Understanding The "stack And Tilt" Golf Swing

In a recent issue of Golf Digest (June 2007) a "new" golf swing being promoted by golf coaches Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett is featured. This new approach to the golf swing is called the "Stack and Tilt" swing.

In describing the Stack and Tilt swing, Peter Morrice, the author of the article, indulges in a bit of overstatement when he says "Their secret...contradicts almost everything being taught in the game today." But is this swing really that unique?

The Biggest Difference

The most important difference with the "Stack and Tilt" swing is the way it encourages golfers to keep their weight forward - on their front foot during the entire swing. Stack and Tilt does away with the normal "weight shift" concept during the different parts of the swing. With Stack and Tilt the golfer starts with about 60% of her weight on the front foot, and presses even more weight towards the front when taking the club back.

To some golfers this sounds a lot like a "reverse pivot." That happens when the golfer leans towards the target at the top of the swing - a move that has been completely banished from mainstream teaching during the last generation. Most of today's teachers of what we might call the "typical modern swing" want their students to stack their weight over their back foot as the club reaches the top of the swing. But Stack and Tilt has the golfer make a leaning motion towards the target while the club is taken up.

Other Subtle Differences

It may be hard for many golfers to spot the differences at first, but some of these differences are significant. For one thing teachers of the typical modern swing want the back leg to remain slightly flexed at the knee. But with the Stack and Tilt swing the back leg straightens out as it pushes back towards the target. See the photos featured in the Golf Digest article on page 122.

The result is that the front sided of the body is "stacked" over the front leg, and the back side of the body is "tilted" towards the target.

Compare this with a more typical modern swing demonstrated in the photo of V.J. Singh's swing on page 43 of the same issue of Golf Digest. At the top of his swing Singh's upper body is "stacked" over his back leg, and his torso is (more or less) perpendicular to the ground - not angled towards the target as with the Stack and Tilt swing.

Lessons from the Past

If you are familiar with the teachings of most modern golf coaches this may sound like a radical departure from golf orthodoxy. But the fact is, there have always been alternative schools of thought which questioned the simplistic "weight shift" idea. In particular, look at old photos of Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan or Sam Snead. None of these golfers make the major shift over the back leg like you see with Tiger Woods, for instance.

Or look closely at the famous 1930s teaching videos featuring Bobby Jones. He does not shift his weight to the back either. He remains centered over the ball throughout the swing and has a much more obvious focus on rotation around the center point rather than the lateral weight shift promoted by most well known modern teachers.

Can Stack and Tilt Help You Improve?

There are several interesting points made by the the Stack and Tilt advocates which may help the average golfer hit the golf ball more squarely and (perhaps) more powerfully.

First there is the downplaying of the the weight shift to the back. For many golfers this idea has always been misleading and probably quite unhelpful. It tends to turn the golf ball into a moving target and adds a dimension of complexity to the swing that makes it harder to be consistent. Shifting one's weight to the back results in a "shallower" swing and this increases the chances of bottoming out too early. As most golfers know, this can either result in fat shots or thin ones. Stack and Tilt recommends pressing into the front foot as you take the club back and this forces a steeper approach to the ball on the downswing. This should result in fewer topped shots. It should also result in less flipping of the hands and therefore a lower trajectory and more distance because of the de-lofting of the club that takes place.

The second has to do with the position of the back elbow and the flatter swing advocated by the Stack and Tilt teachers. A flatter swing is a more rotational one, and in advocating a more rotational movement the Stack and Tilt theory has something in common with other "alternative" swing concepts like the Single Plane Swing recently adopted by Tiger Woods (compliments of Hank Haney.) I'm not sure why a flatter, rounder swing is essential to the Stack and Tilt swing, but I suspect it has to do with the relative difficulty of getting the club going when you have your weight forward. In the jargon of some teachers this weight forward position is what might be called an "unathletic" one. So the idea is to maximize club head speed by taking advantage of the rotation of the torso.

The third point is the fairly advanced idea of the "pelvic thrust" which the Stack and Tilt teachers claim helps get the club approaching the ball correctly. This is probably where Stack and Tilt becomes too difficult for many average golfers. With Stack and Tilt, since one's weight and shoulder position are forward, the approach to the ball will be significantly steeper than normal. The pelvic thrust, along with the more rotational swing, helps to "shallow out" the swing. You achieve this by rapidly rotating your hips around and pushing your front hip up and towards the target. This creates the sensation of almost jumping up and striking the ball while on your toes. If you've ever seen Natalie Golbus swing a golf club you've got a fairly good idea what this looks like.

If these seem like subtle differences to you, give the "weight forward" idea a try. You will see that it feels quite different from what you are used to. The biggest difference in your game will probably be fewer thin hits. But it may also result in pushes, especially with the longer clubs. You may also find it more physically taxing - requiring more body contortions - and it's questionable whether that can be a good thing.

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Rick Hendershot writes about golf, exotic and not so exotic golf destinations, and the golf swing. Catch his blogs called The Weekend Golfer and Have Golf Will Travel.
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