What is the secret to the golf swing?
Well, the more I’ve been looking at golf improvement lately I’m coming to a one word answer. To help me explain it let me go through a couple of examples of bad golf shots and the possible cause.
Let’s say a golfer hits the occasional good shot but often hits fat and thin shots.
So what’s the cause?
Without seeing the golfer you could say they lack “timing”.
The golfer can’t contact the ball first consistently because they lack the timing sequence in their golf swing needed to do that consistently.
Now let’s look at the issue of the angle of the clubface contacting the golf ball. This is perhaps the biggest area where a lack of the correct timing comes into play. And I received an email this week that outlines this problem. Here’s the email I received…
Nick, I would like to know 1 or 2 stance/grip positions and 1 swing thought that will help eliminate a slice. A majority of my shots are straight to a draw, but when I hit a slice it takes me several holes to recover back to my normal ball flight. Hitting that slice sets me back mentally. I’m around a 10 handicap.
Dan
Now if I gave this golfer a stance and swing tip I could ruin this golfers ability to hit golf shots straight to a draw most of the time. The reason this golfer hits a slice out of the blue is because they lost their timing as they swung.
When you’re swinging a golf club it doesn’t take much to lose your timing and cause bad golf shots. And this timing problem does not only affect amateurs. Let’s look at the best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods….
When Tiger hits his big blocks to the right the reason is because he lacked timing on that shot. The golf commentators naturally give a technical reason as to why it happened but the bottom line is that his timing was slightly off.
After thinking about this for some time I believe timing is the secret to the golf swing.
So I’m going to be working on how you can practice timing. I’ll let you know about that in due course. In the mean time feel free to leave your thoughts about timing and how you go about practicing it…if at all.
Tags: golf swing, secret
March 12th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Fascinating thoughts young man. Takes me back to the good old days when golf was more feel than it was positions. I firmly believe new golfers of this generation lack the ball striking ability of the top golfers in the 50’s or 60’s. Maybe I’m just reminiscing too much!
March 12th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Keep going with your investigation Nick. I believe you’re on the right track and am excited to hear of what you have planned next. Troy golfing in Spain.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:55 am
my consistency sucks. think you’ve hit the nail on the head. some days i have it other days i don’t. must be a timing issue. just wanna no how to improve my timing so I don’t suck so much anymore. i’ll keep an eye out on your latest installments. just like Batman LOL
March 12th, 2009 at 1:59 am
Nick: you have my mind racing now I won’t be able to sleep tonight! Read your post (which was great by the way) and recalled all the bad golf shots in my last round. I was pulling apart my golf swing and couldn’t get it back together again. Out of the blue I hit a great shot and couldn’t figure out what the heck happened. Now it’s as clear as day. My timing was perfect when I hit that great shot. My timing was terrible when I hit all those other terrible golf shots. You have the secret to the golf swing highlight but how do you work on it?? I’m eager for your next installment Nick. Don’t make it too long!!!
March 12th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Their is a lot of confirmed data now that shows that the ’secret’ to the golf swing is in the Kinetic chain.
Lots of different swings out there but everyone who is powerful and accurate has a Kinetic chain or a sequence in the way the body parts fire that starts the downswing and gets the club on the correct downswing plane making great impact positions almost effortless!
If the sequence is out so will be the timing!
March 12th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Nick,
You hit it right on the “sweet spot”.
When I am mishitting shots, it’s usually due to my transition from the top (too quick). Hence, I lose that little “bump” with my hips to start the downswing and, naturally, come over the top. Look forward to your next segment on this topic.
Tripp
March 12th, 2009 at 2:53 am
Nick:In my very very very humble opinion Timing can be aided by signing a song in your mind while swinging.
I have a slow to medium tempo swing and find that singing (internally not out loud!) while swinging really helps.
I sing the same line all the time and actually also use a the second word as my swing trigger – I the sing all the way to the end of the swing – not just to the ball strike. It also stops me from thinking about swing positions while playing my shot.
It works for me anyway… “It went straight down the middle – Yes !!”
March 12th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Nick: I think you’re right on. When I am thinking of position, swing path, i.e. anything mechanical in my swing – my game goes south. But if I am effective in maintaining the proper “Rhythm” in my swing I strike the ball well, and more consistently; my timing becomes quite dependable and the fat and thin shots pretty much disappear. I had such a round several days ago and my regular playing partner was amazed – especially since the effect persisted for 18 holes.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:35 am
Whilst playing a round on my own, I joined a lady for the last 6 holes.
