Hi Paul,
Great tip, although I know through the years of tips, I have seen it before,but this time it opened a door. After years of swinging with my arms, it is not easy to stop. I have improved yet still have some tightness and hitting mentality. Had to go hit balls after this tip, and not all shots were great, however a few were super. I ca only say when my arms and wrists are loose, the trajectory of the ball is so different than when I try to hit the ball. At a height where the poorly hit ball reaches, that is it….it doesn’t go any higher. But when loose wrists and powerless arms hit the ball it reaches that height and then seems to explode with more power up and out. I tried to explain that as best I could, the feeling was the best! Still a lot of practice swings to go, results are slowly showing,
Thanks, Mike
Just keep hitting easy shots. By doing so you are reducing the arm strength. Once you are used to the new “not hitting” sensation you then speed it up with the legs ONLY. If you have never hit that many easy shots in you life then swinging hard is what you will go back to. Try hitting the great majority of shots easy with way less effort and get used to it. Then it won’t feel so strange when you keep doing it.
I developed tennis elbow in my right arm by using a weighted club and using my arms to power the swing. In order to avoid having pain, I started powering the swing with my lower body and turned off my arms completely. Of course nobody wants to get tennis elbow in order to feel powerless arms and there are ways to learn it without getting injured but I suppose that instead of feeling bummed that I got tennis elbow, I’m thankful I did because it forced me to swing properly. It was a wake up call. I could just see my elbow saying “Ok dude, if you aren’t going to trust having powerless arms, then I’m going to give you pain.”
NEVER, EVER, EVER swing a weighted club. I hate those things. They have already proven it slows down your swing speed. Plus, when you swing something heavy your clubs feel light which is the opposite as to how they should feel. If your arms are turned off, you clubs would feel heavy.
I get you,as long as you say the body must lead the powerless arms .
However moving the fastest possible the lower body -turning the hips as fast as you CAN -is paramount to increse clubhead speed ,as demonstrated by TIGER WOODS .this is the primary source of Power ,and everything follows From that .You also have to have the impression you are ” flinging ” the club at the ball .
Is my thinking incorrect ?
The legs and hips are going to turn your upper body. When you compare Tiger to Ernie Els Ernie has more mass. His arms are attached farther from the center point and he has more body mass therefore he will appear to be turning slower than a more slender Tiger. Plus, can you not see tiger wailing at it with his arms? I sure can. This is why he hits it off the planet. He needs to slow down and take the arms out of it. If so (along with a few other changes) he would be unbeatable. I have said this for years.
As an example of speed think of a windmill. The center point looks like it is barely moving yet the end of the blades are moving 150mph.
Hi Paul, Great tip. I have a problem with this big time. I am 6ft tall and kind of muscular so you can imagine I try to kill it with my hands, and arms.
I believe what you say about the body, which will only work to generate speed if the wrists are loose.
My question is, well more of a comment. So you’re saying that your left upper arm (righthanded golfer) has to be connected to your body, so that the body can move it. Is this correct?
Yes, the arm is connected to your body. It does ride up the pec muscle a little as you near the top but even as it does there is still pressure under the armpit. I just don’t like this arm too jammed in creating too flat of a swing.
Thanks Paul, that helps me to understand the powerless arm a little better, but it hard giving up the control of the arms because of the human nature you talk about.
I’ve struggled with tempo for a LONG time. I have found something that helped me tremendously in this area. I’m not affiliated nor have any vested interest in this company other than being a customer as I am here. I do think some of you students may find this very interesting as they all like the slow methodical swing like Els et.al.
I know there are quite a few on the PGA and feeder tours that have used and swear by this. I have it and have found my tempo that helps me not “over do it”. The book is a good read and the app is wonderful to have on the range or use during a practice round. If this is not within the guidelines of this site by posting this, please accept my apology and please delete this post.
As I am and engineer by trade I am very analytical in my approach to improving. John Novosel is also very analytical and found this by happenstance working with Jan Stephenson one day. I hope this can be of some help and isn’t meant to detract from what you are teaching, but is meant to complement the powerless arms by allowing some assistance in maintaining good tempo while one relaxes and turns the body.
I think I tried TT when it first came out. Not sure what my number are and nor do I care. I want my body rotation to dictate the pace of my swing. Turn the arms off and your body rotation would be making the club swing. Your body moves slowly in life so you should be able to re-create this same tempo every time.
TT would good for people taking it back way to fast and with fast swings but as I said, all you have to do it turn the arms off. I am not against people trying this product.
This is my second year with golf. and i now playing on 20.8 hcp. i found you videos on you tube , and thats where i have learnd
all usefull golf from . but im not shure if im doing it right . is it possible to send in a video of a regular iron swing to you? and you can tel me what you se i shuld be working on. it ofthen goes right and realy high.
BTW i found your tips very helpfull. sorry for the wrong typing im from Norway 😛
Glad you like the tips. I appreciate the feedback.
