EARLY = LEFT / LATE = RIGHT
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MELANIE SCHUMACHER
GOLF TERM
• Speed |
Trajectory / Carry Distance |
• Sequence |
Consistency & Power |
• Timing |
Direction |
|
• Tempo
Turf Interaction ( Heavy or Thin Contact )
|
• Acceleration / Deceleration |
All of the Above |
TIMING
Timing refers to when something happens in the golf swing , measured in seconds or decimals of a second . For most elite golfers , the backswing takes between . 75 and . 9 seconds and the downswing takes approximately . 25 seconds , so impact happens shortly after 1 second .
If your backswing takes too long in time ( either because it lacked the necessary speed or because of excessive length ), then you are likely to rush the downswing , and vice versa . This is because we have an internal shot clock and know when we are ahead of the clock or running behind . Whereas it is very difficult to make major swing changes , subtle timing changes are easy and can happen daily .
If you arrive to the ball “ early ” you will likely miss left , and when you arrive “ late ” you will likely miss right . If you rotate your hands early in the downswing for example , the club face will be closed at impact and the ball will go left . If you rotate your hands late in the downswing , the club face will be open at impact and the ball will go right .
TEMPO
Tempo is the ratio of time from backswing to downswing . Tempo is often used synonymously with speed , but it is actually a time relationship . The ratio back to down should be three to one , meaning the backswing should take three times as long in time as
PRIMARY EFFECT
the downswing . An example of an appropriate relationship would be a backswing that takes . 81 seconds and a downswing that takes . 27 seconds . This is only true for full-length golf shots , as the relationship changes to a two-to-one ratio for short game and putting . Going back to that internal shot clock , your tempo will be quick if you are behind time and slow if you are ahead of time .
If your tempo is off , the first step is to figure out why . It could be off because of psychology ( anxieties , nerves , doubt , stress ), physiology ( tension , tight grip pressure , increased heart rate ), physical ( starting too slow or too fast , swinging too big or too small on the backswing ), or process ( lack of a plan or a poor plan ).
I especially see contact issues in the short game coming from a loss of tempo . If you take the club back too far on a short pitch , you may slow down into the ball and have a heavy result . If you take the club back too short on a pitch you may speed up and see bladed shots .
Similar to timing , it is easy for subtle tempo changes to occur daily . Whereas I hear my students say their swings break down , in reality they are fighting timing or tempo .
ACCELERATION
Acceleration is a change in speed ; every segment of the body and the club needs to be accelerating at certain times and decelerating at certain times during the swing . In the backswing , the club would accelerate first , followed by the torso , the arms and
ZERO ACCELERATION AT THE MOMENT OF IMPACT
the club ; then they would also need to decelerate in that order .
If you swing the club too far back in the backswing , you may be struggling to decelerate the club on time , meaning you are still accelerating when you should be slowing down to change directions . Imagine a NASCAR driver coming into the turn and letting off the gas ; this is what should happen in order to change directions at the top of the golf swing .
In the downswing , the hips would accelerate first , followed by the torso , arms and club . Even though the club head is the last thing to begin accelerating on the way down , there should be a value of zero acceleration at the moment of impact . If the club head is still accelerating at impact , then it would not have yet achieved its maximum speed . The maximum speed is not reached until the acceleration is complete . Therefore , you do not want acceleration at impact , but you want speed .
The easiest way to differentiate between speed and acceleration is to think about an airplane . It has the most acceleration on the runway while the ride is jerky and feels violent , but it achieves the most speed at its highest altitude when the acceleration is a value of zero , and now the ride is the smoothest . It is that smooth moment with the highest speed in mph that should occur at impact .
Similar to tempo , if your accelerations are not on time you will struggle with turf interaction . You will also see a lack of club speed at impact if the acceleration happens too late or too early , meaning you would lose ball height and distance .
To see Josh Apple ' s swing terms in action , and for more lessons to improve your game , check out the Raspberry Golf Academy YouTube channel .
vsga . org J ULY / A UGUST 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 35