How to use a Metronome for Putting Tempo Practice

[Tempoman]

There are various ways of using a Metronome for practicing putting tempo. I've attached a pdf illustrating 4 methods (see below).

The first is the Pelz "touch-touch" drill in which you swing the putter back and forth in order to "find" your tempo.

Although Dave Pelz discusses pendulums and metronomes, I have yet to find a description of how to use a metronome to hit actual putts in any of his books.

 

The basic timing of a putting stroke is: Backswing time = Downswing time. The Backswing time is 2 times the Downswing to Impact time. The metronome being a periodic device, should be set to a timing in which beats occur in sync with putting stroke events (takeaway, top of backswing, impact, finish).

 

Use the Pelz method to "find" your tempo (per Dave Pelz Putting Bible).

I call this tempo your CoreTempo.

 

For Method 1, set the Metronome to your CoreTempo.

Takeaway on beat 1, top of backswing on beat 2, and finish on beat 3.

 

For Method 2, set the Metronome to your CoreTempo * 2.

Takeaway on beat 1, halfway back on beat 2, top of backswing on beat 3, impact on beat 4

 

For Method 3, set the Metronome to your CoreTempo * .666

Takeaway on beat 1, and impact on beat 2.

 

Each method has it's drawbacks. See the attached pdf for illustration of Metronome methods for Putting Tempo training.

 

An interesting aspect of the Dave Pelz "touch-touch" drill is that it yields a slower tempo than your real putting stroke. For example, Dave Pelz states that his tempo is 80 bpm using the touch-touch drill, but his actual putting stroke is more like 112 bpm. This is because the touch-touch drill covers 33% more distance than a putting stroke. In other words, if your putting stroke tempo were 112 bpm, it would be quite a workout to keep up using the touch-touch drill at 112 bpm.

 

 

[hoganfan924]

I've worked to both the Pelz "10 minutes a day to better putting" drills and Geoff Mangum's "Optimal Putting." Both methods delve quite a bit into stroke timing and can benefit from metronome work.

 

I've been messing around trying to find my right tempo. So far 95 BPM seems to be working well for me as far as best directional control (making 10 ft. straight putts). That's a fairly fast tempo, but the length of my pendulum is short (32" sleeve length, 31" putter length and 5'7" tall). The shorter the pendulum, the faster the tempo due to gravity.

 

BTW, you can download a free iPhone metronome app. from itunes (I found 2 of them). The metronome will keep beeping when you hit the shut off button at the top edge of the phone which helps preserve battery life. To turn off the apps, you have to hit the round button on the front of the iphone.

[Tempoman]

95 bpm is not as fast as it might seem. If you practiced using Method 3 in the attachment, you would set the metronome to 63bpm for a 95bpm CoreTempo. Take the putter back on "tick" and strike the ball on "tock".

 

Just to provide an overall perspective, here are some putting tempos FYI:

 

K.J. Choi 90bpm

Vaughn Taylor 90bpm

David Toms 90bpm

Ernie Els 100bpm

Phil Mickelson 100bpm

Geoff Ogilvy 100bpm

Steve Flesch 100bpm

Trevor Immelman 106bpm

Tiger Woods 112bpm

Davis Love 112bpm

Anthony Kim 120bpm

Aaron Baddeley 129bpm

[hoganfan924]

95 bpm is not as fast as it might seem. If you practiced using Method 3 in the attachment, you would set the metronome to 63bpm for a 95bpm CoreTempo. Take the putter back on "tick" and strike the ball on "tock".

 

Just to provide an overall perspective, here are some putting tempos FYI:

 

K.J. Choi 90bpm

Vaughn Taylor 90bpm

David Toms 90bpm

Ernie Els 100bpm

Phil Mickelson 100bpm

Geoff Ogilvy 100bpm

Steve Flesch 100bpm

Trevor Immelman 106bpm

Tiger Woods 112bpm

Davis Love 112bpm

Anthony Kim 120bpm

Aaron Baddeley 129bpm

 

I start the backswing on a tick (I anticipate the tick so that there is no start lag), finish the backstoke on the next tick and impact the ball on the next tick at 95 bpm - those are consecutive beeps at a true 95 bpm. I think the backstroke time should equal the time to impact. Pelz method does not accomodate this (maybe method 3 could). Anyway, still experimenting in the house.

[Tempoman]

With the metronome set to 95bpm:

If you takeaway on the 1st beat and reach the top of the backswing on the 2nd tick, you should reach the end of the finish on the 3rd tick. Impact should occur between the 2nd and 3rd ticks. This is Method 1 in the attached pdf. That's also my reason for not using Method 1, you will tend to strike the ball on the 3rd beat.

 

If you strike the ball on the 3rd beat, you in effect, have a backswing to downswing to impact ratio of 1:1. Your downswing to impact time is too slow in comparison to your backswing time. It should be 2:1. The backswing time should be equal to the downswing to finish time. The backswing time should be equal to twice the downswing to impact time.

 

Try setting your metronome to 63bpm and take the putter away on the 1st tick and strike the ball on the 2nd tick. I think Method 3 is the best since it gives you a cue for impact.

[Tempoman]

To re-iterate, if you set your metronome to 95 bpm and:

1. take the putter back on the 1st beat,

2. start the downswing on the 2nd beat and,

3. STRIKE the ball on the 3rd beat:

 

The backswing tempo would be 95 bpm,

The downswing tempo would be 47.5bpm.

 

To practice a symmetrical pendulum putting stroke, the end of the finish should occur on the 3rd beat. Impact occurs between the 2nd and 3rd beats.

[cjcollas]

I was practicing last night using the third method at 60bpm takeaway on the first tick and impact on the tock and it seemed to be working pretty good. If I wanted to use the first method what bpm would that be. Also the Pros speeds that are listed, what method are they using at those bpm's cause they seem really fast.

