Okay Surgites, it's time again for the Doctor's House Call. I brought in Doc Griffin today to discuss the role of tempo in your golf swing. I handed off an email I got from Dick Anderwald, who was given some advice on the importance and structure of tempo in a golf swing. He wanted to know whether or not I agreed with the advice. I thought it would be a great topic for Doc to showcase his knowledge!
Here's the email Dick passed on to us:
"Golf tempo refers to your overall swing speed, the total amount of time it takes to create your swing from beginning to end. Some players have a relatively fast tempo, while others have a slower tempo. A golfers optimum tempo is often related to his or her personality and yours should be to. Golfers get into trouble when they either slow down or speed up their natural tempo. Most often, the tendency is to speed up with the longer clubs to gain extra yards, especially with the driver. When your tempo starts varying from club to club, the timing required to hit consistent golf shots is destroyed. For every club in the bag, the tempo or time it takes to make the swing from start to finish should be the same. For example, it should take the same amount of time to make a swing with a pitching wedge as it does with a 7 iron, or a driver. What varies is the speed of the clubhead. Because a driver is longer than the pitching wedge, the clubhead moves faster throughout the swing. But, if it takes two seconds to swing a pitching wedge, it should take the same two seconds to swing the driver."
Do you agree? Would you give the same advice to PPGS students? Many thanks and keep up the good work. I look forward to each daily tip.
Dick A.
So, does it make sense to swing a pitching wedge at the same tempo as a driver? First of all, let's talk more about the word "tempo." It actually refers to a measurement of time, not the speed of your swing. It's the time it takes for your club to swing back to the time that you hit the golf ball. But, the advice above is absolutely spot on correct. Your tempo should not vary, regardless of what club you are swinging. Tempo stays constant!
Golfers will have a specific tempo that is ideal for them. It's almost like your personality, which was also mentioned above. Doc and I have very different personalities, and our swings are somewhat of a mirror of those personalities, as Doc explains. When you try to change your tempo, you will start getting into trouble.
Doc has a musical background, so he likes to use rhythm to describe how a golfer manages and delivers the tempo of their swing. One of the things pro golfers practice daily is tempo. Timing also needs to be addressed when discussing tempo and rhythm. Altering your tempo can alter your rhythm, which will ultimately alter your timing.
So, how do you find what your tempo should be? It's simple. Just take your favorite club and go out and hit a bunch of golf balls. What is your tempo for this club? Whatever it is, that's what you need to match when swinging every other club in your bag.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Loved it
Excellent Lynn. Wow really right on advice. Take our favorite club and discover our best tempo and take that to all other clubs. Cindy and I work on tempo all the time. When ever we get too quick bad things happen. You made some great points about tempo, rhythm and timing that I will be paying more attention to over the next few days. I am at work but in in between clients and had a few minutes to listen to your presentation. Today is our Friday (I work 40 hours from Saturday thru Tuesday) so tomorrow is the time to "Go Play!!" And play we shall, likely at least two of the three days. We are blessed with some really great weather right now a golfing we will go.
Cindy and I are hoping to make it out to South Carolina this year so who knows, might see you while in that neck of the woods.
Loved it too~!
Robert,
Sorry to hear that you are working ; - ) Here it is Saturday and is called Waitangi Day, a National Holiday.
I too loved today's video. Doc is a favourite of mine. Loved his comparison between himself and Don in swing speed,tempo etc hahaha. I am definitely a Don swinger by temperament hahaha.
For my swing sessions on the 'backyard driving range' I have been using three clubs for about 10days or so. PW/7iron and Driver. Start with the PW and then using the same swing and cadence, move to the 7iron and finally the driver. Any speeding up, back to the PW or 7iron again.
It is working in practice with me. Let's see tomorrow if it does so in reality. Good luck with your 'Go Play'!! session. DH
Ti ming and Tim po
Happy Waitangi Day laddy!
Can't complain about working. Supplies my golf funds! Oh and pays the bills.
Actually Cindy and I have a great schedule for folks that still need to work. She's a nurse and also has 3-4 days off a week. She works 12 hour shifts while I work 10's. As you can tell I am not always busy and they allow us to use our personal computers in the break room. Today only 3 clients (some days 8 or 9) so lots of on line time and we also get the Golf Channel at work. So don't feel too bad for me. I do work all week ends and have mid-week days off. That's also a plus because there are less golfers to wait for on the tee during the week. With so many out of work or lacking income we are very blessed and I am ever thankful. Doesn't hurt that I like my job and am good at it.
