Off the tee · Driver
What is Justin Thomas' swing tempo?
Justin Thomas' 2018 driver is a 0.92s backswing into a 0.28s downswing, a 3.24:1 tempo ratio over 1.20s 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.
0.92s
Backswing
0.28s
Downswing
1.20s
Total duration
3.24:1
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
0.92s
Top of backswing
1.20s
Impact
Source footage: 2018. Raw marks: takeaway 0s, top 0.917s, impact 1.2s.
The shot
Justin Thomas, 2018, driver: 0.92s back and 0.28s down, a 3.2:1 tempo over 1.20 seconds.
Justin Thomas' other swings
This is one of 2 of his swings timed here, and they do not all share a tempo, his ratio runs from 2.80:1 to 3.24:1depending on the club. All of Justin Thomas' 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 3.24:1, which is slower through the backswing than that. Across the whole library the swings run from 2.02:1 to 4.30:1, so 3:1 is an average of very different swings.
More hand-timed swings
Swing along to this 3.24:1.
Elite Tempo plays it as beats you can swing along to. Film your own swing, mark it the same way, and see how close you got.
