The man who's spent his life studying the tempo of the world's best players explains what it is and why it's so important. Does a petite LPGA pro really swing the club at the same rhythm as Tiger Woods? The answer is yes, accordong to American John Novosel, author of the best-selling book, Tour Tempo.
How do you define tempo?
Tempo is the mathematical relationship of the elapsed time it takes to complete the backswing - the swing's start to the top - compared to the... read more

John Novosel isn't a tour pro or certified golf instructor; he's an avid golfer and inventor of training aids who had a "eureka" moment. After studying film and video footage of many of the game's best players, Novosel realized that virtually every top golfer has the same swing tempo: The backswing takes three times as long as the downswing. In Tour Tempo: Golf's Last Secret Finally Revealed (with John Garrity, $25, 160 pages, Doubleday, 2004), Novosel argues that golfers play their best when they maintain this 3-to-1 ratio. Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, Hank Kuehne have swings that measure 21/7... read more

If you're a typical golfer, you own a dozen or more instructional books. The titles may vary - The Seven Foundations of Golf, Power Golf, etc. - but the contents are basically the same. How to grip the club. How to address the ball. The backswing, the downswing, the follow-through. Ninety percent of golf instructional books focus on swing mechanics. The other 10 percent counsel you on the mental and metaphysical aspects of the game - probably because the pursuit of a sound swing has left you frustated, anxious and clinically depressed. This mechanics vs. mind-set dichotomy is is curious... read more

If you've ever wandered out to the range at a PGA Tour event to watch the pros practice, you were probably less impressed by how far they hit the ball (you already knew they were long) than by the smooth, leisurely tempos on display up and down the line. Compared with the quick-jerk artists at your neighborhood range, the best players in the world seem to swing in slow motion. But the truth is that they are completing their swings much faster than it seems. If you were to start your take-away at the same instant that a languid-swinging pro like David Toms started his ... read more

In the name of tempo, Phil McInnis traveled here from Louisiana to improve his golf game. In the name of tempo, he flew to America's heartland to receive instruction from a man who is not a golf professional and likely never will be. Tempo is an omnipresent element of the golf swing. It is a crucial part of the swing, although the common wisdom is that each golfer possesses an individual tempo that cannot or should not be altered. McInnis came to see John Novosel, a former football player at Kansas State University and a self-styled golf entrepreneur who is best known for inventing a swing training... read more

In his new book, The SECRET of GOLF,  George Peper - former editor-in-chief of GOLF Magazine for 25 years, singled out Tour Tempo out as one of the 47 breakthroughs in golf instruction. 

“The true heroes of this book are the unsung innovators.. who spent their lifetimes thinking about and working towards a better way to play, then on one glorious day experienced a genuine Eureka moment.  I’m referring to the likes of John Novosel and his discovery of Tour Tempo.” And, “Golf’s first twenty first century eureka occurred in the spring of 2000 when John Novosel discovered something he called Tour Tempo.”
I definitely recommend the book as it pretty much covers the full spectrum of the history of instruction.  I found it entertaining and a joy to read.  I particularly liked a sentence on the dustjacket of the book:
“The bad news about golf will come as no surprise to anyone who plays it:  It is a game that is impossible to perfect.  But the good news is that on any given day, there’s a secret that will bump you to the next level.”

Click here to read George Pepper's introduction to Tour Tempo