The Stack System Review and Progress Thread

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

I hit up Sasho on Twitter about radar positioning and he was quick with his reply of “30 inches behind where you’d have the ball” which has been perfect! Swing and body felt good for tonight’s session and I’ve been using the time to ingrain the swing feels I’ve been working on as well. 
 

I continue to enjoy the straight forward structure of the training. It’s very efficient and the built in rest keeps me on track. My game has been a mess lately, so The Stack training has been nice to fall back on.

I should be done with Foundations by June and I’m curious to see if the app recommends the next training block or if I can choose what I want. We shall see!
 

[TBT 3,885]

Everytime I see this thread come up I swear it says "Stack and Tilt" 

The old guys will know what I'm talking about

[ejgaudette 3,745]

5 hours ago, TBT said:

Everytime I see this thread come up I swear it says "Stack and Tilt" 

The old guys will know what I'm talking about

Not that old but it was still around when I went to high school and even had a kid going that route.

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

Pretty pleased with today’s session! Swing felt great, and I was able to get 195g moving pretty good. 

[joen 801]

I hate you guys!  Lol. I have read this thread and now I want one!

[TBT 3,885]

49 minutes ago, joen said:

I hate you guys!  Lol. I have read this thread and now I want one!

Yeah...me too

but I don’t have the radar so I’d have to get that too

[treeleaf20 10]

Well your posts made me buy one. I can try and post on here to keep people updated as well (and to keep myself accountable) if people would be interested even though it doesn't ship for a couple more weeks. 

[BMart519 1,382]

It's been an interesting 2 weeks since my last post when I set an all time high speed. Speed was down after spending the weekend landscaping and adding a Fit for Golf workout along with the Stack. Then I got vaccinated during the week and was quite tired for 2 days including another low speed session. Was 1 day late on a Stack session and got docked 10+% in my grit score in the midst of potty training my 2 year old over the long weekend combined with snowboarding, more landscaping, and sneaking in 9 holes between 4 days of rain.

As any good OCD golf nut would, I spent a bunch of time watching Youtube videos. This time was from the guys at AMG which highlighted proper trail wrist action. Add in a little info on stance and setup from Adam Young on the Sweet Spot podcast about maximizing driver distance, along with some proper rest, and I am back in the 300 yard territory on the Stack app and carrying my gamer driver 250+ on the SC 200 in the garage. My last three 9's are 39, 49 (with a 9 on the last hole), and 40 as I begin to trust my irons are 10-20 yards longer with this new speed and committing to aiming for a draw shape (with everything but driver). 

At this point, 5 weeks into my training (16/18 workouts in the first "Foundations" program), I am 7 mph above my baseline speeds excluding my highest speed (+9mph). It seems easy to swing driver before my session at 105-106 with no ball and I am regularly hitting 110, peaking at 113 after my sessions. 

The next step is to try and free myself up to swing through the ball vs "hitting at it" and see if I can start closing the gap between 110 with no ball and my playing speed. My next in-person lesson is June 5 and hopefully identifies further tweaks for driver swing to turn the slice back into a playable fade. Driver dispersion is roughly 90 yards wide at 270 vs 50 yards wide for 2H at 230 right now. 

Setting personal bests in the Stack app, whether for a single swing or set average is as engaging as ever. I am eagerly awaiting to see what next program will be recommended based on my outputs. The software aspect (engagement/accountability, data logging, workout scheduling and customization) more than anything else, puts this system in a tier above any other speed training  product on the market until competitors develop some sort of app to go with their hardware. 

110 MPH seems like a reasonable goal for playing speed by the end of this season up from 95-100. If I am in that neighborhood, I plan on booking a driver fitting especially after gaining nearly 20 yards of carry with the Epic LS at a Callaway demo day where trackman clocked me at 95MPH on a slow day. 

[BMart519 1,382]

Today I completed the foundations program and it appears I have to complete a “progress check” which is the same protocol as the baselining when I first got the system. So, a few more days until I find out what next program is recommended. Fourth consecutive session at or above 300 yards of distance potential and a 107 calculated driver speed. 

it was a balmy 80F in Calgary today and the shag ball speeds were up after the stack session. The drive below felt more like cruising speed than maxing out. 

