Predictably the article indulges in a bit of exaggeration when the author says "Their secret...contradicts almost everything being taught in the game today." But the Stack and Tilt swing does introduce some changes to the way we're used to thinking about the golf swing, and some of them may actually help you play golf better.



The Major Difference

The biggest difference with the "Stack and Tilt" swing is that it completely downplays the idea of shifting your weight to your back foot when making the backswing. In fact this "new" swing encourages the golfer to keep his or her weight on the front foot, and, if anything, move it more directly over the front foot during the takeaway.

To some golfers this looks like a "reverse pivot." That happens when the golfer seems to be leaning towards the target at the top of the swing, and it is a move that has been completely banished from the teaching of the last fifteen or twenty years. Teachers of what we might call the "typical modern swing" have their golf students stack their weight over their back leg as the club reaches the top of the swing. By comparison, Stack and Tilt has the golfer actually leaning towards the target while the club is taken up.

Subtle Differences

For many golfers it may be hard to spot the differences at first, but there are some significant ones. For one thing with the typical modern swing the back leg remains bent with a slight flex at the knee. With the Stack and Tilt the back leg straightens out. The photos featured in the Golf Digest article (p.122) demonstrate how the back leg straightens out as it pushes back towards the target.

This means that the front side of the body is "stacked" over the front leg, and the trailing side of the body from leg up through torso is "tilted" towards the target.

For a comparison with the typical modern swing look at photos of Tiger's swing of the last few years, or see the photo of V.J. Singh's swing on page 43 of the same issue of Golf Digest. Singh's upper body is "stacked" over his back leg at the top of the swing, and the trailing side of his torso is perpendicular to the ground as he pushes his weight back over his back leg. This is quite different from the way the torso is angled towards the target with the Stack and Tilt swing.

Lessons from the Past

This forward lean may sound like a radical departure from what has become golf orthodoxy. But the fact is, the modern orthodox swing is a relatively new invention and there have always been alternative schools of thought which questioned the simplistic "weight shift" idea. For example, look at old photos of Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan or Sam Snead. These golfers do not make the major shift over the back leg like you see with Tiger Woods, for instance.

Or have a close look at the famous 1930s videos produced by Bobby Jones. There is no obvious shift towards the back leg. Jones remains centered over the ball throughout the swing and is more concerned with rotation around the center point than he is with the lateral weight shift characteristic of the typical modern swing.

Points of Interest

There are clearly some aspects of the Stack and Tilt swing that may help the average golfer hit the golf ball more squarely and more precisely.

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 point has to do with the flatter swing promoted by the Stack and Tilt teachers. A flatter swing is a more rotational one, and (I think) is part of the Stack and Tilt approach because of the relative difficulty of getting the club going when you have your weight forward. In the place of a lateral shift from back to front to get the club moving, Stack and Tilt suggests a rotational one. In other words you try to maximize club head speed by taking advantage of the rotation of the torso.

The third point is the not-much-discussed idea of the "pelvic thrust" which the Stack and Tilt guys claim is necessary in order to get the club approaching the ball correctly. 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 helps to "shallow out" the swing. You achieve this by whipping your hips around and thrusting your lead hip up and towards the target. In other words you have the sensation of jumping up and striking the ball while on your toes. For examples of this see photos of Natalie Golbus or Sergio Garcia, or a younger Gary Player.

If these seem like technical points that are beyond your level of expertise, just give the "weight forward" idea a try. All you have to do is start with noticeably more weight on your front foot, and then press into that foot as you take the club up. You will probably find that it feels quite different from what you are used to. This move should result in fewer thin hits. But it may also result in more pushes, especially with the longer clubs, so you may have to adjust the positioning of the ball. You may also find it more physically taxing - requiring more body contortions - and for most of us that is not a good thing.