All I have to say is read Tour Tempo once, learn the simple concept and put it away, golf will never be the same once you learn how to find the correct tempo and how to count it into your game.

Visit your nearest Borders, Barnes & Noble, Bookstore, or order from the site.
Comes with CD's you can train to.

If Tiger and the rest of the worlds top golfers use TEMPO, why don't you? It is too simple to pass up.

I have read the book 5 times and it has helped me drop my Hcp from a beginning 10 to and 8 to a 4 and currently a 1. Scratch is next and Tour Tempo WILL help me get there!

Does it really works? Can you tell me your experiences with this?

I'm interested but i think this is too good to be true.

Purchased the book last night and put 6 chapters in before calling it a night. A good read. Easy to understand and so far everything he explains makes sense. Haven't seen the DVD or actually tried any of the practice routines and probably won't since here in Illinois it will be a few more weeks before we can actually get out and see how it all works. But, I'm looking forward to it.
Whether it comes close to what it claims we'll have to wait and see but thanks for the heads up.

To my INCREDIBLE surprise, my instructor (who normally HATES any kind of golf aid like this) recommended I buy Tour Tempo to help me with my downswing.

My problem is........I tend to pause at the top of the backswing, and take far too long on my downswing. He's trying to get me to make a more aggressive move down, and recommended I get this CD/Book. Big surprise.

So................does anyone know if it's possible to get this CD in .mp3 format? I really don't want to lug around a huge CD player to the range. I'm not familiar with these conversions, and required software for this.

Hey,

I've got all the tracks on my iPod. Should be no problem to covert them to mp3s with iTunes or similar software.

PM Sent. Thanks!!

I did the same thing as pargolfer. i put the tracks on my ipod and actually use a speaker with a few of my students to get them into a proper tempo for them. It works the same way as a metronome does. Yet it's easier to hit track play on the ipod then to dial out the right beat.

I gave it a 4. It is very close to being the end-all-be-all golf aid/instruction manual. Actually, the only reason I held off on giving it a 5 is because of the ri-cok-ulous price they try to get for the additional CD's. It would be less to commission Danny Elfman to do an original/personalized CD with the tour tempo beats based on your personal music tastes (bonus simpson tracks included) (and obviously, I'm being slightly facetious). Almost as bad as coiling copper wire around plastic and charging $150. Otherwise--a very good concept, and I do own the book.

beruo

are you guys just talkin about the book tour tempo by john novosel? or the book plus the green thing ipod/car alarm looking thingy as well?

I read the book and listened to the cd a few times. I never played it while I was practicing but the concept definitely works. If you practice the 2 drills and speed up your backswing and transition it is almost impossible to come over the top. I recommend it for anyone who casts the club.

I just ordered this book this afternoon on www.amazon.com It came up as one of those gold box specials. I saved an extra $0.87. I don't know what I will do with the new found wealth.

Did anyone see the watch on the website for tour tempo?

http://206.188.209.254/index.asp?PageActio...dID=10&HS=1

It records speed, tempo and golf scores.

Nope but that watch is on my wrist.=) Another great Finnish invention.

Works great, I can recommend warmly.

But my problem is that I don't know what tempo I should go for. =)

Suunto G6

As I set up, I have a couple of swing thoughts: make sure I have a one piece takeaway and that my right hand rotates back to set up. I bought this book on a whim after reading about it here and reading the synopsis on Amazon and it appeared as a gold box special.

21/7 is waaaay too fast for me for a driver, right now.

I feel comfortable with 27/9 on putting, woods, and driver.

I used my Momentus trainer while listening to the tempo and practicing at work. I proceeded to the range, listening to the CD. I went to the range and starting hitting. This is what I needed. I focused on only tempo (not mechanics, not swing thoughts, nothing else). I started hitting everything well, including my driver. This was after one practice session and trying it out for the first time. Added 10 yards to mid irons, woods and driver. It improved my ability to hit my wedges. This was one practice session.

I use the Medicus to help with tempo - since I tended to rush the takeaway, as a beginner, and chop AT the ball, as opposed to swinging through the ball. I was really happy with the Medicus. I have significantly used it to make more consistent contact and for the most part (at my level), I can hit it where I aim it - give or take a thin or fat shot.

