How We Developed Our Models of the Stance Width & Ball Position
Why Is The Setup So Important In Golf?
Setup is one of the most important parts of the swing that no one is talking about. Why? Because it’s not sexy and doesn’t make great clickbait titles for the Golfluencers’ YouTube channels.
But the reality is that so much of the variation in your golf shots will come from the inconsistency in your setup. A research study from one of the top golf research universities showed that moving the golf ball just one ball-width forward or backward in the stance added up to 3 degrees to the clubface. That’s equivalent to an additional 7 yards dispersion with your 7 iron.
So if you really want to know how much inconsistency is coming from your club face control, you need to ensure your setup is consistent.
How We Developed Our Stance Width Model
The goal of developing our stance model was to create a model that could represent what we consider best-in-class stance widths, for full shots, with the entire range of clubs in the bag, from driver through to wedges.
We started off with stance width data from the USGA for Pro Tour level golfers. This data was first modelled across the whole bag, before then extrapolating that data to a wider range of heights, so our product could accommodate a wider range of golfers, not just those built like a Tour Pro.
We then confirmed we hadn't made any mistakes by testing our models across a range of golfers of different heights. Even though there are a wide range of real-world stance widths for golfers of a certain height, the Stance IQ allows golfers to add their own preferred stances, tailored specifically to their own unique physique, swing speed and flexibility.
We chose to limit the number of separate stance widths to just 6 groupings, so that they are easy enough to remember and still associated with the well known club groupings (woods, long irons, etc), while still having enough accuracy (within 2 inches) between groups.
Figure 1: Stance width grouped into club categories
How We Developed Our Ball Position Model
The goal of developing our ball position model was to create accurate ball positions with a single static reference (inside of the front foot), so that they are easy enough to learn and remember on the course, even while the stance width is changing for each club.
Again, we decided to group the ball positions so that they are easier to remember and align to the typical club groupings, but still accurate enough (less than 1 inch) to provide a good level of shot consistency and the correct angle of attack / strike with each club in the bag.
Figure 2: Ball position grouped into club categories
Combining the Two Models to Create a Consistent Setup
There are two main setup (ball position and stance) diagrams that have been made popular in an attempt to explain the setup to golfers.
The first is Ben Hogan’s ball position and stance width model. The main issue with this model is that it assumes a different alignment for each different club. While one of the best golfers of all time might have found this useful, us mere mortals will struggle with performing this properly on the course.
Figure 3: Ben Hogan’s diagram of ball position and alignment
Modern golf instruction has also debunked this as a useful method for most golfers and instructors these days are in agreement (as much as they can be) that alignment to the target should be the goal, even if there are a wide range of alignments out there that are still functional.
Our combined stance width and ball position model makes this assumption, that alignment is relatively square to the target. You can still use the Stance IQ mat without a perfectly square alignment, you might just need to adjust your own preferred setup positions accordingly.
The second popularised setup diagram is the more modern ‘one ball position’ diagram (as shown below). While this diagram provides a simplified setup that’s easy to remember, it lacks the intricacies that create the best angle of attack, and therefore strike, throughout the bag.
Figure 4: One-ball-position stance diagram
It tends to work well for woods, but can make hitting long irons and down a little more tricky. The forward position means a lower angle of attack, which can lead to less compression and less of a margin for error in ground contact (easier to chunk or thin). This is why golfers who experiment with this forward position will often revert to just hitting everything out of the middle of their stance to get that compressed, ball-first contact.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, you are truly a golf geek and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I have one more tidbit for you…
Why We Based Our Setup Models on Player Height
You often hear about stance width being compared to shoulder width as a point of reference. This is a convenient comparison because it’s easy to visually align the width of your feet to your shoulders, as the two are in the same horizontal orientation and allow us and/or our coaches and playing partners to quickly make the comparison.
But if we consider that the purpose of width in the stance is to 1) provide balance to the player, and 2) affect the shape of the swing arc (story for a different time), we’re better off using player height as an indication of how high that centre of mass is and therefore, how wide the stance needs to be to provide sufficient balance for it.
Figure 5: Effect of stance width on swing path
And because we’re modelling out the stance width using mathematical models, and don’t need to rely on our eyes, height is a much more accurate predictor of correct stance width.
We still recommend using shoulder width as an appropriate reference for those checking their stance visually, but if you’re using the Stance IQ or busting out the tape measure to make things a little more scientific, we’d suggest using height as your reference instead.
Key Takeaway
With modern training tools like the Stance IQ, we can do away with less accurate references for stance width (like shoulder width) and over-simplified ball position concepts (like the 'one-ball-position' diagram) and train with the correct ball position and stance width for each club.
This allows golfers to get the optimal angle of attack and therefore the best strike with each club in their bag.
To feel the perfect strike more often, start training with the Stance IQ and become more familiar with the correct stance widths and ball positions for each club.