The proper golf setup is the second most important fundamental in golf, after the grip. Because the driver plays a crucial role in your success as a golfer, it is critical to understand the proper golf stance with the driver.
The driver is by far the longest club in the bag. Also, the driver has far less loft than our other clubs, and we usually hit the ball off of a tee when hitting the driver.
Therefore, the stance with the driver is going to be quite a bit different, particularly from your setup with the shorter irons.
First, have a look at the photo below…
Golf Stance With Driver – Ball Position
As I mention in that previous post about the proper setup, the longer the club, the more forward in the stance you should have the ball.
The reason for this is that with the shorter clubs, which have more loft, we want to catch the ball while the arc of our swing is still coming down. The club will ultimately bottom out past the ball.
This allows us to utilize the loft of the club, and the grooves on the clubface to create backspin. It is the backspin that gets the ball in the air.
With the longer clubs, we have less loft to work with, so we want to catch ball right at the bottom of our swing arc. This will allow us to get the ball in the air more easily.
However, with the driver, since we are typically hitting the ball off of a tee, we want to catch the ball as our swing arc begins to rise into the follow through of our golf swing. This is because we do not have much loft to work with, and therefore, we can’t create backspin to get the ball in the air.
With that in mind, the ball position should be more forward in our stance. At the very least, it should be off the heel of our front foot (left foot for right handed players), and possibly off of the big toe of the front foot.
As I mentioned earlier, the driver is the longest club in the bag, and much longer than any of our other clubs. Therefore, we are going to be standing much taller as we address the ball.
Also, to help with the idea that we want to catch the ball at the beginning of our upswing, we want to set up to the ball with our front shoulder tilted a little higher than the back shoulder, to help create the proper angle of attack.
Driver Stance Width
With the driver, we are also attempting to generate alot more swing speed than with our other clubs. As a result, we want more stability. Therefore, we want to set up with our feet a bit wider than shoulder width.
Have a look at the setup of Dustin Johnson below…
Note how wide his stance is compared to his shoulders, and the tilt in his shoulders.
Driver Stance Alignment
Your alignment with the driver is one that you’ll want to play around with a bit. Here’s why…
Ben Hogan, who was quite flexible with his hip turn, typically set up to the driver with his feet closed, ie, aligned to the right of his target. His hips would be as much as 30 degrees open to his target line at impact. By setting up to the ball with his feet slightly closed, he avoided pulling the tee shot to the left due to the flexibility of his hips. See the photo below.
As for me personally, I don’t have much flexibility in my hips. At impact, my hips are barely open. Therefore, I set up to the ball with my feet aimed a bit more open with the driver compared to my other clubs to ensure that I give my hands room to swing the club through the shot.
Also, it’s a good idea to setup with the front foot turned outward, rather than straight in front of you. If you do have flexibility issues with your hips, this will allow you greater range of motion.
In the image on the left is a common setup among many poor golfers, with feet pointed straight forward. On the right is the ball positioning of Ben Hogan for each of his clubs.
Final Thoughts
How you hit the driver can set up every round of golf you play. If you struggle off the tee, you’ll be in for a long day. Learning the proper golf stance with the driver will go a long way toward helping you lower your scores.
If you struggle with the driver, here are some more tips for hitting the driver.
Thanks for reading!
