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The stance that you create before you make your golf swing sets the stability or balance that you have during your golf swing. Playing golf shots with a stance that is too narrow than is required will result in you being very unstable as you swing and if you are off balance through impact, you will mis-strike the golf ball resulting in inconsistent distance and accuracy with your golf shots.

Conversely, playing your golf shots from a stance that is too wide will make it extremely difficult for you to transfer your weight correctly when you swing and this will give you problems in achieving a crisp strike, shot length and directional control. Achieving the correct stance width is crucial to allowing you to play effective golf shots.

Your stance needs to be set wide enough so that you are able to keep your balance from the swing speed that you generate in the club head. The longer the golf club is that you are swinging, the wider your swing arc will be and the more club head speed you will generate. Therefore, the longer the club is, the wider your stance needs to be to allow you to balance throughout your swing. The shorter the shaft of the club, the less club head speed you will have and therefore the narrower your stance can be.

If you play your longest club, your driver, with a stance that is just over shoulder width apart with your feet, you will be able to maintain your balance and strike great golf shots from this position. For each slightly shorter club, you need to narrower your stance down, until you are playing your shortest golf clubs, your wedges, with a stance that is just narrower than shoulder width apart with your feet.

If you are not exactly sure how wide your shoulders are then take your golf club and position it across your shoulders so that the butt end of the club is level with the outside of one of your shoulders. Place your fingers on the shaft of the club to indicate the outside of your other shoulder and this will show you the distance you want from your left big toe to your right big toe to achieve a stance that is shoulder width apart.

If you do not alter the width of your stance as you play shots with different golf clubs, then you will have problems with either your balance or transferring your weight. If you play a shot with a long club then you will have a high club head speed. A high club head speed will result in you needing really good balance. Shorter clubs, however, do not generate the same club head speed so you need to be able to transfer your weight correctly by having a narrower stance.

If you have a narrow stance when playing long shots with a high swing speed, you will find it extremely difficult to maintain your balance throughout your golf swing. If you are unable to maintain your balance, you will not be able to swing the club head on plane, or move your weight correctly. This will result in inconsistency to your strike, length and shot accuracy.

Stance width is an extremely important element of an effective golf swing. Having the correct width of stance is crucial for allowing you to make the correct weight transfer during your golf swing whilst still maintaining the balance that is required for the swing speed created.