The Stack System Review and Progress Thread

[Hoyoymac]

@skraeling

That is so funny!

[Hoyoymac]

Had a good workout today.

[Ahart4444]

My 28 year old son increased his speed by at least 5-8 mph and is now comfortably up to 124 with his FW finders around 118.  I believe this thing has merit.  He convinced this 57-year old to try it, simply to maintain, not trying to find anything extra.   The danger is this thing can be potentially risky to your health.  There is a lot of weight  and some of the routines are to swing at max speed.  After 3 weeks, I popped a disk in my upper back - took time off, came back and then developed bursitis in my shoulder.  I have been golfing 4 days per week over the last 30 years, so it is not a sudden over use thing.  I also heard Colt Knost discuss on PGATour XM how he developed arm pain, and even my son has developed tendon issues in his elbow.  Stack has been good and extended my subscription by a year to accommodate the lost time, just need to be careful, especially with the max weight, max swings.  I am now healed and like any golf fanatic back at it with the stack, just with more caution.

[ejgaudette]

On 3/27/2024 at 11:48 AM, GolfSpy MPR said:

My ambition for the season is to get my driver ball speed in mph to a number higher than my weight in lbs. That means I need to drop about 10lbs and gain about 10mph, so that the number crosses over somewhere in the low 160s.

I am on this train. Need to lose a bit more than you but speed gains need to be in the same spot. Low to mid 160s would do the trick. Feel like that would be a fun spot to be.

[Hoyoymac]

 

Good point @Ahart4444

The Stack App with its applause for reaching a new personal best is certainly motivating.  

The Grit Score and workout due notifications on the app keep me focused but also maybe encourage me to stick with it at times when in retrospect I shouldn’t have right then.

But it can also encourage people, myself included, to push themselves a bit too hard at times.

I’ve also hurt myself a time or two and had to take some time off last fall.

One thing for sure that I’ve learned is the importance of a thorough warm up and stretching to achieve better results and help to prevent injuries.

Having said all that,  I still wish that I had started Swing Speed training sooner than I did.  It has been that helpful to my game.

[mpatrickriley]

11 minutes ago, ejgaudette said:

I am on this train. Need to lose a bit more than you but speed gains need to be in the same spot. Low to mid 160s would do the trick. Feel like that would be a fun spot to be.

I'm making some progress. Had a lot of travel over the past 2–3 weeks. but hoping to settle in to a more consistent practice routine for the next few months. Did a driver speed session this past weekend. Managed to hit 115+ with a driver hitting a rubber tee, and I'm getting closer to 110mph swing speed with a ball.

 

So far, I've gotten just north of 156mph ball speed, so I still have a good amount of work to do.

 

[ejgaudette]

Just now, GolfSpy MPR said:

I'm making some progress. Had a lot of travel over the past 2–3 weeks. but hoping to settle in to a more consistent practice routine for the next few months. Did a driver speed session this past weekend. Managed to hit 115+ with a driver hitting a rubber tee, and I'm getting closer to 110mph swing speed with a ball.

So far, I've gotten just north of 156mph ball speed, so I still have a good amount of work to do.

 

Thats great! a couple years ago I hit 160 with a 111 swing speed at the range. Have not gotten there since and with less speed training, more in the that low 150s

[skraeling]

4 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

I'm making some progress. Had a lot of travel over the past 2–3 weeks. but hoping to settle in to a more consistent practice routine for the next few months. Did a driver speed session this past weekend. Managed to hit 115+ with a driver hitting a rubber tee, and I'm getting closer to 110mph swing speed with a ball.

So far, I've gotten just north of 156mph ball speed, so I still have a good amount of work to do.

 

Its amazing to me still how fast an effortless swing tends to look on camera.  But man, that spin is murdering your distance.

Edited May 28 by skraeling

[mpatrickriley]

5 minutes ago, skraeling said:

But man, that spin is murdering your distance.

Oh, for sure. Just to clarify, though: in that session, my only intention was swing speed/ball speed. I'm trying to push my upper limits, so that my ordinary swing (where face, path, and strike are normally a bit more functional) will also start to creep up.

