Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of instruction based on a specific model (system teaching), or instructors who put down other’s theories to build their own. My main problem with Stack and Tilt is that Andy Plummer and Michael Bennett, the founders of Stack and Tilt, do both. I do believe in modeling swings especially in working with Juniors or those new to the game, but I don’t believe one model fits all.
Having said all that, I wasn’t expecting much when I received this book as a gift. I was pleasantly surprised, there is a lot of good stuff in here. To start with, I love the description of shot cones. Shot cones are the shape of your predominant shot, be it fade or draw, with the base of the cone being the starting point of the ball one line being drawn to the direction the ball started and one line being drawn to the point the ball ends. The more consistent, not necessarily the narrower, the cone the better. This is so simple I wish I would have come up with it. Another great idea in the book is having a long line of string running from the ball toward the target. This is a great way to easily work on the starting direction for the ball. I also like the way they use clubs or lines to work on creating a consistent low point for the swing. By using player’s descriptions of feels and thoughts, and multiple photos of positions discussed in the text, the explanations are easy to follow. There is a large section on drills that are very detailed and have very good explanations. As you can see, there is a lot of good here, but it is outweighed by the bad.
The bad is really bad. To start with their description of fundamentals is completely flawed. The dictionary definition of fundamental, is a foundation or base. Their fundamentals are 1) hitting the ground in the same place every time; 2) having enough power to play the course; and 3) matching the clubface to the swing path to control shot direction. They consider grip, aim, stance, alignment, tempo, etc. to not be fundamentals because there are many variations in these things. The main problem with this view is the fact that if your grip is terrible, you will never hit the ground in the same place every time. If your tempo or rhythm is off, you will never have the power you need. If your alignment is all over the place, you will never be able to match the face and the path. Now if you have played golf for a while and have a fairly solid foundation in the real fundamentals (grip, setup, balance), these would be great next steps. The part that almost made me throw the book away though was their description of the swing components that make Stack and Tilt “superior” to “conventional” swings. The comparisons are almost laughable. They use their “perfect” positions compared to the worst possible ”conventional” positions hardly an apples to apples comparison. My biggest issue with this is Stack and Tilters are always the first to complain about misconceptions of “their” swing. They also do this with their photographs. By taking photos of positions they declare good and then exaggerating terrible positions that are based off of clear misconceptions of “conventional” instruction.
Overall, I believe there are players that fit into this swing model and would greatly benefit from this book. There are some great points made in the book, and is a very nice presentation. But, I don’t believe there is one model for everyone and I disagree greatly with the misrepresentation of how “conventional” swings are taught.
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