Every day on the course is different. Your body is different. Your swing is different. And the course and the weather are different. That's why on one day you can shoot lights out, and then on the next you're all thumbs. The performance difference is often because of tempo. To play your best—and chop strokes off your golf handicap—you must play at what tempo works best for you.
Unfortunately, swing tempo is a much-overlooked fundamental. Teachers don't always cover it in golf instruction sessions and writers seldom develop golf tip articles on it. Tempo is also a hard concept to grasp. There's more to it than just swinging a club faster or slower. You must feel it, just as you do with your natural walking pace. If you don't find your natural swing tempo, your swing will lack the smooth, rhythmic feel associated with solid ball striking.
Tempo Defined
Tempo is the time it takes to complete a full swing. For the most part, it's geared to a golfer's personality. If you're deliberate, your tempo is likely to be somewhat slower than a person who's more fast-paced. And vice versa. When you're playing well, your tempo is pretty much the same on every full shot. But when your tempo goes, your game goes as well. That's why you play well one day and poorly the next.
It would be great if you could play at your best tempo every day. But that's not realistic. Some days you're more energized. On those days you may have a faster swing tempo than your ideal tempo. Other days, it's just the opposite. You feel more lethargic or weaker. On those days you may have a slower swing tempo than your ideal. If you're going to lower your golf handicap, learn to adjust to your swing tempo on days where you don't have your ideal swing tempo.
Even if tempo were a popular topic, developing an appreciation for it isn't easy. It takes hard work. Below are two drills that help you determine and learn to appreciate swing tempo. These drill not only familiarize you with different swing tempos, they also teach you to coordinate the movement of your body and club to produce solid contact at any tempo.
Four Ball Drill
Tee up four balls in a row. Address the one closest to you and hit at 25 percent of your standard swing speed. Now move to the next ball. Hit this one at 50 percent of your normal swing speed. Hit the third ball at 75 percent speed. Hit the last ball at full speed. Perform the drill a few times. Focus on the feel of the different speeds. You goal is to not slow down or speed up your swing in order to hit your ball longer or straighter.
Follow-Through Drill
Address the ball. Raise the club head off the ground slightly. Move it forward to a position a foot or so into the follow-through, and start swinging. Guide the club head back over the ball, complete your backswing, and swing through the ball all in one motion. Repeat this exercise several times. Continue for a while. Eventually, you'll develop a feel for your swing tempo.
Tempo is a critical, but much overlooked fundamental. If you're going to develop a swing that helps you cut strokes from you golf handicap, you must develop a feel for you natural swing speed. You must also develop a feel for when you're not swinging the club at your ideal swing speed, and learn how to adjust on days you swinging at your natural swing tempo. The two drills described above help you fine-tune your tempo.
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.
