Nick Faldo on Tempo (Video)

This short video from Nick Faldo has a number of drills to help you improve your tempo. What more do I need to say?



Note that he differentiates between a slow swing and a smooth swing. This is something that many players never understand. As Nick says, you can make swing after swing and each can be smoother than the one before... but there's a limit to how slow you can swing and still keep anything like a usable swing.

Nick suggests watching the pros, picking someone whose swing is similar to yours and then trying to mimic it. This is a good thing to do, even when you aren't swinging a club! I find that watching a player swing and then trying to feel that swing in my imagination makes me much more sensitive to the tempo of my own swing.

The first drill is to hit a number of shots with the same club -- he suggests a 6-iron -- starting with a pitching motion and then trying to make each shot just a bit longer than the last. You may remember that this was one of the competitions on the old Big Break show.

Nick also recommends counting during your swing to help your tempo. I have to say, I've never had any luck with that one -- counting ruins my ability to swing smoothly. It may be that I get too mechanical as I try to match the count. However, I find that humming a song -- NO WORDS! -- as I swing can help me swing more smoothly. Just a thought to consider if the counting doesn't work for you.

Then Nick has you hit shots with your feet together -- heels almost touching -- using the old L-to-L swing drill. (Here's a post I did with videos showing two versions of it.) This is a classic drill that instructors have recommended for years. That's because it works. ;-)

And as his last drill, Nick suggests taking five different clubs, hitting three balls with each, and trying to keep the tempo the same with each shot. (Nowadays you can tape the shots and compare them after you hit them all.)

So there you have a variety of tempo drills from a six-time major champion. It's hard to go wrong with that kind of advice!