What impressed me about her game, was her Tee and Iron shots. It appears that she was taught a 1-2-3 method and you could almost saying it to herself. Her back swing was done with a 1-2-3 tempo followed by the same but slightly quicker 1-2-3 tempo on the down swing. This resulted in an effortless swing of reasonable lenght and accuracy.
I would not say this is the perfect answer but we blokes who try to hit the cover off the ball, could learn a lot from this simple timing technique.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:45 am
will be anxious to read about any drills/techniques for perfecting timing. the whole key to the golf swing.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:01 am
I have one club that I always seem to hit consistently well and that’s my 7 iron. When I feel my timing get off, I grab my 7 iron and take several swings with the intent on swinging just like I would for a normal 7 iron shot but without the ball. Find that one club in your bag that you hit consistently well and use it to regain your timing.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Nick: I’ve been told its like the waltz 123 back 123 down
March 12th, 2009 at 4:05 am
My thoughts about timing is that a proper tempo will help and you can practice tempo.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:07 am
i would agree that timing is a secret but timing is an accumulation of doing alot of things correctly at the right time. So which one is it stance, balance, the list goes on!
March 12th, 2009 at 4:48 am
I know that timing has a huge affect on my swing. When I get in the most trouble is when I start speeding up my backswing. My tempo becomes so erratic that I have no clue as to where the ball is going to go. My go to drill to try to correct this is to swing a piece of rope about the length of my driver. If you swing at the proper tempo is will come through straight as a club. Actually if you put a club head on the end of the rope and swing at the proper tempo you could hit a ball with it. This really helps. A big help for me though was you teaching me that balance has the biggest influence on my swing. Now that I make sure I am staying in balance even my bad swings are not that bad. Thanks for the golf program you have developed. It is nice to have someone explain things in plain english.
Bill
(former AF Intel Specialist)
March 12th, 2009 at 4:54 am
I recently found a book called Tour Tempo, by John Novosel. He filmed and analyzed pro swings, and found that, when they were hitting well, they all had the exact same ratio of backswing to downswing. He also believes that timing is the key to a repeating golf swing. The book actually comes with a CD to download (upload?) to an iPod or MP3 player, so that you can practice this tempo, and songs to swing with to have in your head on the course. I know this sounds like a long plug, but I do not yet know if this works (winter in my area). However, it makes sense and agrees with you, Nick.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:56 am
An earlier comment was hand-to-eye coordination. In my opinion, the speed at which the Pros swing their clubs, in particular with the driver, woods and long irons, in order for them to rely on hand-to-eye coordination, they would need the eyes of a hawk. I think it is muscle memory in particular along with timing. August will be two years I have been playing the game of golf and when the muscle memory is correct, the ball go on its intended path.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:16 am
On my tee shots, I always take a practice swing visualizing that I am actually hitting the ball. I concentrate on actually having the club softly touch the grass straight back behind the ball, making sure I bring it back slowly to the top. I think that thinking about softly touching the grass helps my timing.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Certainly bad timing causes bad swing positions, but lets not overlook that bad golf has to do with bad swing positions and I’d be willing to bet that the highest percentage of people have bad swing positions to begin with regardless of timing. This is what they need to address first.
Back in late 2007 I used to hit the ball straight or pull and fade with my longer clubs. I could shoot between 78-85 pretty consistently. I decided I wanted to consistently break 80 to start playing tournament golf, so I started going to a video analysis studio (i.e. GolfTec). I have been every day for the past 1.5 years. What I saw on video the 1st time I went was truly shocking. I mean here I was playing decent better than bogey golf but my swing was horrible and worse, I was also on the path to back injuries with the way I was swinging.
My point is this. Timing is a wonderful thing to work on (i.e. Tour Tempo, counting syllables, Sonic Golf, etc.), but first you have to be absolutely certain that you are passing through a minimum swing positions/success ranges. You have to absolutely make sure you see this on video swing after swing after swing. You have to alternate between a range day and video analysis day to see how swinging on the range effected your swing. You keep doing this day after day after day until you consistently see these positions and no amount of day-to-day feelings, energy level, range visits, schedule, life in general, etc., changes this. Once you achieve this, timing and tempo will have improved as well.
Personally, I think the 2 biggest things that effect tempo are rushing your backswing or transition. You need a smooth slow backswing that builds resistance and nice transition free of any jerkiness or rushing and only then can you rip through the ball aggressively. Tempo/timing has to be a swing thought, but you cant think tempo until you stop thinking other swing thoughts, which is why you do the daily analysis to build confidence that you don’t have to think swing thoughts and only tempo/timing thoughts.
Hopefully all this rambling/venting of frustration with my road to a good swing helps just one person out there.
