Approach · Iron
What is Hideki Matsuyama's swing tempo?
Hideki Matsuyama's 2023 iron is a 0.96s backswing into a 0.28s downswing, a 3.43:1 tempo ratio over 1.24s from takeaway to impact. That is slower 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.
0.96s
Backswing
0.28s
Downswing
1.24s
Total duration
3.43:1
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
0.96s
Top of backswing
1.24s
Impact
Source footage: 2023. Raw marks: takeaway 0s, top 0.96s, impact 1.24s.
The shot
Hideki Matsuyama, 2023, iron: 0.96s back and 0.28s down, a 3.4:1 tempo over 1.24 seconds.
Hideki Matsuyama's other swings
This is one of 2 of his swings timed here, and they do not all share a tempo, his ratio runs from 3.43:1 to 4.08:1depending on the club. All of Hideki Matsuyama's tempos
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 3.43:1, which is slower 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 3.43:1 as beats you can swing along to, then times your own swing the same way so you can see how close you got.