Stack & Tilt: How Not To Tilt

In previous posts I've talked about how to visualize and make the "tilt" move in the Stack & Tilt (S&T) swing. Tilting will be somewhat confusing if you've read and followed the Laws (Leverage, Arc and Width Swing) of Golf since, in the LAWs version of the golf swing, tilting is a "power leak". Both ideas can't be right so what's going on?

In the first three images above (from left to right) are examples on "tilting" taken from the LAWs book. The fourth image is from "Six Steps to Stack & Tilt". If you study these images carefully, the problem in the first three is not the "tilt" but rather the position of the elbows at the top of the backswing. The "power leak" comes not from the tilt but from the flying right elbow and the broken left elbow. And, for each of these body types, there's no physiological reason why the left elbow can't be kept close to the body and the right arm straightened as in the fourth image on the right.

Tilting properly allows the right elbow to stay close to the body, the left arm to remain straight and the backswing to stay on a single plane. The LAWs book has misdiagnosed the problem as tilting rather than breaking the elbows and moving out of the Safety Zone on the backswing. Admittedly, the first three swings look horrible, but actually it would be less effort for these players to get to S&T than it would for them to find their correct LAWs swing.

Stack & Tilt: Visualizing the Tilt

In learning the Stack & Tilt swing, I had the most trouble visualizing the tilt. At first, I felt as if I was going to fall on my face. Also, my right foot would sometimes come up off the ground in the backswing making me unstable. Looking at Stack & Tilt tour players and watching the instructional DVD wasn't getting the stable, tilted platform I needed to hit solid shots. I finally found it by reaching back to a little known tour player of the 1950's era.

In 1958, Golf Digest published the swing sequence (above) for Jerry Barber's "Shiftless" golf swing. In looking back, Golf Digest thought it was the precursor to the modern Stack & Tilt Swing. For me, the important part of the Barber swing sequence was the final image (lower right--actually, he goes back past parallel but I'm not that flexible). When I'm in that position at the top (very tilted, left knee out and right leg straightened--see Step 4 of the Six Steps to Stack & Tilt), I hit the best shots. For me, it's all about the tilt and Barber's almost-at-the-top position is my mental image.

However, my swing starts with the tilt, not with the arms moving back as Jerry Barber does with an early wrist set. What I do with my arms on the way back is covered in a previous post but they start moving after I have started to tilt. This type of tilt move (tilting forward then swinging backward) may be difficult for some players but for me it seems to set almost everything else up to happen properly. I still have to concentrate on a few things in the downswing, but that's a topic for another post.

Stack & Tilt: The Backswing

Getting from the setup (Step 1) to the top (Step 2) in the Stack & Tilt (S&T) swing is a bit more complicated given the issues surrounding swing plane. The four images above are, from the left, halfway back in the Width swing and half-way back in the S&T Swing compared to Jim McLean's "Safety Zone". The final frame shows "imaginary" guidelines for the hands and club head in both the S&T backswing and follow-through. What does it all mean and how does it relate to swing plane?

First, in the Width swing (frame 1) the butt of the club is pointing somewhere between the ball and your feet rather than right at the ball in the S&T swing (frame 2). The Stack & Tilt swing is therefore on plane (butt end of the club pointing at the ball) at the halfway point. This isn't a big deal, but Jim McLean (frame 3) points out that on the backswing the club should be somewhere between the lower shaft plane and the higher Hogan plane (a line that goes from the ball through the top of the shoulders at address). Both Width and S&T are within the safety zone but if the butt of the club does not point at the ball throughout the backswing, some manipulation will be necessary to hit the ball squarely. This type of manipulation is one more moving part that is eliminated with the S&T swing.

For me, the three keys to staying on plane (frame 4) are (1) hands low at address, (2) tilt, (3) take the club head back inside at a 20 degree angle, and (4) "hands low, club head high" at the top. Not that I can't hit the ball getting a little off plane (but still staying within the safety zone), it's just that staying on plane (sometimes called the one-plane swing) is easier.

For me, all of this happens fairly automatically if I get the tilt right (the subject of a future post). There are a few more details about frame 4 and controlling your ball flight that I'll also pick up in a future post. More information is available about the LAWs (Leverage, Arc or Width swings) of Golf (here, here and here) and the Stack & Tilt Swing (here and here).

Stack and Tilt: At The Top

In prior posts (here and here), I'm going through the Six Steps to Stack & Tilt, comparing the Stack & Tilt swing to the Width swing. Step 1 is learning to keep the weight forward, the stack. Step 2 involves learning to turn the left shoulder down and under, the tilt.

Compare the Width swing (above left) to the Stack & Tilt swing (above right). In the Width swing, the left shoulder goes down, under and back. The tilt involves skipping the and back part. Turning the left shoulder down, under and back sets you up for the fat shot. Tilting makes sure your weight stays centered over the ball.

The down, under and back part of the Width swing is based on the assumption that the endomorph has limited flexibility and must make this move. Frankly, I can't think of any biomechanical reason why the endomorph can't tilt. And, learning to tilt produces much better ball contact and eliminates fat shots.

On the backswing, my only swing thought for getting to the top is "hands low, club head high." This position at the top is consistent with both the Width and the Stack & Tilt swing. The only difference is the tilt.

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.