Jack Nicklaus’ 50-year-old advice for getting your swing ready for spring is still spot on

Timing is everything, as they say, so credit goes to Golf Digest for having great timing in speaking with Jack Nicklaus on the topic of, well, timing. Shortly before his legendary one-shot victory over Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf in the 1975 Masters, Nicklaus was asked about getting his golf swing tuned-up for spring.

Before you read what he had to say in the April 1975 issue of Golf Digest, it’s worth noting that the ’75 Masters is generally regarded as one of the very best in tournament history. At the time, Nicklaus, Miller, Weiskopf and Tom Watson were probably the top four golfers in the world, and they were playing in back-to-back groups on Sunday with Watson and Nicklaus going off before the tournament’s final pairing of Weiskopf and Miller. While Watson faltered, Jack shot a 68 and posted a one-stroke lead and then watched as Weiskopf and Miller both missed birdie tries on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.

Winner Jack Nicklaus along with runners-up Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf sit at the green jacket presentation ceremony after the 1975 Masters.

Augusta National

Back to Jack’s advice on timing, here’s what he said:

“What is timing? To me, it’s the melding together of all the separate motions that comprise the golf swing. When the meld is such that it produces maximum clubhead speed and squareness at impact, timing is perfect. The usual words to describe this texture are tempo, which to me connotes overall speed and elapsed time of the swing, and rhythm, which I see as the variations of pace within the swing.

“Tempo, in my view, is more of a product of personality than of swing method. If you are quick-moving or high-strung by nature, you will naturally have a fairly fast golf swing—Arnold Palmer is a good case in point. If, like me, you are of a more deliberate temperament, you will naturally swing comparatively slowly. The key is not to try to thwart nature, because you’ll always revert back to normal under pressure. Simply avoid jerkiness on the one hand and ponderousness on the other.

IMPROVE YOUR RHYTHM

“Throughout my career I’ve found I swing most rhythmically when I consciously try to keep the tempo of the downswing identical to that of the backswing. My key thought: Swing your hands and arms at the same pace coming down as you did going up—especially as you start the downswing. The hands and arms will inevitably will travel down faster than they did going back, but thinking of them not doing so … has always helped me.”

SWING IN BALANCE

“Losing your balance is a certain way to disrupt your rhythm. Staying in balance involves a lot of factors. Chief among them: (1) Swinging from the insides of your feet; (2) Swinging around a fixed axis. In my case, the back of the neck; (3) Maintaining a consistently firm grip on the club.”

BE MINDFUL OF THE HANDS

“Any time your hands and wrists dominate your swing, you endanger tempo and rhythm. Because they are so used to moving quickly and independently of the rest of the body in everyday life, your hands will snatch the club back and forth ahead of the rest of your anatomy, given the slightest chance. That doesn’t mean the hands mustn’t be used in the swing, but rather that they must be synchronized with all other body actions to properly time the delivery of the clubhead.

“Grabbing the club at some point in the swing—an extremely common fault born largely of anxiety—is a rhythm wrecker. The way to prevent it is to hold the club lightly as you finalize your address, firm up your hands as the club starts back, then consistently try to maintain the same grip pressure from there on in.”

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“The most important single move in establishing your tempo and rhythm is your takeaway. I strive on every shot to move the club back as deliberately as possible.”

FINISH THE BACKSWING

“Failing to go fully back before you start down is a certain way to destroy rhythm. Complete your backswing is one of my most frequent self-instructions. The trick is to determine a definite set of feelings—related primarily to shoulder turn and hand height—that represent your full backswing. Then allow yourself to realize them before you start down to the ball.”

USE THE CLUB’S WEIGHT TO ESTABLISH RHYTHM

“Consciously feeling the weight of the clubhead against the tension of the shaft is another way I seek good timing through rhythmical motion. This tension begins as swinging weight of the clubhead begins to cock my wrists as the club passes vertical on the backswing. Then smoothly and gradually the tension increases until the wrist reflexively uncock late in the downswing, in response to the centrifugal force created by my body motion. The more smoothly the tension develops and increases, the better my rhythm and thus, the better my timing.”

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“Some years ago I was filmed swinging a 7-iron and a 2-iron. I was delighted to see that my tempo with both clubs was identical. Each swing was made at the same pace and took the same amount of time. The film proved I achieved a lifelong goal, which was to swing every club at the same tempo. I think you’d benefit by adopting that goal.”

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MORE FROM THE ARCHIVES

Nicklaus, who won his fifth Master in ’75, wrote another article for Golf Digest later that year on turning hooks into draws. You can read that, and countless other contributions from him and the other legends of the game, by becoming a Golf Digest+ member for a low as $1.99 a month. Sign up at golfdigest.com/plus.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com