Practicing Tempo, Rhythm and Timing: The Key To Playing Better Golf!

Main features:

• Improve your long and short game with a smooth rhythm and maintain proper balance throughout your golf swing

• Master putting distance control

• Enjoy the simple mode where the tempo is expressed as a text (too slow, slow, relax, animated, lively, fast, very fast, explosive and too fast)

• Access to 7 preset tempos corresponding to the majority of touring pros

• Export audio sequences from your tempo to a WAV file to be played by your iPod mini for example

Featured in the following:

 Golf Magazine n°288

Teaching pros agree that consistent tempo is an important aspect of the golf swing and a slow or erratic tempo which produces errant golf shots is something golfers of all levels should avoid.

Professional golfers regularly work their tempo, rhythm and timing, so why not you? 

Mobile Golf Tempo training aid allows golfers to establish their best tempo, rhythm and timing in order to add length to their shots and achieve more consistency throughout their game! 

By simply reacting to visual, audial or vibrational signals delivered through your iPhone or Android device, you can begin your backswing, start your downswing, and impact the golf ball at precisely the correct tempo and timing. It’s just that simple!

There is even an optional additional tone for golfers who utilize a swing trigger (any kind of move that takes place just before golfers start their swing) in their game.

The vibrating mode is very convenient not to disturb the other golfers at the driving range. If you find that the vibration of your phone is not strong enough or is not practical, you can purchase Peterson BodyBeat Pulse Solo™. This rechargeable active clip-on device will transform all the audial signals from  the Mobile Golf Tempo App into vibration to silently convey the right tempo. Just connect the standard 3.5 mm stereo plug and feel the tempo! Please refer to our blog for more information.

Tempo refers to the speed of the swing (backswing and downswing until impact).

Rhythm refers to the speed change during the various phases of the golf swing movement. The goal is to swing with grace. So avoid that your swing becomes a series of movements. Get the feeling smooth, not jerky. All the parts of your swing must work together in harmony.

Timing is independent of rhythm and tempo; it refers to the succession of body and club movements, and that should happen in a proper sequence in order to deliver consistent results: hands → arms → shoulders/trunk → hips → legs → feet → feet → hips → shoulders/trunk → arms → hands.  

The "Swing Ratio" refers to the ratio of the measured time in seconds it takes to make the backswing, to the measured time in seconds it takes to make the downswing until impact.

Unfortunately, everyone does not use these terms correctly.

A swing ratio of 3:1 means the backswing is three times as long as the downswing. This swing ratio can vary across club selection or shot type. For example, many touring pros use a swing ratio of 3:1 for their driver with a ratio of 2.1:1 when making their putts.

Mobile Golf Tempo training app is an effective and easy way for the tempo of the pros to take root in your swing. Any and all-level golfers can sync perfect timing in their swing. 

It seems that the first reference to the concept of tempo with the relationship in time between the backswing and the downswing appeared in the book “The Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf” by Joe Dante with Len Elliot, 1962.

The following is an excerpt from the book:

“…We mentioned earlier that the rhythm in the swing of a good player is noticed because of the measured cadence in the upward and downward movement of the club. In his swing there appears to be— and there is— a definite relationship in time between his backswing and his downswing. It is measured in two parts, from the time the club leaves the ball until it stops at the top of the backswing, and from the time it starts to move again until it hits the ball. The club does have to stop at the top, of course, for the instant required to reverse its direction, whether we feel it or realize it or we don't. No object, not even a golf club, can be traveling in opposite directions at once. These two segments of the swing can be accurately timed by a motion-picture camera, by the simple process of counting the number of pictures the camera takes during each segment. Such a count shows that the backswing of a good player takes almost exactly twice as long as the downswing. This two-to-one ratio is the rhythm of the swing. The total time or tempo of the swing will vary with different good players, but the ratio or rhythm will not. Nor will it vary from club to club. The ratio will be the same for the 8 iron as it is for the driver. The tempo of the swing will not change, either, for the individual player. This is why the good player looks so good when he swings at the ball. There seems to be a definite, unhurried, relationship between the two parts of his swing. We sense it if we see him hit the ball only once, and it becomes more and more marked the oftener we see him swing.( He has established a definite rhythm and he sticks to it. In fact, one of the things he does when he goes to the practice tee before a round is re-establish his rhythm, so that he hits a 5 iron, for instance, at exactly the same speed, with exactly the same effort, with exactly the same tempo, each time he swings it, whether the shot is simple or difficult…”

