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.

Double Down on Relief Wells

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced legislation requiring the drilling of relief wells at all new drilling sites off the coast of the US. Today CNN is reporting that the industry response has been negative. Relief wells would be (1) expensive and (2) dangerous (what if the relief well blew out?). If relief wells are too expensive and dangerous, then maybe the same can be said for the original wells (pictured above are the relief wells for the Ixtox Oil Spill).

Sarah Palin's Cleavage

David Easton in A Systems Analysis of Political Life writes "As a concept, cleavage therefore refers to these two different dimensions: Diversity of opinions, attitudes, or culture and conflict among potential support groups" (p. 235). What dimensions of cleavage, then, is Sarah Palin channeling?

The list is lengthy: (1) big government, (2) the environment, (3) militarism, (4) the media, (5) abortion, (6) taxation, (7) fundamentalist religion, (8) universal health care, (9) same-sex marriage, (10) creationism, (11) gun rights, (12) off-shore oil drilling, (13) global warming skepticism and more.

David Easton thinks that cleavages can either strengthen a country through open discussion and debate or weaken the political system through unresolvable conflict. What do you think?

Recently, Barney Frank (D-NY, liberal) and Ron Paul (R-TX, Libertarian) wrote a Huffington Post article calling for reductions in military spending. Last year, I played golf with a Libertarian tradesman and Ron Paul supporter. It was amazing how much we agreed on and how interesting the discussion was to me. The essence of a strong democracy is to be able to reason, discuss, debate and move forward. I question whether that is possible with the current makeup of the Republican party. Also, see the interesting discussion between Nassim Taleb (Libertarian) and Nouriel Roubini on PBS. From this perspective, Libertariansim is making a strong contribution to American democracy. The Tea Party movement and the Republican party, on the other hand, seem intent on weakening the political system through "unresolvable conflict".

P.S. If you thought this post was about another dimension of cleavage, you can find plenty of that elsewhere on the Internet!

Are There Automatic Stabilizers in the Economy?

In July 1944, John Maynard Keynes addressed the Bretton Woods Conference (pictured above) arguing in favor of government spending during recessions and depressions. The Christian Science Monitor has recently reported that Keynesian economics failed, in of all places, England where Keynes was born. Whether or not Keynesian economics is a failure, there is a bigger question of whether there are automatic stabilizers that keep the economy on course and, if not, should there be? Keynes' argument was that the automatic stabilizers did not work in the way envisioned by neoliberal economists. This is a particularly important question to answer in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis of 2007-2010.

This list of potential mechanisms for automatically stabilizing the economy is fairly short: (1) unemployment benefits, (2) manipulation of the Fed Funds Interest rate, (3) Keynesian deficit spending and (4) market discipline. The US Senate failed to extend unemployment benefits even though unemployment is still high. The Fed is at the zero-bound (interest rates cannot go lower without money essentially being free). In a reprise of Herbert Hoover in 1932, the "bond-vigalantes" are calling for a return to austerity to end deficit spending and bolster "confidence". And, a bubble in the housing market is what got us in to this mess in the first place (the opposite of a bubble is a deflationary collapse).

Paul Krugman recently took on the issue of unemployment benefits. Yes, unemployment benefits create mild disincentives for people to look for and accept lower pay or poorer quality jobs. The lack of job creation, however, trumps the incentive effects. The jobs aren't there and without unemployment benefits, consumption isn't there to create a recovery.

Deficit hawks on the right are arguing that it's time to "cut, cut, cut, irrespective of the economic consequences" according to Carolyn B. Maloney, D-NY. Interestingly enough, the argument for austerity is the same argument made to countries on the periphery of the world system going through debt crises. Republicans (e.g., Kevin Brady, R-TX) are even arguing that "the United States may experience a debt crisis similar to Greece." In other words, the government should step back and let the market that created the crisis solve the crisis through the discipline of unemployment and enforced hardship for the working class--even though with low interest rates and a high demand for government bonds, now would be a good time for the government to increase borrowing.

Sadly, the same arguments were made to Herbert Hoover at the start of the Great Depression by the American Banker Andrew W. Mellon: "...liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate...it will purge the rottenness out of the system." Andrew Mellon vs. John Maynard Keynes: what do you think? One problem with deficit spending is the likelihood that a period of deficits will not be followed by a period of surplus. Although the Clinton administration did run surpluses, it seems we cannot count on Republican administrations to run surpluses in good times (their preference is to provide tax cuts for those at the higher end of the income scale). Given the effect that weird politics (conservatives actually aren't fiscally conservative) have on the "automatic stabilizers," Melon's brutal, heartless, Republican home remedy for recession and depression becomes ever more likely. And, "those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it".

Stack & Tilt: The Setup

The setup for the Stack & Tilt swing is exactly as described in all the documentation (e.g., here). Weight forward on the left foot, hands low and forward, and the ball back in your stance. As explained in the DVD and the book, the setup is designed to produce a slight draw. In my experience, the Stack & Tilt swing does produce a draw as advertised.

Once you are in this setup (the "Stack"), the next step is the "Tilt," to be discussed in a future post. For me, getting the tilt right is critical!

Stack & Tilt: The Journey

About three or four years ago, out of some desperation, I changed my golf swing. Why change? Over the years I have lost a lot of flexibility and began having trouble hitting the ground before hitting the ball (the "fat" shot is the ultimate power leak).

I had been reading about the Stack & Tilt swing (here and here), bought the video (here) and bought the book (here). The swing analysis claimed to fix my problem with fat shots, so I gave it a try. Bottom line: it did.

In the following posts I'll discuss my learning experience with the Stack & Tilt swing. To make the transition, what I found most useful was visualization. I learned to play golf watching and copying the swings of skilled amateur plays I caddied for at Ozaukee Country Club (e.g., Dick Sucher) and played against in high school (e.g., Mark Bemowski).

Since I learned to play by copying good players, I needed images that I could copy. In the following posts I'll present the ones that helped me the most.