Long time member, first time poster.
I love Tom's course, even though it's not fair that he's both, and excellent golfer and excellent guitarist!
I've made huge progress from the course, but still struggle moving to the left. Drills like bumping, sliding, rolling off foot, just don't seem to take hold and trust me, I hit over 500 balls each week at the range alone. But I've come across a "thought/feel" that seems to help, but I wanted to get confirmation that's it's ok.
As I get to the top of my backswing, having a straight arm creates resistance against my chest and when it does, that's when I bump to left. I've always struggled to get the shift-timing right and I've never seen it explained like this in the countless videos and instruction I've had.
If Tom or someone can try this, and it doesn't cause an issue that I'm unaware of, maybe a video can be made?
In hindsight, I don't think enough is made about moving left in stack and tilt and it should be added to the 10 words, if not making it the #1 imperative. But that's just me because I've found it so difficult.
Thanks for already shaving 15 strokes off my game!
That's some awesome improvement, @okens5!! (And welcome to this great members forum community, by the way!)
With regard to not enough being said about moving targetward in S&T, I'm rather sure I speak about that quite often in my instruction. In fact, here's a recent YT episode on the subject where I talk about being "forward forward forward"! Some examples in the school include the 90% Weight Forward/Arms Straight and Tailbone to Target drills in Get Out and Go Play, the "You Need More Lateral Hip Motion Drill" in Fixing Common Swing Problems, and plenty more in other downswing lessons.
It's also mentioned in the S&T book as being considerably more than the hip "bump" that is traditionally taught, along with some PGA Tour Pro feels such as those below.
With regard to your feel, if it enables you to execute a good transition into a proper downswing path, then there's no issue with that. As I regularly tell folks, let your ball striking and shot shape be your guide. (By the way, it sounds somewhat similar to this downswing lesson in which I speak about getting the lead arm of the chest as the first move in the downswing. This gets everything going in the proper sequence, including that lateral hip motion.