Sports Illustrated senior writer John Garrity was a 42-year-old 8-handicapper when he suddenly lost his swing. Since December 1989 he has been looking for it -- a modern-day Odysseus adrift on the troubled waters of swing theory. As Garrity travels the world reporting on golf, he visits as many driving ranges as he can, avoiding the dreaded "mats only" ranges that prevent him from teeing it up.

Saturday, May 8, 2004

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- I don't read message boards too often because they're pretty rough places. Most everybody has a handle like "KillBill666," and the postings fairly reek of testosterone and belligerence. I'm referring to golf message boards, of course. Sites dedicated to politics or religion are probably different.

My misgivings notwithstanding, I have been checking out golf message boards lately because the hot topic is Tour Tempo, the just-published book I co-authored with tempo pioneer John Novosel. Apparently thousands of recreational golfers, many of whom first read about Novosel in this column, bought copies the instant they hit the store shelves (or the mailbox) and went out within hours to hit balls to the tempo tracks on the accompanying CD.

"TOUR TEMPO!! HOLY MOLY!!!" is the title of a thread started by "DukeNasty," the noted on-line book critic. "I normally don't get excited by too much when it comes to golf instruction, because most popular golf instruction is regurgitated crap," Nasty wrote on April 28. "Tour Tempo is the real deal, though. I played nine holes yesterday and my distance and accuracy were absolutely mind boggling. I was hitting tee shots nearly 300 yards. I am going to play another nine holes this morning to validate. I need to see if this was some fluke or if this Tour Tempo stuff has a lasting effect."

The next day Nasty was on-line again, tracking mud and blades of grass onto the message board.

"Quick update. Played another nine holes yesterday and the results were again magical, fantastic, and mind boggling. I was almost left speechless. The true test will be how long this lasts and if the pressure of competition with my friends leads to tension and possible disruption of my new rhythm. I tell you what, though. I feel like a machine off the tee, and I am absolutely crushing the stuffing out of the ball."

Another poster, "GolfnutEric," called Tour Tempo "fascinating stuff, to say the least. I was always taught 'low and slow.' In fact, my last instructor said you could not swing slow enough. My total swing probably was near three seconds. Well, I have sped it up considerably since getting this book. It seems that with this quick tempo and swing ratio, all the pieces of the swing (weight shift, swing from the inside, follow-through, etc.) happen automatically. Swing thoughts become superfluous."

For those who don't know what "DukeNasty" and "GolfnutEric" are talking about, I will quickly recap.

Three years ago Novosel called me up out of the blue, having read my Mats Only columns, and suggested that we meet. I assumed he was a crackpot, but I readily agreed. (It's my job, after all, to try out outlandish swing aids and bizarro swing theories.) What followed, to borrow words from "DukeNasty," was mind-boggling. Novosel took me out in his back yard and had me swing a club while listening to guide tones on a cassette player. (Beep .... chirp, chirp.) Within minutes he had me swinging at a tour player's smooth, rhythmic tempo. Furthermore, several of my many swing flaws -- most notably my poky weight shift and my tendency to lose the wrist angle at the top of the backswing -- disappeared without any conscious effort on my part.

In a nutshell, Novosel convinced me of three things.:

1) Tempo is a fundamental. It is as important to consistent ball striking as your grip and your set-up.

2) Tempo can be taught. It is not a gift from the golf gods bestowed on the lucky few.

3) Tempo is ripe for commercial exploitation. (If I could trick Novosel into writing a book with me, I told myself, I would soon be on the best-seller lists.)

Three for three! Tour Tempo is already in its fourth printing and the publisher, Doubleday, predicts that it will soon rival The Secret Life of Bees and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the prized age-38-and-up-Big-Bertha-buying-Escalade-owning demographic.

	MAILBAG John Garrity will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in Mats Only. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Of course, not every message board denizen is jumping on the Tour Tempo bandwagon. "BrianL9991" recently called Novosel's theory "a bunch of baloney ... The author took a fairly simple and obvious conclusion and attempted to manipulate the data to sell a few books and lessons."

That led to this volley from someone who calls himself "Woodmo": "Have you tried hitting any balls utilizing these concepts? Might be worth a try before classifying something as baloney. I tried it today, and I think there is a lot of value in it."

Another Tour Tempo defender, "JPLESTAT," was even stronger: "These concepts are revolutionary. I think it is a breakthrough."

"BrianL9991," somewhat chastened, yielded some ground. "If I didn't title the thread 'a bunch of baloney,' the only responses would be how wonderful, new, novel and enlightening the whole thing is. I just think it's old concepts dressed up in good marketing and a neat gimmick."

Thanks, Brian. We'll put your blurb on the back cover when we come out in paperback. ("Wonderful, new, novel and enlightening ... good marketing and a neat gimmick!") In the meantime, Novosel and I will be looking for you in the chat room.

My on-line name is TempoManiak.

Watch this space for another installment of Mats Only.