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

Second to last session in Foundations. Pretty solid start and was fairly consistent across the sets. 195g speed is still lower, and I really think I tense up during those sets. Regardless I’m happy I’m about to move to the next protocol!

 

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

Boom, Foundations is done! Felt strong from start to finish, but the full stack (300g) is freaking heavy. Very happy with my 195g swings as I felt like I had hit a bit of a wall. Things were clicking today though, and I’m pumped to keep moving through the training sessions!

 

[BMart519 1,382]

Progress check is done after foundations. And the results are:

For whatever reason I could not get my radar aligned to read single arm swings with my lead arm. After the progress check, you fill out a survey to help select the next program and the result was...

Lead Arm Enhancer 

I am pretty excited for this program, part of me feared I would get steered back to another round of foundations. This winter I got help from a physio on my... lead shoulder. When making single arm swings using a golf shaft, I can tell my trail arm is significantly faster based on the whoosh noise while swinging. I definitely feel like there is low hanging fruit and gains to be had focussing on my lead side. 

The app recommended a 2 week break until starting the next program which is 24 sessions. I plan on getting back into fit for golf workouts which have been slipping between speed training and playing. 

Edited June 3, 2021 by BMart519

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW 4,479]

You guys are killing me here. I feel a need for speed although I know I need better efficiency first. 

[BMart519 1,382]

2 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

You guys are killing me here. I feel a need for speed although I know I need better efficiency first. 

If you get faster but make no improvements, you are still hitting the ball farther with shorter clubs in on approach. The reps of speed training should lead you to self organize and become more efficient as you learn how to move the club faster. 

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

34 minutes ago, BMart519 said:

Progress check is done after foundations. And the results are:

For whatever reason I could not get my radar aligned to read single arm swings with my lead arm. After the progress check, you fill out a survey to help select the next program and the result was...

Lead Arm Enhancer 

I am pretty excited for this program, part of me feared I would get steered back to another round of foundations. This winter I got help from a physio on my... lead shoulder. When making single arm swings using a golf shaft, I can tell my trail arm is significantly faster based on the whoosh noise while swinging. I definitely feel like there is low hanging fruit and gains to be had focussing on my lead side. 

The app recommended a 2 week break until starting the next program which is 24 sessions. I plan on getting back into fit for golf workouts which have been slipping between speed training and playing. 

Good stuff! I’m excited to see what the app spits out for me after I knock out the progress check. I’m totally down for some single arm work, but I’ll go with whatever it recommends!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW 4,479]

25 minutes ago, BMart519 said:

If you get faster but make no improvements, you are still hitting the ball farther with shorter clubs in on approach. The reps of speed training should lead you to self organize and become more efficient as you learn how to move the club faster. 

Although misses also go farther offline I would think. Would be nice if a radar was included. I know the story behind the stack was a lot of work. 

[BMart519 1,382]

22 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

Although misses also go farther offline I would think. Would be nice if a radar was included. I know the story behind the stack was a lot of work. 

Golf becomes easier when you can hit a hybrid 250 and a 9 iron 150 to get on a 400 yard par 4. 

[BMart519 1,382]

Decided to switch from the tour b xs ball to the tour b x as a test. Was around 80F tonight after our heat warning today lol, decided to play conservative on the par 5s... first hole into a 20mph headwind. I expect this approach to be 20-30 yards short of the green, not pin high  

the second was downwind off the tee, cross wind on the approach. 

Those are 17 deg hybrids. Speed Kills...

Edited June 4, 2021 by BMart519

[ejgaudette 3,745]

5 hours ago, BMart519 said:

Decided to switch from the tour b xs ball to the tour b x as a test. Was around 80F tonight after our heat warning today lol, decided to play conservative on the par 5s... first hole into a 20mph headwind. I expect this approach to be 20-30 yards short of the green, not pin high  

the second was downwind off the tee, cross wind on the approach. 

Those are 17 deg hybrids. Speed Kills...

Have been playing the B X all year and really like it. It is much lower dining thank the XS. Keep hitting bombs.

[mr.hicksta 3,397]

Did my progress test today and it looks like my overall speed stayed the same. The app recommended I take two weeks off and start training again on 6/18, which I found a bit odd. Either way, I’m going to adhere to the recommendation and I’m going to read up on the other programs before I select which one I’m doing.