Thought for Pause

Just a thought about 'the pause that refreshes', which is a phrase and an idea that is probably most often attributed to Tommy Armour, although it has been borrowed by many golf writers subsequently, even the great Sam Snead. The theory is that the pause encourages better timing, less hurried hitting from the top of the backswing - allegedly a very common fault of the 'hacker'.

The most obvious example of a great golfer who pauses at the 'top' of the backswing is Hideki Matsuyama, but no doubt there are plenty of good golfers who incorporate it in a less obvious fashion. Swings vary in tempo and this can disguise the pause that some golfers with fast swing tempos use, because the pause seems very brief. Any pause will seem more significant in golfers with a slower tempo.

Recently, during a round when I was playing poorly and when I felt my timing was off, I experimented with a more pronounced pause at the top of my (admittedly quite short) backswing on all my shots. As a result I started to hit some decent shots, even some really good shots.

There is a caveat, however, which is that you need to feel comfortable with the pause. It can feel like you will not 'find' the ball again at the bottom of your swing. This can cause either a tentative or a hurried hit from the top, often accompanied by a lunge or a sway. That's not good at all.

So, it is important to practice the pause and to develop some confidence with the new feeling and the new timing of the swing. Armour talks of saying 'one, two, wait, three' when developing the pause, which seems like good advice for anyone having difficulty incorporating the pause.

It's just a thought - pause.