All the best. Tim.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:50 am
Nick
two things come immediately to mind:
tension and rhythm. My swing had totally fallen apart earlier this year but is finally coming back . I have become more and more aware of tension in the preshot and really working on a rhythmic swing with my practice swings. Yes, postions are important for really good ball striking, but I find I have much better days when I only focus on those two things.
My experience so far is either of those two things going south will cause all sorts of issues no matter how good my mechanics are
Both of these things can be practiced without a ball. I compare it to Tracy Reed’s thoughts on balance; being aware
March 12th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Nick, Like the others, I believe your really on to something here! I’m currently a 5 hdcp, but still struggle with “solid contact & consistancy” and catch myself over analysing my swing mechanics when I kit an errant shot. The “timing theory” might help explain why so many of us “hit it great on the driving range” only to struggle on the course after hitting a few bad shots and can’t seem to understand why. It also make me wonder if the Pro’s that seem to take several practice swings before a shot, are actually “rehearsing the shot”, or are they atually making sure their timing feels right? (notice they rarely take a divot when taking practice swings!). Anyway, thanks for the great post and I sincerely look forward to your next.. V/R Frank from TX.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Nick:
I played last night with an old friend and had a terrible round. I hadn’t played for several weeks before that. My drives were straight as an arrow, felt good through the swing, had the distance I want – but every last one was blocked right, just like you’re talking about. The more I tried to compensate, the worse it got. I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts on timing. As Simon says, don’t make us wait too long.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:04 am
What Nick didn’t mention is “all things being equal” (stance, grip, posture, alignment), timing could be the culprit to the problem he sited above. There are other issues that could cause a person to either hit a shot fat or thin and one of them is changing the posture.
The other example Nick mentioned was the email. Dan, if you read these, here’s something else to consider. You stated “Hitting that slice sets me back mentally.” When we hit bad shots, sometimes it frustrates us to the point that we become tense which can lead to tightening muscles. Tight muscles can lead to not releasing the club; ergo bad timing. The other idea, Dan is that you could (not saying you do) analyze what happened and you start to think about all the mechanics of the swing. This again can lead to not releasing the club, or as it’s called paralysis by analysis.
I’m sure everyone’s heard golfers have the shortest memory. The forget about the previous shot and concentrate on the current one.
If I can help Nick start this, everyone please keep in mind to stay relaxed. This can help lead to better timing.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:04 am
I think most of us wonder why we hit those bad shots and then some really good ones,most of us say thats golf,some days you got it some days you don’t, not knowing what we have exactly or don’t have.. your thinking could be the answer..
March 12th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I have to go along with what Seth says and it’s about being relaxed. But I also have to say something else. Most and maybe not all do very little of hitting balls to warm up and I am one because my course dosen’t have a range to hit bits. We have a putting green and also a
pitching green which is over in the middle of the 2 nines, so nobody ever uses it to warm up. So it’s no wonder we don’t have our timing even near really to go. My short game is great but a lot of days my long game is nowhere to be found and yes, right away you start to try and figure out what it is you are doing wrong. So Nick if there is a way i can do some drills to warm up with that will help some, I would like to hear them.
I have hit some pretty nice shots and it didn’t even seem like i have even moved very fast or tried to hit it very hard. So right away I start off wrong at the first tee and try so hard to move fast and try and hit it hard. Is that what you are talking about Nick?????
March 12th, 2009 at 7:27 am
What about “Positvie Thinking”? Aparitions of a good drive or shot should do more for a consistant swing. If a salesman thinks about the last sale he missed, or the ballplayer thinks about the last time he struck out …those are the wrong thoughts to have in their mind!
Forget that slice, or bad shot and keep in your mind the great shot you made from that same type of place on the fairway (or rough), that great putt you drilled from just about the same place on the green.
Those negative thoughts are going to throw off your timing! You know the correct grip, the swing tempo the follow through…just repeat those positve thoughts and actions and forget the incident that might have happened and they will become fewer and fewer in your rounds of golf. I’m only a 14 Handicapper, but I would be much worse if I didn’t stay positive!
March 12th, 2009 at 8:07 am
I’m 74 years old and have gone from an 18 handicap to a 31 handicap. I have little consistency when hitting the driver and fairway woods. I’m O.K. when hitting the 7 iron up. I’ve been accused of moving on the ball in the downswing and I’ve found it hard top stop. Do you have any suggestions???
March 12th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Yes I agree with you, I have a sequence I go through every time I practise, being an ex soldier, I drilled to numbers 1–2–3 Shun, etc.
