LAUNCH CODE® Tempo Training
TEMPO TRAINING AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Just like our fingerprints, our golf swings are all different. You only have to look at the greatest golfers of all time to understand what I mean. However, there is one thing all great golfers have in common and it's one of those things the golf instruction world doesn't talk about nearly enough. I'm talking about TEMPO.
By analyzing the best golfers in the world, a common characteristic with respect to tempo and the full swing has been found to exist. That characteristic is a ratio that revolves around the time it takes to go from the start of the golf swing to the top and from the top of the backswing back down to impact. That ratio is 3 to 1. To make this a little easier to understand, let's take the average time it takes to make a golf swing, one second. The 3 to 1 ratio would mean it takes .75 seconds for the backswing and .25 seconds from the top of the backswing to impact.
Now, of course not every golf swing takes one second and not every great player swings at exactly a 3 to 1 ratio (it could be slightly skewed either way) but the ratio still holds very true for the best players.
So why is this important to you? As with any training program, you need more than one tool at your disposable. Sometimes stepping back from the technical aspects of the golf swing and diving into the rhythmic and more natural aspects of swinging a club is exactly what a golfer needs. Most of you have technical instruction at your fingertips at all times, whether it's the internet or an actual coach. While important, technical training will only get you so far and SHOULD absolutely be relegated to the range and not the course. Transferring training to the course is were the LAUNCH CODE® Tempo Training app excels!
When you train to a specific tempo, it becomes second nature. This happens because we are removing the "instruction" from the swing and utilizing an external focus. This allows our bodies to do what they do best, ORGANIZE themselves. Focusing on the tones allows you to be more connected to actually playing the game and less connected to positions in the golf swing while on the course. Tempo training instills confidence, as opposed to constantly tinkering with the mechanics of the swing, which we all know can be a disaster to our confidence on the course.
Tempo training works by creating a more efficient golf swing. This efficiency leads to more consistent ball striking, which is a result of making contact on the face of the club more consistently. A more consistent strike will lead to more consistent direction and yardages and allow you to shoot lower scores. On top of consistency, becoming more efficient usually leads to an increase in swing speed and distance gains. You can even use tempo training to increase your swing speed should you already have a solid swing tempo.
THE #1 TEMPO MYTH
One of the biggest myths about the golf swing is the concept of having a "slow" backswing. The thought behind this is that a slow backswing is controlled and a faster backswing is not. While this makes sense, this line of thinking couldn't be farther from the truth. Slow does not equal control.
Here is a little experiment I've heard some golf coaches using with there students to prove how slow and controlled is not so hot. Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Now, setup a timer for 60 seconds. During this 60 seconds I want you to draw a line across the piece of paper. You must use all 60 seconds to draw the line. How'd it turn out? Was it easy? Okay, now turn the paper over and draw the line again. This time I want you to do it in about a second. I'm betting the faster one was easier and looks a lot more like a line!
This experiment and its results hold true for your golf swing as well. Our bodies don't move efficiently when we are moving slow and telling them all the positions to get into. It's okay for practice, but when you try to control your swing and run it through all the positions during play, it becomes a weird dance with no rhythm and we all know how it turns out!
HOW TO USE THE TRAINING NOTES
Using the notes to train is very simple. The first thing you'll need to do is locate the tempo closest to your current tempo. To do this, simply turn on the different training notes and start swinging to the notes. You'll know fairly quickly which ones are too slow or fast and which one seems like a good fit. Once you've figured out which ratio most closely matches your current tempo, you're ready to train.
The first note tells you when to start the swing, the second note tells you when you should hit the top of your swing and the third note represents impact. Train while trying to match each note to your own positions in your golf swing and repeat. It really is that easy. Training can be done while hitting balls or without hitting balls. However, at some point your going to need to start hitting some balls while training to transfer this new skill to your game.
The best way to improve is while hitting balls. Here's a great drill. Select a club, take three practice swings matching the tempo and then step in and hit a ball while swinging to the tempo. Then, select a new club and repeat. It's important to not only mix up hitting versus not hitting balls as well as what club you are using to train with.
Most importantly, stick with it. Any changes to a golf swing take a while to take form and become permanent. Stay with the training, don't over train and you WILL see a difference!
