2 hand-timed swings
What is Rory McIlroy's swing tempo?
Rory McIlroy's driver tempo is 2.45:1 — a 0.63s backswing into a 0.26s downswing, timed by hand from his 2014 PGA footage. Across his 2 swings in the library his ratio runs from 2.45:1 with a driver to 2.51:1 with a long iron, so his tempo barely moves depending on the club.
0.63s
Backswing
0.26s
Downswing
0.89s
Total duration
2.45:1
Driver tempo
From his 2014 PGA driver. See the marks
One player, two clubs
Remarkably, almost. Rory McIlroy's ratio shifts by only 0.06 between his driver and his long iron — close enough that one number genuinely does describe him. That is unusual, and it is the thing worth copying: not the number itself, but the consistency.
Every Rory McIlroy swing in the library
| Shot | Tempo | Back | Down | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long iron Wells Fargo, 2010 · 15th | 2.51:1 | 0.63s | 0.25s | 0.88s |
| Driver PGA Championship, 2014 · 16th | 2.45:1 | 0.63s | 0.26s | 0.89s |
Every figure is derived from three marks read off tournament footage. How we time swings explains the method and its limits.
Other players
Swing to Rory's tempo.
Elite Tempo plays each of these as beats you can swing along to, then times your own swing the same way so you can see how close you got.