Swing tempo is a measure of your backswing and downswing times as a ratio. In other words, if your backswing was three times longer than your downswing, your pace would be 3:1. Note that the total length of your swing doesn’t matter, only the relative times between your backswing and the downswing. For example, a backswing of 3 seconds with a downswing of 1 second would have the same speed ratio as a backswing of 6 seconds with a downswing of 2 seconds. Do you want to perfect your golf swing tempo? In this article, we will learn all about how to slow down golf swing tempo.
How To Slow Down Golf Swing Tempo
A slower, more deliberate golf swing can improve your distance and control your game. Slowing down your golf swing can give you more control and your ability to get more distance in your golf game.
By applying backswing, downswing, and follow-up techniques, you can lower your scores and improve your disability. Using all parts of your body, including your hands, wrists, and arms, can slow your body down to work together to achieve golf and a more controlled shot.
Step 1
Practice slowing down your swing. Go to your backyard and mark a spot on the ground the size of a baseball home plate. Step off from the spot for 40 feet. Take a softball and throw the ball underneath to the “plate” area. Repeat with a high arch and a smooth toss four times. Take a golf club in one hand and take a golf swing as you did with a softball toss. Repeat it two or three times.
Use two hands on the club and repeat the swinging step. This is a drill to help you mentally learn how to slow down your swing.
Step 2
Swing half the speed during the golf round. Add an extra club to your swing to make up for a slower, less powerful shot. By swinging half the speed, you are likely to hit the ball straighter and lower the potential for spinning the ball because of the lower power. Hitting at half speed will also help you locate your ball and keep it in play, saving your shots in your round.
Step 3
Choose the right club for you. Hitting the ball harder doesn’t mean adding distance, but it can cause you to lose balance. Use an extra club, as mentioned in Step 2, to help you add distance without overcompensating your swing. Using an extra club gives you more distance and allows you to slow down your swing.
Step 4
Place your arms correctly. To ensure an accurate swing, place your elbow at the top of your backswing. Your arms are supposed to be positioned like a waiter caring for a drink plate. The “waiter’s arm” should be the same for the left and the right arms.
By doing this, your clubface will be on the right swing plane. Using good mechanics will slow down your pace and focus on a solid golf shot.
How To Slow Down Golf Swing Tempo: Is It Better To Slow Down The Swing Speed Of Golf?
Slower swinging speed can help improve accuracy. Swing speeds vary greatly between golfers, pros, and amateurs alike. On the PGA Tour, history has shown that pros can achieve success with a lightning-fast swing or one that’s relaxed. For amateurs, anxiety about playing the golf shot properly and trying to hit the ball further often causes them to rush the swing or swing too hard, usually resulting in a less than satisfactory shot.
A. The Start Of The Slow Motion
In his book “My Golden Lessons,” the golf legend Jack Nicklaus says that swinging too quickly is one of the major faults of amateur golfers – right from the start of the swing. He recommends that all of your shoulders, arms, hands, and clubheads move back in one piece for the first few feet of your swing. With his swing, he even goes so far as to create a mental image of his hands and arms moving in slow motion to get his swing off to an unhurried start.
B. Swing At 75% Of The Maximum
Top golf instructor Butch Harmon, in the book “Breaking 100, 90, 80,” advises that most golfers will make better contact with the ball through a controlled swing. You don’t have to swing fast. The key to generating power to be released on the downswing is to make a full shoulder turn. To maintain a better rhythm, make a conscious effort to swing at 75% of your maximum speed.
C. The Smooth Swing
Nick Price, who won two PGA Championships and the British Open, recommends in “Breaking 100, 90, 80” that golfers focus on fluid motion-and complete their backswing. They should avoid the tendency of certain clubs, such as short irons, to accelerate their swing. The goal is to do the same smooth swing with every club in the bag.
D. Don’t Take The Downswing
LPGA Hall of Famer Judy Rankin says in “Breaking 100, 90, 80” that you should start your swing with a smooth takeaway, and the key swing you thought you had at the top of the swing is a smooth transition to the downswing. After this smooth transition, your downswing acceleration can be aggressive—but remember to keep your balance.
