbones.
*Tip* We like to feel a slightly opened golf stance (the lead foot shifted slightly behind the trailing foot) because it limits our weight shift to add more consistency and control to our wedge swings!
Iron Stance
A correct iron stance begins with your feet shoulder-width apart.
For irons, the center of my heels line up with my armpits/inner shoulder blades which is what makes the difference between the stance we have with our woods and irons, which we’ll go to now.
Woods/Driver Stance
Since the clubhead is traveling the farthest during these fairway wood and driver swings (due to these clubs being the longest length), we can afford to have the widest stance. This promotes excellent balance and a lower center of gravity.
The best way to visualize your stance with your driver is to imagine two lines running vertically into the ground from the outside of your shoulders.
Your feet should be wider than your iron stance, just wider than shoulder-width apart!
Finding The Correct Amount of Knee Bend
Too much knee bend places your weight on your heels and makes it difficult for your golf club to travel on a consistent swing plane.
Not enough knee bend can place your weight on your toes and cause an over-the-top swing path that usually slices the golf ball.
To find your appropriate amount of knee bend, follow our simple checklist.
- Place a club running down your leg (lined up with your ankle) to make sure your hip and ankle are stacked directly on top of each other.
- From there, bend at the waist with your upper body to create the perfect golf stance!
This checklist not only simulates the feeling of perfect knee bend but also gives you a way to check yourself wherever you are!
Angle/Direction Your Shoulders Point
Many top golf instructors say the shoulders are the “train tracks of the golf swing” (meaning they truly dictate how we should aim in golf).
Make sure your shoulders point in a parallel line to the lines of your feet will help you hit straighter golf shots.
To check this, we place a golf alignment aid across our toes and hold one parallel across our shoulders.
When the alignment sticks point in the same direction, we’re good to go!
Proper Weight Distribution
Too much weight on your leading side during your stance limits your ability to create power during your swing.
Too much weight on your trailing side can cause inconsistent contact leading to chunks and skulled shots that are impossible to predict!
We’ve found close to a 50/50 split of our weight distributed on either leg during our golf stance gives us the most consistent results!
Summary for The proper Golf Stance for Drivers, Irons, and Wedges
Creating a precise golf stance for different clubs is vital for consistency and performance. Stance width varies, with wedges closer, irons at shoulder-width, and woods/driver wider. Knee bend should strike a balance, preventing excess on heels or toes. Ensure shoulder alignment is parallel to the lines of your feet for straighter shots. Weight distribution close to 50/50 between legs promotes stability and power. A precise stance boosts swing repeatability and control.