[mpatrickriley]

Didn't expect to find, when I went looking for this thread again, that I was one of the last people to posted in it.

You know that post, a couple above this one, when I mentioned my intention to settle into a routine with the Stack? Yeah, that didn't happen. Today may well have been my very first Stack session since May. I did a "Return to Form" session, because it really had been a long time. The speeds I put up aren't even worth mentioning, though in fairness, the RtF was asking for "Full" swings and not "Max," and so I was definitely throttled back.

Just for kicks, though, I switched back over to the Mevo+ software and did 10 driver-only swings and 10 attempt-max-ballspeed swings. To my immense surprise, after several months with no speed training and no real weight training, I was able to swing my driver (without a ball) a max speed of 121.3mph, and my fastest ball speed tonight was 162mph, which I think was the fastest I've ever produced.

So that was encouraging. Coming down to the last couple of months of the season, and this time (for real) I'm hoping to settle into a good practice pattern including the Stack for the remainder of the season.

[Hoyoymac]

@GolfSpy MPR it has been quiet in here.

I’ve been taking a break from the Stack System for the last couple of months or so.  

First because of injury when I was up at my place in Wisconsin.  Then, when I got back to Georgia it has just been so hot and humid that I really don’t feel like getting drenched with sweat by doing a swing speed workout before I play.

I’ll get back to it pretty soon though.

[alxmorgan]

Just starting on my journey. Baseline done and 1 session in. I am feeling my way in regards how hard to push the swing. 
Can't wait to see progress. 

 

 

 

[DonnieGolfs]

11 minutes ago, alxmorgan said:

Just starting on my journey. Baseline done and 1 session in. I am feeling my way in regards how hard to push the swing. 
Can't wait to see progress. 

 

 

 

I saw my biggest jump after taking a break for a few weeks after the foundation program. I hit kind of a stall point towards the end and they did a random session a few weeks later and all of my speeds had increased. It's a great program just requires sticking with it even through plateaus. 

[mpatrickriley]

Aiming to get a Stack session this afternoon, but I have to confess: speed training can be painful for me, increasingly in my hand. I now have a recurring correlation (such that I'm certain its causation) between Stack sessions and a deep stiff pain in the big knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand. In addition, when I last Stacked on Saturday, I ended up creating a separation under my left thumbnail; I felt the pain as I was swinging, ignored it, and was greeted by a bleeding thumb when I removed my glove.

Lesson: I want to keep chasing speed, but I need to be smarter about it.

[alxmorgan]

1 hour ago, DonnieGolfs said:

I saw my biggest jump after taking a break for a few weeks after the foundation program. I hit kind of a stall point towards the end and they did a random session a few weeks later and all of my speeds had increased. It's a great program just requires sticking with it even through plateaus. 

Ya really going big on it this winter and throwing in gym work too. 
Never been a big hitter and would like to add some distance. 
So far all Full swings. Interested to see what a Max swing feels like 

[DonnieGolfs]

15 minutes ago, alxmorgan said:

Ya really going big on it this winter and throwing in gym work too. 
Never been a big hitter and would like to add some distance. 
So far all Full swings. Interested to see what a Max swing feels like 

I noticed I was able to increase my "good tempo" easy swing by quite a bit. I was probably over swinging a bit through training so my final speed was a little higher than my cold comfortable driver swing. I saw it through the bag too, felt like my baseline swing went up. 

[DonnieGolfs]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Aiming to get a Stack session this afternoon, but I have to confess: speed training can be painful for me, increasingly in my hand. I now have a recurring correlation (such that I'm certain its causation) between Stack sessions and a deep stiff pain in the big knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand. In addition, when I last Stacked on Saturday, I ended up creating a separation under my left thumbnail; I felt the pain as I was swinging, ignored it, and was greeted by a bleeding thumb when I removed my glove.

Lesson: I want to keep chasing speed, but I need to be smarter about it.