An interesting thing that the author of this Tour Tempo book mentions is that the Medicus does not promote a TOUR TEMPO. It promotes a slow tempo.

I need to head back to the range and see if this really persists. I think this may help promote better translation from the range to the COURSE. Focusing on nothing but tempo your swing will take care of the rest.

I am shopping around for an MP3 player that is the size of a bluetooth headset and put the CD tracks into one of those.

This may be the Holy Grail of Golf. Nothing that I have read in the past has emphasized the importance of tempo and how to improve it.

Tour tempo songs are available to purchase on I Tunes - I listened to the 30 second previews.......so give me the short story (I don't have the book yet) how do the beats and swing correllate to proper tempo? What is the correct sequence to strive for? BTW .99 per track and $9.99 per album.........

Thanks

There is no correct sequence for all people. There are offered different timings. You have to try it out which one fits your swing. Before buying the songs I would recommend to buy the book as a CD with the different tones is included. These tones are enough to try Tour Tempo. The songs are only for getting in the right mood before playing while you're driving to your club.

Tour Tempo is a great, short read. The theory behind it makes alot of sense, it is easy to understand, and will help just about every player.

FYI, I was spraying my driver. I listened to the tape on the way to the range, and WHAM, immediately started hitting the ball consistently.

I think it will have more immediate benefit to a low/mid handicapper looking for added consistency. It will benefit a high handicapper by probably increasing distance mostly.

I am about a 8 handicap right now and using the simple drills and practice can very easily see myself getting back to the 3-4 of my old days using this system.

I recommend not jumping into the full swing with the tempo first. First practice 3/4 or so swings until you are comfortable and then go full after that.

I am halfway through the book and have watched the videos, but so far I don't see any of the test subjects using their driver except the kids. The video does a side by side comparison of a PGA professional using a driver with the desired 3:1 backswing/downswing ratio against a mid handicapper using a five iron.

Does this system work for driver swings as well? I have yet to get to the range to test it.

tempo was the one real thing that truley helped me get my golf game to where it is today, everything was good before, but just having the right tempo made everything near perfect, having the right tempo makes it hard to miss, and makes it hard to get out of control, i myself didnt read the book or anything, but tempo was still key for my success

Anyone know a way to test find the right tones for your swing without spending $99 on the tempo player?

Is there a website selling the tracks on mp3 or anyone willing to send the tracks for a paypal fee? ;-)

Just buy the book....I got it on Amazon for around $17 (I also noticed Overstock has it for a tad less). The book comes with 3 tone tracks for each tempo. I just transfered them into my ipod shuffle that I can listen to while I am practicing at the range.

PM Sent.

UPDATE:

I used the drills with the book and then went onto the three tempos (27/9, 24/8, 21/7) with 5 iron, 3 wood, driver to find out what works for me. 21/7 was it.

My findings were that my driver tempo was very poor, I was reaching the top in about 18 and downsing was about a 9, for 2:1 tempo. So I had to slow down the backswing to 21 and speed up the downswing to 7. And I have to say it worked very well. I have not consistently hit the driver with that ball flight before.

The funny thing was when I was warming up without the tempo tracks and my headphones on some guy across from me said to his friend "Its all about tempo" and then remarked that I had great tempo.
I put on the tracks and sure enough I was using a 5 iron and was 2:1. I played the tunes and started to get in line with the 3:1 somewhat and the guy said "now he's really going at it". The slower backswing and quicker downswing felt smoother after 15 minutes. I'm sold.

This is a solid product.
Recommended.

This may very well be the last training aid I will buy. I'm presently a 22 hndcp but after 2 weeks of listening to the CD and doing half-hearted practice in my living room, I went out to my local course and shot an 85 from the tips (6420 yds).

The book makes absolute sense and once you read it, you'll get it.

Now why somebody didn't come up with this sooner, I have no idea, but I hope the Novosel's reap all the rewards they possibly can from this.

More than highly recommended!!!!!

does anyone have the putting tempo tracks in mp3 format?

Seeing this thread, combined with the fact that my tempo has been off kilter all season - causing pull hooks, push slices and overall bad results - reminded me that the book and CD were sitting on a shelf at home. I'd read most of the book and listened to the CD when I bought it about two years ago, but had never tried using it for practice.

