In Review: Tour Tempo

This is one of those rare moments when PutterZone.com features something not specifically related to putting, but I can’t resist the urge to rave about Tour Tempo, a book and CD that can literally change (and improve) your golf game with nothing more than an adjustment in swing tempo. It’s been around for a few years, but it’s new to me, so I figure it might be new to you, too.

To make a long story short, the author discovered and proved that the swing of most PGA Tour players transpires at a 3:1 ratio. In other words, it takes exactly three times as long from the start of the backswing to the top of the backswing as it does from the start of the downswing to the striking of the ball. If such a backswing sounds slow (three times as long!), well, it’s not. In fact, it’s much faster than the average golfer’s backswing, according to the author. A ratio of 4:1 is not uncommon. In fact, many golfers have been encouraged to “go slow” on their backswings. Yet the author demonstrates that even someone like Ernie “Big Easy” Els, whose swing looks long and languid, is actually rather speedy.

There are two factors to the Tour Tempo theory: The ratio of elapsed time (ie: 3:1) and the amount of elapsed time, which ranges from a rather quick .93 seconds to 1.20 seconds. The author breaks it down into three tempos: 21/7 (.93 seconds), 24/8 (1.06 seconds) and 27/9 (1.20 seconds). The included CD features several tracks for each tempo, with tones that sound at each of the three points of the swing (start, top and impact).

I was an anomaly. My backswing was actually too fast, whereas the author says that most backswings are too slow. Maybe I need to switch to decaffeinated coffee. All I know is that by simply shifting my tempo to 3:1 at an elapsed time of 24/8 or 1.06 seconds, I am hitting the ball longer and straighter with more consistency. No obsessing over arm placement, hip rotation, shoulder position, etc. In fact, many swing flaws are corrected by the natural laws of proper tempo.

My conclusion is that Tour Tempo is a breakthrough discovery in swing dynamics that shouldn’t be ignored by anyone hoping to improve their game.

Click to purchase: Tour Tempo