The Complete Stack Putting Review

My first Stack Putting session highlighted two things. First, it became crystal clear that my previous putting routine incorporated no gamification, which meant there was no urgency to make putts. That led to complacency in putting practice and an overall low focus level.

Second, it highlighted just how badly my putting needed work.

Knowing Stack Putting holds me accountable for every single putt I roll, I instinctively go through my entire on-course routine on every putt when practicing with Stack. I give the finger to near misses and fist-pump makes. It’s the only putting practice routine I’ve ever used that truly replicates an on-course environment.

When I checked my results, I got a rude awakening. Not only was my putting performance costing me  way too many strokes against a scratch player, but I was giving up several to players at my own handicap level.

This added an extra layer of motivation, and from a Strokes Gained perspective, my next three Stack Putting rounds were each better than the one before it. By my eighth Stack Putting session, I gave up less than a stroke compared to a scratch player. That was quite an encouraging result and proved that highlighting a weakness and training it with focus can lead to measurable results. I’m not sure why I needed proof of that, but you get the picture.

Stack Putting helps me in several ways that I use routinely.

Beyond ratcheting up the intensity, it tracks progress over time. This keeps me honest as to whether or not I’m giving my putting game enough attention during practice.

The feature I probably appreciate more than any other in Stack Putting is the ability to compare variables. Stack Putting prompts you to confirm which putter and technique you are using, and allows you to add additional tags. 

For example, you could tag whether or not you use an alignment line, and complete Stack Putting rounds both ways. Then in the Statistical Comparision section of the app, you can compare your results, to see whether or not using the alignment line improves your putting performance. The results are broken down incredibly granularly, so you can even tell which putts (distance, direction, slope) are impacted most by any variable.

Beyond testing an alignment line, I suggest testing different putters, techniques (if you’re considering a change), routines, and gauging results of various practice drills.

The frustration level of using Stack Putting is pretty minimal. The app itself is pretty intuitive, I can’t imagine anyone getting lost in the app.

I have experienced the app crashing, which only seems to happen when I’m in the Statistical Comparison menu, and I change a variable in a comparison. The app crashes regularly when I do that, but never in any other scenario.

Logging a Stack Putting round on your phone is easy. Again, the app is very intuitive. When you start a Stack Putting round the app prescribes a very specific putt, including length, slope (uphill or downhill) and break (left to right, right to left, or straight). You can also see the average strokes it takes for a player in the selected handicap range to hole that specific putt, and when you subtract 1, 2 or 3 from that number, you get your strokes gained performance.

I’m sure many people are hesitant about constantly engaging with their phone throughout putting practice. You can count me among that crowd. I was afraid this would be too cumbersome – and compared to practicing without a device, it’s certainly more taxing – but for what it is, it’s pretty smooth. I either drop the phone in my back pocket or set it on the green while I putt. Inputting the result of the hole and getting the next prescribed putt only takes a few seconds, so I’d say the distraction is minimal and the data you get is way more than worth it.

One other area I’ve struggled with more than I’d like to admit is finding the prescribed putt. I’ve spent more time wandering around the practice green reading slope and break than I ever thought I would. I’m only half-joking about the idea of creating my own green reading map of the practice green at my home course.

My putting has improved since I’ve started using Stack Putting. I can see results both from my performance trends within the Stack Putting app, and in my on-course performance, which I measure using Shot Scope.

I attribute this to two main things. The obvious reason being that better practice should lead to better results. The other reason, however, is that better data leads to better decision making. If I know that I perform better with one putter than another, then using that putter can save me strokes. If I learn that I putt better overall when using an alignment aid, that can save me strokes. Even if each of these variables only account for a small improvement, stacking multiple gains can really optimize putting and bring out your best on the greens.

I’ve touched on a lot of these details already, but here’s my list of the biggest pros and cons from the Stack Putting app from my experience.

Pros:

• More engaging and fun practice
• You can use Stack Putting to optimize your equipment, alignment, technique, etc
• Understand your biases and adjust accordingly
• Easy to use
• Track progress over time

Cons:

• Must interact with phone during putting practice
• Finding each prescribed putt is more time consuming than more generic putting practice
• App sometimes crashes 
• $59 per year is a stiff ask
• Currently only available on iOS

If you’re not already a user of the Stack System for speed training, you can use Stack Putting for $59 per year. Despite all the benefits of Stack Putting, that’s a steep ask for a putting training tool, especially if you live in a climate where you can only play golf outdoors for part of the year.

The value really depends on how, and how much, you use it. Personally, I’ve replaced my pre-round driving range session with a Stack Putting round. Stack Putting helps me get in a good mindset for a round of golf and I like having fresh information on my speed and direction bias right before I play. No, heading to the first tee without having struck a ball with a full swing isn’t the greatest feeling in the world, but that exchange puts $6 per round back in my pocket – you see where I’m going with this – and even if I only play once a week, that easily covers the the annual cost of the app.

There’s no doubt Stack Putting is geared towards the more serious player, and if $59 per year for a putting app is a non-starter for you, I won’t beg you to reconsider.

Overall Stack Putting is an excellent tool. It’s effective, it’s easy to use, and it gives you concrete information which you can use to improve your putting.

If you’re interested in finding out whether or not Stack Putting is worth it for you, they offer a free 30 day trial, which is a good opportunity to play around with the app, test some variables in your putting routine, and see if you can improve your putting using Stack Putting.