We're putting TheStack swing speed trainer to the test to see how many yards a plus-handicap pro can gain by committing to the program.
Fairway Jockey
What could some extra yards off the tee mean for your game? For some players, more yards could make a par-5 reachable for the first time. Or perhaps enable you to hit a shorter iron into the green on a par-4, creating more birdie opportunities. Every player can appreciate the benefits of getting longer off the tee, but actually acquiring those yardage gains is the hard part. That’s where TheStack comes into play.
TheStack is billed as a revolutionary swing speed trainer. Co-founded by biomechanist Dr. Sasho MacKenzie and Ping engineer Marty Jertson, TheStack system helps golfers increase their swing speed and distance with a training regimen that is customized to your personal level.
Matt Fitzpatrick was the first high-profile pro to credit TheStack with his significant distance gains when he mentioned his training in the aftermath of his U.S. Open win at The Country Club in 2022.
“I’ve been [using TheStack] religiously week in and week out,” he said. “It’s like going to the gym basically. It’s like a training program. I’ll be honest, it’s worked wonders.”
Since Fitzpatrick showcased his newly-acquired long-bombing skills, TheStack has only increased in popularity, and I was interested to test just how effective the system could be. Turns out, I am married to the perfect guinea pig. My husband, Paul, is a club pro with a current handicap index of +0.4. As his index indicates, his all-around game is excellent, but he’s always felt that he wasn’t getting the most out of his driver. At 6’3″ and 220 lbs., Paul’s fellow pros are often surprised that he doesn’t regularly launch it 300+ yards with the driver. Instead, Paul’s carry distance is closer to 240 yards, which, depending on roll, can stretch to 270 under the right conditions. But still — for a competitive player like Paul, an extra 10 or more yards off the tee would be extremely meaningful. At local events, he’s routinely outdriven by his peers, and efforts to re-jigger his swing to extract more yards resulted in a more erratic and undesirable game. So the idea of keeping the swing he has, training with TheStack, and adding yards anyway was very attractive.
Paul is also an excellent test subject for TheStack because he’s already using completely custom-fitted equipment and has regular access to a TrackMan, so he is intimately familiar with his personal stats in areas like spin, ball speed and so on. In short, whatever gains he does glean from TheStack will be from the device and training alone.
“With my launch angle and my spin rate, if I had 10 or 15 mph more, the ball would just stay in the air way longer,” Paul told me. “So this is an experiment to see if I can gain any speed.”
Part of TheStack’s appeal is that it requires a relatively low-key commitment. When the components arrived — TheStack stick itself, the weights, and the radar launch monitor — all Paul needed to do was download the app and connect the radar device to his iPhone via Bluetooth. Then, it was time to complete the baseline session, which is what ultimately determined the rest of his training schedule.
The baseline session begins with taking swings with your current gamer driver without hitting a ball. (That reminds me of another important note: none of the training requires hitting a ball, only swings! So you can complete these sessions indoors or out.) The app will walk you through each part of the baseline session with prompts on which weights to use and how many swings to take. The data is automatically recorded on the app. For Paul, the whole session took less than 15 minutes of swinging.
Paul’s baseline readings (left) and his stats after just one session (right).Paul Griffin
Paul’s initial swing speed reading was 87 mph, so that will be the number we’ll continually look to improve upon as his training program progresses. His current program consists of swing sessions just about every two to three days. The app reminds you when to complete a session and when to rest. Paul is expecting his swing speed journey to last a year — or maybe even longer! I plan to document his progress here as he makes his way through the app’s “phases,” with check-ins every couple of months.
Paul is definitely feeling optimistic about the process thus far, especially after completing his first training session. According to the app, his swing speed has already gone up to 92 from 87 — quite a jump! Can he get to 100 by the end of the year? Stay tuned!
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.
