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Understanding the “Stack and Tilt” Golf Swing

In the most recent issue of Golf Digest (June 2007) there is a detailed description of what is called the “Stack and Tilt” swing. This golf swing is being promoted by golf coaches Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett.

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 Biggest Difference

The major difference with the “Stack and Tilt” swing is that it encourages the golfer to keep his weight on his or her front foot during the entire swing. In other words, it does away with the idea that there should be a “weight shift” during the backswing. With the Stack and Tilt swing the golfer starts with about 60% of his or her weight on the front foot, and actually shifts more weight to the front when taking the club back.

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

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.

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.

It’s All Been Done Before

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 teaching videos produced by Bobby Jones in the 1930s. He does not shift his weight to the back. Nor does he shift it to the front. He remains centered over the ball throughout the swing with his focus on rotation around the center point rather than the lateral weight shift advocated with the typical modern swing.

Points of Interest

Having said that, there are several interesting points made by the advocates of the Stack and Tilt swing, each of which may help the typical golfer having trouble hitting the ball squarely and 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 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.

July 9, 2007 | In Articles |