One of the biggest discoveries made in the golfing world was figuring out what all great players have in common. This discovery was made by John Novosel. He was not a professional golfer and found the commonality by fluke. While editing the swing of a professional golfer for an infomercial, he found out that their swing ratio came up to exactly 3:1. This didn’t seem interesting at first but on further research, he found out that all the greatest players like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, all had a swing ratio of 3:1. They all have a constant tempo when it comes to their shots. He called it the Rosetta Stone of golf. Novosel published a book called "Tour Tempo" in 2004 in which he published his findings on swing tempo. He published another book called Tour Tempo 2 in 2011.
Novosel’s work was proved by a physicist named Dr. Bob Grober almost 10 years after being published. He also found out that most professional golfers have an average ratio of 3:1 which brought consistency to their swings. The findings are seen in his work “Towards a Biomechanical Understanding of Tempo in the Golf Swing”.
Tempo is not always talked about and neither is it given a lot of importance. Swing tempo is one of the most overlooked keys to a great swing. A metronome can help us achieve a more consistent swing. A good golf swing is achieved by repeated actions. Repetition brings consistency and that helps us get a good swing.
Setting up a metronome at about 70 beats per minute provides a consistent swing. Practicing your swings with a metronome will help one remake their muscle memory and one would be able to find the correct rhythm of their swings and bring their ratios to 3:1. Jon Sherman tried using a metronome on himself and even on his 68-year-old father. Using a metronome helped both of them better their golf game. While their swings hadn’t been bad before, using a metronome only made them better. It made the practice seem worth pursuing. They were able to see visible and quantifiable results. Metronomes use the same beats over and over again helping one register a steady beat in the brain. Regular practice with a metronome will help one form new muscle memories with a more consistent swing. Golf is all about repetition and having a metronome and a steady tempo is what helps one achieve that.
To use a metronome, first, check your current swing tempo. Knowing where you stand without any help from a metronome will help you create a starting point for the progress that one will witness later on. After measuring your current tempo, set the metronome to a 70 beats per minute tempo. Ease yourself into the rhythm and feel the tempo. Get comfortable with it. Try to hit a few blank shots with the metronome to get feel more at ease. Once you feel comfortable following the tempo, start hitting the balls and notice the change in your game. One can use it to practice pitching, chipping, and putting as well with a metronome app.
Having the correct tempo can help you get a good pace and the contact with the ball will be a clean and crisp one. As mentioned earlier, repetitions help one play better and it also helps you feel at ease and relaxed to know that your body itself is used to a certain motion. It allows the mind to relax which helps us play better. While this seems like a shortcut to success, it is just a smarter way to work not a shorter one. Practice is just as important even while using a metronome; it is just that its presence helps better our game.
It is worth a shot to use a metronome while practicing or playing. One doesn’t require a fancy machine or professional training to achieve a better swing tempo, all it requires is an app and some earphones. It requires a little patience, but one must trust the process. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day; the perfect golf swing tempo also can’t be achieved in a day itself. Consistency, patience, and practice will help one reach their ideal goals in golf.
