Tour Tempo
Grade: B+
I’ve been working with Tour Tempo off and on all summer and into the fall. Author John Novosel’s idea is that the difference between the hacker and the tour pro lies mainly in the tempo. Using high speed video, Novosel claims to have discovered that all tour pros have a swing that falls into a 3:1 ratio. Some swing faster, some a little slower, but they are always in the 3:1 swing-set-through tempo.
It’s a slim volume, but it comes with a cd that has video — and more importantly, different soundtracks with beeps that are supposed to ingrain the idea of 3:1 into your head.
When you set up to the ball, the only thought that is supposed to be in your head is the 3:1 tempo. Listen to the beeps on the cd long enough and it will be.
I’m a musically talented guy, from a musical family (both parents were music teachers), so the idea came pretty naturally to me. From years of playing in bands and orchestras, I can set a tempo inside my head automatically. After listening to the tracks, I just swung on tempo.
I think I did see some improvement — especially on tee shots — when I concentrated only on the tempo. The tempo thought kept me from being in such a rush and kept my swing smooth and fluid.
Now, if only I could get rid of that flying left elbow fault.
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A friend loaned me the Tour Tempo book and I am just beginning into it so I can’comment about what the results will be. However, as a 60+ year old man, who wants to improve his game without having to start from scratch with something like Natural Golf, this seems like something that can improve almost anybodys game. It it nice to see some practical way of improving tempo … unlike the thought that many promote … that tempo can’t be learned but is inherent.
This program is like all the rest. Save your money.Tempo is indeed necessary to have a repeatavle swing but it does nothing to help you generate more power. This like every other book, tape, cd and magazine that floods the market fail to tell you that to become half-way decent in GOLF it is a slow process that requires mucho practice, years of practice to be honest, something all the market garbage does not tell you. Their only concern is to sell their product and they pay PROS plenty to endorse their product because we gullible golfers will try anything to play an occassional good round of golf. Just go out, relax and just swing. Don’t dwell on bad shots or it will ruin your day. If you get time to practice, even in your house or backyard, your game will improve. Buying all these high priced golf clubs will not help your game one iota if you do not have a decent golf SWING. So until someone puts a honest thesis on the golf swing and fundementals needed for the short game,long irons, and putting techniques require to be proficient in this game, then SAVE YOUR MONEY.
I absolutely recommend this tour tempo system. I was hitting in the 90’s with occasional 88 or 89 at the most. Been playing 5 years. In the last month after only using this system for a few days I hit 87, 86, 87, 85, 83. All under what I usually hit and even in bad conditions with rain and wind. I’m a professional singer so can really feel the beat so it’s easy for me. If you have no sense of rhythm it may take a little longer for you. I do advice warming up properly on the range first to get the rhythm set before you go out. Then just smile and swing.
I purchased TOUR TEMPO during the holidays, read, watched the DVD, practiced, and then took it out on the course. My practice swings in the living room as I wateched the video seemed impossibly fast in the beginning … ” I can’t swing THAT fast,” my brain said … but then I sat down, flipped on the Golf Channel, and tapped out the tempo of the pro’s swings … and sure enough, they WERE that fast, and were close to the 3:1 tempo. I then repeated the mantra, “Swing Speed = Distance” over and over again. Then I went out to my local course in late December, 40 degrees, not a recipe for big drives. My drives went anywhere from as far as in the summer, to as much as 20-30 yards further sometimes, with wet fairways. Repeat after me: “Swing Speed = Distance” I am not a big slicer anyway, but I now find it almost impossible to slice. The slightly abreviated backswing encouraged by the rapid tempo seems to short-circuit a host of swing plane ills (many of which occur in the final quarter of the backswing, in my estimation.) I can audibly hear a much bigger “swoosh” at the bottom of my swing. The ball goes straight and far, and I don;t truggle with a bunch of “swing thoughts.” My approach shots on par 4’s are now 140 yards instead of 170. Tour Tempo? For me, a BIG thumbs up.
I disagree with the guy in the feb 09 comment. If he had read the book thoroughly he would have found that tour tempo works if you have a good foundation and mechanics. Tour Tempo is not going to work if you are some Hack that doesn’t know any of the fundementals like posture, alignment and grip. I have been playing for 25 years as a 4-10 HCP that was very inconsistent. But one thing is true, I had the fundementals. Within the first day of using Tor Tempo I noticed results. Two months after using TT religiously, I have shot no worse than 77. I have added 10-15 yards to each club and clubhead speed obviously up too. I fly my 5 iron about 200 now, thats not counting the roll. Tour Tempo does work just ask my victims on the course, you just have to have the fundementals and some knowledge of the golf swing.
Tour Tempo works. You do need to know the fundamentals of the golf swing first of course and should be able to hit the ball consistently. But then, once you do, Tour Tempo works.
Like most, I’ve read almost all the golf books. IMHO, there are “golf basics” books and there are “fine tuning” books. “Golf basics” books have..well..the basics: grip, stance, putting, chipping, etc.. “Fine tuning” books help you refine your game once you’re comfortable with the basics. (Interestingly, notwithstanding its title, I consider Hogan’s Five Fundamentals a “fine tuning” book.)
Tour Tempo is a “fine tuning” book dedicated to the rhythm and tempo of the swing and, unlike almost any other book, uses something other than the written word to describe the tempo of the golf swing. Guess that’s what makes it different. You can’t describe tempo in words; you have to see it, hear it and/or feel it.
Essentially, matching the 3 beats will create more speed and lag in most amateur’s swing. It takes a while to get used to it but, in the end, it is a great technique to use to battle excessive swing thoughts.