tempo myth

why do people say ernie els or fred couples have a slow tempo!.I hate this idea,its so wrong and misleads so many people.Watched ernie and woods at the british open ,the two swings look so different and yet the same or very near the same tempo. Now the truth

els 1.07
woods 1.07
payne stewart 1.30
david toms 1.17
vijay 1.00
couples 1.07
sneed 1.07
wie 1.20
norman 1.10
bobby jones 1.20
these are the facts ! yet the swings are so different .how can they call ernie the big easy yet he swings at the same tempo as woods .Lets put the end to the tempo myth

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I dont profess to be versed enough to answer your question, but I think you may be looking at swing speed rather than tempo. Swing speed is a seperate issue to swing tempo, i.e. speed being relative to the club head at impact, tempo being the consistent same body movement and timing of these body moves. swing speed is also relevant to the speed at which yhe hands impact with the ball. Hope this helps

hi mickey
where you get your times i have been looking to find the swing times of players. think your right too robert, is it not rhythm and tempo and swing speed that all make up the swing.
thanks bill

I think the Tour Tempo book proved that Els had a backswing and overall 3:1 tempo - as quick as most other pro's

He looks smooth because his swing has so few moving parts- but its actually an optical illusion

Hi,

I have read and observed that the best players have a swing tempo of 3 to 1, their back swing is three times slower than their downswing. You will find this ratio applies to Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples etc.

This does not relate to their swing speeds though, this is a completely different factor. Ernie is around 6 Ft 4 ins tall, he does not need to swing his arms as fast as someone 5 Ft 9 ins to reach the same clubhead speed, the greater radius from his shoulder to the clubhead allows a slower swing to reach the same velocity. It would be like the 5' 9" golfer having a club 7 inches longer.

Regards
Brian

hi pnearn
in the tour tempo book it says the have the same ratio ie 3/1 but that could be a 30/10 or a 24/8 and still be a 3/1.
bill

Optical illusion! i think thats the best way to describe some of the great golf swings some look fast others slow like ernie els.I agree ernie is a tall guy with a greater radius in his swing ,which i think it would take longer in time to complete ,but it dosent he has the same tempo[time]as most.I have to be honest i got ernies tempo time wrong its 1.10 secs not 1.07 like woods.Ernie 0.80 back 0.30 down perfect 3to 1.Tigers got a problem if you go by tour tempo ,tiger 0.80 back 0.27 down,hes a fraction out,thats why he only came first at the british open .As for changing your tempo of the swing I was always told no no and no never do it!!GUESS who changed his tempo and won a major title?

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Re: Changing Tempo.
If something works then don't fix it, if it don't work then fix it!

Regards
Brian

hi brian
i totally agree .But why did tiger change his swing and tempo?He now swings at a faster tempo than he did in 2002 ,old swing 0.90 back 0.30 down.

IMO, Tiger’s goal is to reach his full potential and not rest on his laurels or even his future laurels. IMO, as good as he was, he was not satisfied with his old swing and felt it was limiting his potential.

I think it’s a great golf philosophy and a great life philosophy.

hi kbp
why tiger changed his swing was because others were out driving him and he wanted to be even longer, him and butch fell out about it, butch harmon wanted him to stay the same and keep ball on fairway, but tiger said if he was in the rough he had a wedge out to the green, thats why the parted company and tiger got a new trainer.
bill

Tiger, in his own words:

http://www.golfdigest.com/features/i...igerdiaz1.html

"What emerged was the Tiger creed: I improve, therefore I am.

"I felt like I could get better," he says. "People thought it was asinine for me to change my swing after I won the Masters by 12 shots. ... Why would you want to change that? Well, I thought I could become better. "If I play my best, I'm pretty tough to beat. I'd like to play my best more frequently, and that's the whole idea. That's why you make changes. I thought I could become more consistent and play at a higher level more often. ... I've always taken risks to try to become a better golfer, and that's one of the things that has gotten me this far."

Later, in the first of three one-on-one interviews, Woods was more succinct. "Only two players have ever truly owned their swings: Moe Norman and Ben Hogan. I want to own mine. That's where the satisfaction comes from.""

hi kbp
moe norman and ben hogan and also lee trevino. none of the 3 used anyone but there self's to work out any swing changes the needed as the knew there swings better than any one else, you imaging someone trying trying to get trevino to swing on a diffrent plane.
bill

hi bill
if you would like to find a list of the pros tempo times type in [suunto g6 teaching guide] on google site,hope you can find it.

Mikey how the hell do you know tiger changed his tempo?

You his best friend?