Need tips to maintain tempo

[inthecup]

When I have my tempo I get a good late release. When I get fast all he'll breaks loose. Anyone have tips off drills to maintain good tempo?

[Pancho Lefty]

I've had this problem lately, myself. I may not be the best to be giving advice, but I did make a mental adjustment, which worked for me.

I was hooking everything really really bad on a few holes until my buddy told my my front shoulder was flying out, like I was swinging a baseball bat. From there on out, I focused on staying down on the ball and driving through it. I visualized hitting the ball into an imaginary left-centerfield gap on a baseball field (because I'm left handed). It resulted in some beautiful draws.

[Hammer 4]

I found that by counting during my swing, I can adjust my tempo accordingly, i.e. pretty slow, from address to impact would be, 1001 to 1004. Even a count of 1001 to 1002 works pretty well, might give that a try.

[dennyjones]

A local golf instructor suggested that the tempo should be like a waltz dance.   1 and 2.    I personally think of a slow take away with a slight pause at the top before starting the down swing.

[ansapa87]

Here's a drill I got from a Sean Foley video and it's been doing wonders for me. I too (not too be boastful or anything) think that I have a really great, smooth swing with great lag and release when I feel as if my swing is in slo-mo. I mean really, it actually feels that slow in my mind. At other times, typically after I've been whacking a lot of balls continuously for some time, my swing tends to speed up.

Try placing five balls on a good lie at the range. Hit the first one at 10% power, the next at 30%, then 50%, 70% then 90% (apparently no tour pro ever swings 100% all out and typically swing full shots at 90% power). The KEY to this drill is NOT to shorten the backswing on all of these shots. It would be very easy to hit each ball with progressively more power by adjusting the length of your backswing and follow through accordingly, but by having the same swing length and follow-through for all five shots, you will be forced to try to hit weaker (yet still solid) shots by slowing down your tempo.

Hope this helps! It's sure helped me~

[inthecup]

I'll try that today.

[14ledo81]

Here's a drill I got from a Sean Foley video and it's been doing wonders for me. I too (not too be boastful or anything) think that I have a really great, smooth swing with great lag and release when I feel as if my swing is in slo-mo. I mean really, it actually feels that slow in my mind. At other times, typically after I've been whacking a lot of balls continuously for some time, my swing tends to speed up.  Try placing five balls on a good lie at the range. Hit the first one at 10% power, the next at 30%, then 50%, 70% then 90% (apparently no tour pro ever swings 100% all out and typically swing full shots at 90% power). The KEY to this drill is NOT to shorten the backswing on all of these shots. It would be very easy to hit each ball with progressively more power by adjusting the length of your backswing and follow through accordingly, but by having the same swing length and follow-through for all five shots, you will be forced to try to hit weaker (yet still solid) shots by slowing down your tempo. Hope this helps! It's sure helped me~

I would add to this: if you have trouble when you move from 50% speed to 70%, keep hitting at 50%.

[boogielicious]

A local golf instructor suggested that the tempo should be like a waltz dance.   1 and 2.    I personally think of a slow take away with a slight pause at the top before starting the down swing.

Tom Watson, in Lessons of a Lifetime , suggested the word Edelweiss.  You all know the song from The Sound of Music .  It is a waltz.

I have used the Tour Tempo device in practice.  I still have it but have not used it in a couple years.

http://www.tourtempo.com

[Patch]

Think/say "Dollar Bills" like that Tin Cup guy did. "Dollar" on the up swing, and "Bills" on the down swing into impact. Now it is possible to say/think those two words too fast, or too slow, which is where practice helps.

[awmgolfer]

I have a tendency to rush my swing when I get tired and being a musician tempo is very engrained so I use a 3 count. 1 initiates the start of the back swing, 2 is on it's way to the top, and 3 is the start of the downswing. I have a certain speed I do it at and if I find myself slipping into that fast swing I take a couple practice swings before I start my pre-shot routine doing the count and usually that syncs it back up for me.

[Strandly]

I don't worry too much about the downswing, I just make sure my backswing is nice and slow because that sets the tempo for everything else.