This is an additional service we offer. I simply do not have time to do this myself so my assistant does it. As with anything it takes time to do this so we have to charge for it. I don’t know why more people don’t utilize this service. I would have killed for something like this when I was learning the swing.
You can find out more about Video Golf Lessons here:
Another solid, makes sense, tip. I think of the many years different instructors tried to improve my tempo with no avail by trying to slow down my arm swing. Thanks Paul
Am having trouble slowing down but when I do I get that effortless swing & better shots so this makes sense to me. I do push the ball right with the driver which is a problem, but i can live with that & play it.
Louis
If you are not used to it you will not be good at it. If you have seen good shots with an effortless swing why would you want to swing hard at it? All you have to do is get used to it.
You are pushing driver. This would tell me you are driving the hips too hard.
I really like seeing your swing especially with different clubs back to back, much like you do in this video tip. I would like to request that you post a video of you swinging pw, 7, 5, hybrid, 3w, driver face on and dtl views, maybe with and without analysis lines and in normal and slow motion. Just a suggestion, as i learn alot from mental imagery.
Also it seems lately I’ll either have my irons working well or my longer clubs like driver 3w, hybrids. Rare to have both working at the same time, any ideas why that would be as I am really working on having the same swing with all clubs.
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24 Responses to “How to Get Consistent Swing Tempo”
May 3, 2013
mikeplummerHi Paul,
Great tip, although I know through the years of tips, I have seen it before,but this time it opened a door. After years of swinging with my arms, it is not easy to stop. I have improved yet still have some tightness and hitting mentality. Had to go hit balls after this tip, and not all shots were great, however a few were super. I ca only say when my arms and wrists are loose, the trajectory of the ball is so different than when I try to hit the ball. At a height where the poorly hit ball reaches, that is it….it doesn’t go any higher. But when loose wrists and powerless arms hit the ball it reaches that height and then seems to explode with more power up and out. I tried to explain that as best I could, the feeling was the best! Still a lot of practice swings to go, results are slowly showing,
Thanks, Mike
May 4, 2013
Paul WilsonMike,
Just keep hitting easy shots. By doing so you are reducing the arm strength. Once you are used to the new “not hitting” sensation you then speed it up with the legs ONLY. If you have never hit that many easy shots in you life then swinging hard is what you will go back to. Try hitting the great majority of shots easy with way less effort and get used to it. Then it won’t feel so strange when you keep doing it.
July 8, 2017
DavidArbelaezI developed tennis elbow in my right arm by using a weighted club and using my arms to power the swing. In order to avoid having pain, I started powering the swing with my lower body and turned off my arms completely. Of course nobody wants to get tennis elbow in order to feel powerless arms and there are ways to learn it without getting injured but I suppose that instead of feeling bummed that I got tennis elbow, I’m thankful I did because it forced me to swing properly. It was a wake up call. I could just see my elbow saying “Ok dude, if you aren’t going to trust having powerless arms, then I’m going to give you pain.”
July 10, 2017
Paul WilsonDavid,
NEVER, EVER, EVER swing a weighted club. I hate those things. They have already proven it slows down your swing speed. Plus, when you swing something heavy your clubs feel light which is the opposite as to how they should feel. If your arms are turned off, you clubs would feel heavy.
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_vR8U_KrhY (go to about halfway for golf)
So into the future be really careful and keep the arms turned off.
July 10, 2017
DavidArbelaezHi Paul. Yes you can bet that I will never do that again.
Thanks
David
May 3, 2013
ThomasLoftusThanks Paul. Makes sense. What drills do you recommend to make this permanent?
Tim
May 4, 2013
Paul WilsonThomas,
Here are a few you can be doing to get the arms out of the swing. Then focus on using the body to power it.:
DRILL: This Is The Best Drill You Should Be Doing Right Now: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-three-quarter-distance/
DRILL: Slow Backswing: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-slow-backswing
DRILL: Flip Club: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-flip-club
Drill: Let the Club Fall Down: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-let-club-fall/
Drill: How to Feel Powerless Arms: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-feel-powerless-arms/
May 5, 2013
RaymondCHASTELI get you,as long as you say the body must lead the powerless arms .
However moving the fastest possible the lower body -turning the hips as fast as you CAN -is paramount to increse clubhead speed ,as demonstrated by TIGER WOODS .this is the primary source of Power ,and everything follows From that .You also have to have the impression you are ” flinging ” the club at the ball .
Is my thinking incorrect ?
May 6, 2013
Paul WilsonRaymond,
The legs and hips are going to turn your upper body. When you compare Tiger to Ernie Els Ernie has more mass. His arms are attached farther from the center point and he has more body mass therefore he will appear to be turning slower than a more slender Tiger. Plus, can you not see tiger wailing at it with his arms? I sure can. This is why he hits it off the planet. He needs to slow down and take the arms out of it. If so (along with a few other changes) he would be unbeatable. I have said this for years.
As an example of speed think of a windmill. The center point looks like it is barely moving yet the end of the blades are moving 150mph.
