The Stack System Review and Progress Thread

[revkev]

Interlude here - I don't see how Rapsodo (which I have and love) could measure SS with out ball flight - it operates on a doppler system, it needs ball flight.  For most overspeed training it is important to have some sort of measuring device because you are trying to train the speed governors out of your brain to maximize your body's ability - you can only do that by pushing yourself and it's hard to push yourself if you don't actually know how fast you are swinging.

 

I've been at this for nearly four years.  Long enough to know that I sometimes make max effort swings, think they are super fast only to find out that they weren't when I look at the radar.  I've also learned that certain techniques work better than others for reaching higher swing speeds and I have seen an impact on my speed and distance on the course.  

When I first started all of this my driver swing speed was 84 mph.  It's now between 93-96.  I'm trying like heck to get it closer to 98-100.  

 

Doesn't mean that you can't do training that will help your swing speed without a measuring device.  If you've never done any speed training before just warming up and then swinging your driver 10 times as fast as you can in the back yard every other day will help.  But you will not be maximizing your training without some sort of monitor - the cheapest new ones are $100.  

 

Okay end of interlude

[Bang60]

7 hours ago, revkev said:

Interlude here - I don't see how Rapsodo (which I have and love) could measure SS with out ball flight - it operates on a doppler system, it needs ball flight.  

Yeah realized that but apparently there looking at another upgrade, trying to expand their market...

 

Was talking to a visitor to my golf club...

Edited July 2, 2022 by Bang60
Missed info

[revkev]

I’m traveling and I will say the stack is far better on the road than superspeed sticks were. The shorter shaft makes it very comfortable to swing all out in hotel workout centers. 
 

Nice to complete a workout that wasn’t in 100 plus heat index conditions. My energy was much better throughout. Fastest one yet - Not a huge jump but my last 3 workouts were tied for fastest, 1 below fastest and now fastest so a nice pattern is developing.

 

Also I hit driver well on Monday - drive on 9 was a summertime personal best - we loose at least 15 yards in the summer because of course conditions. 
 

I was very long relative to the guys whom I was playing with. 

[CTEagle]

After about a 2.5 month break I'm back stacking. I've found I've lost some speed but I suppose that was to be expected. I've never been very good at the step swings, for some reason they are much slower than they should be (bad timing? bad transition? not getting weight fully on left side?) but the difference between max swings and step swings has gotten even worse. Does anyone have any tips or swing feels? I feel like I'm missing out on a big part of the program by not getting the club to move faster with these than with regular swings. I have watched the videos in the app and on Sasho's Vimeo channel and didn't pick up anything that helped. 

[revkev]

11 hours ago, CTEagle said:

After about a 2.5 month break I'm back stacking. I've found I've lost some speed but I suppose that was to be expected. I've never been very good at the step swings, for some reason they are much slower than they should be (bad timing? bad transition? not getting weight fully on left side?) but the difference between max swings and step swings has gotten even worse. Does anyone have any tips or swing feels? I feel like I'm missing out on a big part of the program by not getting the club to move faster with these than with regular swings. I have watched the videos in the app and on Sasho's Vimeo channel and didn't pick up anything that helped. 

I would try reaching out to the stack team on this - they will more than likely have you produce a video of yourself doing a step swing and then send suggestions from there.  

[Getoffmylawn]

13 hours ago, CTEagle said:

Does anyone have any tips or swing feels? 

I've experienced the same thing but I am slowly improving.  

I do think that it's important to simply take a normal step where the stride puts you into something close to what your golf stance is.  For a long time I think I was making a much bigger stride than necessary and I think that results in a power-sapping lunge instead of more of a "stay-behind-the-ball" feel. I also struggled initially to really turn in the takeaway part, but that stretch between lower and upper body is important to really generate speed in those swings.

My two cents...

[CTEagle]

13 hours ago, Getoffmylawn said:

I've experienced the same thing but I am slowly improving.  

I do think that it's important to simply take a normal step where the stride puts you into something close to what your golf stance is.  For a long time I think I was making a much bigger stride than necessary and I think that results in a power-sapping lunge instead of more of a "stay-behind-the-ball" feel. I also struggled initially to really turn in the takeaway part, but that stretch between lower and upper body is important to really generate speed in those swings.

My two cents...

