Why Stack and Tilt?

I saw my swing on video late 2008 and didn't like what I saw. Even though I'm a low single figure player I realised that what I had wasn't going to get much better... at least not any more consistent. I had 1000's of swing thoughts, little changes here and there and always seemed to be working on something new or different, I'd have one little thought that got me through each round and even that seemed to change every round.

But there was one thing that I just couldn't figure out... the backswing. I simply couldn't get my head to do the geometry of it. How is it possible to tip your right shoulder lower than your left, lean your spine 5-10° away from the target, bend forward at the hips and then rotate around your spine whilst moving your weight to the right side... chest over your right hip. Even if I made it there I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to uncoil, get the club square, get AHEAD of the ball before hitting it without sliding, and end up balanced on my extremely twisted left foot. It made no sense. Sure I could hit the ball - I just couldn't figure out how!

Every now and then I'd hit a fat shot, or a thin one.... sometimes I'd lose my rythm completely and hardly be able to hit the ball without scuffing the ground a few inches behind the ball. Handicaps don't stretch that far when you've only got a couple of shots to play with.

So I started looking into it somewhat, spine angle, posture, weight shift etc and found stack and tilt, it really made sense.

The thing that got me completely sold (and I'm going to share that with you) is the turn into the backswing. We've all seen people warming up at the range with a club across their chest, turning back and forth, pretending that they know what they're doing before they step up and slice one over the fence.

Well let's take a look at that drill and see if it has any use... (you can do this infront of your PC with an imaginary club and ball if you like)

Here's the picture so you know what we're talking about..


OK, kick back that chair you're sitting on and let's pretend...




Stand up straight with your arms across your chest, imagine you have the club across your chest and there is a ball in front of you right in the middle of your stance, right under your nose. Bend forward a little at the waist and flex your knees into your address position... You're going to hit a good shot here, right?

OK, looking good....

Turn your left shoulder down so that the imaginary club shaft points at the ball, keep the ball under your nose, let your right leg straighten a little bit to help your right hip turn out of the way...



...and THAT is stack and tilt! How easy was that? You practically nailed it already!




That drill itself DOESN'T ACTUALLY WORK AT ALL for the conventional swing, yet I've been doing it for years! The conventional swing (if you remember) necessitates a lean to the right with the spine and it turns away from the target. Well you just can't turn your shoulders properly with a club across your chest if you start with your shoulders tipped right, bent forward at the waist, and trying to keep that right knee flexed, it feels like you're completely pointing the wrong way, and even more so if you then try and move onto your right side... for arguments sake let's not even begin to add the golf club or swing plane into the equation!

I was sold. Stack and Tilt was for me. Provided I'm set up correctly I only need to worry about two things.. turn my shoulders down to the ball and let my right leg straighten as necessary. I can do that... and it's becoming more natural every time I play.

James,

I can beat your frustration levels - I've played for a long time and never been anywhere a single figure handicap

Seriously though, I do echo your experience and sentiment. I've been to various coaches and spent an awful lot on lessons (not to mention a fortune on range balls) with the end result that my handicap has never improved and I've been stuck in a loop of seemingly endless tweaks to a swing that not only still looks poor (over-bent left arm on the way back, chicken-wing impact position, inconsistent timing etc), but that just couldn't get me 'round the course in a decent number and / or without wanting to snap clubs / kill my playing partner / stab myself / give up golf.

Like many people who are interested in or trying S&T, I unknowingly discovered small elements of it whilst tinkering at the range, but with a non-expert analysis of the whole picture these components got lost in the never-ending search that leads to the frustrating cycle of new ideas and swing thoughts that you mention.

I've very recently had 2 x 1 hour lessons from an S&T proponent (my club pro, recommended by Plummer and Bennett). He had previously helped me with my old swing approach for a few lessons, but he's switched me to S&T. It could be the change that will keep me golfing - I am seriously on the verge of quitting.

With about 6 range sessions and a couple of rounds of golf, it's no exaggeration to say that in an extremely short space of time I've progressed to hitting the ball further and on a far more consistent trajectory than ever before. My driver has benefited the most from this - I've never been consistent with it and even straight shots were weak, but they're now much improved and my home course is tight and tree-lined so I need really a good driving skill.

Due to lack of playing time, I've only just started to translate this to the course - only the one round so far and yet it was more successful than pretty much any previous swing changes that I've made.

Hi Slingshot, welcome to my 'lil corner of the web. I just came back from a trip to Forest Pines in Lincolnshire which (as the name suggests) is tree lined and very, very narrow. I played 4 rounds and finished with the same ball that I'd started with. I can't deny that I was in the trees a few times but nothing serious enough to lose a ball, and there were more good shots than bad.

The thing I found with S&T is that I only have to remember a few key positions and it puts me back on track. Even if you do S&T badly it puts you in a better position to hit the ball!. I used to load up the right side so much I'd practically fall off the shot and wonder how come it was that I'd catch it fat so many times.... they were the days!

Which course do you call home?

regards
James.

Thanks James. And that's lovely golf - I'll bet you're still smiling (and rightly so)

And even from my limited experience so far, I agree that remembering the key S&T positions seems straightforward and the bad shots are usually not as destructive as those I had in my attempts at the more traditional swing. As you say, if you've got the correct setup and make the prescribed take-away, you're already in a reasonable position, so forgetting to correctly move your weight forward on the downswing will cause a chunk or maybe a hook, but not wild pull-hooks.

Maybe overall it's a simpler swing and it suits my small brain / lack of physical ability, but I'm hugely optimistic that I can at last start to reduce my once-17-now-18 handicap. I've been optimistic before after lessons, but this is different and I say this because in just 2 lessons and a few range sessions I can now find my top-drawer swing within a couple of hits whereas before now I could hit a large bucket of 120 balls and still be looking for it, maybe just about find it and then lose it before I hit the course.

On another point, I've noticed a large number of S&T detractors, most amateur players, but my pro says there are plenty of professional coaches in that group. Those that are the most annoying are the amateurs who maybe read an article, perhaps even watch a video and then give it a quick go at the range before proclaiming such nonsense as "it's a swing for losers" (a comment I saw somewhere yesterday). These people haven't the competence or intelligence to adopt the approach from a brief article or video and in any case don't have the intelligence to offer a technical analysis to support their "assessment"

Home course for me is Drift G.C. ( http://www.driftgolfclub.com/ ), about 10 mins from J10 of the M25 and far more peaceful than that might sound !

And you ? (apologies if you've got it in your profile or somewhere !)

Slingshot