Senior Golfers Guide

Slow Down Your Tempo For More Powerful and More Accurate Golf Hits
By Dan Shauger

The following article is by Dan Shauger, Master instructer of the aperfectswing golf method. Many of Dan’s students are senior players who need increased distance to be competitive. Learn more about Dan at the end of this article.

A slower tempo can be a big help in hitting better golf shots since the increase in time helps you in making better swings.

Many players in an effort to hit the ball hard to knock it a long way actually destroy their chance of doing this by swinging down to the ball too quickly.

How far you hit the golf ball is a product of several factors.

1. Solid contact, in the center of the club face on the sweet spot.

2. Squareness of club face.

3. Club head speed.

Powerful accurate shots require all 3. If any of the above factors are missing or less than perfect, less than perfect shots are guaranteed.

When the player slows down the speed of the left arm by slowing down the pivot the odds of making square centered contact between the club head and the ball go up exponentially.

The speed of the club head can actually be higher with the slower downswing since the right arm and hand likely can put more speed into the club head rather than struggling to keep up.

Here is a good way to control the tempo of your swing and slow it down to a more manageable speed.

I call it swinging in waltz time, make a forward press and say (out loud or mentally if you are self conscious) one.

At the top of the backswing say two, and as you hit the ball say three. Make the counts equally spaced and slow.

Do not try to add right hand power until the left hand is approaching the ball. The left hand should nearly be above the ball before the right arm begins to straighten.

I guarantee that you will quickly feel the difference in the quality and power in your golf shots if you do this.

Take your time, if at first you do not hit the ball solidly, shorten your swing and slow down even more.

Here is an important point, if you were to use a stop watch and time the rotation of the left arm from the top of the backswing (where it starts down) to impact, on multiple tour stars you would likely be surprised to find that the time difference between the longest hitter and the shortest hitter is very small.

It is not the speed of the left arm that determines distance, it is the speed of the club head.