The truth about stack and tilt

I am confident in saying that any golfers subscribing to Finding the Tips are looking for ways to improve their golf games.

In 2007, Golf Digest published a feature article on the stack and tilt golf swing methodology proposed by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer. Just two years later, Bennett and Plummer wrote and published a book called “The Stack and Tilt Swing: The Definitive Guide to the Swing that is Remaking Golf.”

The book begins with the following statement from the authors:

“If all of the golf instruction books, videos, and lessons for the last 100 years had taught people to keep their weight on the left side (or lead side) and to swing their hands inward, we would have generations of golfers drawing the ball instead of slicing.”

Now that’s a bold statement.

But the stack and tilt method is not just for amateurs seeking a better game. Tour luminaries like former Masters champion Mike Weir, Justin Rose, Aaron Baddely, sweet swinging Grant Waite, Charlie Wi and Sean O’Hair have all played very well on various tours using stack and tilt.

My 2024 season was starting badly so when I came across the videos in this week’s newsletter, I decided to give stack and tilt a try. The results have been very encouraging. I’m hitting the ball more consistently with my irons, and farther with my driver and fairway woods.

The first round I played using stack and tilt, I had two penalty strokes and a three-putt, but still made it to the 18th tee at seven-over-par. (The less said about the 18th hole itself, the better.)

I’m emboldened enough to suggest to you, gentle readers, that stack and tilt is for real and worth a try.

I’ll keep you informed of my progress. If you decide to try, please let me know!

In this issue

• Weight forward

• Shoulder down

• Hands in

• Arms straight

• Tuck hips

Weight forward

Stack and tilt is described by five pairs of words that are keys to hitting great golf shots. Rob Cheney Golf introduces us to all of them with his YouTube channel, and even offers a pair of bonus words in a later video.

The first pair of words defining stack and tilt is weight forward.

Rather than starting with our weight balanced on both feet, Rob suggests you move your hips slightly toward target at address. That should put about 60% of your weight on the lead foot.

Then keep it there throughout the swing. If you worry about how to keep your weight forward during the backswing, pay particular attention to the way Rob describes the movement of the trail hip. Then work on the at-home drills he prescribes before you take this move to the driving range or course.

Shoulder down

The next two words in the stack and tilt commandments are shoulder down.

Here’s where we learn about tilt in our swing. On the backswing, while maintaining our golf posture, we lower the lead shoulder. On the downswing, the trail shoulder lowers, taking the club on a path toward the ball.

Rob emphasizes keeping the head steady and letting it go neither up nor down during the swing — until after impact.

I’m far from an expert, but the swing thought that works for me is to try to point the lead shoulder down toward the ball on the backswing. On the downswing, I want the trail shoulder to do the same.

Rob demonstrates a drill, without a club, where he takes his golf posture and then places his head on a wall. He maintains that contact throughout the swing.

After getting comfortable with that drill, go to the range and practice swinging from lead arm parallel on the backswing, down to impact and around to trail arm straight on the follow through.

Hands in

Because golf is played on a tilted angle, we want to swing the club around our body on that angled plane. “Hands in” is a reminder to do just that.

Rob gives us an easy-to-create practice station. You only need a couple alignment sticks or a couple clubs. Take slow and deliberate practice swings in the station and make sure your hands and lead arm are over the trail stick when the lead arm is parallel to the ground on the backswing. Conversely, the trail arm should be over the forward stick when it’s parallel to the ground on the follow-through. When you’re ready, introduce a ball to the drill and get the dynamic feel for these positions.

As a further drill, Ron suggests holding tees between your arm pit and pec while swinging. This will really help you groove the stack and tilt swing.

Arms straight

The next two words in the stack and tilt methodology are arms straight.

This refers to the arm structure throughout the swing. Of course, the trail arm bends in the backswing and the lead arm bends in the follow-through. But maintaining the arm structure is key to solid contact.

For me, arms straight is the toughest of the stack and tilt imperatives. I tend to chicken wing on the follow through. But I’ve started practicing with a small ball between my forearms and I’m feeling better contact. The act of squeezing the elbows together helps deliver better impact and increased power with the arms straight swing thought.

Tuck hips

The last two words in the stack and tilt bible are tuck hips.

Tucking the hips helps us get to the ideal top of backswing position, as well as the optimal finish position.

At the top of the backswing, hips face away from the target and the belt buckle is slightly ahead of the shoulder line.

At the end of downswing, the hips push forward or tuck, the belt buckle points at the target and your upper body arches slightly behind the hips — a miniature reverse “C".

Rob gives us a great drill to help with the downswing. Drag an alignment stick along the ground from a point behind the trail foot along the target line, and then through. Tuck your hips to allow the alignment stick to get off the ground and into a great finish position. Your belt buckle should be nearer to the target than your shoulders.

Stack and tilt bonus

As a bonus, Rob offers another pair of words: foot flare.

He recommends we flare our feet open by some 20 to 30 degrees at address. This will help us turn more easily in both directions. It gets our knees, hips and pelvis working better as we turn back and then down and through the ball. Try it. Even if you already have your feet flared, test it against square feet. You’ll feel the difference.

For more stack and tilt tips, I recommend you subscribe to Rob Cheney Golf on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@robcheneygolf1.

If you plan on trying stack and tilt, please let me know by replying to this email. I’ll respond to every comment you send.

Golf’s funniest one-liners

You may have heard, or used, some of these one-liners. But this video has added a couple new zingers to my golfing lexicon. 

(And the CBS Master’s music is nice, too.)

Enjoy!

Next time in Finding the Tips

Alex Elliott is one of my favourite YouTube golf coaches. Next week he’ll show us how we can produce more distance with the driver by taking control of our head position at address and hiding the trail shoulder during the downswing.

And please, share this newsletter with your golf friends and family. Subscribing is free, as you know!