In the summer of 2000, John Novosel (“Tour Tempo: Golf's Last Secret Finally Revealed”, 2004 ) discovered a 3-to-1 ratio (noted as follows: 3.0:1) in the golf swings of the touring pro: they take 3 times as long to complete the backswing compared to the time it takes for the downswing. In doing so, John Novosel analyzed the swings of many tour players using video at 30 frames per second (1 frame = 1/30 sec). For example, he counted 21 frames for Ben Hogan’s backswing, and 7 frames for his downswing. He named this swing 21/7® which corresponds to a backswing of 0.70 sec (21 divided by 30), and a downswing of 0.23 sec (7 divided by 30). 

For long game, John Novosel found that the majority of Tour Pros have the following tempos:

18/6®: backswing = 0.6 sec, downswing = 0.200 sec and tempo = 0.800 sec (EXPLOSIVE)

21/7®: backswing = 0.7 sec, downswing = 0.233 sec and tempo = 0.933 sec (VERY FAST)

24/8®: backswing = 0.8 sec, downswing = 0.266 sec and tempo = 1.067 sec (FAST)

27/9®: backswing = 0.9 sec, downswing = 0.300 sec and tempo = 1.200 sec (ANIMATED)

And serious amateurs should not swing with a tempo slower than

30/10: backswing = 1 sec and downswing = 0.333 sec and tempo = 1.333 sec (RELAX)

Casual golfers will find very difficult to match any of the Tour Pro tempos but they can start learning with following slower tempos while leveraging benefits of the 3:1 swing ratio (as well as anybody while drilling on fundamentals):

30/10: backswing = 1.0 sec and downswing = 0.333 sec and tempo = 1.333 sec (RELAX)

33/11: backswing = 1.1 sec and downswing = 0.367 sec and tempo = 1.467 sec (SLOW)

Unfortunately, analyzing videos with a frame rate as slow as 30 fps invariably induces errors (blur...) and John Novosel allows a 1 frame differential.

In 2005, Dean McConnell from DXP Tech LLC has been using 60 fps video and has shown that many tour players have mostly a swing ratio between 2.25:1 and 3.25:1. In addition, for a given player, the swing ratio can vary depending on the club used (if the length of the backswing varies), but the downswing time always remains constant. 

In November 2006, Robert D. Grober and Jacek Cholewicki wrote a study entitled “Towards a Biomechanical Understanding of Tempo in the Golf Swing.” In an attempt to more thoroughly characterize tempo, they have performed measurements on a wide variety of golfers, from tour professionals to the average weekend golfer, using electronics embedded in the shaft of the golf club. They show that the average Pro ratio is centered at 3.0:1 and the relative insensitivity of tempo to the length of their swing or the type of club (they don’t mention but we can assume that it is only for long game). 

If you want to measure yourself your friends’ tempo, you can read this interesting article: “Measuring the Timing of the Golf Swing From Video.”

Today it is widely accepted that the perfect theoretical swing ratio for long game is 3:1, even though some Tour Pros can play very well with another ratio as well as amateur golfers. 

Mobile Golf Tempo has decided to let golfers choose the way that works best for them. They can change the swing ratio as well as varying it depending on the club and the type of shot (length of the backswing) even if it is not easy to memorize a swing ratio for every club. 

But our advice is first to try the perfect theoretical swing ratio (3:1 for long game) and allow sufficient time to practice. If you are not at ease, try another ratio. 

If you are unable to accelerate your backswing to be in accordance with the slow tempo (1.46 sec) and a swing ratio of 3:1, we suggest you practice with a swing ratio of 4:1 (still working with slow tempo) and gradually reduce it until you reach 3:1. Then you will be able to speed up your swing to have a Tour Pro tempo (animated or faster); your balls can only go further!

To be consistent you need to respect, among other things, YOUR swing ratio, preferably close to 3:1 for long game and 2.1:1 for short game. We suggest memorizing only those 2 swing ratios.

