"Tour Tempo" by John Novosel

[shortgamewiz]

One thing that some people miss is that the beeps are NOT supposed to be on exactly the 3:1 ratios. People keep trying to equate it to music and test the timing, but they forget that the timing is supposed to included the human reaction time. As described fairly well in the book, Novosel's original attempts at doing this resulted in the wrong timing when the player actually swings the club. The time interval between the first and second beeps takes into account the reaction time for the body to start moving after the brain registers the first beep, and similarly for the time to react after hearing the second beep. And then the third beep should coincide with impact (no extra reaction time built in to the timing). As Novocel repeatedly says in the book, don't anticipate the beeps - react to them. If one does that and uses this method properly, the

I read the book quite carefully. I still think it's a waltz that they are concealing. You've got to feel the beat. Plus you could argue that musicians HAVE to anticipate the beats to an extent, or you're late (yes i am a musician in case you were wondering

. Also by making it more complicated, you are bound to add tension and doubt, just what you don't want in your golf swing. Better off singing the blue danube as has been alluded to, at the best tempo for you. (btw that's a great commercial.. absolutely fabulous)

[zRam]

it is a basic waltz.

a waltz counts 1..2..3..1..2..3..etc.

tour tempo is : start back on 1, start down on 3, hit on 1
so it is 3 counts up, 1 count down to impact. you are traveling to the top of your swing through 2

[PingGKEN]

it is a basic waltz.

I almost replied saying this is incorrect, but I see what you are saying. The CD, though, clearly has the beats going with a 4/4 time signature. If you take what you said and combine it with the CD, you end up with a sort of 3 over 4 counting. Might confuse some people who read in the book where it says start downswing after hearing the 2nd beep (that beep actually being the 3rd beat in a 4/4 measure).

1..2..3..1..2..3..1..2..3 1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4..1

[zRam]

Yes. I think you see what I'm saying. I'm a drummer and I'm used to counting weird time signatures so it seems normal to me to count it as a waltz.

[PingGKEN]

Lol, I'm a drummer too! That's probably why this tour tempo is kind of tough for me to implement. I end up anticipating every beat in an attempt to lock into the tempo. I'm not reacting to the beats. I'm trying to "play drums" with the notes. The club is my drum stick and the ball is the snare drum. (IE: hitting at the ball = not good )

[steve8820]

Yes, ALL the songs, beeps, etc are to a 2:1 ratio in Tour Tempo. It was a real turn off to buy the book, read it, put the mp3 on the player, start listening to them, and within a few seconds realize they were in a 2:1 ratio. It really doesn't take a degree in music to realize that.

Wow, this thread has really went down the tube. Who cares if the beats are 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, or f'ing 500:1. Getting the swing thoughts out and just reacting to the tempo will improve your ballstriking IF and ONLY IF you have decent fundamentals. Judging by your handicap, you are better served going to see a PGA professional.

[shortgamewiz]

I almost replied saying this is incorrect, but I see what you are saying. The CD, though, clearly has the beats going with a 4/4 time signature. If you take what you said and combine it with the CD, you end up with a sort of 3 over 4 counting. Might confuse some people who read in the book where it says start downswing after hearing the 2nd beep (that beep actually being the 3rd beat in a 4/4 measure).

Exactly my point.. then why not just have it in 3 ?????!!!!

I guess that would make it too easy.. then all we'd have to do is hum a waltz ?? !!

[shortgamewiz]

Wow, this thread has really went down the tube. Who cares if the beats are 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, or f'ing 500:1. Getting the swing thoughts out and just reacting to the tempo will improve your ballstriking IF and ONLY IF you have decent fundamentals. Judging by your handicap, you are better served going to see a PGA professional.

"The 10 handicap doth protest too much, methinks." - Shakespeare

[gspjeb]

seems like a bit of controversy with what the count actually is.....as for myself, I have experienced a great deal of improvement from using the tones while practicing. I still have had to tweak parts of my swing but the correct tempo has made a big difference for me.

[The Recreational Golfer]

A marvelous book with one problem. He talks about 3:1 ratios, but the recordings he gives us to work with are based on 2:1 ratios.

Example: 24-8 Pre-Shot recording. There are three tones in this recording. The first tone is when the swing starts, so it does not mark the elapse of any time. The second tone represents the top of the backwing, and the third tone, impact.

If you count out the beats in a musical way, you will find that the ratio established is not 3:1 but 2:1. That is, it is two beats from the first tone to the second, and one beat from the second tone to the third. Half note up, quarter note down.

I don’t know how this squares with his video evidence, but the “music” cannot be argued against. Novosel created a series of 2:1 recordings.

And that’s all right. That’s the correct ratio. You can find mention of this ratio in golf instruction books going back to the 40s. This ratio is not a new discovery. Novosel just make it explicit and gave us a useful vehicle for putting it into our swing.

