Tour Tempo App Review: Best Golf App Ever?
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What if I told you $25 could change your golf game forever?
Longer drives. Cleaner irons. Better short game.
All for less than the price of two sleeves of Pro V1s. Sounds too good to be true, right? I get it.
I’d be skeptical, too. But after playing golf since 1997, becoming a +2 handicap, and writing millions of words about this game… It's true.
There’s one resource I’ve recommended in the four golf books I've published: the Tour Tempo app.
It’s my favorite app in the game, and in this Tour Tempo app review, I’ll explain how it can transform your swing for a fraction of what most training aids cost.
Tour Tempo App Review
Tempo really is the secret to better golf–from tee to green. As Sir Nick Faldo said, “Tempo is the glue that sticks your golf swing together.”
Tour Tempo gives you that glue in a way you can actually measure it. The app is based on the books, Tour Tempo: Golf's Last Secret Finally Revealed and Tour Tempo 2: The Short Game and Beyond.
Before I explain why I think it’s the best app for golfers of any handicap—0, 10, or 20—let’s quickly break down why tempo matters so much.
Why Tempo Matters
Pros hit it farther than amateurs for a lot of reasons… but at the core, it’s speed. The best players in the world simply swing the club faster. And tempo is one of the biggest contributors to that speed.
As John Novosel Jr. (the creator of the Tour Tempo app) shared on our second podcast: “In the last 100 majors, 56 different winners had swing tempos under 1.2 seconds, with 75 of them at one second or less.”
Compare that to the average amateur. Most everyday golfers take 1.5 to 3.0 seconds to complete their swing.
Yikes, no wonder they hit it exponentially longer with irons and woods. That’s too much time to think, too much time to get out of sequence, and too slow to generate real speed.
John expanded on this even further:
“Think about the physics of it. If you're taking 1.5 or two seconds from takeaway back to impact, you're moving the club slowly. If you bump that up to 1.2 seconds or one second, you're going to gain clubhead speed.
That's why so many people, when they try out Tour Tempo, hit the ball farther—without losing accuracy. They're not trying to kill it. They're just increasing the tempo.”
This is why Tour Tempo is so powerful.
It forces your body into a faster, more athletic rhythm—without tinkering with positions, mechanics, or complicated swing thoughts. It’s the closest thing to an instant upgrade you’ll find in golf.
Here's how the Tour Tempo app can help every player from tee to green (unlike most golf apps which only target one area of the game).
Long Game Tempo
One of the core principles behind Tour Tempo is the 3:1 ratio—three parts backswing to one part downswing. This isn’t a theory or a swing tip; it’s the universal rhythm of the best players in the world and discussed in-depth in the first book.
Whether it's Tiger, Rory, Nelly Korda, Scheffler, or any elite ball-striker, their swings almost always fall into this 3:1 window. A smooth, efficient backswing… followed by a crisp, athletic downswing. That rhythm creates effortless power and world-class sequencing.
Most amateurs, however, are nowhere near this range. Their tempo is usually slow going back and even slower coming down, which kills speed, ruins sequencing, and gives the brain way too much time to interfere.
That’s where Tour Tempo shines.
How to Use It for the Long Game
Download the app ($25, one-time fee) and try a few different tones or voice cues. Hit 10–15 balls with one setting. Then switch to another and you’ll quickly find a rhythm that feels surprisingly natural.
Most golfers notice the same thing I did:
- Better contact
- More effortless speed
- No “technical swing thoughts”
- A more athletic, committed motion
- And longer drives almost immediately
John Novosel Jr. believes in this so much, he said:
“If your swing is 30/10 or more, and you get to 21/7, guaranteed 100%, no doubt, you will pick up about 20 yards of carry on the driver and whatever equivalent on the irons. Guaranteed, period, the end.”
For reference: 30/10 and 21/7 are tempo settings in the app (based on frames per second) that reflect the 3:1 ratio. Faster tones mean a more athletic tempo—which naturally increases speed without trying to swing harder.
After using the app extensively, I couldn’t agree more with John. Improving your tempo is one of the fastest ways to add distance. I’ve seen it in my own game, and I’ve heard from countless listeners who said Tour Tempo changed their driver almost overnight.
Short Game Tempo
While the long game lives in a 3:1 rhythm, the short game has its own pattern: 2:1 tempo (and detailed extensively in Tour Tempo 2).
Your backswing takes twice as long as your downswing, creating a smooth, controlled motion ideal for any shot that isn’t a full swing. For me, that means anything inside 75 yards—partial wedges, chips, pitches, and greenside bunker shots.
