Should we expect a “Gotteruption(c)” in 2027? Chris Gotterup certainly has the tools to produce a great year. 2026 was perhaps a foreshadowing of what is to come.

Chris has lots of power, obviously. His ball speed hovers around 190mph, which means he’s moving his driver head at 126mph on average. High ball flights and low ball flights are easy for him. And, he creates all his power with a minimum of rotation – thanks to his Open Stance, sturdy build, and fast hands.

Chris is a flat swinger by virtue of his set up. Consequently, he has creative opportunities to send balls downrange with a variety of shapes and trajectories. Chris has more time to manipulate his club face, even within a powerful swing, than square/upright swingers.

Of course, as I’ve stated many times and in my book The Open Stance and Three Short Game Lessons, an Open Stance is not a prerequisite for playing good golf. Tournaments are won by square/uprights, too. However, in twenty years, Chris Gotterup’s arms, shoulders, legs, and knees will still be healthy and strong. But let’s return to 2026.

Chris won three times in 2026 bookending his season with an obvious weakness in his wedge game. That’s not to say he doesn’t have days where his feels are feelin it. Cultivating consistency WITH his feel will make his wedge game terrifying to his competitors.

Gotterup Round 4 at John Deere Classic: https://youtu.be/e-QcVpz_1EM?is=_EIt5_mhd-dH7KPs

As someone who has been the greatest wedge player in the world, I can say Chris Gotterup has the set-up for equal accomplishment. When he acquires the gravity-driven delivery of the greatest wedge players of all time, he will join their club. Trevino, Fleisher, Thomas, Speith… they all have a mastery of gravity.

Therefore, if we are to expect a Gotteruption(c) in 2027, his wedge play will harness gravity every golfing day. His good days will be indistinguishable from ‘off’ days. His short clubs will be his instruments. Applause will be his music.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Chris Gotterup and His Open Stance Won The John Deere Classic

Unscrewing The Science

The number of Open Stances succeeding at the Baycurrent Classic reaffirms what we already know. The Open Stance set-up is the preferred platform of the best ball-strikers and top performers in the world. Every week we discover the same thing…. The golfing world is coming around.

Brennan, Bridgeman, Gerard, Schaufele, line em up.

These are the wise. Some are scared, some are obstinate, but all are witness. Putters can heat up for a week to bridge the deficit. Luck (which is now common parlance in the golfing lexicon – See “Luck: The Esoteric Tumbler”) will always play into sports results. Nonetheless, the Open Stance platform is the thread and the threat to the establishment. Exciting, I know.

Nearly every Tour player uses an Open Stance on standard shots around the green to a distance of whatever you see on T.V. However, Open Stance-ed-ness creep into mid and long irons and “off the tee” is demonstrably more pronounced in recent years. If you think that normalization happened organically, you’d come up a little short.

This was a cultivated movement – test and retest. “I’ll try it for a week” became, “I’ll try it through the Fall season.”, which became, “I’ll dedicate the year to it.”, which is now becoming institutional. Furthermore, the anger over hiding it has caused a backlash that is hitting instructors and golf organizations worldwide. Hence, they either change or get left behind.

I want to re-emphasize – I DID NOT INVENT THE OPEN STANCE. The fact that I know more about it than anyone else in the world is part of a natural progression. Teacher knows more than student. Jealousy and baser instincts will only delay their proficiency. Tell them to give it up, make the switch, and enjoy their athleticism and golf journey knowing you cannot fail. They’ll thank you.

Isn’t it great?

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Lead With Your Hands Using Set-Up Alone
Chris Gotterup and His Open Stance Won The John Deere Classic

This post is to address golfer’s height, leading hand grip, and shoulder rotation, and how they relate. Sub-topics are physiology and how an Open Stance encourages optimization. Perhaps you’ll read about your own genius in implementing correct changes and offsets before joining me here.

Short golfers (under 6’ anymore) who set up open have a different set of tumblers than tall golfers who set up open. Set-up orientations being equal, short golfers generally require more rotational effort into and through impact. Standardized club lengths, fitted lie angles, and our necessity to create power yields flatter swings with more lag just to match our taller counterparts’ potential. However, we shorter golfers have a potential advantage in their ability to keep our club face squarer, longer than the Henrik Stensons and Adrian Meronks of the world.

Taller golfers, generally, have the advantage of longer levers and vertical shoulder rotation, even with modern equipment, which has increased in length to meet their physiological needs. All set-up orientation being equal, taller golfers require less rotation to square for impact. Club head speed is their potential advantage.

Well, I started thinking about blending the advantages of both tall and short golfer to optimize results for both, again. I even conducted an on-course experiment of my own to affirm my hypothesis. Here is what I confirmed. The Open Stance does not necessarily necessitate a weak or strong grip, a flat or upright swing.

