The Original Stack-and-Tilter?

Golf Digest reported recently that they got more feedback about their story on the Stack and Tilt swing than just about any instructional article they've published in the magazine's lifetime. So it makes sense that they keep revisiting the topic.

I was (re)visiting the Golf Digest Web site today and noticed a swing sequence for PGA Championship winner Jerry Barber that appeared in the magazine in 1958. On the Web, the title is "The First Stack & Tilt?"

The magazine's slideshow of Barber's swing sequence then followed. What they didn't do, however, was offer a side-by-side comparison of Barber's swing to the present-day Stack and Tilt. So I made a few thumbnails and have put one together.

That's Barber on the left, of course; Stack and Tilt instructor Andy Plummer (or maybe Mike Bennett ... heck, I'll just call him Andy Bennett) in the middle; and Stack-and-Tilter Aaron Baddeley on the right.

What do you think?

I think it's probably not a surprise that GD could comb its archives and come up with an old swing that resembles a new instructional fad, given that Plummer/Bennett have acknowledged finding inspiration for their teaching technique in the swings of many golfers from the 1940s and 1950s.

But the Barber swing sequence (and Barber's comments about his technique) are online here. You can read the original Stack and Tilt article here; and the follow-up here.

And just for fun, take a look at Barber on his downswing:

Now that's what I call an angle of attack.