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Is tempo important to you?

I wonder if we amateurs have our tempos mixed up? I've read stuff from Tour Tempo, etc who say that most pros have some form of 3:1 backswing to downswing. I wonder if we often think "slow it down" means slow the backswing down, and we then feel a need to eventually speed the downswing up, leading to more inconsistency.


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When tempo is good, I hit good shots.

When I get quick, just about anything bad can and will happen.
 
JollyGrnBucket said:
I wonder if we amateurs have our tempos mixed up? I've read stuff from Tour Tempo, etc who say that most pros have some form of 3:1 backswing to downswing. I wonder if we often think "slow it down" means slow the backswing down, and we then feel a need to eventually speed the downswing up, leading to more inconsistency.
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I used to be like this. When I first started, my downswing could be called "violent". It wasn't until I started taking lessons that I was told to shorten my swing and be smooth with it. My tempo improved when I purchased my new driver. The shaft is a 59g regular flex and borders on the whippy side of the spectrum. As long as my backswing and downswing are smooth, things are fine. The minute I start getting all herky jerky or try to speed things up, my shot gets wonky. As my swing improves, I'll probably need to stiffen the shaft up a bit, but for now I think it's a perfect fit for me.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Tempo is king. 80% is what I swing. The proper tempo is makes all the difference
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I like this comment. I see so many people that want to hit their PW 150 yards and take a big rip at it. It will come up short and left and they will say, "man I just hit that PW 145 yard." It always befuddles me when someone is more happy with how far a ball went with a certain club than the result. I will put one on the green from 150 and someone will ask, what club did you use? A lot of time I use a 3/4 8 with a nice little low draw. Checks up nicely.
 
yoopergolfer said:
I like this comment. I see so many people that want to hit their PW 150 yards and take a big rip at it. It will come up short and left and they will say, "man I just hit that PW 145 yard." It always befuddles me when someone is more happy with how far a ball went with a certain club than the result. I will put one on the green from 150 and someone will ask, what club did you use? A lot of time I use a 3/4 8 with a nice little low draw. Checks up nicely.
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I have a 150 club, it's called my 9i. Why would anyone impart unneeded spin to try and stretch a PW. I've been at 80% for a long time and my distances are solid. Some say distance is king. I like to say Tempo is king. Without it distance isn't happening
 
Tadashi70 said:
I have a 150 club, it's called my 9i. Why would anyone impart unneeded spin to try and stretch a PW. I've been at 80% for a long time and my distances are solid. Some say distance is king. I like to say Tempo is king. Without it distance isn't happening
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This is why I love watching Zach Johnson play. Don't need to be country long to play well on a long golf course.
 
Tempo is everything for me. I rarely go above 80% on a swing and since I've started doing that I've seen nothing but good scores. I've got a reverse-lag take-away that really allows me to control my tempo and get set at the top. Usually the easier I swing, the better that shot is. Anytime I really try to get after it my timing is off and I generally end up with a less than desirable result.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I have a 150 club, it's called my 9i. Why would anyone impart unneeded spin to try and stretch a PW. I've been at 80% for a long time and my distances are solid. Some say distance is king. I like to say Tempo is king. Without it distance isn't happening
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Freddie, the 80% thing is such a lightbulb moment for me. Many times this past weekend I took one more club and put that type of swing and the results didn't lie. Just need to get it to transfer to the tee all the time.
 
Jman said:
Freddie, the 80% thing is such a lightbulb moment for me. Many times this past weekend I took one more club and put that type of swing and the results didn't lie. Just need to get it to transfer to the tee all the time.
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You'll notice a lot more consistency for sure. I made this change last year and was in absolute shock.
 
Tempo is the most important thing in my swing, my backswing especially. If my tempo is off, so is my game!
 
Tempo is crucial for me. When I look back at bad shots it always started with tempo & getting too quick..... This is my main swing thought. In my head I think "1.....2". When I do this the shot is better and goes further.
 
definitely. if i start swinging too quickly, i could have a few decent balls, but the majority will be no good. have to keep it like a smoothy- slow and fluid. and smooth, of course.
 
yes. Is there anything more important than tempo?
 
staticline said:
Tempo and balance might be the 2 most important characteristics of a consistent swing.
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I am quickly learning this after having picked up golf a year and a half ago. I wish I had understood how important it was when I first started.
 
After reading this post yesterday really worked on tempo in my round and hit more solid shots than ever. Still some bad hits but a good round for me, 86.
 
The difference in good tempo and bad tempo for me in a 145 yard 8i on an 80% swing and a 120 yard 8i on a 100% swing. I always start off well sending my drives either down the middle or left side, by 10-11 I've started getting too quick and everything ends up short and wayyyyyy right. I hate it, I know what's happening, yet I can never seem to correct it on the course.


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1pdc said:
I am quickly learning this after having picked up golf a year and a half ago. I wish I had understood how important it was when I first started.
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Somewhat of a tangent. But, still related to tempo:

When Nicklaus was a kid, his coach told him "Swing as hard as you can. We'll straighten you out later". Accuracy is easier to teach than speed & power.
 
Tempo is something I am working on now. If I don't mentally think tempo before I swing the odds are good I will screw up. Grip, tempo, let er rip.

Correction: Lately I have not even been thinking about tempo. I have no idea why, but when I start my swing I only think about hitting the ball. I don't think about where my hips or arms or anything is at, and I definitely do not think about tempo.

Then again, I totally suck.
 
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Doug you have great tempo, wish it would have rubbed off on me saturday

staticline said:
Tempo and balance might be the 2 most important characteristics of a consistent swing.
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I wish I would not have read that lol.

staticline said:
Somewhat of a tangent. But, still related to tempo:

When Nicklaus was a kid, his coach told him "Swing as hard as you can. We'll straighten you out later". Accuracy is easier to teach than speed & power.
Click to expand...
 
Just returning to the game, I'm finding Tempo is one of the most imortant components of my swing. I find if I don't maintain even energy throughout my round, if I get tired, dehydrated (or for example one round a buddy gave me a 5hr energy drink) and I'm all over the place, literally.

None of these issues impacted, my alignment, grip, or even course management, but did change my tempo.
 
staticline said:
When Nicklaus was a kid, his coach told him "Swing as hard as you can. We'll straighten you out later". Accuracy is easier to teach than speed & power.
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I like that!
 
tempo is hugely important to me. Sadly I haven't figured out if I need to have a tick-tock motion, or a slooow baaacckkkkk...and...swing tempo, or something in between.
 
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