I am lucky these days that I get to play a lot of golf with my brother. We are both obsessed with getting better at the game. One recurring thing that we say to each other, when things are not going well on the golf course or we are about to hit a big shot is “Team Tempo.” This is our way of reminding each other that tempo, and balance for that matter are important fundamental aspects of our golf swings. When our tempo and balance are good we hit good shots, at least serviceable ones. When things start to go sideways often if we just focus on maintaining a good tempo and balance our performance improves.
In his book, Swing Secrets and Lies: 6 Timeless Lessons, Michael Hebron says “It is not possible to reach your potential, or even make much progress, without improving your timing (or tempo) and balance.” That is a pretty big statement for theProcess. Because our goal is to improve, play better, and get more out of our game we must stay focused on tempo and balance.
Think about it, when you are playing well, or in contention at a golf tournament and a bad shot pops up. One that is so uncharacteristic of your performances thus far, it is often the result of a change in tempo or balance. It is not that suddenly you lost your skill level.
Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriot, authors of the book Be a Player and founders of Vission54 also place major emphasis on what they call Balance, Tempo, and Tension (BTT) skills. They believe that BTT is the gateway through which we can access our best performance states.
In my description of my swing one of the key elements that I noted was the speed of the take away and backswing. When it becomes too fast then the swing gets disconnected and the body must “find a way” to hit the ball. But if we focus on maintaining good tempo and balance then much of our perceived faults will self correct. Again we look to Hebron, which he says “Unnecessary and unorthodox movements in the golf swing are often compensations for a swing that has moved off center and out of balance. Consequently the only way to stop unwanted actions is to improve balance. Many swing movements golfers would like to improve or eliminate, can only be helped by improving balancing.”
It is also important to note that it is impossible to have good balance if your tempo is also off. Therefore, improving balance must also involve improving tempo. Let’s look at some ways we can improve these areas of our game and add to our process.
- Engage a better sense of the ground by swinging barefoot or on a towel.
- Hitting shots with your feet together or on one leg.
- Ramp up and down your tempo. Learn what it feels like to swing the club for 20% to 100% of your tempo.
- Similarly, ramp up and down tension in your grip, arms, shoulders and body.
- Practice swinging with your eyes closed. This takes away one of our major senses for balance, our eyesight. This forces our awareness into our body to maintain balance.
Try to add some of these to your next practice session. Be aware of them during your next round and note the results. My guess is that your good shots and bad shot will both become better.
The Process 