Fine Tune Your Tempo

Tempo Defined
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Tempo is the time it takes to complete a full swing. For the most part,it's geared to a golfer's personality. If you're deliberate, your tempois likely to be somewhat slower than a person who's more fast-paced.And vice versa. When you're playing well, your tempo is pretty muchthe same on every full shot. But when your tempo goes, your game goesas well. That's why you play well one day and poorly the next. It would be great if you could play at your best tempo every day. But that's not realistic. Some days you're more energized. On those days you may have a faster swing tempo than your ideal tempo. Other days,it's just the opposite. You feel more lethargic or weaker. On thosedays you may have a slower swing tempo than your ideal. If you'regoing to lower your golf handicap, learn to adjust to your swing tempoon days where you don't have your ideal swing tempo.Even if tempo were a popular topic, developing an appreciation forit isn't easy. It takes hard work. Below are two drills that will helpyou determine and learn to appreciate swing tempo. These drill not onlyfamiliarize you with different swing tempos, they also teach you to coordinate the movement of your body and club to produce solid contactat any tempo.

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Four Ball Drill
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Tee up four balls in a row.
Address the one closest to you and hit at25 percent of your standard swing speed.
Now move to the next ball. Hit this one at 50 percent of your normal swing speed.
Hit the third ball at 75 percent speed.
Hit the last ball at full speed.
Perform the drill a few times. Focus on the feel of the different speeds. You goal is to not slow down or speed up your swing in order to hityour ball longer or straighter.

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Follow-Through Drill
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Address the ball. Raise the club head off the ground slightly.
Move it forward to a position a foot or so into the follow-through, and start swinging.
Guide the club head back over the ball, complete your backswing,and swing through the ball all in one motion.
Repeat this exercise several times.
Continue for a while. Eventually, you'll develop a feel for your swing tempo.Tempo is a critical, but much overlooked fundamental. If you're going to develop a swing that helps you cut strokes from you golf handicap,you must develop a feel for you natural swing speed. You must also develop a feel for when you're not swinging the club at your ideal swing speed,and learn how to adjust on days you swinging at your natural swing tempo. The two drills described above will help you fine-tune your tempo.