May 22, 2013
GregoryHallHi Paul, Great tip. I have a problem with this big time. I am 6ft tall and kind of muscular so you can imagine I try to kill it with my hands, and arms.
I believe what you say about the body, which will only work to generate speed if the wrists are loose.
My question is, well more of a comment. So you’re saying that your left upper arm (righthanded golfer) has to be connected to your body, so that the body can move it. Is this correct?
May 22, 2013
Paul WilsonGregory,
Yes, the arm is connected to your body. It does ride up the pec muscle a little as you near the top but even as it does there is still pressure under the armpit. I just don’t like this arm too jammed in creating too flat of a swing.
May 23, 2013
GregoryHallThanks Paul, that helps me to understand the powerless arm a little better, but it hard giving up the control of the arms because of the human nature you talk about.
May 24, 2013
Paul WilsonGregory,
Overcoming human nature is huge. Just see it coming before you do it then you can avoid it.
June 25, 2013
DanKiewiczPaul,
I’ve struggled with tempo for a LONG time. I have found something that helped me tremendously in this area. I’m not affiliated nor have any vested interest in this company other than being a customer as I am here. I do think some of you students may find this very interesting as they all like the slow methodical swing like Els et.al.
I know there are quite a few on the PGA and feeder tours that have used and swear by this. I have it and have found my tempo that helps me not “over do it”. The book is a good read and the app is wonderful to have on the range or use during a practice round. If this is not within the guidelines of this site by posting this, please accept my apology and please delete this post.
You can see Tour Tempo here: http://www.tourtempo.com/
As I am and engineer by trade I am very analytical in my approach to improving. John Novosel is also very analytical and found this by happenstance working with Jan Stephenson one day. I hope this can be of some help and isn’t meant to detract from what you are teaching, but is meant to complement the powerless arms by allowing some assistance in maintaining good tempo while one relaxes and turns the body.
I hope this is helpful.
Dan …
June 26, 2013
Paul WilsonDan,
I think I tried TT when it first came out. Not sure what my number are and nor do I care. I want my body rotation to dictate the pace of my swing. Turn the arms off and your body rotation would be making the club swing. Your body moves slowly in life so you should be able to re-create this same tempo every time.
TT would good for people taking it back way to fast and with fast swings but as I said, all you have to do it turn the arms off. I am not against people trying this product.
August 13, 2013
christiansyversenHi Paul
This is my second year with golf. and i now playing on 20.8 hcp. i found you videos on you tube , and thats where i have learnd
all usefull golf from . but im not shure if im doing it right . is it possible to send in a video of a regular iron swing to you? and you can tel me what you se i shuld be working on. it ofthen goes right and realy high.
BTW i found your tips very helpfull. sorry for the wrong typing im from Norway 😛
Christian
August 14, 2013
Paul WilsonChristian,
Glad you like the tips. I appreciate the feedback.
This is an additional service we offer. I simply do not have time to do this myself so my assistant does it. As with anything it takes time to do this so we have to charge for it. I don’t know why more people don’t utilize this service. I would have killed for something like this when I was learning the swing.
You can find out more about Video Golf Lessons here:
http://paulwilsongolf.com/las-vegas-golf-lessons/video-golf-lessons.htm
October 18, 2014
JamesChapleauAnother solid, makes sense, tip. I think of the many years different instructors tried to improve my tempo with no avail by trying to slow down my arm swing. Thanks Paul
October 19, 2014
Paul WilsonJames,
Glad you like it. Thanks.
If you turn your arms off your body would tell them how fast to swing. If your body moves slowly so would your arms.
October 18, 2014
LouisBondAm having trouble slowing down but when I do I get that effortless swing & better shots so this makes sense to me. I do push the ball right with the driver which is a problem, but i can live with that & play it.
Louis
October 19, 2014
Paul WilsonLouis,
If you are not used to it you will not be good at it. If you have seen good shots with an effortless swing why would you want to swing hard at it? All you have to do is get used to it.
You are pushing driver. This would tell me you are driving the hips too hard.
Watch:
Release Progression: https://ignitiongolf.com/release-progression/
How Much To Use Your Legs: https://ignitiongolf.com/downswing-how-much-legs
October 18, 2014
DrewHi Paul,
I really like seeing your swing especially with different clubs back to back, much like you do in this video tip. I would like to request that you post a video of you swinging pw, 7, 5, hybrid, 3w, driver face on and dtl views, maybe with and without analysis lines and in normal and slow motion. Just a suggestion, as i learn alot from mental imagery.
Also it seems lately I’ll either have my irons working well or my longer clubs like driver 3w, hybrids. Rare to have both working at the same time, any ideas why that would be as I am really working on having the same swing with all clubs.
Thanks in advance.
March 18, 2016
THOMASKLOVESHi Paul
Recently viewed several of your tips — tempo, SSR measuring device, swinging with body vs hands/arms etc
One question: What does the tempo feature on the more expensive device measure? Thanks for all you do. tom
March 18, 2016
Paul WilsonTom,
It measures the tempo from when you take it back to impact. If you need to work on slowing down your swing this is a good feature.