Lessons not sure if they have worked?

[MattCarter]

Hi all

I have had 6 lessons and in the last lesson my pro got me to tilt my upper body so i can see the back of the ball. This worked on the range and was hitting a nice draw.

When i took it to the course it didn’t work one bit and was told by my playing partner to stop leaning to see if this was affecting it and I played better.

Only problem is I know I should be taking a divot with my irons. I do this when tilting my upper body.

Now do you think i should continue with the tilting or keep straight?

 

[chrisd]

Don't worry Matt there will be a "stack and tilt" expert along in just a few minutes!


Chris

 

[MattCarter]

is that what it is i just got told by the pro do tilt and wasnt sure why as i have never seen anyone else do it?

 

[viscount17]

kind of begs the question doesn't it; if you (and I) hit the ball better when not taking a divot is it really essential?

fact is if I think about taking a divot I'm likely to bury the club before the ball, if I don't think about it the most I might do is take a skim off the surface but the ball will fly further and, within my limits, straighter.

 

[USER1999]

This tilt sounds interesting. Are you tilting away from the ball, towards your back foot?

 

[chrisd]

is that what it is i just got told by the pro do tilt and wasnt sure why as i have never seen anyone else do it?

Sorry Matt, just a pee take - James (Justone) is an advocate of the "Stack and Tilt" golf swing and he gets a fair bit of stick on here for it. Actually (but dont let him know) S & T has some really good component parts and quite a few Pro's use elements of it, I do some myself.

If you are tilting with the driver it is probably to encourage an upward sweeping motion to the ball but I am not too sure of tilting with irons where you require a downward blow. Pro's have their views and systems to get pupils playing better and generally I dont comment much on here about that sort of thing as I obviously havn't seen your swing and dont know what your Pro is trying to achieve.It would pay you to talk it through with him so that he is carrying you along with him rather than just instructing you


Chris

 

[MattCarter]

kind of begs the question doesn't it; if you (and I) hit the ball better when not taking a divot is it really essential?

Thats what i thought but when i said that i dont take a divot to my pro he said i wasnt hitting the ball correctly and i was trying to lift the ball into the air which i wasnt aware of.

 

[MattCarter]

This tilt sounds interesting. Are you tilting away from the ball, towards your back foot?

yea tilting my upperbody to the right (righthanded). I was hitting a 7 iron and he said that the shot was the same with every club just the ball postion is different.

 

[viscount17]

sure you're not supposed to be loading your weight to the right but transferring back to the left as you swing? (badly described I know)

 

[MattCarter]

When learning i would address the ball normaly then tilt so i could see the back of the ball then swing and wait for my right shoulder to bring my head up.

So not sure but it worked so didnt really say anything as was suprised to see the draw.

 

[rickg]

Sounds like a classic case of it works on the range during a lesson, but as soon as it goes out onto the course it breaks down under pressure.

This is quite normal and can be attributed to a number of reasons, ie weather conditions, worrying about clearing a hazard, pressure to play the shot quickly if youre being pushed from behind, which way is the wind blowing and how strong, have I got the right club in my hand, is this an uphill/downhill lie, etc etc etc.......

It's no wonder that it is hard to repeat a newly learned skill out on the course given all these constraints.

What happens is the body reverts back to what it knows and is comfortable with. This is probably why it improved when you went back to how it was before.


It has to be ingrained on the range so it becomes second nature. Over time, it will break down less as the muscle memory makes the new swing more repeatable.

The only cure is to stick with it and practice, practice practice. You need to have a realistic expectation of what is achieveable in a short space of time.

 

[MattCarter]

ok thank you i think i will keep with it and just keep tilting and swinging

 

[JustOne]

Tilting your spine to the right at address has absolutely nothing to do with stack and tilt. So that's cleared that up.

Tilting your spine to the right is one of the worst things you can do in a golf swing. I'd find a better pro. Nuff said.

nb: The ONLY time you might consider a tilt to the right is when you are hitting driver, but then only if you want to hit a shot that moves from left to right (fade or slice).

 

[MattCarter]

nb: The ONLY time you might consider a tilt to the right is when you are hitting driver, but then only if you want to hit a shot that moves from left to right (fade or slice).

Thats strange my problem shot with the driver is a big slice, and when i tilt my spine i can draw the ball

 

[RGDave]

Tilting your spine to the right is one of the worst things you can do in a golf swing. I'd find a better pro. Nuff said.

Funny you should mention this. I was out the other day and someone said "you set up in a way that makes it look like you could hit the ball either left or right handed"...."why do you not tilt you spine to the right? (back foot)".

I didn't have an answer. My posture (if I wasn't holding a club in any way!!) is totally neutral, except with a driver.

Questions, questions...

 

[Region3]

I've been messing about tilting away from the ball with a driver. Also teeing it up a bit more and having it further forward in my stance.
Result is either a gentle draw or big pull hook.

I've never heard anyone recommend it for irons though.

 

[full_throttle]

Matt, stick with the lessons. I have and in the last month my game has improved. still not scoring as i would like, but putting more shots together than before.
The last lesson i had was on putting and chipping, and the first time on the course was awful, but it has got better each time so much so i shot a PB over 9 holes today (4 below by handicap allowance)

 

[JustOne]

I've been messing about tilting away from the ball with a driver. Also teeing it up a bit more and having it further forward in my stance.
Result is either a gentle draw or big pull hook.

I've never heard anyone recommend it for irons though.

If you tilt to the right then it improves your chances of NOT getting your weight through, then your arms do all the work, overtake your body (which is stuck some 15 miles behind) and you pull/hook it. Quite nice when you also catch it off the toe!

Hang back and get those hips open and you should hit a nice fade/pushslice.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Stick with it but go back to him and ask him to quickly recap what he showed you and the reasons for doing it. Get out on the range and work on it. Evenutally it'll (hopefully) sink into the sub-conscious and you'll recreate it on the course without too much thought

 

[MattCarter]

I think I'm going to wait until i move then speak to the pro at the that I gonna join. See what they say about it.