Short game · Lob wedge
What is Phil Mickelson's swing tempo?
Phil Mickelson's 2013 Scottish Open lob wedge is a 0.52s backswing into a 0.26s downswing — a 2.02:1 tempo ratio over 0.77s from takeaway to impact. That is quicker through the backswing than the 3:1 ratio usually quoted for tour players. Timed by hand from tournament footage to 1/100 of a second.
0.52s
Backswing
0.26s
Downswing
0.77s
Total duration
2.02:1
Tempo ratio
The three marks
Every number above comes from these, and nothing else. Read off the footage by hand, in seconds from the start of the clip.
0.00s
Takeaway
0.52s
Top of backswing
0.77s
Impact
Source footage: 2013 Scottish Open, 18th. Raw marks: takeaway 6.52s, top 7.036s, impact 7.292s.
The shot
Phil Mickelson, 2013 Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. On the 18th in sudden death, he played a soft pitch to set up the win over Branden Grace, the springboard to his Open Championship victory the very next week at Muirfield. A languid 0.52s backswing into a 0.26s release, a smooth 2.02:1 over 0.77 seconds.
How this compares to “3 to 1”
The rule of thumb says a tour backswing takes three times as long as the downswing. This one is 2.02:1, which is quicker through the backswing than that. Across the whole library the spread is wide enough that 3:1 is best read as an average of very different swings rather than a target any one player hits.
More hand-timed swings
Swing to it, don't just read it.
Elite Tempo plays this 2.02:1 as beats you can swing along to, then times your own swing the same way so you can see how close you got.