Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
If you are looking at whether it’s okay to have a fast golf swing or not, I think the answer to that question is yes, absolutely as long as you keep your swing tempo consistent. If you look at the leading tour players today you will see that they all swing at very different tempos. If we look at somebody like Ernie Els he’s got a very lethargic, very easy look to his golf swing. If we look at someone like Tiger Woods or Sergio Garcia they really look a lot more aggressive as they swing a lot faster and more of a lash as they hit the ball.
But which speed you swing at doesn’t really matter. I think you need to find the swing speed and tempo that’s suitable to you. The best way to do that is look at how you walk. So in everyday life are you somebody that like to saunter along and other people overtake them, or are you somebody that likes to kind of army march along and be at the lead. If you are somebody who likes to really charge along as you walk and your natural rhythm is quite punchy, it’s quite quick so incorporate that into your golf swing.
Don’t try to fight against what you body naturally wants to do. The whole key element is to keep it constant. So if we think about listening to music, we could listen to music which is quite easy, listening, relaxed or we could listen to something that’s a bit more dancy, a bit more party that gets us up and moving about. Both of these pieces of music have rhythm; it’s just a different rhythm.
So a fast rhythm is absolutely fine. A slow rhythm is also absolutely fine. It’s the fact that that rhythm is very consistent and repetitive. So don’t get stuck or caught between a slow and a fast pace. If you are going to go for the fast swing, go for the fast swing but keep it constant. So a good way to look at having a constant rhythm is make sure you are counting to yourself on your backswing and then on your downswing.
We see the better players in the world today having a three to one ratio for their backswing tempo. So that would mean it takes them three times longer to swing the club on the backswing than it does to get the club back down to the ball. So it doesn’t matter whether you have got a quick pace or a slow pace. Still work on having this three to one ration.
So for a slower pace, your rhythm would look more like this; one, two, three, four, working on one as I start the club away. Two by the time I'm half way on my backswing, three at the top of the swing, and four as I hit the ball. If I’ve got, if I'm someone that swings with a faster pace I'm going to be more one, two, three, four. But it doesn’t matter which pace I use. So fast is absolutely fine, it’s the whole point that you keep it consistent and that you don’t get stuck between the two different tempos.
2013-08-09 Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
If you are looking at whether it’s okay to have a fast golf swing or not, I think the answer to that question is yes, absolutely as long as you keep your swing tempo consistent. If you look at the leading tour players today you will see that they all swing at very different tempos. If we look at somebody like Ernie Els he’s got a very lethargic, very easy look to his golf swing. If we look at someone like Tiger Woods or Sergio Garcia they really look a lot more aggressive as they swing a lot faster and more of a lash as they hit the ball.
But which speed you swing at doesn’t really matter. I think you need to find the swing speed and tempo that’s suitable to you. The best way to do that is look at how you walk. So in everyday life are you somebody that like to saunter along and other people overtake them, or are you somebody that likes to kind of army march along and be at the lead. If you are somebody who likes to really charge along as you walk and your natural rhythm is quite punchy, it’s quite quick so incorporate that into your golf swing.
Don’t try to fight against what you body naturally wants to do. The whole key element is to keep it constant. So if we think about listening to music, we could listen to music which is quite easy, listening, relaxed or we could listen to something that’s a bit more dancy, a bit more party that gets us up and moving about. Both of these pieces of music have rhythm; it’s just a different rhythm.
So a fast rhythm is absolutely fine. A slow rhythm is also absolutely fine. It’s the fact that that rhythm is very consistent and repetitive. So don’t get stuck or caught between a slow and a fast pace. If you are going to go for the fast swing, go for the fast swing but keep it constant. So a good way to look at having a constant rhythm is make sure you are counting to yourself on your backswing and then on your downswing.
We see the better players in the world today having a three to one ratio for their backswing tempo. So that would mean it takes them three times longer to swing the club on the backswing than it does to get the club back down to the ball. So it doesn’t matter whether you have got a quick pace or a slow pace. Still work on having this three to one ration.
So for a slower pace, your rhythm would look more like this; one, two, three, four, working on one as I start the club away. Two by the time I'm half way on my backswing, three at the top of the swing, and four as I hit the ball. If I’ve got, if I'm someone that swings with a faster pace I'm going to be more one, two, three, four. But it doesn’t matter which pace I use. So fast is absolutely fine, it’s the whole point that you keep it consistent and that you don’t get stuck between the two different tempos.
