# Tempo Made Easy



## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Here's one I always try to keep in mind, starting with warm up on the range because it sets the tone for the whole round.

Simple as it might sound, all you have to do is count 1-2, 3. (I was educated in Kentucky and I can count to 3, so no excuses out there!)

1 and 2 are the beats of the backswing, remember it's supposed to be slow with a hesitation at the top, right? And then 3 is the forward swing. If you prefer, make 3 the downswing and count to 4 on the follow through. The point is, it's most important to maintain the 1-2 aspect... 3 tends to come a bit more naturally.

Repeat this tempo to yourself a few times as you approach the range, again on the tee, as you approach each shot... and soon the tempo will imprint itself on you and you'll be swinging smoother.


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## 300Yards (Jan 23, 2007)

An oldie, but a goodie! One of my favorite tempo tips!


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

This is just how I teach, but regarding the top of the backswing, I teach with no hesitation at the top. If you hesitate, your muscles relax, and you lose potential power. Think of it as pulling a rubber band back. If you pull it back then let it go without hesitation, it will go further than it will if you pull it back to the same spot and hesitate before you let it go. The muscles work the same way.

The same thing is true with jumping. If you jump up once, then land and jump again without hesitating, you will jump higher. This is why basketball players sometimes use a jump stop before skying to the rim.

Just wanted to put in my two cents.


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Your point about the hesitation at the top is well taken, but none the less, instruction often needs to overstate a point to make an impression on the student and I think maybe that's why we always hear it said to hesitate at the top. While I do know one person who literally stops and holds his position, and competes rather successfully on the minor league senior tours, otherwise I would suggest the hesitation be mental. I think we might all be well served if we thought of the hesitation not as a stop, but as a point at which we find a good position at the top and start the slow beginning of our downswing.


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## 300Yards (Jan 23, 2007)

cbwheeler said:


> The same thing is true with jumping. If you jump up once, then land and jump again without hesitating, you will jump higher. This is why basketball players sometimes use a jump stop before skying to the rim.
> 
> Just wanted to put in my two cents.


So that's how they jump so high! I always thought they had trick knees or something!:laugh:


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

Heh, it's just making more efficent use of the power you store going back. If you hesitate and swing better, by all means do it. It's simply a question of what you're comfortable with.


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

thanks for the information ill have to try this at the range tomorrow.


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

The thing I don't like about counting is that it seems to me like it promotes a hit impulse, not a swing through type of golf swing. I see an incredible amount of amatuers who make smooth practice swings, then when they get up to the ball, they try to hit it, not swing through it. It's one of the top things I have to remind my students of.

Swing through the ball, not at it.


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## golfermatt91 (Jul 14, 2006)

thats a good tip and I think its just preference really... some work for some people some work for others... I dont really do either I just kind of think smooth and rithmic


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