Tempo!

We’ve briefly gone over this in a previous post, but we wanted to shed a light on tempo by itself as this is such an important part of golf, especially as you are just starting out (and because I just recently played very poorly and a huge part of it was that I was swinging way too hard).

When you know what shot you need, and have the distance figured out, the key is to trust your club. Do not think “oh I’m 250 yards away so I’m going to swing as hard as I can with my 3 wood and let the big dog eat!”. The chances that you hit the ball well enough to not only travel those 250 yards, but to also keep the ball on the exact line you need is very slim. That isn’t to say do not use the “big dog” club, it just means there is no need to step over the ball like you’re Mike Trout and try to demolish that thing into space. The best case scenario if you do that is what? An extra 10-15 yards? The smart play is to make good contact, mind your tempo, and connect the face of the club with the ball as best you can to give yourself a great shot.\

I’ll be the first to admit it, I’m very guilty of not paying attention to my tempo, usually it’s not until hole 4 or 5 in a round that I realize I’m swinging too hard and need to calm down. As soon as I do it’s amazing how things can turn around. I might lose a couple of yards on the shot but I’m putting myself in great situations – avoiding drops and hazards, the confidence growing as I hit the ball straight time and time again.\

For every bit of extra speed you give your swing, you then have to adjust everything that comes with that, so it makes it very difficult to consistently hit great shots when you are swinging for the fences every time. Form is much more important in golf than hitting the ball further than your friends. Go watch golf on TV, the pros are not huge, muscle giants, most are average size but their form is so great they get the distance they need. Obviously, its fun to try and hit bombs, but keep in mind if you are shanking shot after shot, you might need to adjust your tempo and settle back down. Once you have improved your game more, then you can revisit your swing speed again and make adjustments if you desire. So remember…tempo tempo tempo!