If you’ve read the main post on the site you’ll know that I caused my own problem with the driver at the backend of last season in many ways. However, I’m prepared to put in the work to get back what I’ve lost and add more speed to my arsenal. Afterall, speed training, which is what I’m undertaking, is essentially about raising your ceiling so that you can cruise at a higher level on course.
In order to achieve this I’ve invested in The Stack System. Now, I didn’t do this on a whim, when I’m buying something, I make sure it’s going to perform how I’d expect and the results others have seen convinced me this is the route to take.
The thing that made sense to me about The Stack System was that I wasn’t just buying a weighted swing stick (not that there’s anything wrong with that method), it was the accompanying app that really piqued my interest.
The app makes the whole process so easy, so much so I’d almost go as far as saying it’s foolproof. It guides you through the processes involved, with videos from Dr Sasho Mackenzie explaining the reasoning behind the various swings you’ll be conducting. There’s also a pre routine workout that takes 15 minutes to complete that I know has helped free me up and increased my mobility already.
I've even done the workout on days I’m not stacking, which goes to show I’m invested…
In terms of my radar I’ve gone for the Swing Caddie SC200+ as I got one second hand off eBay for half the price of a new one. The bonus here is that the app picks up the radar’s speech as it tells me my swing speeds, meaning I don’t have to manually enter them.
I’m not sure how the SC200+ compares to the PRGR in terms of accuracy but it’s all relative at the end of the day, as it’s what I’ll always use. Furthermore, I set it up on the TopTracer range I got to and it was only a yard or two out so I’m not worried and know there’s always going to be some small inaccuracies with these cheaper radars, afterall I don’t have 20k or so for a proper launch monitor.
My first session with the stack was eye opening, that’s for sure. I knew I wasn’t particularly fast when compared with a lot of people out there but that just means I have plenty of room for improvement. However, what I wasn’t ready for is just how slow I was/am with my eSpeed at 84mph come the end of the session, which gives me a potential of 232 yards.
Why was I so shocked though? After all, my on course performance is inline with this, in fact, if anything Stack was showing potential I have but can’t extract on course.
For those unaware I’m a 14.6 handicapper, having dropped 10 shots from 24.8 in a year. I use Arccos to track my on-course data (yes I’m a massive nerd, but that’s why you’re here, surely?) and as you can see driving is the worst facet of my game and it’s not even close. Furthermore, my lack of distance has a knock-on effect to my approach stats, so it’s obvious if I improve off the tee it’s going to have an all round impact.
Now, while I was immediately disappointed at my low speed in the baseline, I quickly pushed that aside and focused on the positives. This is going to sound weird but after that session I actually felt faster, probably a placebo I thought but, I played the next day and I was already consistently longer than I had been in weeks/months, even into a 30mph+ headwind.
Foundation
The few days passed by that the app recommends as rest and I was ready to actually get into my first session. 3x 8 swing sets with the heaviest weight on first, reducing as we went.
From a mobility point of view I felt great going into that session but I’d woken with a headache that day so I wasn’t expecting great results.
Result
It couldn’t have been further from the truth, as I picked up 8mph in that session alone! So stack works? Well, yes I firmly believe it does but I think that massive gain in the first session was due to a number of factors, not just training with stack.
Don’t worry, I’ll explain. You’ve already heard about how I think my mobility had improved but what I think the stack immediately did was allow me to organize my swing and hit positions I hadn’t for some time. Some extra rotation and weight shift was clearly responsible for some of those gains.
Furthermore, I’ve since read that it’s well known that people struggle to hit their numbers on the first attempt as we’re not used to swinging and not hitting a ball. The reason being is that your body will naturally try to absorb the impact when a ball is present and when swing training you overcome this.
Anyway, regardless of whether the gain is erroneous I’m pleased with where I am right now, I feel faster and I know my ceiling is way higher than where I am right now.
I’ll see you again after my next foundation session…
Let’s go get those gains!
If you want to join me on the Stack System journey you can get $50 off with at this link: thestacksystem.com (You'll also be gaining me credits to extend my app license)
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