[snowman0157]

Sorry if I missed any of this reading through the other posts....Does the book/video describe how to determine your best tempo choice? i.e. 24/8, 21/7, or other?

[Keep It Simple]

This book is the real deal. I played several rounds of golf listening to the 24/8 tempo on a portable MP3 player and can sum up the experience with 2 words: Long & Straight. It had the most dramatic effect on my driving. It is amazing how many swing flaws go away when your tempo is good.

Unfortunately as I got used to the tones, I started to anticipate them and my swing could get jerky. This would sometimes lead me to come "over the top" and spin the ball out to the right.

I don't use the tones anymore but incorporated what I learned from them into my current swing. To prevent swinging "over the top" I transition into my downswing slower and smoother and then accelerate through impact. This has been working very well. My tempo feels slower now than 24/8 but the good results are still coming. The Tour Tempo book was worth the low price.

[The Recreational Golfer]

This is how I found my ideal tempo. I have a wind-up metronome which I set at 126, which closely matches 27/9. Count four ticks as you swing. Tick 1 corresponds to the first tone of the Pre-Shot sound track, tick 3 corresponds to the second tone, and tick 4 corresponds to the third tone.

Play the metronome as you hit balls and match your swing to the ticks. All you have to do is watch the ball flight. After having hit a few balls at MM=126, move the setting to 132 and hit more balls. Keep moving the setting to faster speeds until you find the speed at which the balls just take off like a rocket and go dead straight. Believe me, you'll find it. That's YOUR tempo.

The metronome equivalents of the Novosel tempos are 27/9=124.5, 24/8=140, 21/7=160. There's lots of room between each one, so play with the metronome to find YOUR tempo instead of getting locked into one of these three.

Incidentally, the 2:1 (not 3:1) swing rhythm is not Novosel's discovery. I have read about it in instruction books that came out in the 1950s. Most instruction books wave their hand at tempo and end up wasting four pages telling us nothing useful, which means the author doesn't really understand the concept. Novosel is the first person who told us explicitly how to build it into our swing. My hat is off to him.

When my swing goes south during a round, the first thing I check is rhythm and tempo, and that almost always sets things right again.

[golfaddiction]

Let's put it this way - if Charles Barkley read the book, practiced the tones, and kept them in his head during a round, his swing would be fixed in 5 minutes. No Golf Channel mini-series, no "best coach in the world" Hank Haney, and he would never regress. And I'm 100% sure of this.

[timastyle]

Ok, so I haven't read the book or gotten the CDs, but I went out playing today on an executive Par 3 course and shot 3 over on 9 holes. I read probably the first 5 pages of this post and basically did 1.2.3.4 with 3 beginning my downswing. I was spot on with my irons when doing this. Occasionally, I forgot to do the count and ended up having bad shots. I was 1 under through 3. Shot bogey, birdie, birdie, par, par, bogey, dougle, par, and bogey. I believe the tempo really helped. Going to go get the book and CDs...

[bleachercreature45]

I found it just didn't help me much, but I think I need to take a second read and really delve into the material to start getting it.

[steve8820]

I found it just didn't help me much, but I think I need to take a second read and really delve into the material to start getting it.

You need to have fairly solid fundamentals to maximize what the tempo training can do. If you have some good fundamentals in place, here are some recommendations on how to get some good, great, and unbelievable results. DO NOT anticipate the beeps, just react to them. I fall into this trap often. Also your trasitions in response to the beeps has to be smooth. A jerky response to the beeps will destroy the swing.

[Joeyvee]

Eh... I dunno man. This seemed really weird. Let me start at the beginning.

The book. I read it last night. It feels like 90% of the read is him reselling you that tempo is uber important. I know that already. I already bought the book. You dont have to continue to sell it throughout the whole book. That annoyed me a little.
Then the practicing. granted im at work trying to match the tempo in the audio with a thin flourescent light bulb in my hand. I forgot to bring a club to work. So MAYBE it wont feel stupid with a club in my hand and grass in front of me. But I dont know. It feels really weird as of right now and jsut doesnt feel like its going to work. I know im anticipating , but I feel liek theres not enough time between the 3rd beep and the next 1 beep.. I dont know. I guess I need to believe it more and work on it more. My HCP was in the teens years ago and is over 20 now so.

When i started I said this tempo backswing feels slow. Maybe my tempo while practice swinging is ok already. Like everyone my practice swings are always perfect. but I know for a fact when i get in front of that stupid little white sphere one of my first thoughts is LOW and Slow takeaway. I think that just sets my nerves up to get scared when I do reach the top of my swing and start my usual casting.. So I dunno. Its not all i thoguht it was going to be and I came on here to leave this cuz im a little pissed but lets see after I really give it some time if it can help me.

I was fully expecting to turn it on and see how far off my swing was and be able to correct it and be super stoked but I was kinda dead on..

Can anyone tell me how they helped stop anticipating the tones?