The majority of casual golfers swing much too slowly, we recommend you to swing with a tempo at least equal to 1.46 sec (corresponding to a slow tempo in the Mobile Golf Tempo Training App).

Mobile Golf Tempo Training app will emit audial or vibrational signals to tell you when you have to begin the backswing, start the downswing, and impact the golf ball.

The golfer cannot react instantly to those signals; there is always a delay. This delay is what scientists call human reaction time.

The human reaction time is the time that elapses between a stimulus (in our case an audial or vibrational signal) and the response to it.

Numerous factors can affect reaction time: age, sex (males do have a faster reaction time than females), pain, the training (the more you use Mobile Golf Tempo, the more reaction time decrease), fatigue, distraction, left- or right-handed, alcohol and other substances altering the concentration…

Typical reaction time is 0.15 to 0.30 seconds

But when you can predict the stimulus, the reaction time can decrease to 0.1 second.

The International Athletics Association Federations considers that an athlete has anticipated the gun when the reaction time is less than 0.1 seconds.

Coming back to the Mobile Golf Tempo Training app, this is why you can adjust the human’s reaction time in its setup screen.

When you select the option to allow an audial countdown before every swing, your brain will anticipate the tone and your reaction time will certainly be around 0.1 seconds.

In the opposite case, when you select the option to allow a random pause between your swings, and without countdown, the reaction time will be approximately 0.2 seconds or 0.25 seconds if you are a woman.

Therefore, Mobile Golf Tempo will add your reaction time before the first tone (takeaway) and move the second tone forward by the same reaction time to signal the beginning of the downswing. The third tone (the impact with the golf ball) stayed put since it is a timing target.

Thanks to Mobile Golf Tempo training app you succeed to ingrain a Tour Pro tempo, but how to check whether it changes during a friendly golf game?

You can either use the GolfSense app with a sensor attached to your glove or use the Suunto G6 watch that measures the movement of the wrist. The problem with the latter is that the swing ratio is expressed in percent and named Rhythm ( it indicates the duration of the downswing compared to the tempo). Mobile Golf tempo can convert it and you will notice that a 3:1 swing ratio is translated to 25%, 4:1 is translated to 20% and 2.1:1 is translated to 32.3%.

So, two things you need to check after a bad shot: the tempo and the swing ratio.

You will know, with the tempo value whether you need to speed up or slow down your swing speed in order to reach your tempo. Assuming your downswing is correct, the swing ratio will indicate whether you need to speed up or slow down your backswing in order to reach your swing ratio.

* Simple and advanced mode

* Possibility to export .wav files containing audio sequences from your tempo to be played by your iPhone mini for example

* The only tempo app fully configurable that allows slow tempo (useful for senior players) as well as extremely fast tempo like the faster pros on tour, and all in between

* One of the only tempo apps that allows you to break rules and experiment all you want: swing ratio can be changed from 1.00:1 to 4.25:1

* Opportunity to have different tempos for each club (including the putter)

* Tempo is expressed in different ways, one of which is textual (too slow, slow, relax, animated, lively, fast, very fast, explosive and too fast)

* 7 preset tempos corresponding to the majority of touring pros

* Ability to adjust the human reaction time to sound. So, you only have to react to the tones

* Ability to take into account the time of a possible swing trigger (ritual)

* Animation of the swing (driver, iron, full swing wedge, ¾ swing wedge, ½ swing wedge, ¼ swing wedges and putter), right-handed and left-handed. The movement of the golfer reflects your settings (e.g. the swing trigger and the human reaction time to sound)

* Possibility to select a random time between the sound sequences

* Train your tempo memory

* Vibrate mode

* Compatible with the Suunto G6 watch

* Learning mode

* Languages: French, English and Spanish

* Offline documentation with technical advice.

Check back to our Blog page often to read topics about everything from How to Build a Great Golf Swing using Mobile Golf Tempo Training App on your Mobile Device.  You can follow us on twitter to receive notification when a new entry is made.

Golf Tempo training aids have been validated by several independent scientific studies:

• Departments of Physics and Biomechanics at Yale University 
• Oklahoma State University