Driver Stance Width: How Wide To Stand With The Big Stick

We’re all aware that we need a wider stance for our driver. But as you may have noticed - a wide stance means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. We’ve all seen every type of ‘wide’ stance on the tee box, from golfers looking like they’re about to split their pants, down to those who look like they’re taking a practice swing. 

So, that brings us to the question we’re all thinking: 

How wide should my stance be for a driver?

Why Is It So Important To Get Your Driver Stance Width Correct?

Your driver stance width is key for creating the best stable platform and swing mechanics for hitting the driver well. In order to be able to hit the driver as far as we can, we need a wider base to handle the increased forces that come with a faster swing speed. 

For longer irons, we use a wider stance in order to flatten out the bottom of the swing arc so we can get the correct angle of attack into the ball. But this is slightly different with our driver. 

For the driver, we use an even wider stance to create a stable point well in front of our centre of mass (front foot), which we can push against in order to keep our centre of mass in the same spot behind the ball. 

It’s with our centre of mass behind the ball that we are then able to hit up on the ball to get the optimal spin and distance.

Figure 1: Effect of stance width on swing arc for irons

 

What Should My Stance Width Be With The Driver?

The most common rule when it comes to driver stance width is to have the inside of your feet inline with the outside of your shoulders. This is very difficult to see, unless you’re standing in front of a mirror. 

We also all have a range of different body shapes and shoulder widths, so a better measure of the correct stance width is player height. 

 

 

Choose your height to see what the recommended driver stance width is for golfers of your height. 

There is no one-size-fits-all driver stance width, even for players of the same height, so use this as a starting point if you’re not familiar with your own driver stance width already, and fine tune it from there. 

When Driver Stance Width Should Change?

When to go narrower?

• For improved mobility - if you have less mobility in your hips, narrowing your driver stance can help you turn through the ball more easily. 
• Knock down tee shots - if you’re wanting to keep your ball flight down off the tee, say to keep it out of the wind, narrowing your stance and moving the ball back in your stance slightly is a great way to achieve that. Just make sure you’ve practiced it on the range before taking it to the course. 

Learn how to hit knockdown drives here.

When to go wider?

• Higher tempo swings - players who have a higher tempo swing (quicker transition between back swing and down swing) can often benefit from a slightly wider stance when driving the ball, to provide more stability during transition. 
• Unstable when swinging - similarly, if you’re feeling unstable at all during your swing, try widening your stance slightly to give yourself a wider, more stable base. 

How To Become More Consistent with Driver Stance Width

Now that we know how important our stance width is for consistency with the driver, it would be great to develop that consistency to take to the course. 

The quickest way for us amateurs to become more consistent with our driver stance is to practice it at the range. So what does that look like? 

It could be as simple as beginning each range session with a training tool like the Stance IQ, to quickly help us become more familiar with the correct stance width and ball position. 

Warm up by hitting through your bag from wedges up to driver, using the Stance IQ stance widths as your reference point. If you’re an elite golfer who is more familiar with your own unique stance widths, you can add them to the Stance IQ, to allow you to practice them consistently. 

Even though you’re not allowed to take a training tool like Stance IQ to the course, practicing with it will enable you to become more familiar with your correct stance widths, so that when you do hit the course, you’re closer to the mark each time.