Face-on
Stance width.
Stance width is how far apart the feet are at address. It is individual. A useful width is one you can turn from and still strike the ball, not a gap to copy.
By Dwain Kinghorn · Updated
Face-on · Address, Takeaway, Top
Understanding the idea.
Face-on, look at Address before anyone moves. Width is the distance between the feet, read against the shoulders and against the club in your hands. A driver often wants more room than a wedge. A narrow width can feel tidy and then unsteady when the swing gets longer. A wide width can feel powerful and then block the turn, so the golfer hangs on the trail side or stands out of the shot to finish.
There is no width that fits every golfer, and this guide will not invent one. The test is plain: can you turn toward the target and stay balanced, and does the strike hold up. If the turn stalls or you have to lunge to finish, the stance is too wide for this club. If you tip toward the toes or the heels, it may be too narrow, or the posture is the real issue. Check address posture before you keep shuffling the feet.
Look again at Takeaway and the Top. A stance that looked fine at address can still be too wide once the body tries to turn. The feet do not have to match for every club. Rebuild the width when you change clubs, instead of carrying one gap from the driver down to the wedge.
Video cannot measure the distance, cannot see the pressure under each foot, and cannot prove the width caused a miss by itself. Aim and ball position change the picture too. Those have their own guides. Keep the camera face-on and square, with both feet in frame.
How to read this pattern.
Builds and hip structure change what wide even means. Two golfers with the same gap between their feet can have different room to turn. Comfort and a repeatable strike outrank a matched silhouette. A slightly wider stance for a driver, or a slightly narrower one for a soft wedge, can both be sensible.
Copying a gap from a taller or shorter player is how this becomes a project you do not need. If you already turn easily and the strike is stable, leave the feet alone.
A practice cue.
Make a turn toward the target without losing your balance.
Try the exercise.
Turn, then decide
Use a mid-iron on level ground. Take your usual address. Without hitting, turn toward the target and notice whether you can finish the turn balanced, with the trail side free to come through. If the feet are so wide that the turn stops, move them a little closer and test again. If you tip off balance, move them a little wider or check how far you are reaching for the ball.
Do this three times, then hit easy shots from the width that let you turn. Keep the ball in the same place relative to your stance while you test, so you are not also moving ball position. Step away between shots and rebuild the same width.
If a wider feel produces a worse strike, go back. The width you keep is the one you can turn from and strike from, not the one that looks more athletic in a still frame.
What to record
Keep the width you can turn from. If the wider feel strikes worse, go back.
Practice set: 3 turn tests, then 2 sets of 5 easy mid-irons from the width that turned.
Keep in mind: The turn finishes without a stumble or a reach.
Review the result.
For a practice comparison, record 5 full mid-iron swings from a face-on view. Use the same setup for both sets; label shorter drill swings separately.
Record five full mid-iron swings, face-on, both feet in frame. Compare Address with the Top. Note whether the turn actually happened, and whether contact improved or got worse. Do not measure the gap with a ruler on the screen. The same camera height matters, because a high camera makes the feet look closer together.
Watch these clips.
These demonstrations offer another way to understand the idea. Each video opens at the selected starting point and continues playing; use the note below it to focus your viewing.
He treats width as individual. The test is a turn toward the target: too wide, and balance and the turn both suffer. He mentions his own measurement in passing. Do not copy that number. Use the test.
He compares a narrower stance with a wider one by how solid the strike is, and he shows a wide stance where the trail foot sits well outside the trail shoulder. Keep the width that strikes, and back up when wider gets worse.