Building A Reliable Golf Tempo (Video) - by Pete Styles
Building A Reliable Golf Tempo (Video) - by Pete Styles

Another fault for a lot of golfers it creates that topped or that thin shot for a lot of players. It’s going to be not having the right tempo particularly having a tempo that's a bit too quick or gets rushed under pressure. So a great way of creating the right tempo is actually doing a drill out on the driving range where you try and count. And you count along with your golf swing and that sets the right tempo. And hopefully you can use that same counting mechanism under pressure. So you practice it on the range, then you take it out on the golf course when you're under pressure.

Now for a lot of golfers one tempo does not fit all. You'll see different players with different tempos and sometimes they just -- it's the same as the way you live your life. If you’ve very sort of quick, agitated rushing around kind of person, you're probably going to be that in the same way you play golf. If you're a lot more languid and slow and sort of relaxed when you arrive at the golf course, that's probably going to be the same way that you would play as well. But when you go to the practice range, try and see if you can establish a good tempo that you can then take on the golf course. So what I’ve got here is three balls down in front of me. Just got a wedge in front of me as well. I am going to set up to this first ball and I'm going to count 1, 2, 3, 4 is impact. So I am going to count to 4, 1 is the start of the swing, 4 is the impact position, not the follow-through but the impact position. So we’re going to just try and count nice and steadily as I hit a few shots here. So I have 1, 2, 3, 4 and I get a nice clean crisp contact. I’ve got a wedge, so you’d expect it to take a divot after the ball and a nice hit down. Now I'm going to hit these next two shots. 1 is going to be too quick. 1 is going to be too slow as I would deem it too slow a swing is probably as bad because it cannot lead to any commitment through the ball. So if we had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 I'm generally going to not commit through the ball and sometimes I'm going to hit that shot a little bit chunky, a little bit heavy because I'm not committing into impact. And then the sort of toppy thiny one is often the golfer that’s rushing a little bit. So that's why we talk about it happening on under pressure, so first tee nerves are setup to the ball. I’ve got my shot down there onto a little par 3 green. I’ve a 1, 2 and I’ve hit it on a 3. And I didn't really have enough chance to get that backswing to complete itself. So again setting up 1, 2, 3 and I’ve topped it. And you can see that I've got that little divot down in front of the ball not caused by the club and caused by the ball. I rush my swing, hit over the top, hit down into it. It didn't it up on the train. So if that feels like it might be an issue that you have, think about your tempo and particularly think about your tempo when you're under pressure. Let's see if we get that 1, 2, 3, 4, for impact counting your practice sessions and then see if you can set a better tempo on the golf course with you. 2016-07-08

Another fault for a lot of golfers it creates that topped or that thin shot for a lot of players. It’s going to be not having the right tempo particularly having a tempo that's a bit too quick or gets rushed under pressure. So a great way of creating the right tempo is actually doing a drill out on the driving range where you try and count. And you count along with your golf swing and that sets the right tempo. And hopefully you can use that same counting mechanism under pressure. So you practice it on the range, then you take it out on the golf course when you're under pressure.

Now for a lot of golfers one tempo does not fit all. You'll see different players with different tempos and sometimes they just — it's the same as the way you live your life. If you’ve very sort of quick, agitated rushing around kind of person, you're probably going to be that in the same way you play golf. If you're a lot more languid and slow and sort of relaxed when you arrive at the golf course, that's probably going to be the same way that you would play as well. But when you go to the practice range, try and see if you can establish a good tempo that you can then take on the golf course.

So what I’ve got here is three balls down in front of me. Just got a wedge in front of me as well. I am going to set up to this first ball and I'm going to count 1, 2, 3, 4 is impact. So I am going to count to 4, 1 is the start of the swing, 4 is the impact position, not the follow-through but the impact position. So we’re going to just try and count nice and steadily as I hit a few shots here. So I have 1, 2, 3, 4 and I get a nice clean crisp contact. I’ve got a wedge, so you’d expect it to take a divot after the ball and a nice hit down. Now I'm going to hit these next two shots.

1 is going to be too quick. 1 is going to be too slow as I would deem it too slow a swing is probably as bad because it cannot lead to any commitment through the ball. So if we had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 I'm generally going to not commit through the ball and sometimes I'm going to hit that shot a little bit chunky, a little bit heavy because I'm not committing into impact. And then the sort of toppy thiny one is often the golfer that’s rushing a little bit. So that's why we talk about it happening on under pressure, so first tee nerves are setup to the ball.

I’ve got my shot down there onto a little par 3 green. I’ve a 1, 2 and I’ve hit it on a 3. And I didn't really have enough chance to get that backswing to complete itself. So again setting up 1, 2, 3 and I’ve topped it. And you can see that I've got that little divot down in front of the ball not caused by the club and caused by the ball. I rush my swing, hit over the top, hit down into it. It didn't it up on the train. So if that feels like it might be an issue that you have, think about your tempo and particularly think about your tempo when you're under pressure. Let's see if we get that 1, 2, 3, 4, for impact counting your practice sessions and then see if you can set a better tempo on the golf course with you.