As usual…another super long post. But I think I've reached the point where I now understand how S&T relates to tour pro swings. The continued attempts to somehow create a fake separation between the two "swings" is, for me, getting old...real fast. Online "instructors" claim they have a "unique" swing system....they don't ....it's ALL S&T. Just rebranded.
Upon analyzing many of the top tour pro’s swings, both the PGA and LPGA, it is clear to me that a majority of their swings are based on S&T. Some will say the two swings are different, but they are not. The average person who hears the term “S&T” believes it’s a "different swing" simply due to the terms that are used. The pro’s both stack and tilt. Check.
Woods and Nicklaus, among many other elite golfers, talked about being stacked over the ball, or not moving off the ball. Check..S&T. Tom did a video about Woods discussing how he is stacked over the ball in a Golf Digest article. They also talk about shoulder rotation (aka left shoulder down) on the takeaway. Check...S&T. They wish to create a wider arc with a shoulder driven backswing with extension to the top…all of this is in the S&T book, and/or taught by Tom and others. Check.
As the pro’s extend to the top, there’s a pressure shift into the inside of the trail heel that creates a coiling of the lower vs. upper body which creates torque…S&T. At the top, their club shaft is nearly over, or over, their trail shoulder…S&T. Contrary to some beliefs, S&T does not prescribe an exact "must have" position at the top. Some folks may be more upright, others a little less. I think this is where folks get confused with S&T. I did too.
I know some folks who believe the S&T swing is a flatter, shorter swing, with a lot of weight starting and remaining on the lead side. It isn't. In the beginning stages of learning S&T, I got into a flat, shorter, left side dominate swing that resulted in all kinds of trouble, from shanks to hooks, loss of divots, and decreased distance. So what was I missing? Backswing extension.
The pro’s employ backswing extension which creates a pressure shift into the inside of the trail heel. This shift creates lower vs. upper body twisting, or torque…S&T. At the top the lower body uncoils to start the downswing. Some pro’s may shift slightly more, some less, but none of them shift their weight on top, or outside their trail foot. So while there may be some variations, at the end of the day their backswing extension / pressure shift is S&T. Some may argue that the weight should start and stay on the left, and the “shift” into the heel of the trail heel is a no-no, but without a pressure shift the result will be lower, more punch-like shots.
So now all that remains is the downswing. Due to backswing extension and thus, the ensuing coiling of the body at the top, the downswing is nearly automatic because the lower body unleashes first, and after that the impact position should be similar to the tour pros, provided there’s no manual manipulation such as throwing the club out at the top, or the head moves around. Impact positions are nearly universal in golf.
I started getting into the shanks last year, and again this year. The shanks actually helped me understand that I was missing a huge piece of S&T teachings. I incorrectly focused on parts of S&T, not ALL of the parts. I now understand that the left shoulder down, combined with backswing extension are mandatory. Today, with these changes, I feel VERY upright...but I'm not. My club shaft is just outside of my trail shoulder at the top, meaning very close to being over my trail shoulder at the top. Then I thought “hmmm, this swing feels REALLY familiar”. But why?
It wasn’t until recently that I discovered what I was taught years ago was actually the S&T fundamentals. My golf coaches told me to be over the ball at the top (stacked). They didn't want me moving off the ball onto my trail side (sound familiar?). They didn’t use the term “tilt” but it didn’t matter because if I was stacked over the ball, and my shoulders didn’t flatten on the backswing, then the tilt component was achieved.
My coaches placed golf balls under the outside of my trail foot to keep my weight on the inside heel at the top (avoid excess shift). They didn't pay much attention to keeping the right knee bent at the top (same as S&T). The other "must haves" was a shoulder driven backswing with extension (same as S&T). They didn't call it "extension" back then, but that's what it was. They wanted the club shaft to be near, or over the trail shoulder at the top such that on the start of the downswing the club would shallow. As I moved from a 5 iron to 8-9-PWs, they wanted more eight on the lead foot at address (S&T). This is why S&T feels very familiar to me. Maybe my coaches were ahead of their time? Or maybe they inherently knew the key components of the golf swing.
The terms "S&T" vs. "Shift and Lift" defines what's correct vs. incorrect. The term "shift and lift" is used because most folks learned, or believed, they needed to shift a lot of weight onto their trail side on the backswing. After they over-shifted their weight, they were relegated to lifting the club to the top. Thus, shift and lift summarizes the faults of most amateur golf swings. However, some folks believe the shift and lift swing is a pro tour swing…it’s not.
As for S&T, I believe some folks may not understand that the static positions shown in the book are the positions to be in for a full golf swing and thus folks get into a shorter, flatter swing. When the backswing extension piece of S&T swing is done correctly, the S&T swing looks nearly identical to a so-called "pro swing". As for weight distribution at address, starting at 55/45 weight is good, but it's not a must have. I can start 50/50, but as my left shoulder goes down, and I extend to the top, my weight shifts to 55/45, or even 60/40 at the top. Thus, I can start at 50/50 and end up with more weight on my lead side at the top. My point is I don’t fuss over the exact percentages at address, but in practice I start with slightly more weight on my lead foot.
I truly believe S&T is the best teaching system because (to me) it is primarily designed to help those who have historically shifted off the ball and lifted the club to the top. I now understand that some of the static positions displayed in the book, and taught online, are exaggerated because the intent of those positions is meant to offset decades of shifting and lifting caused by bad teachings.
So the next time someone tells me most pro’s do not employ the fundamentals of S&T, I will ask them to explain which S&T fundamentals the pro’s employ that deviate from S&T. They will try very hard to find some miniscule detail, but they won’t have a good answer.
Finally, to illustrate my point, see the pictures of Tom and Tiger Woods (2020) below.
By the way, my old coach put golf balls under the outside of my trail foot for FEEL. He didn't want me to get into tilting the trail foot on my setup because I would look like I'm "knock kneed" on my trail side because the drill pushes the trail knee forward towards the lead knee Some guys took it way to far.