The glue holding the swing together is the tempo of the golf swing. It is simply the speed of your swing. The pace is not controlled by your arms and legs but rather by your core. Because everyone rotates their bodies at different speeds, it will differ for each person. Therefore, everyone’s swing pace will vary. Your body’s speed of rotation will also decrease as you age.
A proper swing pace is essential because the many parts of the body involved in the swing won’t mesh without it. Inconsistency in timing and distance can result from a discordant body. Swinging will not be smooth and appear uncoordinated. The simple solution to this problem is to slow down to allow all parts of your body to work together. But there are more options than slowing down.
The core of your body controls the speed of swing. This is why we have already mentioned it. Because the core of the body is limited in its ability to move at an accelerated pace (which will be determined by the individual swinging it), the arms need to stay together. The arms are able to move much faster than the body so when trying to get more club speed, and therefore more distance, the common strategy is to try swinging your arms harder. It causes everything to be out of sync and results in poor shots.
Let the body guide you to the proper place at the ball contact point. Then let your arms lead the way from the core of the body. What is the best arm rhythm or speed for the backswing? It’s generally accepted that the backswing should be three times slower to get to its top. You can count to 4 starting at the time you begin to swing the club back. At the top, it will be three. Then at contact, you will reach four. This drill is not something you would want to practice while playing golf, but it’s a great one to use on the driving range or when taking some swings with your club.
You can also try a little drill: grasp the golf club using both your hands. Keep the shaft parallel to it. As you count down to 3, turn your body to backswing, then return it to contact with the ball at four. This will allow you to feel the right tempo. It doesn’t matter if it is too fast or slow. All you need to do when managing other aspects of the course is to bring this tempo to your golf swing.