TOUR TECHNIQUE
I F YOU WERE TO RANK THE two things that golfers want most for their golf swings, they’d probably say more pow- er is No 1, but a not-so-distant second is better tempo and rhythm. If putting a smoother swing on the ball is your goal, then you should listen to what one of the best ball-strikers in the game has to say about it – eight- time PGA Tour winner Patrick Cantlay. His qualified advice starts from taking extra time as you transition from back- swing to downswing. At a recent clinic, Cantlay said it feels like he’s “waiting” a beat before starting down, like his club comes to a complete pause at the top of the swing (above) even though he knows it doesn’t truly stop. The feeling of an unrushed tran- sition is the key to his smooth speed down and through the ball.
Smooth Out Your Swing
“It gives me as much time as possible to get speed at impact,” Cantlay said of his transition move. “Ev- erything feels like it’s building right until the club gets to the ball.”
DON’T BE IN A RUSH Let the momentum of your swing slowly build.
To be clear, Cantlay doesn’t want you to think of your swing as having two parts (a backswing and through-swing). Rather, it should be one continuous movement that slowly builds into top speed around impact – and keeps going into a fully unwound finish. Another thing that can help improve your rhythm and tempo, he says, is this thought: Don’t hit the ball; swing past it to the finish. “I try to swing all the way into the follow-through with no real inhibition,” Cantlay says.
Patrick Cantlay has some advice to improve your rhythm BY LUKE KERR-DINEEN
36 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2025
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