I loaded it on my iPod and took it out to the range yesterday and hit the first half of a large bucket with the headphones on. It only took a few swings to get used to having the headphones on and listening to the tones to determine that I was a 24/8. I started killing it, probably 20 yards longer than I have been all season and with each swing it started going a little straighter each time. I then took the headphones off, and with the tones still ringing in my head, I was hitting it even better. Flying the ball well into the screen 250 yards out, when I was seldom able to roll the ball there before. And all in a tight distribution no more than twenty yards across.

The two guys next to me had been watching me hit the ball between their swings and commented that I was hitting it well. I haven't had that happen since I was a 17 yeard old two handicap who could hit the ball 300+ with consistency. Unfortunately that was 20 years, 150 pounds and about 10 strokes ago.

I can't wait to get out tomorrow and see if it comes with me to the course.

Love the concept.....no gimmicks. The book lays it out very nicely.....every professional golfer (Save for a few with extremely slow backswings....think Woody or Nancy Lopez) has a 3:1 ratio - (start of club to backswing) (3) / (backswing to impact) (1) ratio (in terms of tempo).

The funny thing is the entire book could be presented in about a 1 page manual....the rest of the book is just two drills that take too long to explain, and about 100 pages of testimonials and Q and A. Here's the gist:

With that 3:1 ratio in mind (the book takes 30 pages proving it by telling how the author analyzed dozens or hundreds of tour swings), the author has clumped basically all pro golfers into 3 camps of actual swing-times. Get it? Every pro golfer has a 3:1 backswing/forwardswing-to-impact ratio, but individual pros take one of three different amounts of time actually completing the whole process. Those three times are measured in frames per second (from standard a standard television video feed that displays at 30 frames per second): 27/9, 24/8, 21/7. So, for example, Jim Furyk, Fuzzy Zoeller, David Toms, Ben Crenshaw, etc use 27 frames per second backswing, and a 9 frames per second forward swing to impact (frames per second = FPS). Get it? 27/9 = 3/1. Tiger, pPhil, Norman, Paddy, Freddy, Daly, Vijay all use 24/8 FPS (which is 3/1).

Actually, all the pros are not EXACTLY 27/9 or 24/8 or 21/7, but all fall within 1 FPS.

The takeaway - the reason ALL pro golfers look like they are swinging so smoothly, and yet hit the ball a mile, is that they have this same silky smooth, but fairly quick rhythm.

The takeaway for us - we can LEARN tempo, now that we know what the "Tour tempo" is. Most golfers are actually taking WAY too long with their backswing.....because of the bad advice of "low and slow" and "slow one-piece takeaway." Think about it, only Woody on tour really uses that advice....and he's only been hot for 6 months.

The valuable thing the book provides is actually the CDswith the various tempos on beat tracks with tones that correspond to the 3:1 ratio. The author recommends amateurs use the 27/9, because that is much faster than most amateurs actually do. If you buy the MP3 of of iTunes, get the 27/9 Pre-shot track. This includes a lower tone for when to start the backswing, a higher tone for when to start the forward swing, and a final tone for when impact should occur. Just get it, play in around the house, practice your swing without a club trying to match it to the beats, then play it on your ipod at the range.

That's it, that's what the book tells you (plus two drills that really have nothing to do with tempo, they are just good drills for learning fundamentals). Yes, that's really it. I would recommend the book because it explains everything in detail. But I kept turning the pages waiting for the next big "secret." But there is no secret beyond the 3:1 ratio.

This is a great book, great research, and probably one of the most fundamental golf advances in recent years. Definitely worth the $$ for the book (or at least 99 cents for the track on iTunes).

I think most golfers would benefit from the Tour Tempo concept, but it is not a holy grail, IMO. I think finding and maintaining a repeatable tempo is a very important factor in any swing. However, the 3/1 ratio think isn't the only one you'll see among top touring pros. There are a variety of tempos in use by top pros--including some of the better ball-strikers. What you will see is the same tempo swing after swing after swing, and that is hugely important.

Agree and disagree. I was impressed by the thoroughness of the books research into the game's top ballstrikers...all of which (at least those presented in the book) have the 3:1 ratio (within 1 FPS, that is, and using one of the three "total elapse" times).

