Developed by teaching professionals Michael Bennett and Andy Plummer, the “Stack and Tilt” golf swing method has received a lot of attention in recent years.

Tour pros including Aaron Baddeley, Mike Weir and Steve Elkington have used the Stack and Tilt at one time or another, sometimes with great success, while others have seen mixed results. 

The Stack and Tilt swing dispenses with many accepted fundamentals, beginning with weight placement. Rather than starting with the weight evenly distributed between the left and right feet, Stack and Tilt teaches the player to put about 55 percent of his weight on the left side at address.

From there, a proper Stack and Tilt motion shifts right on the backswing, but weight remains predominantly on the left side once the golfer reaches the top. This departure from traditional teaching is designed to encourage a descending, ball-first blow on the downswing.

Here are a few more basic tenets of the Stack and Tilt golf swing (described for right-handed swings):

• The left shoulder moves slightly downward on the backswing.
• The right knee straightens on the backswing while the left remains flexed.
• At impact, both knees are flexed.
• The left knee straightens on the follow-through, while the right remains flexed.
• The waist (belt buckle) is higher at the finish than at address, while the hips are “tucked” beneath the torso rather than protruding toward the target.

Bennett and Plummer started out as players, but became frustrated with the inconsistencies of different swing theories. Using the methods taught by one-time Tour pro Mac O’Grady and Homer Kelley, author of the influential book The Golfing Machine, the pair devised the Stack and Tilt.

Their overriding goal: to organize the swing into a series of steps that the beginner could understand and implement, but that also worked for elite golfers.

While the Stack and Tilt has its detractors, many pros have played well after adopting the system’s principles. Weir, Dean Wilson and Troy Matteson are among those to win tour events using the Stack and Tilt swing.