Saw the below video Eric put out "The Secret To How The Pros Tilt Their Shoulders In The Golf Swing". So not only does the name of the video have the word "tilt", during the video he talks about "tilting" to the left to get the lead shoulder down, and how the tilting gets the trail shoulder to move up to the top and towards the target. All good stuff.
Then in the comment section a person asked if he promotes S&T. Eric replied "nope". LOL. The funny thing was the entire content is right out of the S&T book, and consistent with Tom's teachings. However, to be fair, Eric did do a video with Tom so maybe he caved in? LOL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qQ2zGQ7VRU
Thanks for the comments. Korda and Thomas are employing backswing extension which is taught in S&T, and what Tom teaches. They are not lifting the club to the top. The "lift" is what people do in lieu of backswing extension. Extension keeps the body centered over the ball and gets the club more upright at the top, or nearly over, or over the trail shoulder. Without extension the club shaft and shoulder plane will be flatter, and the swing will be shorter with less power. Shorter swings can generate power too, but the timing (for me) is very hard because everything happens too quickly.
In Tom's videos, he demos static backswing positions which is a flatter swing plane. However, during those static demos, he is not extending like he does when he hits full shots. When he hits a full shot, his club shaft is nearly over his trail shoulder at the top (see below pic). Thus, the club travels higher, or on a steeper plane with extension. I think some folks see the static position and mimic that position, but the real position is where Tom is at the top of a full swing. Tom says the shirt buttons should feel like they are pointing to the sky. It's very hard to point the buttons at the sky with a flat swing plane.
Tom's position at the top is similar to Korda and Thomas. Tom's shoulder plane is steeper than 45* like Korda and Thomas. While Tom's club shaft is not quite over his trail shoulder, it's very close....within an inch or two at most.
In my opinion, static backswing positions are "part 1" of the S&T swing system to get folks to learn and understand the dynamics of tilting, stacking, weight distribution, etc. Part 2 is backswing extension which Tom, Cogorno, Cheney and many others teach as being a key component to completing the backswing. Extension will move the club up higher towards being over the trail shoulder. If I extend and try to stay flatter my swing would be more like a T-Ball swing. If I don't extend I can end up throwing the club out at the ball for a shank, and/or start taking less divots because the angle of attack is too shallow. Or a flat backswing can promote an over the top re-route.
Flat or flattening backswings is my #1 problem. Since working on the extension piece, a lot of issues have gone away, and I have far more power. It's not easy because it's a longer swing that will initially feel like it's "out of control", especially on the course. And getting the trail shoulder to be closest to the target at the top will feel very odd...but it's actually not all that difficult with practice.