I'm wondering who you would point to who doesn't use the 3:1 ratio? I'm sure there's a list somewhere in response to this book "debunking" it, but I haven't found it. The list presented in the book was enough to persuade me. Interestingly, those who "look" like they have quicker or slower swings actually have the same speeds within about 2 FPS ( so within 1/15'th of a second of each other)...Phil, Tiger, Norman, Couples, daly, Singh, Stricker, Garcia, and Els all use 24/8....and they look VERY different watching them in person... (think of the visual difference between watching say Els v. Tiger or Norman). What I'm saying is that looks can deceive.

Agree that the important point is learning a repeatable tempo, and the CDs are very helpful for that.

I've got vids of a bunch of pros' swings. Just off the top of my head, Singh, Appleby and Snead are three that don't stick to the 3/1 much the time. Those are three pretty good ball strikers. ;-)

I guess my point is that people shouldn't get obsessed with the 3/1 ratio. The Tour Tempo guys play it a little loose with the frame counting. What's more important than the 3/1 ratio, IMO, is that you find a ratio that works for you and stick with it. This is where the TT guys are right on the money. Good players will practice their tempo. The average recreational golfer has probably never practiced their tempo. Good tempo will allow for a more comfortable and controlled transition, which makes it a lot easier to get into a consistently good position at impact.

Cool that you looked into the 3:1 thing. I wonder if anybody has double checked the authors' figures ... cause both Snead and Singh are cited in the book. Still, it does seem like most pros with conventional swings "hover around" the 3:1 ratio, and that's helpful to know.

This I feel is not the be all end all book on tempo in the golf swing. What it is is a very interesting perspective on swing tempo by Mr. Novosel. His study or the tempos of successful golfers has merit but the drills included in the accompanying cd are not going to work for all individuals. The drills are based on the tempos 21/7 24/8 and 27/9. It is very possible for a very good player to have a tempo that does not match up to these 3 base tempos. As the author himself acknowledged many pros have other tempos such as 24/9. Players such as Ernie Els, Jerry Kelly, Vijay Singh. That is also my swing tempo and I found the drills on the cd impossible to use. That being said this is a interesting book and the knowledge I gained was well worth the price I payed.

I picked up the tour tempo book on Monday and I have to say I am quite impressed so far. Since my wife and I had our first child in January, my time golfing has dwindled down from typical 1-2 week from a NJ golf season to a total of only 10 rounds this whole year so far. During the season, I do get to spend some time out on the range during lunch (helps to have a range down the street from my office), but it really isn't same as being out on the course. In any case, without playing much, I did notice that rhythm on the course is always the hardest thing to find, outside (or part of) a short game.

After I picked up this book, I did drills in my basement listening to the tunes provided. I do have to say that I found 21/7 to be my preferred tempo and simply spent 30 minutes the past couple of nights in the basement hitting to that tempo. Well, I played a round today and shot one of my best rounds in a long time (+2) with a -4 back nine with four 3-putts. I don't know if it was just the novelty of the concepts or just having a really good day at the course.

I am interested to see how tour tempo will work in the long run, but after this round I'm going to look more into it. It really is ashame that the golf season in NJ is coming to end.

The big change in my game as a result of tour tempo was incorporating the tempo concepts to my pre-shot routine and address-to-swing. Basically, I kept my mechanical pre-shot routine concentrating on swing points and ALL of the typical analytical points --- wrists, arms, elbows, etc. (ala Ben Hogan). But as soon as I address the ball, I just replay the pre-shot 21/7 rhythm in my head and just swing to the beats. I really can't say how close I was to hitting exactly at that tempo, but I can say that I was hitting the ball freaking clean [14/18 greens in regulation].

This is great timing for this topic to come up (hehe, pun intended) for me because today at the course, I hit some terrific (for me) 3-woods. Then, later in the round they weren't going nearly as well. My playing partner/friend said to me, "You know, I don't know what you are doing differently, but your tempo seems off--it's not smooth like it was earlier"

I've been thinking the same thing, so here we are. I'm going to check out a few tracks on iTunes.

What are the tracks on iTunes called, or what are they filed under?

EDIT: One more thing, what does the "Swing, set, through" mean? Swing would be start of the backswing? Set is the transition? Through is downswing or impact? Help!

