Nick Faldo: Anti-S&T, but Why?

[JetFan1983]

You seem to have fallen for one of the misconceptions about Stack and Tilt. The spine never tilts towards the target, it tilts

Well said. Not enough people seem to realize this one.

[david_wedzik]

To Dave. How close would you consider Sam Snead and Bobby Jones swings to resembling S&T? I think they look pretty close. One thing I noticed and you can see it with Nick Faldo, many tour players have a lower body movement similar to S&T but the arms travel on a much steeper plane and the spine never quite tilts toward the target in the backswing. Even some of the tour players that use S&T practice with the proper arm movement but deviate from it somewhat at full swing speed.

Many similar pieces is the best way to put it - Snead and Jones both had pretty darn vertical spines at top and both had the inward hand path (though Snead lifted a bit on the way to the top) while they straightened the rear leg and flexed the front - both moved forward to some extent but not as much as we would prescribe - in Snead's case the lifting and the little lack of "enough" forward caused him to play more of a pull-draw (great, great swing btw)....Jones situation was a bit different - because of the equipment he was forced to be more handsy and "flippy" with his release. Hope this makes sense.

Dave

[Keep It Simple]

Many similar pieces is the best way to put it - Snead and Jones both had pretty darn vertical spines at top and both had the inward hand path (though Snead lifted a bit on the way to the top) while they straightened the rear leg and flexed the front - both moved forward to some extent but not as much as we would prescribe - in Snead's case the lifting and the little lack of "enough" forward caused him to play more of a pull-draw (great, great swing btw)....Jones situation was a bit different - because of the equipment he was forced to be more handsy and "flippy" with his release. Hope this makes sense.

It does, thanks for the reply.

[jahern]

First time post,  and I know this is an old trend, but just thought I would put add a few comments as most people who have responded have not picked up on one thing.

As pointed out the video of Faldo is from the 1992, but in the video Nick is not hitting a full shot, he is hitting a punch or knocked down shot. He was hitting a long iron, but if you look at the swing you can see the ball position is very far back, weight forward, the swing is only 3/4 and the follow through is also short, so it is understandable that people would see similarity between this swing and the what comes under the description of stack and tilt.

You can go on YouTube you can see more video footage of Faldo from the same day and you will see hit hitting more punch shots, full swings etc. The last iron shot he hit that day was also a 3 iron and you can see it was a full swing and what he would consider a normal swing.

I'm getting back into golf after being out for a few years, was a big big Faldo swing when I was young, and saw hit hit balls in the flesh and even ignoring the results, it was a great swing to watch when he was in his prime.

I have been fascinated by how golf has changed in the few years I was away, the new ball flight laws and the stack and tilt swing do go completely against what I thought was fact, but being an engineer and open minded I'm finding it very interesting.

[johnthejoiner]

If there is one golfer on this planet who knew and understood his golf swing it was Sir Nick Faldo, he was the most technically minded boring golfer ever. I never liked Faldo as a golfer and it pains me to say he is probably the best golfer Britain has ever produced, but if he tells people thats how he played a certain shot or how he shaped a shot, you could bet diamonds on it that's  exactly how he done it

[Zeph]

I never liked Faldo as a golfer and it pains me to say he is probably the best golfer Britain has ever produced, but if he tells people thats how he played a certain shot or how he shaped a shot, you could bet diamonds on it that's  exactly how he done it

I'll bet you pretty big money that some things players says they do is not what they really do. Be it Tiger, Faldo, Mickelson, Hogan, Nicklaus or anyone. Some things are not a matter of opinion, but fact.

[uttexas]

Faldo is a stubborn Brit. He didn't like something he saw in Baddeley's swing back in '07 and made a comment anti S&T.; Being a stubborn Brit, in his mind, he could only say more bad things against S&T.; Both my parents are British, and I grew up partly in England. I've noticed that changing your mind is frowned upon in British culture--it's a sign of weakness; it's best to make a decision and stick with it. Faldo, very early on decided to not like S&T, so he has to keep saying negative things. In addition, the true, trackman proven, ball flight laws are the foundation of the S&T swing model. Faldo will keep believing, until the day he dies, in the old, incorrect ball flight laws. Thus, he can't believe in the founding principles of S&T.; All of this is very comical, because many of his best golf swings are consistent with the S&T model.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by uttexas

Faldo is a stubborn Brit.

I work with a few people from Texas and a few from the UK. Neither one has the market cornered on stubborness (that might go to the Germans or the Dutch), but let's say it's neck and neck either way. And that's all I have to say about that.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by johnthejoiner

If there is one golfer on this planet who knew and understood his golf swing it was Sir Nick Faldo, he was the most technically minded boring golfer ever. I never liked Faldo as a golfer and it pains me to say he is probably the best golfer Britain has ever produced, but if he tells people thats how he played a certain shot or how he shaped a shot, you could bet diamonds on it that's  exactly how he done it

Well if he played a fade or a draw like he says how to hit one, I don't think he would of been as successful as he was.