[cjcollas]

ttt....

[Tempoman]

If you putt with method 3 at 60bpm (takeaway on the tick and strike ball on the tock), it would be equivalent to method 1 at 90bpm. In other words, swinging the putter back and forth at 90bpm is the same as an actual putt in which you takeaway the putter on the tick and strike the ball on the tock. So, just divide the method 1 tempo by 1.5 to get the method 3 setting.

 

The pro's tempo I showed in the previous post was based on method 1. Pro's do putt faster than most high to mid handicaps. Of all the methods, I like method 3 the best. However, it doesn't provide a means of knowing when the downswing should begin. There's a video at dxptech.com that describes putting tempo and shows tour players' tempos.

[cjcollas]

Thanks for the response tempoman. I have one more question. If im putting using a metronome wouldn't the distance dictate how fast the tempo would be as in a short put would be alot faster then a long putt? Is there a certain practice distance I should putt from while using the metronome ?

[Tempoman]

You should ALWAYS use the same tempo for ALL length putts. The only thing that should be varied is the backswing (or stroke) length. By virtue of "pendulum" attributes, for a long stroke, the putter has to move faster to cover a longer distance in the same time compared to a shorter stroke.

One putting myth that has been repeated a lot is the "1 inch backswing for every foot of putt" tip. The distance a ball rolls when hit depends on the backswing length but it is not a linear function. It's actually a "squared" relationship.

 

What you want to do is start with a 1 foot backswing while listening to your metronome set to 60bpm (I believe you said this was a good match). Note the roll distance of the putt. Increase the length to 2 feet while listening to the metronome. How far should it go? Some might think twice the distance as the first putt, but the real answer is 4 times! To hit the putt twice the distance as the first putt, take the putter back 17 inches. Use a yardstick and place a tee at 0 inches(ball position), 12inches, 17 inches, and 24 inches. Listen to the metronome, keeping the same tempo, while varying your backswing. Your balls should form a distance pattern 1x 2x 4x out. Of course, the distance the ball rolls will vary with the green speed, but the relative distance spread should still be 1x 2x 4x.

 

Hope this helps.

[cjcollas]

Thanks for the hasty responses I really appreciate them. Just to be clear, even though i think you answered this ( just want to make sure i practice correctly). If I was using the third method of metronome putting at the 60bpm setting, would the tick at takeaway and the tock at impact during a 25 foot putt be the same tick at takeaway and tock at impact as a 5 foot putt.

[caviar]

Thanks for the hasty responses I really appreciate them. Just to be clear, even though i think you answered this ( just want to make sure i practice correctly). If I was using the third method of metronome putting at the 60bpm setting, would the tick at takeaway and the tock at impact during a 25 foot putt be the same tick at takeaway and tock at impact as a 5 foot putt.

 

Yes.

 

For those of us who do not have an Iphone, anyone know a good web metronome with 1 bpm increments?

[Tempoman]

Yes, that's right. tick at the takeaway, and tock at the impact regardless of the length putt and the length of your backswing.

 

caviar, you can try coretempo.com for an equivalent to a metronome yet more like a golf swing timing which is not periodic.

[DeadPoetsPutt]

So Mike Shannon said 75% of the pros on tour have a tempo of 76. So is he talking about Pelz's Method 3 tempo (aka take back on tic, strike ball on tock - meaning bpm would be 76*.666 = 114 ?)

76 bpm seems super slow if it's method 1
Pros putt much faster than that (also because they play on faster greens)

[PJ72]

[quote name='Tempoman' timestamp='1237583090' post='1568028']
To re-iterate, if you set your metronome to 95 bpm and:
1. take the putter back on the [b]1st beat[/b],
2. start the downswing on the [b]2nd beat[/b] and,
3. STRIKE the ball on the [b]3rd beat[/b]:

[b]The backswing tempo would be 95 bpm,
The downswing tempo would be [u]47.5[/u]bpm[/b].

To practice a symmetrical pendulum putting stroke, the [b][u]end of the finish[/u][/b] should occur on the 3rd beat. Impact occurs between the 2nd and 3rd beats.
[/quote]

I'm not very musically minded, could you explain the working on those two sentences please?

[Nice Sean]

[quote name='Tempoman' timestamp='1237583090' post='1568028']
To re-iterate, if you set your metronome to 95 bpm and:
1. take the putter back on the [b]1st beat[/b],
2. start the downswing on the [b]2nd beat[/b] and,
3. STRIKE the ball on the [b]3rd beat[/b]:

The backswing tempo would be 95 bpm,
The downswing tempo would be [b][u]47.5[/u][/b]bpm.

To practice a symmetrical pendulum putting stroke, the [b][u]end of the finish[/u][/b] should occur on the 3rd beat. Impact occurs between the 2nd and 3rd beats.
[/quote]

That actually doesn't sound right to me.

You don't start the backswing from the point where the downswing ends, you start it from behind the ball. Therefore, it's not 50% of the swing if you strike the ball on the 3rd tick of the metronome. It's the same position from where you actually took the putter from. Therefore if it's 90bpm then it's 90bpm throughout - which is correct.

1st tick you take the putter back
2nd tick you start the downswing
3rd tick you strike the ball.

Simple.

[osubuckeyes691]

Bringing back a really old thread here but I just downloaded an app from the Apple app store and I love it. It's called Swing Tempo. You can choose how long you want the backstroke and forward stroke to be, and you can set different tones for start, top of backswing, impact, etc. 

 

I try to set the times to be a ratio of roughly 2:1

 

It's super nice to have different sounds when practicing IMO

 

For $2 I think it's well worth it