Thanks, Tom Saguto!

I wanted to let you know that after my last 7 rounds I have quietly said to myself “Thank you, Tom Saguto!” For over 30 years, at least 6 coaches, two online instructional courses, and countless golf books and magazine articles, I have continued to make the same mistakes and shoot the same scores. I have been told I have “paralysis by analysis” and to stop reading about the swing. How can you stop caring about your golf game and still play? I always knew that I simply had to find someone whom I could understand.

This past winter I realized that my last coach had been essentially teaching me the stack and tilt method without calling it that. This had produced moderate success so I decided to pursue it further. I understood the “stack” but not the “tilt.” I googled “What is tilt in the stack and tilt golf swing?” and stumbled upon a Tom Saguto YouTube video. Not only did your explanation and demonstration make perfectly good sense to me, but your humor and enthusiasm were so enjoyable! I began practicing with a seven iron and no ball in a spare bedroom.

When our golf season started, I began to hit a few crispy shots (what a feeling!) along with a few “mistakes.” I took the plunge in late April and signed up for one year of your online course. This was not an easy decision because of previous failures with online instruction. As I progressed through the basics (“Golf Swing Simplified”), I continued to obtain my same scores. But two things were different: My back and knees felt great and I looked forward to continuing the course and not giving up. Every time you finished a lesson by hitting your own crispy shots and saying “Oh, that felt good” I felt relaxed and hopeful.

I showed my wife one of your “Tilt” videos and she and I went to the driving range. She immediately started hitting the ball better while I hit shank after shank. I asked her to video my swing. Another golfer came over and commented that it looked like I was trying stack and tilt. I was happy my swing was at least recognizable as S&T. I went home, watched your video on shanks, then watched the video of my swing and immediately spotted the problem. I had a major arm rolling (supination/pronation) problem in the takeaway. My clubhead was crossing my hand path. I did at-home drills on the takeaway for a few days and then resumed rounds of golf.

My last seven rounds have averaged 12 strokes lower than earlier this season! All seven rounds are a part of my handicap index. As a scientist, I could not help but figure out the probability of seven consecutive rounds being used in one’s handicap calculations (where your best 10 of the last 20 are counted): 1 in 128, or 0.8%. That is statistically significant and not a random accident. Thank you, Tom Saguto!

I am now going back over your videos for a second time (or tenth time in the case of Drill 2.8!). Things I missed the first time now make more sense. I have much to learn and I look forward to the journey. When I get stuck, I will send a V1 video for analysis. Thanks again, Mr. Saguto! Golf is fun again!!