Tempo in Motion Blog

Sports Psychologist Dr Caroline Silby Joins Tempo in Motion

TiM — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:57:30 +0000

All of us at Tempo in Motion would like to welcome sports psychologist Dr. Caroline Silby to our growing list of Performance Experts. Dr. Silby brings an incredible insight to athletes of all sports, touching on all the core mental areas to achieve peak performance. As a Tempo in Motion subscriber you will gain access to quizzes, articles and video content from Dr. Silby that will take your game to a whole new level!

Please read her bio below.

Caroline Silby, Ph.D holds a Doctorate and Master Degree of Sports Psychology from theUniversity of Virginia. She is a nationally recognized expert on the development of adolescent athletes, and author of Games Girls Play.

Dr. Silby has worked on an individual basis with two Olympic Gold Medalists, eleven Olympians, one Paralympian Medalist, three World Champions, twelve National Champions, and hundreds of National Team members and Division I student- athletes. As an elite athlete, Dr. Silby was a member of the National Figure Skating Team. She later served on the U.S. Figure Skating Association Board of Directors, Athlete Advisory Council and Sports Medicine Committee. Dr. Silby was appointed to the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council, Collegiate Sports Council and Finance Committee. Currently, she serves on the Sports Medicine Committees for the United States Figure Skating Association as well as the Professional Skater’s Association and is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for American Ballet Theatre. Dr. Silby has served as a spokesperson and consultant to the American Girl Company and is a speaker for the US Department of State Sports United program as well as GirlsUp, an empowerment camp for teenage girls. She is an advisor to the Center for Sports Parenting and assists the Women’s Sports Foundation as a member of their Advisory Council.

She has been a contributing writer to Sports Illustrated, Pointe Magazine and is an expert advisor to Faith Popcorn’s BRAINRESERVE and Flyburst.com. In her role as a featured speaker for SportsUnited, a US Department of State program, Dr. Silby has worked with athletes and coaches from Morocco, Swaziland, Australia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Colombia.

Dr. Silby is also a curriculum creator for Winning Play$, a financial education program for high school students, focusing on the psychological, emotional, and behavioral aspects of money. The program won the U.S. Department of Education’s Excellence in Economic Education Award in 2010.

Dr. Silby is a sought after expert and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs including the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, ABC-Wide World of Sports, Oxygen Television, NPR and the Mitch Albom Show. She resides in Potomac, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico where she has an active national practice.

Adjust Your Tempo & Rhythm Around The Green

TiM — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:54:50 +0000

A solid foundation of mechanics and technique will help you become a better player, but integrating good tempo and rhythm will take your game to a whole new level. Watch Brian Mahon, who is the Director of Instruction at Hank Haney’s Dallas Market Center facility, as he demonstrates a couple of short game shot examples that will get the ball close to the hole by adjusting the tempo and rhythm.

Foam Roll For Better Health And Flexibility

TiM — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:13:26 +0000

From our Golf Performance series, Tempo in Motion Fitness expert Laci Weeks from Synergy Athletic Performance in Dallas, Texas shows you how to foam roll to hit those “Hot Spots” for better sports health and flexibility.

Pace Yourself On The First Tee

TiM — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:38:05 +0000

Let’s face it; sometimes the scariest place to be on the planet is the first tee shot of your round of golf. Will I top it, shank it or just miss the ball completely? Tension builds as all these crippling non-successful thoughts run through your mind, while – oh, I almost forgot – there are usually many people watching you!

There is hope to avoid potential disaster.

The next time you’re faced with this situation, try taking some deep rhythmic breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. This will calm you down and put you in the present moment. Next, take a few practice swings at a smooth rhythmic pace, while envisioning an effortless move. Also, back off your swing intensity a bit; this will help square up the clubface, giving you a better chance at making solid contact. Save that 100% bomb for the par five after you’ve had a chance to get into the rhythm of your round. Once you have committed to your shot, step in and let it go! Sounds simple right? It is…

Try it and you will hit more fairways, get off the tee with confidence and enjoy the game you love much more!

Texas Swing Release

TiM — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:33:30 +0000

Tempo in Motion Golf Expert Carlos Brown shows you a great visual to help you release the golf club by using just a standard playing card. To view this clip, just click on the image below.