E. Stay Soft With The Long Irons
In his book “Total Shotmaking,” Fred Couples says that good tempo is an important part of hitting solid long-iron shots. The great long-iron players he’s seen start their backswing slowly, focusing on a smooth tempo throughout the swing.
You don’t need to swing faster to generate power—a mistake that many amateurs make when trying to get more distance from their long irons. You need to take the time to coil the upper body on the backswing to build a powerful and accurate long-iron swing.
F. Slow Down Your Golf Swing To Get More Distance
Do you find yourself swinging your golf club more and more quickly in an attempt to improve your distance? Although it seems intuitive that swinging harder and faster is supposed to improve distance, slowing down your swing is a better strategy. This is because good form contributes as much as speed to distance. If you swing quickly before mastering the proper form, you’re just going to perform poor swings faster.
When you’re straining to hit the ball harder, your arms outpace your body. This prevents you from having good contact with the ball and leads to tense wrists and elbows, which reduces your swing arc and keeps you from driving straight through the ball.
Next time you watch the pros, pay attention to their pace. Many pros have wide, slower-looking swings that still send the ball away. That kind of effortless power comes from years of tempo and form mastery.
How To Slow Down Golf Swing Tempo: Tips For The Right Golf Swing Tempo
1. Practice a slower golf swing without a ball. Visualize and practice the speed you’re using tossing the ball below 12 yards. That’s supposed to give you a rough idea of the right swing tempo.
2. Spend a round of golf experimenting with a slower swing. Aim for about 75% of your maximum speed. Focus on keeping your elbows and wrists loose to achieve a wider arc, and make sure you finish smoothly, keeping your spine vertical. Test your new golf swing with another club. Slower swings should keep your ball going straight and far, which might mean that you need to rethink which club you choose for a shot.
3. Use the same speed and form with each club. This will give you a better sense of the true range of each club. Also, focus more on keeping your swing fluid than hitting the ball. If you shift your focus back to hitting the ball, you may start swinging at 100 percent again. That said, don’t swing too easily—75 percent is still supposed to translate into a hard, square shot.
4. Consistency is the key to the correct tempo. Don’t rush the downswing. A full arc should be formed at approximately the same speed. This increases your chances of hitting the ball with your club’s sweet spot and reduces your chance of spinning.
Practice, above all. Don’t be discouraged if your first few slow swings are embarrassing. Any change takes time, but it’s worth investing in the results if you stick to it.
How To Slow Down Golf Swing Tempo: It’s The Only Moment That Matters
For all the work that’s put into your golf swing, your club’s only touching the ball for a fraction of a second during each swing. The impact lasts only a blink of an eye, as the club’s face slams into the back of the ball and sends it to the distance.
Despite this fact, most golfers are trying to make their whole swing fast, not just a moment of impact. This is a mistake, unfortunately. There can be only one quickest point in your swing, and if you’re trying to swing quickly, that moment isn’t going to have an impact.
The whole goal of your golf swing should be to maximize your swing speed at the exact moment when the club is in contact with the ball. You’re not going to be rewarded in any way for having a fast swinging speed at the top, for example, so what’s the point of swinging fast before you need to? Everything you do with your technique should be designed to allow you to accumulate speed up to the moment of truth at the bottom of the swing.
How To Slow Down Golf Swing Tempo: The Pros Are Right
If there’s one particular thing that’s frustrating watching golf on TV, professional golfers can tour the ball at incredible distances with little effort. You’ve certainly seen it for yourself – a pro golfer is making a swing that looks effortless, and yet the ball blows into the sky and doesn’t come down for more than 300 yards.
How are they doing it? Is that the equipment? What’s the secret? If there is one, the ‘secret’ is that pro golfers don’t waste swinging speeds as amateurs do. The average amateur player hits their maximum swing speed well before the club ever reaches the ball, which means that the clubhead is slowing down when the impact occurs. On the other hand, the typical pro is the master of reaching the top speed of swing at the perfect moment.
Final Words
It sounds almost too simple to be true, but think about it if you’re out there swinging hard like a maniac, you’re never going to be perfectly balanced when you finish. If you’re thinking about swinging to a balanced finish, you’re going to have to be in control over the entire swing to get there. Your swing will have no choice but to slow down and thus be at a better pace.