I would use the three beep track rather than the Swing, Set, through track....MUCH less annoying than that monotone voice..yes, Swing = begin swing, Set = top of backswing/begin downswing, through = impact. Also, one important thing is to NOT anticipate the beeps....just try to get your swing timed so it naturally corresponds with the beeps/words. By not anticipating the beeps, this means especially for the 2nd beep/"set," don't go into the backswing waiting for it to happen, because you run the risk of taking too long or small a backswing if your natural speed is too slow/fast. Just try to work on matching a free flowing natural swing to the beeps.

Does anyone still have the mp3's? I'm deffinately looking into this! My buddy who's an unbelievable striker of the ball suggested it and even he's benefitted from it... he shot a 76 with a back 9 32 using the methods.

Thanks

"What are the tracks on iTunes called, or what are they filed under?"

I am also interested in where to find these. I admit I am a complete novice at itunes (golf too ), but I can't find anything using the search for tour tempo.

Thanks.

I purchased the book and it came with a CD including the tempo tracks. I then put them on my iPod. I haven't seen them on iTunes. You may want to check the TourTempo website to see if you can purchase and download them there.

Just wanted to add my two cents:)

I purchased the tour tempo digital music player. I've been to the range several times and the result were evident. I was peppering the flags from all distances! I am really excited to practice more with the tour tempo to really ingrain the 3:1 swing ratio!

Hello all
1st post!!! i've just purchased 'TourTempo" and i need some advice, i seem to be the only person whose backswing
is too fast and i need to slow down, anyone else find this? having said this i really do struggle with 'casting' the club
and have seen in the book that one of the pupils/examples also found this, i've found 24/8 is probably the best for me,
any thoughts/advice would be appreciated
many thanks
rgds
Roger (UK)

In the book it suggests starting off with using just the 2 beep track of the CD to start with. The first beep to initiate the swing and the second for the top of the backswing. (the "swing - set" tracks)

This might enable you to just concentrate on the backswing and get that right first.

I've been using TT which I downloaded to my MP3 player for over a year now. When I’m a little off with my timing I always go back to listening to it before I play or when I’m on the practice range. I get positive compliments on my tempo all the time.
As far as your casting, a little casting in itself is not all that bad and sometimes enables a player to widen the arch of their downswing. The problem as I see it comes when the club get’s ahead of the hands through the impact zone. Tom Watson has a slight cast to initiate his swing but get’s his hands in front of the club head on the way down. As far as trying to get rid of it altogether you may want to try and keep the "L" for a fraction of a second longer on your down swing. Just holding it and naturally allowing your wrist to unhinge naturally from waist level down should help. I believe there is a “L” drill for this in the book. You probably already know that this will enable you to lag the club longer which in turn will create more head speed through the impact zone. To help with that you may want to try using the slower tempo’s until you get a feel for the beats. The longer pause at the top should help because the slower beats will allow you not to anticipate the “through” beat which may be leading your casting movement. Good luck….

I have read this book several times, and totally agree with the author's premise regarding the tempo of the golf swing. However, being a former musician, I found it difficult to use the CD which is included with the book. If you follow the instructions, you must wait until you actually hear the first tone to begin the backswing, responding to, but not anticipating, the sound to begin the swing.

In order to compensate for the slight delay caused by waiting to hear the sound, they added a little extra time between the first and second tones, which really drove me crazy (the [email="an@l"]an@l[/email] retentive musician in me). So I figured out what the tempo would be for each swing ratio (24/8, 27/9, etc.) in terms of breats per minute and simply use a standard metronome, matching the swing positions to the rythem of the metronome. I start with a slower tempo than what is ideal for me, gradually moving the tempo up in speed until I start to feel a little out of control, and then back off to the ideal tempo (for me).

When I practice in this manner, it really helps me quiet the mind. I can't worry about all of the mental checklists that can interfere with the swing. I just try and swing smoothly in time with the beat. FWIW, here is a table with the metronome tempos for the various swing ratios (in BPM).