Yes, a flatter plane and a weaker grip generally accompany an Open Stance, but only because rotation is reduced to get to impact – not because other grip orientations cannot be offset. Furthermore, “flat” may only mean ‘across the line’ of the stance orientation to get our shaft on our target plane. Additionally, being across the line, with ANY set-up, is always mitigated by a flatter (but structurally sound) arm swing around the torso – especially on our downswing. Flat-swingers/neutral-grippers need greater horizontal shoulder rotation(HSR for short) to help square the club face for impact. Consequently, “covering the ball” at impact without decreasing speed is easier for flat swingers.

Generally, strong-grip golfers produce sharp attack angles, correspondingly more upright swings with vertical shoulder rotation (VSR) than neutral-grip golfers with a flatter plane and accompanying offsets. The stronger leading grip provides a feeling of increased resistance at impact. However, at extremes it can eventually produce lead thumb problems without proper offsets like VSR and trailing grip tweak. Done correctly, Open Stance swings with stronger grips, like Zinger and Bubba, can produce penetrating ball flight without sacrificing distance.

My own experiment was with a stronger grip (one knuckle), ball repositioned back an inch, and offsetting VSR. Here is what I discovered…. By strengthening my lead hand grip within my existing Open Stance dynamic, I created not just intentional VSR, but also increased shaft lean to keep the de-lofted club face from closing too early. My result was nine iron shots that went about eight yards further into a slight breeze.

The moral of the story is that, unlike a closed set-up, which demands HSR exclusively of all its supplicants, your Open Stance allows you to play with your offsets to find out what your body will or will not allow. Not everyone is tall enough or can bend over enough to make a strong-grip dynamic work, so a neutral grip, a flatter swing, and HSR are their best friends.

The Open Stance, regardless of height, leading hand grip, and shoulder rotation, creates each individual’s advantage without dictating exact structures necessary to deliver at impact. It’s an individual pursuit, after all. Your solution WILL be correct given enough time and work. Just enjoy the process.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

An Open Stance Creates More Power
Chris Gotterup and His Open Stance Won The John Deere Classic

Did you see Russell Henley win at Hogan’s Alley? Open Stance strikes again! Ben Hogan would have been impressed that Russell did exactly what he used to do…. Beat ‘em with accuracy. Russell had a very Hoganesque week – leading the Driving Accuracy, GIR, and Strokes Gained Approach categories through Saturday’s round. Sunday he shot 67, so I doubt there was much fall-off.

Here is some video.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fm-6Pp7c_kQ?si=vpOQ-JGRQBkA1ql9

As usual, Stripey McFindagreens sailed through a field struggling to find fairways, while he hit frozen ropes all week. Russ, predictably, turned it left and right at will. Isn’t it interesting, however, that he scored best, relative to the rest of the field, when the golf course showed its teeth. Watch out for Russ at Shinnecock. That’s all I’m sayin.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy PMA

Russell. Henley.

A “Flat” Golf Swing Is A Relative Term

I’m writing to make apologies to an industry, in advance, of my evisceration of it. Ready? The club-fitting industry, for amateurs, in any-and-all places and forms, is ruining golf swings and feeding the instruction industry at the same damn time. I have a newest account to talk about but, may I just say, what a crock!

A gentleman phoned to get some advice on their Open Stance pursuit, which I accommodated. After asking him a battery of questions to triangulate the root cause of his trouble (a persistent slice), I suggested a disciplined practice regimen and what to expect over these next months. As always, I detailed the benefits he would see. Additionally, my description laid out his possible pitfalls, primarily club set-up and, specifically, lie angle.

My initial example centered on an upright lie angle and the damage it would do to anyone’s progress. He then confirmed with a groan and immediate acknowledgement that although he had switched to a standard lie club a couple weeks ago he had, for the two-plus years prior been fitted with irons that were FOUR DEGREES UPRIGHT! Some (under-learned) club-fitter thought they could correct his slice with club set-up and sold this good man on their scam! And yes, I am upset.

Our club set-up, most-specifically our lie angle, is the single-most consequential and least addressed tumbler in the codex of ball-striking success. NO other factor plays as large a part in the silent film of learning to move than the unspoken narrative that feedback provides to guide us as hopeful golfers. Club-fitting steals our joy and wrecks our feedback until, naturally, we submit to its will. In doing so, we believe when our ball doesn’t do what we want, that said destruction is our own fault. We blame ourselves! IT. IS. OUR. CLUB. SET-UP!

For anyone who has seen The Passion of The Christ, I see club-fitters for amateur golfers as the pallid, floating Satan moving just behind the crowd, looking on in delight and enjoying the destruction he hath wrought. And, although it may be harsh to make that comparison, what is demonstrable is this…. Club-fitters, writ large, are stealing time and effort away from us and lining their pockets with our misplaced trust. I want it to stop. ‘Inmates should never run the asylum’, and all that.