I've definitely had issues with over-stepping but feel like I've cleaned that up. My current theory is I'm not getting enough of a backswing/body turn. In the videos it looks like Sasho starts his step when he gets to around P3/P4 and finishes his backswing while stepping to get the stretch. I haven't recorded myself (appreciate the tip @revkev I'll see if I can set that up) but I think I'm probably stopping my backswing when I start stepping. Any tips on how to keep turning without having the left leg to brace with? Or should I wait longer to begin the step? 

[revkev]

5 hours ago, CTEagle said:

I've definitely had issues with over-stepping but feel like I've cleaned that up. My current theory is I'm not getting enough of a backswing/body turn. In the videos it looks like Sasho starts his step when he gets to around P3/P4 and finishes his backswing while stepping to get the stretch. I haven't recorded myself (appreciate the tip @revkev I'll see if I can set that up) but I think I'm probably stopping my backswing when I start stepping. Any tips on how to keep turning without having the left leg to brace with? Or should I wait longer to begin the step? 

It’s hard to say when we can’t see what you’re doing. If I’ve learned anything it’s that what you are feeling may not be the case. It’s helpful to see it or have someone else see it when things are going wrong.

 

IMO it’s harder to time up step swings. I think you will find greater variance in those speeds. 

[TellTheTruth1]

I think the system still needs to be configured and tested. It's much easier to just come to the gym, start training, and record your progress in a notebook. It's not difficult, right? And no technology is needed. And as for proper training and training programs, there is a lot of information on the Internet. Since we're talking about bodybuilding, I want to ask you about the effect of SARMs. I heard that Ostarin increases strength and muscle mass, and I'm considering buying it (on https://purerawz.co/product/ostarine-mk-2866/). Should I do it?

Edited August 25, 2022 by TellTheTruth1

[AndySP]

I just finished my third program and since I haven’t seen anyone do the Heavy Hitter yet, I figured I could be patient 0. I chose HH even though it was third on the list because the results after the Full Speed Spectrum revealed my embarrassing inability to swing anything over 200g. Granted, It’s probably no wonder because I’m a child size person that weighs maybe 125 lbs.  Anyway, Sasho told me it was worth it to try HH to add force, and here I am. 

As you might expect, the meat of the program involved swinging 220-255g and then finishing with 195. In the 4th phase, it added lighter weights back in. Overall, I left feeling like I moved everything faster, and while I didn’t gain driver speed on the retest I hit 120 more times out of 10. 

In the end, I still struggle with heavier weights, but because the app recommended FSS next, I’m going with it. I’m still very excited to see things trending up. So far I haven’t waned in motivation since starting…but here in New Jersey, winter is long, so we’ll see. Hopefully others on here are still going at it to keep up the psych through the upcoming dark times. 

 

[Getoffmylawn]

When you say "Sasho told me"...how did you actually engage with him?  I've got some concerns/questions about what seems to be long period of stagnation or a lack of progress, and I was thinking about posing the question.  Did you send a DM on IG, or some other means?

[AndySP]

Nothing fancy, I just sent an email to the general inbox and Sasho responded. I used info@thestacksystem.com.
 

I was honestly surprised that he is the one who took the message, but I think they have a triage because a different person responded when I needed to replace some hardware. 

[Getoffmylawn]

I was poking around the Stack System site and found this video from Sasho McKenzie explaining why there are no non-dominant swings included in his Stack protocols.  Pretty convincing stuff actually...

 

[MrKSTOKES]

On 4/22/2021 at 5:14 AM, BMart519 said:

3mph slower today compared to baselining. Was hungry after a light lunch but did the same stack warmup. 
Consciously thinking about “full” on course swing effort versus all out “max” is confusing when you are swinging a weight on stick. Definitely could swing harder...

Sad my grit was 97%, I guess I shouldn’t have waited 2 days after baseline test since it didn’t tell me to take rest days... either that or it was based on my speed throughout the session. 
I will likely add full driver swings to finish the stack warmup protocol prior to the foundations swings with the stack. If for no other reason than to get a feel for full driver effort versus just going into stack swings which you would want to swing as hard as possible. Again found that I am on the verge of yelling for the app to pickup the speed number. 

Narrowed my stance for last couple swings with the lightest weight and picked up 5mph. Going to experiment with that moving forward. 
 