I swapped the grip on mine for an oversized, I typically swing midsize grips. I got a softer grip to try and counter my natural tendencies to over grip the club when I go to really swing it. It ended up helping me a lot. 

[mpatrickriley]

1 minute ago, DonnieGolfs said:

I swapped the grip on mine for an oversized, I typically swing midsize grips. I got a softer grip to try and counter my natural tendencies to over grip the club when I go to really swing it. It ended up helping me a lot. 

Something that just (somehow) dawned on me only today: my right index finger (I'm right-handed) is almost entirely uninvolved in my golf grip. The tip of my right index finger, for a lot of my swings, hovers off the grip entirely.

What I'm realizing is that this forces that big knuckle of my middle finger to do a lot more work than it needs to.

That said, I should re-grip my Stack as well. I think I have some mid-size grips in my box of components; I'll try to throw one on.

[alxmorgan]

2 sessions in and going right direction

 

[GolfSpy_BOS]

4 hours ago, alxmorgan said:

2 sessions in and going right direction

 

love to hear it!  have you used any speed training before?

[DonnieGolfs]

6 hours ago, alxmorgan said:

2 sessions in and going right direction

 

Hell yea

[alxmorgan]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy BOS said:

love to hear it!  have you used any speed training before?

First time. Love the gamification of it. Set a few personal bests (not hard so soon in but still) and I was punching the air and revving myself up to top them again. The app is just excellent and I am sure there will be some days when it doesn't go so well but I am starting to believe 

[alxmorgan]

Session 3 and still making progress (albeit small)

Got out on course after session 2 and wind was up so hard to tell distances but I would say, if pushed, I was seeing increases already

Session 4 today and then hoping to get out on course after that or session 5 so we'll see what that looks like

[alxmorgan]

 

Session 4 in the bank. First time doing Max swing and I was going all John Daly

Hopefully playing Friday and will report back on course results. 

[alxmorgan]

Played today. Not a good day to say whether it translated or not to course. 

Ran from car to first tee and never really got going after that. 

Ah well.....next time hopefully

 

[alxmorgan]

Last session bit of a step back...busy weekend and very busy at work so energy levels were low

 

[alxmorgan]

Listening to Chasing Scratch pod today and Sascho was on to say Stack are adding a wedge section where you can gamify your wedge practice at different distances. Sounds very interesting

[johnsomp]

Can anyone provide insight on how the renewal process works?  I purchased last October and my renewal is coming up, but I have a bunch of credits from my referral code which I understand gives me free yearly renewals.

[alxmorgan]

A little step forward today after a few sessions of plateauing. 
Lifting the left heel helped a lot

[AndySP]

I almost don’t want to post this after reading through everyone’s success, but maybe there are some other people out there struggling that would appreciate some representation.

I started the stack in the summer of 2022 and basically completed back to back programs since I bought it:

I injured my hip during this last phase, but it’s been feeling fine lately. However, as you can see, I basically made zero progress in two years. (I was capable of swinging 120 when I started).   I’m not sure why I never made progress, I’m basically the same person I was at the start—I’m the same weight, same strength, same health.  I exercise regularly and try to hear it towards my golf training.  I was hoping that my perseverance would eventually pay off, but it never really did. I sent my swing in to be reviewed, but could not squeeze out any extra mph’s despite Sasho and Mike’s guidance.  The cynical side of me thinks that my body is just too small to produce more speed without a more full-time effort.  I’m only about 5’4 and 125 pounds.  But I’m pretty strong for my size from years of rock climbing (in 36 and started when I was 18).  I guess not strong enough though.  

While I’m proud of the speed I have naturally, I was really hoping to get a few more. Now my subscription ends at the end of the month, and I’ve been thinking about whether the $100 for the next year is worth it. Sadly, I think it’s time for me to move on.  I don’t think I regret all this training. One thing that is not visible from the is chart is that I became much more efficient at getting to my max.  I am happily more consistently swinging 120, just not ever getting to 121 for whatever reason.  Im hopefully I can maintain that without the stack moving forward  

Anyway, I am still following this thread to cheer on the test of y’all though, rest assured.