The biggest short game killer is deceleration—taking the club back too fast, overswinging, and then slowing down or stabbing at impact. The opposite is just as bad: taking it back too slowly, then rushing the downswing, which leads to a jerky, handsy, or “yippy” motion.
A 2:1 tempo solves both problems by creating a pendulum-like rhythm—steady, gravity-driven, and repeatable.
As John Novosel Jr. explained during our second interview, a good short game rhythm is like a pendulum. “It’s the same amount of force back and through. When you combine that feel with the tones of Tour Tempo, now you're really dialing these things in.”
Tour Tempo gives you that pendulum. It removes the hit impulse, keeps your hands quiet, and builds a more consistent short game—without thinking about mechanics.
How to Use Tour Tempo for the Short Game
Using Tour Tempo for chips, pitches, and bunker shots is simple:
- Open the Short Game section in the app.
- Select one of the 2:1 tones (start with 16/8 or 20/10).
- Hit all types of shots—bunkers, chips, pitches, and putts.
- Match your backswing to the first tone and your downswing to the second.
- Keep the motion smooth and pendulum-like, letting the tones guide your pace.
Within a few minutes, you’ll feel your rhythm settle in—less stabby, less handsy, and far more consistent.
Other Tour Tempo Features
Not only does the app help with long and short game, it also lets you upload a video of your swing to calculate your timing. Remember, the goal is 3:1 for full swing shots and 2:1 for short game shots. This process is easy and lets you get instant feedback on tempo.
Another perk I like with the app is the Alpha Waves feature. Using binural beats, it helps you subconsciously reprogram the right tempo for lasting change.
There's also plenty of training videos from John Novosel Jr. to help you get started. No stress, no gadgets, just easy to use (indoors, outdoors, or with practice swings).
How I Use Tour Tempo as a +2 Handicap
I first discovered the importance of tempo in 2019 while working with Boyd Summerhays after my run at Q-School. I told him my transition felt too quick, and he replied, “Your backswing is too slow—eventually you have to speed up somewhere.”
That one comment changed everything. I’d also been taught the classic “low and slow” takeaway most golfers learn… and it held me back for years. That led me to read Tour Tempo books, then the Tour Tempo app, and eventually connecting with the creator on my podcast for several incredible interviews.
Most people assume that as a +2 handicap I don’t need tools like this, but honestly, I use Tour Tempo more than any other training aid—more than HackMotion, more than WhyGolf Alignment Mirror, more than anything else I recommend to listeners and readers.
Why? Because Tour Tempo is simple, easy to use, and it works every time. Not to mention, it's on your phone, so there are no excuses not to use it.
Here are three ways I use the app:
Long Game Practice
- Tour Tempo is part of nearly every range and simulator session I do.
- If my swing slips, tempo is always the first thing I reset—it fixes more issues than most golfers realize.
- Within about 10 balls, the tones help me improve sequencing, contact, and overall speed.
Short Game Practice
- I use Tour Tempo for chips, pitches, bunker shots, and my wedge matrix.
- The tones help create a smooth, pendulum-like motion that eliminates decel and excess hand action.
- If golfers used it once per week, I’m confident they’d see more up-and-downs almost immediately.
Speed Training
- I switch from my normal 24/8 to 18/6 to train faster swings while keeping rhythm.
- It’s one of the best ways to build speed without becoming wild or losing your sequence.
- Just keep sessions short—Tour Tempo speed work is intense and gets exhausting fast.
Needless to say, I’m the biggest fan of Tour Tempo out there!
Tour Tempo Masterclass
The app itself is incredible and recommend it for every golfer. But if you’re serious about taking your game to the next level, the Tour Tempo Masterclass is the ultimate upgrade.
This 24-video series covers long game, short game and putting—everything you need to get the most out of the app. On top of that, you get 15 new audio tracks, a recode-for-power module, and even a personalized swing tempo analysis.
Use my discount code WICKEDSMART to get 20% off when you’re ready to commit.
Closing Thoughts on Tour Tempo
The beauty of Tour Tempo is its simplicity—you can use it on Apple or Android devices, in any practice environment, and start seeing results almost instantly. Whether you’re on the range, in a simulator, or working on your short game at home, the tones make it nearly impossible to overthink your swing.
If you're serious about improving your tempo to the absolute max, the Tour Tempo Masterclass is the next step. It gives you deeper instruction, more training tracks, and a full framework to get the most out of the system.
Use my code WICKEDSMART to save 20% if you’re ready to take your tempo (and your game) to another level.
Start training your tempo and watch your game improve like never before! Watch the full interview with John Novosel Jr. below.
