Golf's Radical New Swing: Stack and Tilt
By Jack Moorehouse
A radical new swing developed by two golf gurus is insinuating itself on the pro tour. It's called the Stack and Tilt model. Developed by Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett, the new swing is drawing rave reviews from pros like Eric Axley, Dean Wilson, Will Mackenzie, and Aaron Baddeley, who have adopted the new swing. Even veteran players, like Mike Weir and Brad Faxon, are testing the new swing.
If interest grows, you may soon find instructors giving golf lessons on it. So let's take a look at the basics of the new swing, which someday my help even weekend golfers lower their golf handicaps.
The Basic Principal
Stack and Tilt is a geometry-based swing model that contradicts almost everything being taught in golf instruction sessions today. What's different about this radical new swing? In short, the swing has the player tilting dramatically to the front on the backswing, and then springing up through impact. The swing looks different because the body never moves off the ball.
Keeping your weight on your front foot is the simplest way of controlling where the club hits the ground, a key fundamental of hitting a golf ball. Golfers who shift to their back foot on the backswing have to make precisely the same shift back to the front foot by impact. This move is among the biggest sources of frustration in the game.
Setup: Swing Centers
Plummer and Bennett start each golf lesson by revising the player's setup. They want his or her "point centers" over the ball. The point centers are midway between the shoulders and the hips. The point centers are stacked, setting the spine vertical. The grip is neutral. The weight is 60-40 on the front foot. That's different then the traditional swing, which usually has the weight either neutral or more on the back foot. This over-the-ball posture pre-sets a rotary swing with no shift to the back foot.
Backswing: Hands Move Inward
With this setup, the spine tilts toward the ball at address. When the player starts into his backswing, the tilt moves to the back. This causes the shoulders and hips to turn inward and downward at a steep angle, the back knee straightening and the front knee flexing. As the front shoulder turns downward, pointing almost to the ball, the hands move on a circular arc around the ball. The hands and arms stay on the rib cage. (This sequence of moves differs quite a bit from what I've explained in my golf tips.
The Slot: Stay Centered
The spine should be vertical at the top, making the player feel tipped over the front foot. This tilting toward the target happens continuously during the backswing. At the top the weight on the front foot increases slightly. The upper body is now full of torque but remains straight. The arms stay low and inside, without moving off the rib cage. The head stays in place, so the ball remains centered in the player's vision. If the head shifts, it inhibits solid contact.
Downswing: Move Weight Forward
The entire body starts the downswing together. As it does, more weight moves to the front foot, with a distinct leaning on the front foot. The object is to get the swing centers in front of the ball at impact. The hips start to turn back to level, and the legs reverse roles, the front leg straightening and the back leg flexing. The turning body supplies the initial acceleration.
The hips have limited turning capacity when they're titled, so they have to come out of the tilt to keep accelerating. The move that releases the hips is a spring up of the lower body, where the butt muscles push the hips upward and toward the body. If the move is executed properly, the player feels as if he's jumping up as the club comes down. This move characterizes the new swing model.
Impact: Thrust the Lower Body
The upward thrust of the lower body releases the hips. The leg and butt muscles push forward and help deliver the club to the ball. The club will crash into the ground unless the swing shallows out. The pelvic thrust takes some of the steepness out of the swing. The upper arms stay on the rib cage, and the hand path comes from well inside. At impact, the swing centers are in front of the ball, so the club catches the ball first, then creates a divot.
Finish: Torso Flexes Forward
With the hips release toward the target, the torso flexes forward and the butt tucks under the back. The spin tilts away from the target. As the torso stretches, the arms extend. The hands don't drop over the front shoulder. The hips and shoulder continue to turn toward the target, continuing on a circular arc because the body has kept up its speed. The body releases from its forward tilt.
That's the Stack and Tilt Swing in brief. It seems odd, but so far few can argue with its results. Axley, Wilson, and MacKenzie all recently won tournaments. Baddeley won his first tournament in 2006 and his second in February 2007. Other tour players adopting the new swing are John Cook, Tommy Armour III, and Charlie Wi. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Will this new swing revolutionizes the way players hit the ball? Who knows? Maybe someday it'll help you lower your golf handicap.
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.
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