 

 

[MrKSTOKES]

My personal experience of the Stack System has been amazing.

I was sceptical at first because it's one thing for an app to suggest what your distance potential is and that you're making gains but that needs to be backed up with reality.

At every jump in speed I've managed to hit a ball almost the exact distance the app has suggested is my new distance potential, so it's hard to find any fault with either the training or the info the app gives you.

I'm currently halfway through the first foundation phase and the results are pretty spectacular!

Swing Speed has increased from 93mph to 108mph (+15 mph)

Distance has increased from 257 to 302 yards (+45 yards - total distance not carry)

These gains almost look ridiculous but this is backed up with actual shots.

After 3 sessions the app suggested my speed had increased to a distance potential of 273 and that night I hit a drive 271.

After 8 sessions and reaching a distance potential of 302 I hit a drive that carried 279 and rolled out to 302.

All shots have been recorded on a GC Quad so I have no reason to disbelieve the numbers.

I've tried Super Speed in the past and whilst the training is similar in terms of trying to swing something as fast as you can, it's the app and info you receive that makes the Stack System stand out for me, down to the applause you get from a PB swing that makes the training almost addictive, especially as it schedules your next training session and you can set reminders if you need a prompt.

My golf has shut down for winter now (UK based) so will give this a solid 6 months and see where I am for next season, it's fair to say I'm pretty excited already to see where I end up, speed wise.

Edited October 21, 2022 by MrKSTOKES
tried to correct spacing to make it easier to read

[edingc]

My order showed up last week, I unboxed it the other night and went through the baseline yesterday evening. 

It took me a few swings to get comfortable swinging the Stack, but overall these numbers are spot on. The last two rounds I played my best drives would have been about 310 total when adjusted for how the Stack determines distance potential.

The algorithm recommended the Foundations program to start (no surprise), so I'll be starting that on Saturday. My goal is to train M/W/F throughout the winter. Not sure how much more I can get out of my swing as I've gained quite a few MPH this year just from technique improvements, but here's hoping. 

[MrKSTOKES]

1 hour ago, edingc said:

My order showed up last week, I unboxed it the other night and went through the baseline yesterday evening. 

It took me a few swings to get comfortable swinging the Stack, but overall these numbers are spot on. The last two rounds I played my best drives would have been about 310 total when adjusted for how the Stack determines distance potential.

The algorithm recommended the Foundations program to start (no surprise), so I'll be starting that on Saturday. My goal is to train M/W/F throughout the winter. Not sure how much more I can get out of my swing as I've gained quite a few MPH this year just from technique improvements, but here's hoping. 

you're off to a great start!

the training sessions are much shorter than the baseline test so quite easy to fit in.

best of luck with the training 

[Getoffmylawn]

6 hours ago, edingc said:

My order showed up last week, I unboxed it the other night and went through the baseline yesterday evening. 

It took me a few swings to get comfortable swinging the Stack, but overall these numbers are spot on. The last two rounds I played my best drives would have been about 310 total when adjusted for how the Stack determines distance potential.

The algorithm recommended the Foundations program to start (no surprise), so I'll be starting that on Saturday. My goal is to train M/W/F throughout the winter. Not sure how much more I can get out of my swing as I've gained quite a few MPH this year just from technique improvements, but here's hoping. 

Cody, can’t wait to see your updates.  Remind me again what radar device you’re using?

[edingc]

54 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Cody, can’t wait to see your updates.  Remind me again what radar device you’re using?

The blue/gray Swing Speed Radar. My opinion is that it reads 8-10 MPH high but it generally pretty consistent.

I was surprised to see what numbers I put up with my driver. I've had that radar since 2019 and remember when I started my driver speed on it was 108-109 at the top end.

[AndySP]

On 10/21/2022 at 7:35 AM, edingc said:

My goal is to train M/W/F throughout the winter. Not sure how much more I can get out of my swing as I've gained quite a few MPH this year just from technique improvements, but here's hoping. 

M/W/F has worked pretty well for me, but I’ve found over time that on days when I do a workout right after I tend to need more than one day between to keep up. Now I try to be more flexible going back and forth between 1 day off and 2 days off. 

I’m sure you’ll be seeing some progress. I figure if the pro’s keep getting faster, so can we. I think I’ve learned more about what creates speed doing the stack because of the bigger weight differences.