Golf Swing Tempo Drills (Video) - by Pete Styles
Golf Swing Tempo Drills (Video) - by Pete Styles

So now I have established the importance of tempo and hopefully we have chosen the correct tempo. We are now going to start looking at some exercises that can help engrain that tempo and that timing.

The first thing I would like to do here is select a club that you think goes around about a 150 yards. So for me I have got my 8-iron here. Now as I set up with my 8-iron, I am going to aim out there towards a 150 yard marker on the range, but I am also going to pick another marker that’s only a 100 yards away. And if I can then alternate my shots, between a 150 and a 100 and a 150 and a 100, but try to keep the same tempo in my swing the whole time, so I am not necessarily slowing my tempo down to hit the shot, I am keeping the same tempo, I am just shorting my swing. So as I set for the first one, this is going to be my normal tempo, my normal full speed swing. And hit that out that at 150 and I am only going to hit this one a 100. And then the next one is going to be 150 again and then the next one is going to be a 100 again. Now when you start to appreciate when you get good at doing that exercise of hitting a full shot then a 3 quarter distance or a 2/3rd distance then a full shot again is that you should maintain the same tempo and that’s going to feed all the way down into your wedges and even your chipping, is that your tempo is the same. It’s just the power you hit the golf ball is going to be slightly less because you are in a shorter backswing position. So you are not making fast swing, slow swing, fast swing, slow swing, you are making longer swing, shorter swing, but actually the cadence the tick-tock, tick-tock the tempo you have is the same. And that should apply right throughout the game, whether it’s driver off the tee or wedge to the side of the green, whether it’s first hole or the 18th hole, keep your tempo consistent, use this exercise at the start, middle and end, of all of your practice sessions to maintain that smooth tempo, if you feel that that’s something you struggle with. 2016-04-22

So now I have established the importance of tempo and hopefully we have chosen the correct tempo. We are now going to start looking at some exercises that can help engrain that tempo and that timing.

The first thing I would like to do here is select a club that you think goes around about a 150 yards. So for me I have got my 8-iron here. Now as I set up with my 8-iron, I am going to aim out there towards a 150 yard marker on the range, but I am also going to pick another marker that’s only a 100 yards away. And if I can then alternate my shots, between a 150 and a 100 and a 150 and a 100, but try to keep the same tempo in my swing the whole time, so I am not necessarily slowing my tempo down to hit the shot, I am keeping the same tempo, I am just shorting my swing. So as I set for the first one, this is going to be my normal tempo, my normal full speed swing. And hit that out that at 150 and I am only going to hit this one a 100. And then the next one is going to be 150 again and then the next one is going to be a 100 again.

Now when you start to appreciate when you get good at doing that exercise of hitting a full shot then a 3 quarter distance or a 2/3rd distance then a full shot again is that you should maintain the same tempo and that’s going to feed all the way down into your wedges and even your chipping, is that your tempo is the same. It’s just the power you hit the golf ball is going to be slightly less because you are in a shorter backswing position. So you are not making fast swing, slow swing, fast swing, slow swing, you are making longer swing, shorter swing, but actually the cadence the tick-tock, tick-tock the tempo you have is the same. And that should apply right throughout the game, whether it’s driver off the tee or wedge to the side of the green, whether it’s first hole or the 18th hole, keep your tempo consistent, use this exercise at the start, middle and end, of all of your practice sessions to maintain that smooth tempo, if you feel that that’s something you struggle with.