Long time follower, (of this thread and MGS in general) first time poster.
3 years ago, I made the move from Manitoba to British Columbia (North Dakota ->Washington equivalent for our American Friends) and as such, gained 3-4 months worth of golf season. With the added opportunity to play almost year round, I decided to make a concerted effort to improve.
My first attempts at improvement included more range time and playing more, but I lacked a solid swing foundation, and being a former collegiate level hockey player, my swing remained stiff and "slap shot" like. I floundered at a 20+ handicap for the year, watching a different YouTube video every other day looking for the secret would be the key to unlocking my improvement (and not practicing putting or chipping nearly enough).
February 2020 I took the plunge and got a 10 pack of lessons from GolfTec, though it was briefly interrupted due to Covid closures, the success was almost instant going from a 21 Hcp to a 12.7 Hcp over the course of the season. This is more an endorsement of my coach than it is of GolfTec, but I did really appreciate the app and the ability to watch video of myself doing the drills etc. While it can be expensive, it's the best investment I've made into the game to date.
This past season I was able to get as low as 11.7 Hcp with course management and increased amounts of time practicing putting and chipping while honing the fundamentals of what the lessons were reinforcing. The ball was staying in play (for the most part) and life was good.
While chipping, putting, and golf in general are lifetime pursuits to improve, the last component I felt was unaddressed and could have a significant impact in a relatively short amount of time was swing speed. For a 32 year old 180-190 lbs man, I was only swinging my driver 86 mph max.
Being a Physiotherapist, I liked the idea of "biohacking" and the routine/schedule that came along with The Stack System. It seemed grounded in solid science, and was accommodating to the individual golfer behind the app.
Prior to starting The Stack System Program, I scheduled a TPI assessment, which identified "disassociation drills" as being a being of primary importance moving forward. I've coupled what the TPI professional suggested with my own strength and conditioning routine (3x per week) and have nothing but positive things to say about the TPI experience.
As a health care professional, I'd also advocate for doing at least 2-4 weeks of some form of sub-maximal to maximal exercise prior to starting the Stack System, as going from sedentary to swinging with "Full intent" or "Max" effort, at weights you're unaccustomed to might increase your chance of injury. I've used 8-15 minutes worth of my TPI drills as a warm up and it's worked well to this point!
It has been unusually cold on the West Coast, so the Baseline and First 2 sessions of "Phase 1" were performed at roughly -4C.
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After 5 sessions, I've been incredibly impressed with the results:
ESpeed: 92 Mph (+6 Mph)
Distance Potential: 254 yards (+13 yds)
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Of note, my 4th session was performed in my garage where space is pretty tight and I was for sure thinking about not hitting anything. My 5th session was completed post Covid-19 infection after the sickest I've been in a decade.
The increase of roughly 10+ yards checks out on my PRGR at the range, with my 7 iron going roughly 150-155 yds vs. 140-145 yds last season.
For the past 6 weeks my strength and conditioning has been in in the 8-10 rep range (with 1 rest week during Christmas), I'm looking to knock that down to the 4-5 rep range with heavier weights over the course of the next 4 weeks.
I realize the results will not be linear, but the early gains have definitely been eye opening.
Looking forward to posting again in about a month to see where I end up!