Tour Tempo Ratio BPM
21:7 193
24:8 169
27:9 150
30:10 135
33:11 [/size]123

I use these in a waltz tempo, feeling the swing as 1-2-3, 1-2-3, etc., with the first beat ocurring at the beginning of the swing and the second beat at the impact position. Think of a pendulum swinging back and forth, passing the low point on the first beat of each three beat grouping. I use this for everything from putting to chipping to pitching to full swings with every club in the bag. Hope this helps.
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Was sceptical but gave it a go last night, listened to the rythym (24/8) in the car on the way to the course this morning and just had my best round of the year (gross 75).

We all instinctively know what good and bad tempo looks and feels like, but upto now no-one has defined good tempo in a simple way which we can practice and use on the course.

Quick tip - for some reason the website www.cdbaby has lengthy legitimate previews of the music tracks, including the mysterious 'alpha wave' tracks.

Being musical, I find the music tracks 3 1 beat easier to think about over the shot than the green box beeping noises.

I wouldn't say I hit the ball brilliantly this morning, what I did do for the first time in a long time was not hit any card wrecking shots.

This system will not make up for poor mechanics, but maybe for me defined tempo is the missing link - the true test as for all training aids will be my scores in 6 months time.

For what it is, the complete system is vastly overpriced - trouble is it seems to work. Could say the same about a tour burner as well I suppose.

I got this book, but when I checked the accompanying cd, there were only audio tracks for the 3 tone sets. There are supposed to be video lesson tracks also. Did I get a first edition blooper? I just sent an email to www.tourtempo.com, but no response as of yet ... weekend.

I'm a little confused of the diff. number ratios like 24/7, 24/8, etc.

Apparently, Vista only sees the audio files (.cda) and nothing else. When I opened the cd on an xp computer, the video files were there. I guess Vista is not backward compatible with CDSF type cd's.

I have limited musical knowledge, and I've only listened to the free samples on the website, but I work the BPMs out as approximately:

161.5 bpm for 21:7
144 bpm for 24:8
129.5 bpm for 27:9

It's a 4-4 pattern, with "swing" on the first beat, "set" on the third, and "through" on the fourth.

Shouldn't be difficult to make your own track, or even just listen to electronic tracks with those bpms.

Is this right? Or am I missing something?

I am a novice golfer but an experienced musician. I first discovered Tour Tempo from their YouTube infomercial. I then went to their web page, figured that there must be mp3 tracks available. I google searched for "tour tempo mp3", which lead me to this forum. (Many thanks to willamette's condensed version). For those looking for mp3 tracks on the internet, they are available at emusic dot com. So, I basically obtained the mp3 tracks without reading the book, but with the information from this page and YouTube video.

The 27/9 tracks I downloaded confused me a bit. I was expecting that they would contain a set of three signal tones that were separated by 3:1. What I found was the three tones separated by 2:1 (a 4-4 pattern in which swing-set-through on the 1st-3rd-4th beat, that's 2:1) . If I "time" my three swing points (swing, set, through) "on" the signal tones, I would be swinging with a 2/1 tempo.

Then, I stopped by at Barnes and Noble and read the key chapter on this issue. The author actually once created the three tones at 0, 0.90 s, and 1.20 s (three tones separated by 3:1 and the total elapsed time corresponding to 27/9), and tried them on his kids who are low handicappers. With this rhythm, the kids had to "anticipate" the tones and time their action on the beat, but they had difficulty doing so. From my own experience, it is easy to anticipate the first note and start the back swing (provided that there are continuous background beats), but it is not always easy to time the "set" position at a tone. I think it is the nature of the set position (which doubles as the end of backswing and the beginning of downswing) that causes this difficulty.

Therefore, the creation of the current version of the three tone sets. The author instructs that players need to react to (but should not anticipate) the first and second beats. Then, the moment of impact must be timed ON the third beat (this is easy). The three beats on my 27/9 tracks come at 0, 0.90, and 1.35 second. Because there should be the same amount of delay (which must be 0.10-0.15 second for the most people) in our reaction to the first and second beats, the actual swing tempo would become close to 0.90-0.30. That's my interpretation.

You're close.

21-7 is 80 BPM (not 160!)
24-8 is 72 BPM
27-9 is 64.5 BPM

But the answer to your question is yes, you could easily make your own tracks at those same tempos, OR shift those tempos to match your own. Personally, I've found that swinging using the TourTempo tracks gets me way too rushed on my backswing. I don't see how I can get the club going away slowly, when the next sound I hear in my head is "SET-THROUGH!"