As I mentioned last week in one of my posts, I've been doing a lot of teaching at our one-day Performance Schools this spring and summer and I've noticed some some trends in setup and swing problems that are worth talking about here. Today, we're going to cover the width of stance that is needed to successfully execute the Peak Performance Golf Swing. It's an important topic because so many of you have been taught to take a much wider stance that will support you if you are using a flat rotational swing.
In the PPGS, we want to set up with our feet at shoulder width with our feet, knees, hips all aligned under our shoulders. If you take a club and hold it under your arm pit along the side of your torso, it should pretty much run down over your leg to the center of your foot. This narrow stance is critical to our swing because as we execute The Bump and turn our right side back to the target, we want to make sure that the right knee doesn't have too far to go before it catches up with our left side. Thus as we move to our longer irons and woods, the stance gets a tiny bit wider, about the width of your foot--but no more than that or you'll be prone to sliding forward.
Here's a good way to check to see if your width of stance is correct. As you finish your swing, take a look at where your right knee is in relation to the left. If they are almost brushing then your width of stance was good. If there's a gap wider than, say, the width of the grip on your club, then your stance was too wide at address.
Work on this and I am sure a number of you will see some fairly dramatic improvements in your ball striking.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Great explanation of stance.
Great explanation of stance. I was a bit wide on the driver. Changed the stance an started hitting the ball straighter
SurgeÃÂ ... you are at your
SurgeÃÂ ... you are at your best with specific tips that any of us can try, like this one for judging the proper width of stance ... Thanks
Good tip,
Good tip,
Too wider a stance restricts the amount of shoulder turn in the golf swing. As you mentioned it makes it really hard to transfer the weight if the stance is too wide.
Cheers
I was having trouble sliding
I was having trouble sliding forward on my irons, this tip really made sense to me, dropped my score 5 strokes to 75. thanks, Don
British Open...Just thought I
British Open...Just thought I would throw that out there right off of the bat and get it out of the way....Every year somebody gets chewed out from one of our friends across the pond for calling it that. ;-)
Great tip.ÃÂ However I am a
Great tip.ÃÂ However I am a bit confused.ÃÂ Why do you move the front foot forward (wider) for the driver rather than the back foot.ÃÂ It seems that ifÃÂ you move the front foot, then the ball ends up farther back in your stance when you use the driver.ÃÂ What am I missing?
I've recently started playng
I've recently started playng golf after a 4 year lay off. This swing is great in that it's good for my lower back, where I've had a lot problems over the years. My question is... How is I'm hitting the ball straighter than ever but with only a third or half the distance I'm capable of with my full swingÃÂ ?
Can I just add, pitches inside 50yds, I can nailÃÂ but I'm even struggling to hitÃÂ my 7 iron beyond 60yds on a full swing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
He means relative to your
He means relative to your shoulder position, not relative to the ball position. Your back underarm should always start directly over your back foot, but the front foot moves from in line with the forward underarm to just slightly ahead of it.
Hey what gives, It is THE
Hey what gives, It is THE British Open. To leave the THE out,ÃÂ lowers it to the commonness of the US Open.ÃÂ
The sad part is, someone probably actually feels that way! Let it forever be know as THE OPEN. I thought we settled this last year. Maybe not!
Every time I say The Open is this week, someone is sure to say/ask, you mean The British. I still fail to understand why others are so offended by the usage/inclusion of theÃÂ word British, for further clarification. I certainly am Mr. Medley, but I am more properly Mr. Terry Medley. Just don't get it!
GREAT Tip! Goes to the top of
GREAT Tip! Goes to the top of my checklist.
ÃÂ Just no way to know
ÃÂ Just no way to know without seeing your swing. There should be no loss of distance and (in fact) almost everybody will have an increase in distance with the irons. May or may not increase distance with a driver or fairway woods.
If you get a video of your swing and put it on U-Tube and post the link here some of us might be able to help.
An even better option would be to use the online lesson from Surge or one of the instructors.
Close to an insignificant
Close to an insignificant factor in set up, really just semantics, but for simplicity including ball position I agree with you.
Here's how I do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
If the front foot never moves and the back foot adjusts to the comfortable (or proper) stance width the ball position will always be correct.
As long as the pre-load heavy right is consistent the back underarm will always be over the back foot, no matter how the foot started out, or which foot is moved for stance width adjustment.
Thanks Steve, I'll try to
Thanks Steve, I'll try to upload a video.
ÃÂ I cant see your were
ÃÂ I cant see your were upper body is in the video LOL
What you are saying is that you maintain the same ball position and change the width of stance with the back foot to accommodate each club.The narrowing are widening of the stance effectively changes the ball position .
That is the way I do this also and find it to be easy to do and repeat.ÃÂ
Actually, Terry, it is The
Actually, Terry, it is The Open Championship officially. Too bad the winds haven't been blowing yet to make it play like one.
That was very helpful for me.
That was very helpful for me. Very well explained.
My upper body has nothing to
My upper body has nothing to do with what I was showing. It's still attached to the lower body.
WTG, Steve.ÃÂ Nothing like
WTG, Steve.ÃÂ Nothing like puting the fire out with a little kerosene. ;0)
Great tip,Surge.ÃÂ I think
Great tip,Surge.ÃÂ I think you just hit on the very reason I'm not getting my weight shift through with my driver and farway woods.ÃÂ I've no doubt gotten wider in an attempt to regain distance and have been hitting some not so pretty pulls lately.ÃÂ I think you just gave me the fix.ÃÂ Thank you.
ÃÂ I read a comment on the
ÃÂ I read a comment on the ball position...does the ball position move with each club, or just the width of the stance change?ÃÂ Isn't the ball moved closer to the forward foot as the club shaft gets longer?ÃÂ CC
Most likely you're swinging
Most likely you're swinging entirely with your arms, with essentially no weight shift. Despite the fact that this swing is primarily powered by the arms, rather than by a big twist of the body, you still need a proper weight shift with the legs to generate the extra power. Have you tried swinging a short rod to see if you hear a good swoosh?
Excellent tip Don!ÃÂ I
Excellent tip Don!ÃÂ I especially like the tip of how to tell if you are too wide. Probably why I have a hard time fininshing correctly on some swings.
Surge reckons wedges to 7
Surge reckons wedges to 7 iron in the middle of stance & then forward as clubs get longer, till driver is just inside front foot. Try putting ball position in the search box to the right
Thanks Robert, I think you
Thanks Robert, I think you may have uncovered the fault. I tried a few practice swings and it seems as though I'm not getting proper weight shift so I'm relying on my arms to generate the power.
ExcellentÃÂ I know I have
ExcellentÃÂ
I know I have had a wider stance with my driver and woods and have never finished ÃÂ my stroke with the correct positioning -Thank you
Yes. Here is plenty of
Yes.
Here is plenty of information on ball position.
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
Surge are you planning a golf
Surge are you planning a golf school in south Florida some time in late January 2013?