Pete Styles – PGA Teaching Pro
So here we're going to look at tempo and how the tempo of your golf swing can affect your consistency and your ability to hit good straight iron shots, good straight drives, even under the pressure that you might feel on the golf course, particularly if you're playing in the competition, first tee nerves, or towards a back end of a round.
Now, there is no right or wrong with golf swing tempo. You can watch the best players in the world and you'll see different tempos from all different players. But the one thing they have is they will have the same tempo right away through their bag pretty much for every club and right away through their careers even, not just the round of golf they're going to play but even their entire career. You got quick tempos like Nick Price, very much backing through really quite brisk; somebody like Ernie Els' completely different, very laid back backswing but then very brisk through the ball.
And I think one thing to appreciate with tempo is it's your own tempo so don't try and copy somebody else's necessarily; but try and keep it consistent. So go and adjust your position where you're nice and relaxed over the golf ball, turn the shoulders to take the club back and feel like the back swing is quite smooth. Maybe slower is better than quicker for most people but then accelerate into the golf ball. Don't think of tempo as slow on the down swing. The one thing I often see people talking about is, well, I feel a bit quick so I'm going to slow this a bit down. What's the point? You're going to lose distance. We want lots of distance through here. We want lots of speed through here. Golf Swing Tempo is the speed of the backswing, the speed of the transition.
And, generally, it works on a one-third, two-third ratio so you're going to have to take two-thirds of the time going back and then let go on the count and accelerate through the ball so we're going to have a one-two count, and then a three count as we accelerate through the golf ball and really try and be quite brisk through the bottom of the ball. The same tempo when you're driving, the same tempo when you're chipping; maybe even when you're putting; ticking, tocking nicely and gently back and through. Certainly when you're hitting your chip shots, you accelerate through the ball. When you're hitting your tee shots, you accelerate through the golf ball. Don't try and copy anybody else's tempo. Don't let your tempo change. If it's good and solid on the golf course--oh, sorry, on the practice ground, take that with you to the golf course, take that with you onto the first tee when you're nervous, take that with you to the eighteenth hole when you're nervous as well. So nice golf smooth tempo, one-two on the backswing, and three on the downswing.
2012-05-31 Pete Styles – PGA Teaching Pro
So here we're going to look at tempo and how the tempo of your golf swing can affect your consistency and your ability to hit good straight iron shots, good straight drives, even under the pressure that you might feel on the golf course, particularly if you're playing in the competition, first tee nerves, or towards a back end of a round.
Now, there is no right or wrong with golf swing tempo. You can watch the best players in the world and you'll see different tempos from all different players. But the one thing they have is they will have the same tempo right away through their bag pretty much for every club and right away through their careers even, not just the round of golf they're going to play but even their entire career. You got quick tempos like Nick Price, very much backing through really quite brisk; somebody like Ernie Els' completely different, very laid back backswing but then very brisk through the ball.
And I think one thing to appreciate with tempo is it's your own tempo so don't try and copy somebody else's necessarily; but try and keep it consistent. So go and adjust your position where you're nice and relaxed over the golf ball, turn the shoulders to take the club back and feel like the back swing is quite smooth. Maybe slower is better than quicker for most people but then accelerate into the golf ball. Don't think of tempo as slow on the down swing. The one thing I often see people talking about is, well, I feel a bit quick so I'm going to slow this a bit down. What's the point? You're going to lose distance. We want lots of distance through here. We want lots of speed through here. Golf Swing Tempo is the speed of the backswing, the speed of the transition.
And, generally, it works on a one-third, two-third ratio so you're going to have to take two-thirds of the time going back and then let go on the count and accelerate through the ball so we're going to have a one-two count, and then a three count as we accelerate through the golf ball and really try and be quite brisk through the bottom of the ball. The same tempo when you're driving, the same tempo when you're chipping; maybe even when you're putting; ticking, tocking nicely and gently back and through. Certainly when you're hitting your chip shots, you accelerate through the ball. When you're hitting your tee shots, you accelerate through the golf ball. Don't try and copy anybody else's tempo. Don't let your tempo change. If it's good and solid on the golf course–oh, sorry, on the practice ground, take that with you to the golf course, take that with you onto the first tee when you're nervous, take that with you to the eighteenth hole when you're nervous as well. So nice golf smooth tempo, one-two on the backswing, and three on the downswing.