Go play we shall. Got a 1:20 tee time tomorrow at Silverstone and on Thursday 12:45 at Muni (Las Vegas Golf Club).
http://silverstonegolf.com/course/course-flyover/
enjoy a flyover :)
http://lasvegasgc.com/sites/courses/layout9.asp?id=1131&page=68984
"Go Play!"
Go Play!
Robert,
Enjoyed browsing the courses you sent on Silverstone and Las Vegas Muni, very nice indeed.
You are both hard working folk and deserve your renumeration and time on the hallowed turf. Agreed also on the less golfers on the tee etc. We miss the crowds by our early starts, the time when you can here the birds singing and others snoring hahaha! Tomorrow WILL be a go. Big fella upstairs, come on, play ball! It will have dried out and hopefully we can do justice to the course.
Ti-Ming and Te-mpo with the 3 clubs seems to be paying dividends in practice : - ] One addition to today's practice was delaying the head coming up too soon. Only a millisecond but a noticeable difference in completion of the FUS! Another surprise was the Driver at address!!! On a hunch I stepped to the side and rear of the driver looking down the ball to target line. HELLLLOOOO! The driver was being addressed off the toe, yet at address it looked as though it was lined up right in the middle of the sweet spot!!! Won't make that mistake tomorrow if I can avoid it. It might explain a late couple of weak shots to the right! Interesting.
Doc is a Gem and we are lucky to have his wise words to guide us through the difficult terminology with his down to earth CLEAR explanations. Go Play tomorrow and hit 'em long and straight. DH
Golf adventures
We played 18 at Silverstone today. Had one of my best starts ever and was two under par after 5 holes. looked like my first 36 for 9 was more than possible. Started par, par, birdie, birdie, par. Five holes and only 4 putts. First hole chipped it close and 1 putt from 3 feet. Second hole off edge of green chipped it close and dropped the putt. Third hole (a 172 yard par 3) hit the 5 iron to 12 feet pin high made the putt. Forth hole, par 4, was just off the green in two and chipped in from about 40 feet. Fifth was a par 5. Hit third just off the green chipped to 4 feet and dropped the par putt. Scary good. 5 holes and -2. Then I woke up and shot +5 over the last 4 holes for 39. The most painful was #9 when I only needed a par to shoot a 37. It was a double that included a three putt.
Seems I need to get comfortable with going low. Did my best to not think about it but when it looked like even par was possible I started letting it get in my head. Was a nice stretch and now I know I can do it.
Bit disappointed after the let down. Made one more birdie on the back nine (a 25 foot putt) on the way to a less exciting 43 for total of 82. I am doing a lot of things well and with three birds and lots of excellent shots a long the way I know I am getting close. Need to eliminate the high numbers. Had three doubles and two 3 putts. The other thing I noticed was the difficulty I had with two shots in the 40-50 yard range over traps that required more precision. As the weather improves and I can practice more I will spend more time working on those short ones. Mean while I will work on leaving myself with more shots in the 80-100 yard range which are my best.
Playing muni tomorrow. Every day is a new chance.
"Doc has a musical background"
Why of course!!! We already knew that.
TEF....LOL
One thing I've noticed in my own game about tempo that I'm not sure applies to other people (because I've never heard anyone else mention it) is that I play much better if I have my normal tempo even on short shots around the green. Those are the ones that are easiest for me to get off of tempo on because the back swing is so short, and the stakes are so high.
BTW this is a drill I posted on another blog and one like it a couple of years ago, although very unconventional (what's new for me?) it works too well for me to not post it again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b91vvCZXrqY
He owns the company store
Steve
Good Lord, don't call him, he can't go, cause Doc owns the company store.
Dick
Musical
Yep, I should have known that was coming! HA HA :) Thanks for the kind words also guys.
Rhythm
Doc,
Saw something that is indirectly related to our topic on the Golf Channel yesterday. Brandt Snedeker takes exactly 13 seconds with all shots and clubs whether a wedge, iron, fairway metal,driver or even the putter- 13 seconds. thought that was cool. So that's his personal shot rhythm routine.
Perhaps we can learn something from that too. We will likely play better if we have a repeating rhythm when it comes to our pace of thought and movement with each shot.
Rythm
Excellent point. If you can maintain your same "shot" rhythm and routine, things will work well also.
"Replicate That Tempo"
Found my happy thought for the day.
