Timing The Golf Swing

After you have reached a point where you feel that you have mastered the mechanics of the swing, you should begin to develop a rhythm for swinging. This is generally referred to as timing. Very little is ever written on timing the swing, compared to the fundamentals of the swing, but I feel it will merit your close attention sooner or later.

Learning to time the swing is like learning to dance or play a musical instrument. You have a certain rhythm or "beat" which you must swing into—and so must you when playing golf. Some players have a fast swing tempo, others a slow one; it all depends upon their physical makeup and habit patterns.

By experimenting and trying different speeds, I have developed a set rhythm of swinging the club. I try to maintain this rhythm with every club, trying not to change the tempo of my swing when I change clubs. Naturally, I am swinging faster with certain clubs, say with the long irons and woods, because I take a fuller body turn with these clubs. Thus, the speed of the clubhead increases with the longer-shafted clubs, owing to a fuller clubhead arc, but the tempo of the swing remains the same. This is an important thing to remember at all times.