By T.J. TOMASI
Universal Press Syndicate

The width of your stance influences your stability, balance and mobility.

The narrowest foot width occurs with the short irons. For these clubs your heels are hip-width apart. The widest stance is for your driver: Your heels should be about shoulder-width apart.

The rest of your clubs are somewhere in between. The measurement is always taken from the middle of your heels, never from your flared toes.





To check your heel width, take the appropriate stance for the club you have chosen and, without moving your feet, reach behind you and mark the middle of each heel with a tee. Now take a club and using your thumb as a marker, measure the width of your shoulders or hips, depending on which club you are using. Compare the width you have marked on your club shaft to the distance between the tees on the ground. Use this procedure periodically to check your stance width.

Another way to check your stance width for your iron swing is to turn into your follow-through position and look at your knees. If your knees reach each other, your stance is the correct width. If your knees can't reach each other, your stance is too wide. If they overlap, your stance is too narrow.

Too wide a stance causes a reduced hip turn and encourages excessive lateral motion, while a stance that is too narrow causes a reverse weight shift.