Metronome Beats - Mobile device tempo timer

[Jon Brittan]

You want to review a mobile phone app for music on a golf forum?

 

Yes, I do, but bear with me for just a minute, please. Feel free to call me a crank, but read a few more paragraphs first...

 

You will often hear teaching professionals and commentators talk about both rhythm and tempo in the golf swing.

You will also often watch a tour professional and think they look like they're barely swinging, while generating clubhead speeds you really wish you could achieve... This is the result of the rhythm of their swing, it may be fast but it's smooth and balanced...

 

I started playing golf two years ago and have taught myself. I'll cover more on my own background in golf shortly as I'll be reviewing the Ben Hogan Ft. Worth Black irons for this site, but it was for that very reason that this week I wanted to make sure my ball-striking is currently about as good as I can hope for it to be at present.

 

Some of you will have heard of the Tour Tempo app, I can't vouch for it's merits or even suggest it has dis-merits, but it does cost money.

I wanted to make sure my swing tempo was good, so I downloaded a completely free metronome timer on Android

 

What is the App?

 

Metronome Beats

 

 

It has adverts in the app, but they're completely unobtrusive.

 

What does it do?

 

The app plays a consistent beat in a fourths format. It allows beats up to 900bpm, which is way faster than we need and it's really easy to set.

You simply swirl through the dial to set the rhythm you want and press the play button for it to "tap" at you through the speakers or headphones if you have them connected to your device.

 

 

You can also quickly adjust your tempo up and down in 1 or 5 bpm increments.

 

Okay, so what are we looking to achieve?

 

I find this really helps me to "balance" my swing and find a good pace.

I actually played a round of golf with headphones in and this ticking away to me on every shot this week and it is almost certainly the most consistent and best I have hit a ball in my entire time playing.

 

There are two aspects to your swing, as we mentioned earlier, rhythm and tempo. Let's address both...

 

Tempo is the time it takes to make your swing, the start of your take-away through to impact.

There is a secondary value to knowing this. I don't know if you've ever tried to use a shaft manufacturer's website for shaft recommendations, but you may be used to these screens:

 

 

True Temper and KBS for two examples. I'm not sure what KBS go with, but True Temper for example consider a "Fast" tempo to be any swing that takes less than a second start to finish, a "Moderate" swing to be one between 1 second and 1.25 seconds, with a "Deliberate" swing being any swing of greater than 1.25 seconds between take-away and impact.

 

Our metronome timer can help us with this. If you complete your swing at a metronome rate of 60bpm or greater then you're in their "Fast" category, if you complete your swing faster than a beat of 48bpm but slower than 60bpm then you are their "Moderate" and any slower than that you are "Deliberate".
This can help you with unassisted shaft fitting or at least give you a start (though I'd always recommend a proper fitting).

 

Finally, we can work on our rhythm with this app also.

If you can determine approximately the tempo you want in your swing, then we simply need a 3/1 setup for this.

I swing at a tempo of 70bpm, so we multiply this by 4 for 280bpm and want our backswing to take the first three beats, before returning to impact in time for the fourth.

 

So, is it any good?

 

It's a metronome that is free and goes up to 900 bpm (a conceptual full swing in just a touch over a quarter of a second, I don't think any of us are getting there... )

It can play with your phone locked and can be switched on and off like any media output via a headphone remote, so it's perfect for use on the range or even on course if you wish to.

 

For the "money" it's exactly what we need as an addition to our training aids

 

Just to close out, I like to consider myself quite a capable golfer at times, but only having two years of experience and being fully self-taught my biggest problem is consistency, I can shoot really low or have a really bad day at times.

Heydon isn't the most difficult of courses, but this was a separate front and back nine, both played with Metronome Beats playing in my ears for every single swing (and the last few holes played in almost total darkness so you just had to trust you'd hit the ball where you wanted and walk to the spot you thought it was).

It seems having your rhythm and tempo in your ears really does help...

 

[cksurfdude]

2 years and shooting -1..!!??!! Impressive, and keep up the good work!!

[cksurfdude]

oh, and... I believe the Tour Tempo count - eg. "24/8" - refers to the total time vs the downswing time; so the backswing/downswing ratio is closer to 2:1

[DPattGolf]

Nice review Jon! I have a couple of college players who love to use apps like this around the practice green so they can keep their stroke more relaxed and prevent from getting jabby

[russtopherb]

Hi. 30+ year drummer here.

 

I love working to tempo and the Tour Tempo stuff. I have a lot of the Tour Tempo tracks and songs and I find them very helpful.

 

Want to easily get them? Head to your local library and check out the Tour Tempo book. It includes a CD. You can figure out the rest from there

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[cnosil]

Hi. 30+ year drummer here.

 

I love working to tempo and the Tour Tempo stuff. I have a lot of the Tour Tempo tracks and songs and I find them very helpful.

 

Want to easily get them? Head to your local library and check out the Tour Tempo book. It includes a CD. You can figure out the rest from there

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

That assumes you local library has the book. Another way is to go to the website, sign up for their mailing list and get sent a few sample tracks. Or you can use the link they provide you in the emails:

 

https://www.tourtempo.com/tour-tempo-tracks-free-download/

[russtopherb]

That assumes you local library has the book. Another way is to go to the website, sign up for their mailing list and get sent a few sample tracks. Or you can use the link they provide you in the emails:

 

https://www.tourtempo.com/tour-tempo-tracks-free-download/

 

If they don't have it, inter-library loan should turn in up in a week or so. That's how I checked it out!

[goaliewales14]

I used Tempo in Motion for a bit.  I would say it worked great, but I always felt like I was trying to match the beat rather than just swing.

[Jon Brittan]

I used Tempo in Motion for a bit. I would say it worked great, but I always felt like I was trying to match the beat rather than just swing.

I think it depends on "where" you are in your game at times.

My swing, currently, works and one of my big problems can be over-thinking, so only thinking about matching the beat and letting the swing come works for me...