Timing and tempo how to keep it steady with all clubs.

[Mike Boatright]

 

[Rainmaker]

That's a cool video - you were asking about keeping your head steady . . . .

I kept waiting for the video announcer to say something like:

"Notice how Fred is actually made out of rubber.  His father was Gumby.". 

[Mike Boatright]

Yup he was younger here I love watching this video 115 mph speed with no effort I bet.

[Dave325]

Great video. To at least get that tempo and timing would be an achievement. I have a tendency to rush to the ball. I now force myself to count 1-2-3-4 from the takeaway, and don't start the downswing before 3.

[saevel25]

Tempo is purely individualistic and there is not correlation between ball striking and slow tempo versus fast tempo.

The key more is getting a good kinematic sequence with the body to produce around a 3 to 1 backswing to downswing tempo.

How quickly the overall swing is depends on the golfer. You have Fred Couples who had this smooth languid swing versus someone like Nick Price who had a very quick swing.

[Patch]

When I do use a tempo/timing crutch, I use a phrase I took from the movie "Tin Cup". That being "dollar bills". "Dollar" going to the top, and "bills" on the way down.  

[Big Lex]

I had the video series of the movie shorts Bobby Jones made in the 1930s. That was the most beautiful swing. It's interesting, because in many ways, Jones had the 5SK swing. At the time that I got those videos, it was very popular for teachers to say that you should NOT straighten your right knee in the backswing....it HAD to remain flexed. Jones let his knee swing back and straighten, where it "formed an excellent brace" as he wrote once. All the other things are there, too....weight forward....you can see his hips slide forward on film taken from his back side. It's gorgeous.

Regarding tempo, something I tried last season that worked very well was that before taking the shot, in my mind I created a "feel" image of the swing. I would imagine what the swing was going to feel like, including the feel of various body parts, and the speed and tempo of the swing. I found I generally would not "imagine" a craptastic tempo swing....I would imagine good tempo and speed. This made it easier to achieve this in the real swing. YMMV

Here it is. Jones' backswing is a little flatter probably than would be taught today, but there is so much 5SK in this swing. Not everything Jones says in the video would be agreed with by TST teachers probably, but certainly a lot of what he says is still said today. On the original video series, they ended it with about 10 minutes of Jones's swing, in slow motion, with this pleasing music playing in the background. It was so cool to watch and then go out and try to emulate that smoothness.

[Big Lex]

All that said.....tempo practice is easy today if you have about $150. Just by the Swingtalk or one of the other swing analysis dongles that you attach to a club. They give you tempo readings, and you can just practice it.

 

[Mike Boatright]

14 hours ago, Big Lex said:

I had the video series of the movie shorts Bobby Jones made in the 1930s. That was the most beautiful swing. It's interesting, because in many ways, Jones had the 5SK swing. At the time that I got those videos, it was very popular for teachers to say that you should NOT straighten your right knee in the backswing....it HAD to remain flexed. Jones let his knee swing back and straighten, where it "formed an excellent brace" as he wrote once. All the other things are there, too....weight forward....you can see his hips slide forward on film taken from his back side. It's gorgeous.

Regarding tempo, something I tried last season that worked very well was that before taking the shot, in my mind I created a "feel" image of the swing. I would imagine what the swing was going to feel like, including the feel of various body parts, and the speed and tempo of the swing. I found I generally would not "imagine" a craptastic tempo swing....I would imagine good tempo and speed. This made it easier to achieve this in the real swing. YMMV

Here it is. Jones' backswing is a little flatter probably than would be taught today, but there is so much 5SK in this swing. Not everything Jones says in the video would be agreed with by TST teachers probably, but certainly a lot of what he says is still said today. On the original video series, they ended it with about 10 minutes of Jones's swing, in slow motion, with this pleasing music playing in the background. It was so cool to watch and then go out and try to emulate that smoothness.

Oh interesting I love how your adding Bobby Jones as a description to fundamentals being taught today.