You may remember me lauding club-fitter to the Indian pros, Gurbazz Mann and few years ago. Bazz is working from a set of assumptions that are much more homogenous than the average club-fitter. Players at that level already have neutral lie angles. Consequently, changes to tour professionals’ club set-up are very minute. However, when Bazz looked at my own swing and results, there was not a word said until I hit one offline. Then, my club set-up became the issue – never mind I was cold and tight from sitting around waiting to greet him.

There is a seed of interpreting facts to support their own conclusions in EVERY club-fitter regardless of pre-conditions, context, or cause. Club-fitting is an industry BASED on ignorance, willful or otherwise, of contributing factors. If these folks asked enough questions to locate the real problem, they would be out of business immediately.

The reason? Because with a neutral club set-up we would never need a club-fitter OR an instructor. If the toe of our irons sit on the level ground so we might fit a quarter underneath, that is the right set-up. An appropriate shaft flex is assumed. Thereafter, we would only need an Open Stance and Intention.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Fittings vs Lessons 3-4-14

Clubs Too Upright Are Your Swing’s Dynamite

Bhatia and Berger’s Bay Hill bestie barnburner was further confirmation and proof that the Open Stance philosophy promotes superior ball-striking and winning form. We saw the week’s two best players, Akshay Bhatia and Daniel Berger, tame a brute of a golf course and more or less the rest of the field, as well. Putting was prominent.

Akshay led the field in putting. Daniel was rolling it as well. No one wins without filling it up. No one fills it up without being comfortable, which can come from anywhere. For example, maybe the putter feels good in your hands. Perhaps you keep hitting it close to the hole. Then again, maybe your girlfriend or boyfriend has been extra nice to you. Happiness abounds, etc. comfort is, however, a completely psychological ease. Good for those who are feelin it.

What we saw on Sunday, with few exceptions, was that even under pressure their performances were equal to the best of the day. For example, Akshay on hole 6, Daniel on hole 12. Nonetheless, they never looked like they would return to the field. I could cite example after example, but instead, here is a video that shows what I am talking about.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Rn61qvEJQ&si=APsCHNBmx4sD_d8N

But it wasn’t just Bhatia and Berger putting up good scores. Young, Morikawa, Theegala, Henley, and many other Open Stance tour players were, once again, at the top of the leaderboard. Over and over, week after week, the best in the world set up open. Furthermore, you need to understand, it’s a conscious choice for these players – not accidental. What you are seeing is the changing of the ‘old guard’ narrative. Incidentally, my sense is that what we hear from the booth will change as the eventuality becomes reality.

The fact that I identified the value of our Open Stance set-up philosophy doesn’t mean using it is some kind of trademark infringement. I DIDN’T INVENT IT! However, using my knowledge is invaluable to 1) understand why it works for everyone and 2) in shortening the time you spend adapting to change. At any rate, having already changed the language of teaching over the past decade plus, I’ll be here to assist this transition, too… God willing. I’ve said it in so many ways and so many times it rings in my ears as pedantic. But, here it is again….

Open your stance. Change your game.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

It Is Not The Fade That Creates Control

The Open Stance, Shaping Your Shot, and Lower Scores

Giddy Up, Gotterup! The most unabashedly open stance since Bubba Watson, Chris Gotterup is on or near the leaderboard weekly on the PGA Tour. Of course, commentators compare him to Lee Trevino, the Open Stance master, without saying Open or Stance. So be it.

https://youtu.be/Y2DYWD_J6NQ?si=GzhnKGKc_J0uS3Bq

I laugh every time they say, “He sets up way left or way right(lefty)” instead of “(very) open”. I guess they’re trying to fill airtime, so they take the long way round. I’m just glad I’ve pulled back from my crusade to enlighten the golf world, otherwise I’d probably be upset. As a non-pga drone now I don’t have to be upset with their deception.

At any rate, Chris is powerful, accurate, and a great wedge player by commentator admission. Yes, he is a big guy. Built like J.W. Nicklaus, Chris Gotterup is a formidable player. And, like Jack, his greatest weapon may be his mind. We’ll see. However, you can see he hits what the dumbasses announcing refer to as a “push”… as if to passive-aggressively cast shade on his set up. I’d say if Chris is “pushing” it twenty yards past everyone else, then where does the line form to get some of that?

The industrial distraction campaign won’t work. Every year, on every tour, more players choose an Open Stance. It’s not an accident. They’re smart. Did you notice how many different sizes and shapes of golfers are utilizing an Open Stance setup? How about, have you noticed the number of different adaptations leading to completely unique moves at the ball?

As I’ve said from the first day, the Open Stance precludes no shots, promotes increased distance, and produces accurate shotmaking. Why the golf industry wants to keep simplicity out of your ears is anyone’s guess. I have my own opinion. However, I recommend you use your eyes and reject voices that tell you your eyes are lying to you. Peace.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Everyone Improves With An Open Stance!

The Open Stance and The Ball-Flight Tree for Me