The Issue Of Tempo In A Compact Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles
The Issue Of Tempo In A Compact Golf Swing (Video) - by Pete Styles

Generally speaking we would consider that somebody with a compact golf swing has probably got a better looking golf swing than somebody that’s got flaying arms everywhere, legs everywhere kind of golf swing. And thinking back to the time when Faldo was playing his best golf you would definitely consider that was a compact goal swing that looked really nice to the eye. But one of the things that makes it look so nice, one of the things that makes it look simple and repeatable is a really good quality tempo. So a golfer who can swing the club back into a nice position and down through the ball and can do so with a repeatable smooth tempo is going to look nicer and probably produce better shots than the golfer that gets the club into the same position but then changes the tempo of the downswing and maybe rushes the tempo and snatches the tempo and gets a bit too jerky.

For a lot of golfers when they make this change into this better compact position at the top of that swing, it will change their tempo. If you're a golfer in the past who's been really high and really long and rangy in their motion, and then we talk about making a more compact goal swing. You might feel as a bit of your swing missing, you might feel it's not quite as long as it used to be and suddenly it gets a bit too short. And that might make your tempo change and you might start to get too snatchy with your tempo. So as you make this change to a compact swing, keep the tempo of your swing in mind and make sure that you really feel like you finish your backswing with your shoulders. So you really turn your shoulders back nicely, get to a good position, manage the transition smoothly and then release through the ball quickly. We don't want to half swing and then snatch the ball and snatch it through. We also don't want to swing back and then get stuck at the top and pulls too long and then try and hit it. So it's shoulders back, swing through. And if we can keep that nice smooth tempo, the compact goal swing can look good, the tempo can look quite brisk. 2016-08-25

Generally speaking we would consider that somebody with a compact golf swing has probably got a better looking golf swing than somebody that’s got flaying arms everywhere, legs everywhere kind of golf swing. And thinking back to the time when Faldo was playing his best golf you would definitely consider that was a compact goal swing that looked really nice to the eye. But one of the things that makes it look so nice, one of the things that makes it look simple and repeatable is a really good quality tempo. So a golfer who can swing the club back into a nice position and down through the ball and can do so with a repeatable smooth tempo is going to look nicer and probably produce better shots than the golfer that gets the club into the same position but then changes the tempo of the downswing and maybe rushes the tempo and snatches the tempo and gets a bit too jerky.

For a lot of golfers when they make this change into this better compact position at the top of that swing, it will change their tempo. If you're a golfer in the past who's been really high and really long and rangy in their motion, and then we talk about making a more compact goal swing. You might feel as a bit of your swing missing, you might feel it's not quite as long as it used to be and suddenly it gets a bit too short. And that might make your tempo change and you might start to get too snatchy with your tempo. So as you make this change to a compact swing, keep the tempo of your swing in mind and make sure that you really feel like you finish your backswing with your shoulders.

So you really turn your shoulders back nicely, get to a good position, manage the transition smoothly and then release through the ball quickly. We don't want to half swing and then snatch the ball and snatch it through. We also don't want to swing back and then get stuck at the top and pulls too long and then try and hit it. So it's shoulders back, swing through. And if we can keep that nice smooth tempo, the compact goal swing can look good, the tempo can look quite brisk.