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Finding and Maintaining Your Perfect Golf Swing Tempo

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Photo by Brendan Riley on Flickr.

The importance of good tempo in the golf swing isn’t lost on most players. One of the first lessons the majority of golfers learn is that tempo is one of the more-important elements of a good golf swing. When you are able to maintain a smooth, even tempo all throughout your round, it will be that much easier to control your ball flight and hit consistent shots hole after hole. Tempo might not be one of the most-exciting things to practice, but it certainly is one of the major keys to improving your game.

One of the challenging things about working on your tempo is that there is no right answer that applies to all players. Unlike some of the mechanics in the swing – which can apply to any golfer – tempo is a personal thing. Think about watching golf on TV and what the tempos of the best players in the world look like. By and large they all have an even tempo, but some are fast and aggressive, while others are slow and smooth. What matters is that your tempo is even throughout the swing and that it stays the same from shot to shot.

The Feeling of Good Tempo

Practice sessions at the driving range are the best time to work on your swing tempo and try to find your perfect rhythm. When playing a round on the course, you have too many other things going on in your mind to really focus in on improving your tempo. Put in the work on the range, and let the results show themselves on the course during your next round.

So what does a good tempo feel like, and how do you achieve it? The best way to describe good tempo is having a rhythm in your swing that feels natural. You shouldn’t be ‘manufacturing’ or ‘faking’ your tempo – it should come naturally, and be unique to you. In many ways, your tempo should simply be how you would swing the club if you weren’t thinking about anything at all. When you are able to get out of your own head and just swing the club freely, that swing will represent your perfect tempo. This is why so often players who are struggling actually improve their swing when they “give up” and just “swing what feels comfortable.”

Often, the tempo of a golfer reflects their personality on and off the course. If you are a person that is laid back and relaxed in your day to day life, a slower, softer tempo should suit you better. Those who walk fast and talk fast, on the other hand, are more-suited for a quick tempo in their swing. Don’t fight your natural tendencies – if you force a tempo that isn’t true to you, your swing will never feel like your own.

Ironing Out the Rough Spots

Even though your tempo should come naturally, there is still work to be done to make sure that your tempo is even from the start of your backswing to your finish position. One of the best ways to iron out your tempo is to record your swing on video and watch it back for trouble spots. It should be pretty easy when watching your swing on tape to see any points at which your tempo speeds up or slows down. Remember, whether you swing slow or fast, you are looking for an even tempo back and through.

One common mistake is for golfers to get ‘quick’ at the top of the backswing and rush the beginning of the downswing. This is probably the most frequent tempo error, so pay particular attention to this spot when watching your swing video. You want the swing to gradually accumulate speed down toward impact – so the transition should be smooth and not rushed, letting the club fall into position and then start to speed up down into the ball.

Recording your swing doesn’t have to be complicated. Simpy have your playing partner record you with a smartphone or some other type of point and shoot camera. For those of you who want a bit more fine tuning, try the V1 Golf Swing Analysis or the Golf Coach & Swing Analysis iPhone apps. Both are packed with features and cost less than five bucks. Or, if you want to step it up even further, try a digital swing analysis like the SwingTIP (read our full SwingTIP review here).

Maintaining Tempo Under Pressure

Finding your tempo on the practice range is one thing – holding your tempo throughout the round is quite another. You will usually go through a range of emotions during a round of golf, including excitement, frustration, nerves, and more. All of these emotions can take a toll on your tempo and cause you to get out of your normal rhythm. One of the things that separates good golfers from average ones is the ability to manage pressure and maintain a good tempo from the first hole to the last.

We’re all too familiar with the fact that it is often the times when you are playing a good round, that  a loss of tempo is likely to strike. As the round moves on and your score continues to look good, it is natural to get both excited and nervous. Each of those feelings can contribute to losing your tempo – and your swing as a result. This is why it is so hard to close out a good round on the golf course. When the round gets going well, and you start to think about the scores you could shoot, your tempo can desert you at exactly the wrong time.

There are a few things you can do to try and deal with the pressure and hold onto your tempo until the round is over:

  • Gain experience: There is no substitute for experience in this case. The more rounds you play, the more comfortable you will become with feeling nervous and excited. Even if you fail at first in those situations, you will learn from your mistakes and be more likely to succeed in the future.
  • Put away the scorecard: The less mental math you can do during the round, the better. Try to keep your mind off of what scores could be waiting for you at the end, and just focus on the shot at hand. This is easier said than done, but work on narrowing your focus and your tempo should improve.
  • Pick safer shots: When you decide to take on a challenging shot – such as going for a par five in two – it is natural for your tempo to speed up. When you are playing well, try to choose more conservative shots and keep your ball in good position. Hopefully, this will keep you out of trouble, and help you maintain a good rhythm through the finish line.

Tempo has always been one of the most important elements to good golf, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. By putting in the time on the practice range to work on your golf swing tempo, and by paying attention to maintaining it on the course, you could unlock some of the best golf of your life.

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