Thanks, Doc.
Many Thanks, Doc
Doc, much better job of distinguishing between the concepts of tempo and speed than the original commentary. I'll tell my financial advisor to stick to the markets and not try to be a golf pro, too!
Dick Anderwald
Thanks
Now that's funny. Thanks for the kind words Dick! The advice was good and I hope the financial advice is as sound and profitable.
Hypo Man
Had a lesson with Doc last November while he was in Oz. He was setting up a ball for me to hit and no sooner had he mooved away from the ball I had hit it, he screamed out in laughter "Mr Hypo Man", that describes my tempo in a nutshell, lol. Played with my accountant yesterday and on a par5, we both had two good hits to be 70M & 80m from the pin on a raised green. I played a
GW with the idea of being short for an easy chip and par and he played a PW which went well over the green and was furious. I asked him what the problem was and he responded that it was a lousy shot, I asked him what his PW normally plays and he said 100M, I said but you were only 70 out and responded saying he only played a half shot, I then told him half shots are for pros, why not play a club that suits the correct distance, Moral of the story is only play special shots which you have practised and understand the tempo and distance for that club.
Timing / Rhythm
Good morning all -
I've been using a little golf metronome that attaches to my hat and have had really good success using it to hit balls on the range. It took awhile but I established a rhythm that works well for me. I've also been fanatical about my pre-shot routine. Two practice swings after establishing the target line and let 'er fly. That way I don't start thinking too much.
Keep it vertical
Bruce
Timing and Rhythm
Bruce, I had a momentary vision of Tin Cup in all his contraptions trying to get his swing back...lol.
When my tempo is right the swing is almost effortless and my timing is on. It tends to go haywire in pressure situations. If I get out of my normal pre-shot routine and start thinking too much you can bet the result will not be good.
I get my best results when I stick with my routine and just PLAY rather than THINK. I agree totally with Doc that we each have to find a tempo that matches our personality. I'm much more a ballad kinda guy rather than hard rock, although I do throw in a little Meat Loaf occasionally on the way to the course...lol. Just had a visual of Doc humming Sixteen Tons while he's setting up over his shot. ;0))
Rhythm & Timing
I totally forgot about all the gadgets. If I tried all that stuff at once like he did, I'd fall right square on my @$$ ;-). I can safely say that I only rely on three gadgets: 1. Swingtech - for working on "keeping it vertica;" 2. Swingright for release; and 3. the metronome. Thank goodness I can't use them all at the same time or I'd be in trouble.
Once I'm on the course, though, all I'm thinking of is technique and timing.
indoor glolf swing machines
many of these cannot be used in the average home due the ceiling height is not high enough.What's your take on these which are always being advertised on the golf channel.They are expensive and being in Michigan where it's cold until May there are'nt enough indoor ranges that incorporate these devices.I've been cooped up enough watching golf laying on the couch.would love to head your way for instructions but can't afford it plane fares,hotels or GAS COSTS
Playing indoor golf
Karl
We carry the Optishot at Dick's sporting goods. They sell for $300. You would need a net system to use with it. It can be hooked up to a TV, a monitor, or projected on the rear wall.
They work great, and you can play a lot of great courses.
Dick
Why is it . . . . ?
Doc,
Why is it that every time I have a really crappy day on the course, you and Surge come up with the topic I needed to think about AFTER?
I watched your drive on #14 I believe at the Pro-Am here, and I was absolutely amazed at how smooth and effortless that swing appeared and how far the ball went in a perfect direction.
I played yesterday, and while it was not the worst day I ever had, I struggled all day with consistency and proper contact. Thinking back over the shots I made and didn't make, I realize my problem yesterday was covered by this video. It was sunny, 65º, and mentally I felt on top of the world, I was going to WIN.
I also remember the distinct feeling of nothing feeling properly connected because my tempo and timing (sequence of events) were totally off. Too hard, too fast, too jumpy, trying to kill everything.
Today's practice and round will definitely be geared towards the points you bring up.
Thank you.
rhythm
I know I'm lagging behind a few days but I guess it's because I'm syncopated,
but otherwise another great "house-call", Doc, I enjoyed it immensely.
I hope everyone in the nation is well, we're muddling along down here in my neck of the woods. Josh is keeping me busy, you know the older they get kinda thing.Still working on my back & over all health issues. Miss the daily banter with all of you but I continue to check and read the blog on a semi-regular basis.
Like Don says, "Tees & greens!"