The New Tour Swing

'Stack and Tilt' vs the conventional swing

By Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett
Photos By J.D. Cuban June 2007

Setup

Stack and Tilt

The hips are level, and the left shoulder is slightly higher than the right only because the right hand is lower on the grip. The spine is straight up and down, with the head centered over the ball. This promotes a rotational move going back with no lateral shift.

Conventional Swing

The shoulders are tipped back, and the hands are pushed well in front of the ball. The spine is tilted away from the target, with the head behind center. Weight favors the back foot. This promotes a shift to the right side on the backswing.

Backswing

Stack and Tilt

The spine tilts toward the target, causing the right leg to straighten. Torque created in the torso stores a huge amount of energy. The shoulder and hip centers stay over the ball, and the left shoulder turns down. There will be no need to shift back to the ball coming down.

Conventional

The head and shoulders shift to the right because of a pivot at the base of the spine, but little torque is produced. The left hip pops forward to counterbalance the body move to the right. The body will have to make a big shift to the left for the club to make solid contact.