I have been developing in my mind one two on the back swing, 2 three to the release. This has helped a good streight to draw shot. But not always distance. Being a senior at 65 years, 175 to 200 metres is my lot. But if its steight then I am happy. Yes timing is essential.
A mental count, or even click!! at top of back swing, and clunk at the point of contact just silently in the min d has helped me. I sometimes call it out, when nobody is about. Fun isnt it? Irv
March 12th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Few players have correct techniques, the rest of us are using compensating manipulations which are notoriously inconsistent and make the timing on each stroke a lottery. Eliminate the compensations and timing will follow as an inevitable consequence. To work on timing without eliminating the compensations is an invitation to mediocrity.
March 12th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Nick:
Once again, you’ve hit on something that I just recently experienced myself. Literally for decades I was told by instructors that I needed to strengthen my grip to cure my slice. I kept twisting my hands farther and farther to the point where my “V’s” were pointing a foot to the right of my right shoulder.
Then I had the epiphany–the thing that was keeping my club face open at impact wasn’t my grip, it was my TIMING. My hands were getting to impact 6 inches before the clubhead. Not only did this delof the club face causing a low trajectory, it is almost impossible to turn your arms to the point where they will square the club face when the clubhead his so far behind the hands.
So now I use a neutral grip and just work on changing the relative speeds of the clubhead and the hands, in other words correcting my TIMING!
March 12th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Hi Nick, some time ago I discovered a device that has helped me with my timing.It’s called Swing-Tempo and it works. The tempo can be adjusted for anyone and it’s simple to use. The website is http://www.swingtempo.com
It’s not overly expensive.
Great articles, keep up the good informative work.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
timing is everything! How else can we explain how one day we can hit it solid, the next day very inconsistently. What influences timing? Lack of sleep? Too much sleep? What we ate that day (or the night before) Trying too hard? Thinking too much? Subtle variations in posture, alignment,grip, ball position? Pressure to score? Weather conditions (cold,hot, wind, rain) Akward lies? Getting off to a bad start? The list goes on. It is probably a combination of factors which changes day to day. I have found that when playing well, going to the range right after the round reinforces good timing. Knowing that timing will change from day to day helps coping with this crazy game.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Nick…I have recently purchased the swing setter put out and recomended by David Leadbetter and Nick price ,do you think this is good practice for my timing
March 12th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Nick,
Thats a good observation. However, although I haven’t been playing the game long I have become really familiar early on as to what bad or off timing does to a golf swing. I went from a 7 hdcp to a 1 hdcp after I built timing drills into my practice routines. every practice session starts and finishes with timing and sequence drills.
March 12th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’ve also heard timing was the key as long as you had all the basics adequately working for you. I tried Tour Tempo because it made it a lot of sense but I got tired of trying to swing to the tones. I look forward to seeing what Nick comes up with since his advice is straight-forward and practical.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I think you’re on the right track,Nick. The majority of the better golfers I play with have nice little compact backswings. It’s almost like hitting 3/4 shots all the time. I think it’s easier to maintain good timing with a shorter backswing.My game is night and day difference when I play with a compact backswing. Keep up the good work Nick.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Hi Nick:
Thanks! As u have correctly emphasized balance and timing (tempo and rhythm) are two essentials behind all good shots, of course given the underlying sound mechanics! I’ll wait for you to help us how to get these right on every shot! One little tip, when my body is not behaving as desired either due to fatigue or tight hamstrings what works for me is to forget about the count and just focus on the grip pressure and taking the backswing only as fast as my body would allow with focus on completing the turn, correct wrist cock and maintaining the wrist cock thru the impact with the ball. One more thing that destroys my timing and costs me distance is when I go back tight, bcoz when u go back tight u come down tight and watch the banana explode. I can be so accurate when I stay supple and easy going back its not even funny! but again how to consistently stay loose is where u can help I am sure!
March 13th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Nick, I am a 10 handicap heading back down to my normal 7.5. I got messed up this fall and went up to 12. I blamed it on my timing, I still had good balance which is usually the culprit for me. I finally figured out my problem was just being lazy and not making a fully wound backswing. Do you relate that to timing? I did because I think the club has to travel the same distance everytime in order to stay timed. One more point on timing. I learned the one plane swing awhile back and found that timing was almost a non issue. I gave it up because it was killing my back. DO you have any thoughts on this? Having my wife read your blog has and info has convinced my wife that I know a little bit about what I try to tell her. Thanks
March 16th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Nick, Well I have to admit that all of these comments were great and all had merit and validity to some degree! What I would like to relate this to is the comparison to other sports at high levels. I am 56 now but in my heyday of say 26 to 46 I played all sports except golf and did quite well earning more than my share of accolades. I especially was good at basketball,softball,football, and yes…even surfing. Since I have played golf now for about 20 years I have found that timing as in the other sports is EVERYTHING! You have to time the ball in softball to hit it well, or jump at the right time in basketball to get a rebound consistently, and time the wave in surfing to give you the optimum leverage to use all of its power and give you the longest and most quality ride to impress judges to score you well. Yes without that timimng and balance you would not only be able to compete but would fail consistently. Once you can put this in a timing category and concentrate in the subconscious than you can play not only consistent golf but competitive golf as well!
