Aesop was right. Without being the tortoise in the fable, you can progress by taking small steps and in particular, by being steady in your efforts to develop your physical skills, your technical abilities, and thus improve your game throughout your life. There’s one condition, though: you have to give yourself the time.

Imagine having the opportunity to improve the distance of your shots by one per cent per year. Say your drives currently travel 230 yards; in ten years, they’d be close to 250 yards. Or would you prefer your score to go from 100 to 90?

Swing slower but hit the ball further

Tempo is an Italian word that means “time”, marked by the duration, alternation of strong or weak movements, order, intensity and rate of the action. The arms move six times faster than the body. Taking as an example the mythical hare (the arms during the swing), and the tortoise (the rest of the body), all golfers improve their tempo as soon as they slow down the speed of their arms.

By relaxing the arms, you create momentum allowing the rest of the body to lead the motion. A slower arm movement permits a more graceful swing – without apparent effort – and creates harmony, control and power.

A time for everything and everything in its own time

In golf as in everyday life, the concept of time is certainly one of the most difficult to manage. “So much to do and so little time”, we say. Without being able to control time, we can concentrate on the essentials by accepting that “you eat an elephant one bite at a time”. Train well this winter, and happy golfing!

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