DUCK FEET

[Reposted Forum move]

DaveF Feb 14, 2017
Hi Ross,
I have a question related to stance. I keep me legs pretty much shoulder width, but a bit narrow compared to the norm. I find I turn more easily this way and my thighs finish touching, vs. when I widen my stance. On top of that, as you have seen from my videos, my toes naturally want to flare out so the result is my heels end up
only 5-6″ apart (hence “duck feet” as some have commented). If my feet are completely square front to back, it’s closer to 8″. Is this a potential issue? Is it robbing me of power or something else?
Thanks!

[Ross]

Ross Feb 18, 2017
Let your feet setup under you so you feel athletic and balanced. You must be able to feel, that you can easily rotate to your front side from the stance you’ve chosen. In general…the closer the better… and as the clubs get longer, a bit wider. Another way to think about it, once setup, you should not feel like you can’t easily rotate around your front hip socket. If you feel like you need to shift a lot to get to your front foot, you’re too wide.

[Ross]

Ross Feb 18, 2017
I did want to add one other concern.

In general, you want to rotate or finish (about) 90° from the instep of your back foot at setup. Many golfers setup that back foot 90° to push off the instep to face their target when finished. This means, you may want to try turning the back foot in a bit (if it is flared open) at setup. Hogan would have the back foot 90° to target and a slightly opened front foot for easier rotation.

This does not mean everyone should do this. Just experiment with width of stance and flaring and squaring the feet for different results*.

I have some of my students open the front foot, so the can finish their rotation…. if they can’t let their weight go to the outside of the front foot at the finish. Helps the turn without restricting the front knee as much*.

*If you ever have pain with any of these changes… stop! and find a more comfortable setup.

[Author]

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