Keep up the great work Nick!
Dan H.
March 17th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Hi Nick
That is a good thought “timing” but keeping it consistently needs a good chip in memory into our mental system.
We have to be good and easy with the reality of golf that is not every rounds are the same results.
I will try to remember this key word “timing” and is the word “tempo” resemble the same meaning?
thank you and best regards
March 25th, 2009 at 5:40 am
I’m not trying to usurp you Nick by promoting other products here – but, that having been said – I’ve got to mention John Novosel’s Tour Tempo… John and his son have done extensive scientific studies of the greatest players in the world and have found that they all have a 3 to 1 tempo in their swings – think of it in musical terms – there is a beat (or amount of time that the backswing takes and the forward swing takes) – the ratio they have discovered is basically a 3 to 1 tempo – there is a lot of science involved but it basically requires taking video of a players swing from start to finish and measuring the total frames required for the backswing and for the thru swing – the ratio invariably comes out to about 3 to 1 – they correlate this to a specific fractional variable – such as 21/7, 30/10, 27/9… in other words – the best players take 3 times as many frames to complete the backswing (naturally, the more time-consuming part of the swing) as they do to complete top of swing to impact – they actually sell a sort of metronome that you can use when hitting balls that have these various swing speeds locked in – you find your comfortable pace (30/10, 27/9, 21/7 etc…) and practice hitting balls at that pace – maybe too scientific for most but you can’t argue with their research… worth a try… Nick P. senior mini-tour player
March 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Hi Nick, I think you are damn right. I always tried to increase my swing speed but most of the time ended with a slice. The timing of the body and hand is just not right. When I swing a bit slower, the ball just went straight. Any drill to allow hands to go faster to catch up with the body turn? Thanks.
April 4th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I’ve been playing golf for about 2 years. When I started, I thought I was pounding the ball with a 220y drive. Now I’m hitting about 250 on a decent drive (all carry; little release). But, on any given day, I’ll hit anywhere from 10 to 50% fairways and my misses are anything from slices to fades to draws and rarely even a hook (usually towards wherever the worst hazard or OB is). I’ve changed my driver swing at least 20 times. I recently saw a YouTube video of Tiger and “the perfect swing”. The thing I saw is that his head was PERFECTLY still. So last week I tried that. WOW! IT WORKS! I knew academically that I was supposed to do that, but then I analyzed what was really happening.
Apparently, I was slightly moving my head back and forth down the line of the ball, or occasionally lifting or dipping. Each swing probably had a little different head movement. Basically, this is like “bad/inconsistent timing”. So how do you fix it?
I decided I would only focus on ONE thing. I made sure I was aware of my address (teed the ball up a little higher; ball just outside of the Cobra logo on the head; back straight; etc.). Then I just stared at a place about 2″ behind the ball and zoned out. I went through the swing but made sure I was locked in staring at that one point and kept my head perfectly still.
Then, whatever happened, I made adjustments. If my driver “pinged”, I was probably catching it low still so I teed it up higher. If I faded it, I moved the ball slightly back in my stance. If I hooked, I moved it forward in my stance. If I hit toe or heel, I moved the address a bit. But then I hit it again with the “dead eye stare”. Once I found my correct ball placement, just about EVERY drive was 250, slight draw. My consistency instantly improved. If I was imagining translating it to fairways hit, I’d bet it was like 50-80%. I’m excited about getting it out on the course for a few rounds next week.
It is about timing, but it’s also about consistency. Personally, I found just keeping my head perfectly still made a HUGE improvement. My next step is to get my hip turn and release improved, but not sacrificing my still head/dead eye. I don’t see any reason I couldn’t pound it out there 300y with just a few more tweaks.
Incidentally, I’m 5′9, about 200#, hit Cobra 10.5* driver, 12.1 HCP, and just play crap, reload balls usually. I could probably pick up 10 yards just playing the right, new ball too…but I’ll wait until my swing improves a little more. If these old guys and 5′7, 160# guys can hit 300+, I’m sure I can eventually.