Stack & Tilt vs. Sean Foley

Photography by J.D. Cuban and Stephen Szurlej

September 2010

A quick spin around golf's blogs and chat rooms turns up the claim that Sean Foley, golf's hottest instructor and the likely new coach to Tiger Woods, teaches a swing that is remarkably similar to Stack & Tilt, the controversial method conceived by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer and unveiled in Golf Digest in June 2007. Is there any basis to the claim? Now you can compare their swing philosophies and decide for yourself. We went back through several Golf Digest articles by Foley and Bennett/Plummer and tried to match up their comments; for example, Foley's advice on weight shift versus that of Bennett/Plummer. The Foley quotes were taken from "4 Steps to Save Your Back," an article published in Golf Digest in March 2010; Bennett/Plummer from "6 Ways to Stack & Tilt," published in the December 2009 issue.

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Shoulder Turn

Stack & Tilt: Turning your left shoulder downward instead of level helps to keep the center of your shoulders in place, which is a key move of Stack & Tilt.

Foley (inset): Many golfers try to rotate the shoulders level, but turning the left shoulder down lets the thoracic spine (mid-back) and not the lumbar spine (lower back) handle the twisting.