golfrewind.com

I was swinging in driving cage today and I thought of slowing down my backswing...I mean really slow it down, (usual comments about my swing is that it is too jerky and too fast backswing)
I thought that if I slowed it down a bit I would have a better "feel" of the club...

It turned out that this was a good move on my part because it made me hit the ball better or more solid....but what made me wonder was, for me to really "feel" the club or swing, I really had to slow down my backswing, around 3 seconds before I started my downswing.

Is this okay? or is it too slow?

Having been used to a relatively fast backswing, I found it too slow, but everytime I did the slow backswing, i felt that I really hit the ball solid! I just couldn't gauge if this affected the distance because I was in a cage...I'll try it out on the range tomorrow to see if it shortened my distance or made it longer.

I was using my irons so I don't know if this move is also good for my woods

Sometimes, you have to do something different with your swing to get better. I don't think a really slow back swing will help you in the long run. I think it's more of an indication that when you hit it with your regular tempo, you're doing something wrong.

An uncle of mine who is a very good golfer has a deliberately slow back swing. It's pretty funny because when he takes it back, it looks painfully slow. Then he takes a rip at it and it goes long and in the middle of the fairway.

I just feel connected when I slow it down, maybe with a little more practice I could get used to it and maybe speed it up just a little bit more, but I think it would still be a lot slower than my original backswing which is kinda' rushed and off tempo

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout...Like I said I just feel connected with this slower back swing.

I'm going to play around with this swing for awhile and see where it takes me, if its longer or more consistent than my previous swing or if its just a temporary fix.... I'm just scared coz like you said it might look funny to other golfers

Last time I played with him, I was the type of golfer who would be glad to break 100. My uncle would be disappointed if he didn't shoot below 80 (was getting old at the time). My cousins and I joked about the swing but after a while, we started to mimic it to see if it could work miracles on us.

what happened? did it work for you? I think my backswing could be a little bit faster but not as fast as before...maybe instead of 3 seconds maybe 2 or 2 1/2 seconds? hehehe

Well, like I said. At the time, I was happy to break a 100 (shoot 99). So no, it did not work for me.

I think that there is a tendency in most of us to swing faster than we should. That is especially true in pressure or trouble situations. At the same time, there are very few players who can be be consistent when slowing down to an extreme level. Too much slowing tends to disrupt your tempo to the point that you start losing distance, but too fast makes it difficult maintain your balance and make a good weight shift at the transition point from the backswing to the downswing.

I know that i have a very definite range of acceleration that my backswing has to stay within or I get all out of shape, and my timing gets out of whack. Like most amateurs, I tend to get too quick, and when I realize that it's happening, I have to take a few practice swings to get my tempo back to normal.

When I'm swinging well, I have a slow start to the takeaway, but I accelerate steadily to the top, then just continue that acceleration all the way through the impact zone. If my acceleration and rhythm have a good tempo, the transition to the downswing doesn't even feel like a change of direction, but more like a continuous motion from start to finish.

I've certainly never seen anything good come of a fast backswing. More often than not it results in someone looking like they are chopping wood.

I've read tip after tip recently where they tell you to have a nice smooth and slower paced backswing.

This is what I want to achieve, a continuous motion from start to finish with out any jerky movements, I felt that I was able to achieve this with the slower back swing, because I was just hitting in a cage, I don't know if it has affected my distance or accuracy, but I did not feel that I lost any power when I hit the ball.... I think I was able to maintain my swing speed

I must take this "new swing" to the range or to the course to see if I lost or gained any distance or accuracy.

Yes I felt I was more "connected" with the slower back swing, my body and the club were like "one"...I just can't get over how slow my backswing was and still able to get that nice contact and feel

I also had some nice contacts with the faster back swing but I felt that my body needed to work harder to get those contacts and when my body couldn't cope up with adjusting to the fast backswing, I would surely mis hit the ball....it wasn't consistent at all.

I think with the slower backswing I can get more consistency and get those nice contacts more often...

A good piece of advice I was given when I swung too fast was this.

Think of someone's name which has 2 syllables in both the first and last name eg. David Howell. In your mind, say 'David' on your takeaway and 'Howell' on your downswing. This will shorten your backswing and s-l-o-w you down.

Hope this helps.

I don't feel it's so much about slow backswing as it is.....SMOOTH tempo. When I see golfers taking a club back with an angonizingly slow backswing, I always think, "They're searching for a band-aid for a serious swing flaw."

Yes. I think my biggest flaw ever since was a bad tempo or fast back swing....

I can have a nice game, if my body is up to it and be able to "catch up" smoothen out the tempo, but most of the time I find myself working too hard to "catch up" or adjust to my back swing and by the time I do, I'm already at hole number 13 or 14 and by hole 16 I'm already tired!

I think by starting off with a slow back swing, I can work myself up to a smoother tempo where the backswing won't be that slow anymore.

Do I have the right idea here?