Stack & Tilt: Setup Modification for the Width Swing

In a previous post, I discussed the textbook Stack & Tilt Setup. I actually don't quite use the textbook setup. I'm halfway between the image on the left (a width swing setup from the LAWs of Golf, here, here and here) and the Stack & Tilt swing setup on the right.

The purpose of the "stacked" weight setup (the majority of your weight on your left foot rather than evenly balanced across both feet) is to make sure you can execute the one-and-only fundamental that Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett could find when analyzing the professional golf swing. Watch any golf tournament carefully. No two professional swings are similar and some are very far from conventional. What is consistent across all professional golfers, however, is the ability to hit the ball first, talking a divot after the ball (forward of the ball).

If you can consistently hit and compress or pinch the ball first, you don't really need your weight set extremely on your left side. Weight on the left side just makes it easier to hit the ball first and create solid impact.

The LAWs model swings (Leverage, Arch, and Width swing models) are based on the idea that different body types need different swing mechanics to produce the best, most powerful and repeatable golf swings. This is an important concept to keep in mind when evaluating the Stack & Tilt swing and it is probably one of the reasons that pro golf swings look so different.

I'll talk about the LAWs swing models in a later post. My model swing in the LAWs typology, given my body type (endomorphic), would be the Width swing. A problem with the Width swing is that it is very easy to hit fat shots. Since I started with the Width swing, I essentially moved my weight forward toward the left foot until I stopped hitting fat shots. Possibly, because of my body type, my setup is thus not textbook Stack & Tilt.

My suggestion would be that you experiment with the Stack & Tilt setup as we progress through the other parts of the swing. The goal is solid, compressed ball strikes with mid-height trajectory and a slight draw. The amount of stack is one of the variables that can be manipulated to produce that result.