Ingrain A Proper Warm-Up Routine

TiM — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:32:37 +0000

Tempo in Motion Fitness expert Laci Weeks from Synergy Athletic Performance shows you some real helpful exercises to get you ready to perform before a round of golf or practice session.

Ain’t Got No Rhythm…

TiM — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:59:07 +0000

The ability to groove is for many a touchy subject. One of the most common excuses is “Oh, I don’t have rhythm.” Haunting memories of uncomfortable dancing requests… Perhaps awkward performances on the dance floor…Well, without rhythm, we would not be able to accomplish much. Rhythm is the foundation of coordination: there is a pace and a sequence to most of our activities. Take walking. Have you ever seen someone walk “rhythmless”? Try it. It’s hard to do. It is because rhythm and motor functions are very linked. Children have an innate sense of rhythm and the good news is that the capacity to learn it stays active in adults. Unless your have a very rare case of “beat-deafness,” you can improve. Most of us just need practice (how many times as infants did we fall before we managed this walking standing prowess?) It is the same with any golf or sports movement: if you want to have rhythm, practice rhythm. There are no shortcuts.

Tempo Is Not Set In Stone

TiM — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:09:49 +0000

Tempo in Motion was introduced 2 years ago to help golfers perform with more consistency. The premise was that, if you could find your natural swing pace, you could train to reproduce it under any circumstances.

As we worked with athletes and golf coaches, it quickly became clear that there was a need for something more… Tempo was more complex then one pace for a golf swing: golfers had different tempos (pardon the poor Italian!) Short game shots had their own pace, from flop to putting. Tempo would also vary according to the occasion: warm up, workout, pre-leisure round, pre-competition or tournament, etc. Weather was also a big factor. You don’t move the same in a cold wind as you do on a hot humid summer day…
Yet other factors were mood, health, and new mechanics. Your flow is not the same when you are not feeling your best; an injury or an ilness can impact your movement; changing your grip or working on your plane may require you to slow down. Well, we had to face it: tempo is not set in stone. It is a living science and we had to come up with a better way to serve athletes.

We turned to the Santa Fe Complex and its team of specialists in complexity science. With their help we developed software to analyze and calculate the tempo of all the movements of the golf game: full swing, flop shot, pitch shot, sand shot, chip shot, and putting. Now you can find, test, and monitor your tempo. It’s about time to give the “much talked about and little understood” field of tempo a coherent and effective tool!

John Daly Only Knows One Way

T.i.M. — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:54:00 +0000

John Daly’s first round at St Andrew was outstanding, but the gusting winds took it all back on the second round. Nicknamed the “Wild Thing”, the golfer has had his share of ups and downs, to say the least. Yet, as Nancy Armour (AP) puts it “you don’t go from last alternate to major champion, as he did at the 1991 PGA Championship, without considerable game. And you sure don’t win a second major – The British Open at St. Andrew, no less – by being lucky.” John Daly certainly has game but his strength might also come from music, since he released his second album “I Only Know One Way” just before the British Open.

>Music Is Not Just For Listening Anymore!

T.i.M. — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:38:00 +0000

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In this May edition, Golf Digest published a very interesting article by Steve Elkington, with Guy Yocom, called “10 rules for smoothing out your swing.”
The authors emphasize rhythm and tempo: “Work on tying together your rhythm. It will solve a lot of flaws”. And they link good golf swings to music: “Smooth, rhythmic golf swings are often likened to music”.
You need to find the right pattern (rhythm) and the right tempo (speed). Then, like teacher Geoff Mangum suggests, imagine yourself carried by that tune, as if your were listening to a band, getting ready to join in and synchronize your playing… This great visual is highly supported by Tempo in Motion. One of the reasons is that the founder, Mike Boyko, has been a professional touring drummer for many years. “One of the greatest feelings is to get immersed in the music,” says Boyko, “being fully present and focused is the key. You have to be it and not watch yourself or think about what you’re doing.”
This is why music and tempo training is hitting the scene so strongly. Music puts you in the zone or flow, and rhythm carries your motion. As Steve Elkington and Guy Yocom put it “When you’re walking onto the dance floor, you’re already dancing. You start to pick up the rhythm and beat as you move out to your spot. It’s the same with the swing. You pick up the beat, then you come in.”
So, get yourself the right music for your swing tempo at www.tempoinmotion.com and hit the dance floor!